Can I Mesh Dish Dish?

[Blastfurnace]

Hey all,

i have a 9' Mesh dish from the old C-band days and every time I mow around it I think "There has got to be some neat thing I could do with that!"

I was going to tape a microphone to the feed horn and aim it at things to see if I could hear anything but I realized there is nothing I want to hear that badly.

Then I began to wonder if I could mount a Dishnetwork LNB to it somehow and REALLY boost my 129 signal by pointing it at 129.

Or could I use it as a yagi antenna for wireless internet?

Any ideas?

Mark

 

[Mr Tony]

Why dont you use it for free to air?

Mesh dishes will work for KU or DBS if you cant fit a pencil through the mesh. You can put a DBS LNB on it but you really wont gain much since DBS LNB's are designed for offset dishes and that is a prime focus dish.

 

[Tech#344]

You can use the dish for WiFi but you will need a biquad antenna. You can buy one or you can make one. For instructions on how to build your own you might try this sight:
Biquad Antenna Construction
or this one:
How-To: Build a WiFi biquad dish antenna -- Engadget

 

[Blastfurnace]

Why dont you use it for free to air?

Mesh dishes will work for KU or DBS if you cant fit a pencil through the mesh. You can put a DBS LNB on it but you really wont gain much since DBS LNB's are designed for offset dishes and that is a prime focus dish.

OK Ice, I am gonna look really dumb here but exactly what is FTA? Is it actual air as in the antenna that I use on my roof? The old UHF VHF that is now digital? OR is it a satellite system? Like KU or C band?

I see this FTA mentioned alot but have never looked into it. The positioner on this dish is froze up and I would have to relevel the post. I sort of bumped into it with my deere.

Mark

 

[bnaivar]

OK Ice, I am gonna look really dumb here but exactly what is FTA? Is it actual air as in the antenna that I use on my roof? The old UHF VHF that is now digital? OR is it a satellite system? Like KU or C band?

I see this FTA mentioned alot but have never looked into it. The positioner on this dish is froze up and I would have to relevel the post. I sort of bumped into it with my deere.

Mark

FTA is free satellite channels (C and KU) that are available on some sats.

 

[busdriver72]

How about.....

a gazebo?

Or....

....or.....

Be the envy of your neighbors.

:up

 

[Tech#344]

FTA stands for Free To Air. It is satellite service that is not encrypted.

 

[papalittle]

The UFO picture made me really laugh, got to make one for my yard!

 

[Mr Tony]

OK Ice, I am gonna look really dumb here but exactly what is FTA? Is it actual air as in the antenna that I use on my roof? The old UHF VHF that is now digital? OR is it a satellite system? Like KU or C band?

I see this FTA mentioned alot but have never looked into it. The positioner on this dish is froze up and I would have to relevel the post. I sort of bumped into it with my deere.

Mark

FTA is free to air. It is the general term for unencrypted C-Band or KU Band satellite

We have a whole section here for such item

 

[eurosport]

How about.....

a gazebo?

Or....

....or.....

Be the envy of your neighbors.

:up

When I see perfectly good C-band dishes made into crap like this, it makes me want to SLAP somebody! :rant:

 

[JWKessler]

Hey all,

I was going to tape a microphone to the feed horn and aim it at things to see if I could hear anything but I realized there is nothing I want to hear that badly.

Just as well that you don't have anything interesting to listen to. I don't think a mesh dish would be a very effective reflector at low audio frequencies. A solid dish would work to let you spy on your neighbors however.

 

[whatchel1]

depends

Just as well that you don't have anything interesting to listen to. I don't think a mesh dish would be a very effective reflector at low audio frequencies. A solid dish would work to let you spy on your neighbors however.

It depends on what the reflective surface is w/ a solid reflector. Many of the fiberglass dishes use basically aluminum mesh screen for the reflector anyway. In reality low freq needs less reflectivity than high freq as in sat transmission. C-band is a much higher freq and needs tinier hole that audio and Ku & Ka needs the smallest holes so to speak.

 

[Biro]

DN LNB on a mesh dish

Hi all,
Searching the internet I came across this thread.
I've been a member here for a long time and this is my fourth post.
Didn't want to start my own thread as this post is related to the information I'm looking for.
Same as "blasfurnace" in the first post I have an old 12ft mesh dish that I want to mount a Dish Network LNB.

Here is some background information:
1.Old 12ft mesh C-Band dish

2.Bought a special adapter for the LNB to be mounted on the C-Band mesh dish. I was told that there is another adapter with different size ring around it to improve signal but the person selling the adapter wasn't sure about that statement and that both companies don't make them anymore. The adapter sold to me was from their old stock. The adapter with the rings was not available. I paid about $14.00

3.Were I live we use a 1.8Meter channel master dish to receive dish network anything smaller then that will not work.

4.I was told also that even if I'm successful in receiving the signal with the old mesh dish the quality will be less than a 1.8Meter offset dish.

5.Eventually I'll be buying the 1.8Meter dish but wanted to experiment with this old mesh dish first.

Any tip, thought and ideas will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Jim5506]

If your lnb is at the prime focus, it will get 4 times the signal from whatever satellite it is pointed toward than you get from the 1.8m dish.

Signal strength is directly proportional to reflector area, whether it is prime focus or offset is irrelevant.

An offset dish is simply a prime focus dish with 2/3 of the surface chopped off.

 

[whatchel1]

When I see perfectly good C-band dishes made into crap like this, it makes me want to SLAP somebody! :rant:

Trust me some of those old dishes would be much better off being used this way.

 

[whatchel1]

If your lnb is at the prime focus, it will get 4 times the signal from whatever satellite it is pointed toward than you get from the 1.8m dish.

Signal strength is directly proportional to reflector area, whether it is prime focus or offset is irrelevant.

An offset dish is simply a prime focus dish with 2/3 of the surface chopped off.

This would be true for C-band but depending on the size of the holes in the mesh the reflectivity at the high Ku frequencies used for Dish Net. Now if the mesh was made to pickup C/Ku band it would be true or close to it.