FTA on a 6 or 8 foot dish

[GreatFTA]

Question:
With a 8 foot dish, can I receive BOTH C and KU FTA signals? Right now I am using a I meter dish to get the ku fta channels and using the 8 foot dish for the c band fta signals (with a seperate fta receiver)
It sure would be nice that a 8 foot BUD can do that...

 

[tdti1]

Question:
With a 8 foot dish, can I receive BOTH C and KU FTA signals? Right now I am using a I meter dish to get the ku fta channels and using the 8 foot dish for the c band fta signals (with a seperate fta receiver)
It sure would be nice that a 8 foot BUD can do that...

Yes if the mesh in not damaged, and you can't pass a pencil through the mesh holes, also make sure the dish is not warped.

I use a corotor II plus wideband feedhorn with lnb's, if you do not want NSS-806 go with the domestic feed, mine dvb receiver is slaved to my 4dtv and so the 4dtv controls the polarity.

You are best off with the 8' or larger dish.

 

[GreatFTA]

Yes if the mesh in not damaged, and you can't pass a pencil through the mesh holes, also make sure the dish is not warped.

I use a corotor II plus wideband feedhorn with lnb's, if you do not want NSS-806 go with the domestic feed, mine dvb receiver is slaved to my 4dtv and so the 4dtv controls the polarity.

You are best off with the 8' or larger dish.

Ok. My dish is a 8 foot fiberglass dish (one solid dish) that I had since 1985. It has been a great dish, as far as receiving the c band siginals. I am using it for the c band FTA channels. I am hoping to receive BOTH c and ku FTA signals. I have a 15 degree LNB and a .6 LNBF for Ku on a Corotor feed. So far I haven't any luck receiving the Ku channels since the pole on this dish is off some, from the shifting of the ground.
When I get into my home that I am building I am moving both the c band system and FTA system to another location to where I will have excellent view of the satellites. I have been hoping to use the 8 foot dish for both c and ku fta signals.
I also have a 4DTV receiver.
So, you are saying that you are receiving both c and ku band FTA channels on your BUD?

 

[dem0nlord]

I have yet to see any success on Ku with the old fiberglass dishes. Supposedly the mesh inside them is not tight enough.

 

[voomvoom]

I have yet to see any success on Ku with the old fiberglass dishes. Supposedly the mesh inside them is not tight enough.

I watch DCII from X4 everyday on a 10' fiberglass dish. Had this dish since 79 or 80. Never had any problems with it. On the other hand, my 10' mesh dish doesn't hold up as well, but it's good enough. I primarily use a 1.2m dish for ku DVB, as it generally gets a better quality signal. Except at times like right now, with a torrential downpour occuring. The 1.2m has lost and/or dropped out the signal (G10), while the mesh still gets one. I rarely use the fiberglass for ku DVB signals, because it's mostly on G1 and secondly on X4, neither of which have any ku DVB to mention.

Al

 

[tdti1]

Older fiberglass dishes may not be to good for Ku-band, some have bad internal mesh, some should be ok, best thing to do is try, with 4dtv you can try to find Galaxy-4 Ku-band (X4) that is a strong satellite, I get it at 99 quality on my old beat up 10' mesh, well ok I can get it but my dish is off and I been to lazy to go fix it, but last year I had all Ku-band booming in on it

 

[GreatFTA]

Thanks, guys!
What I might do is to get a 8 foot or a 10 foot mesh BUD and use it to get the signals I want. I see a coupla of them close to me that isn't been used. First I will see what this fiberglass BUD will do. Odum was the company that made this dish.
Any suggestions from yall will be appreciated.

 

[Shawn95GT]

My .02,

When I put my 5' mesh up it didn't take me long at all to notice that Ku flat out sucks even compared to my 26x36 Channelmaster Dish.

I upgraded to an 8' mesh with the exact same mesh... Ku still sucked. It was usable on X4 but it was still marginal. The only Ku I saw boom on the mesh was the PBS channel on K5 (600?).

 

[FordPrefect]

So is there anyone out there that is using a 6’ dish, mash or fiberglass that is receiving both Ku band as well as C band…I almost feel like making one…what is the best material for a dish? What if the center of a 6’ dish is made up of solid material and the rest 2.5’ of some kind of mesh, will it work for both bands of course with an appropriate LNB like BSC621-2 C/Ku LNBF?

 

[Anole]

roll your own dish

If you're serious (or just nuts), there were some good discussions and long threads on an Australian satellite site.
I'm sure you won't have any trouble locating the info.

 

[FordPrefect]

If you're serious (or just nuts), there were some good discussions and long threads on an Australian satellite site.
I'm sure you won't have any trouble locating the info.

Thanks Anole...

I am serious; I am tired of looking for freebies in my neighborhood (still looking for a 6’ dish)...I think I can get a hold of aluminum material...just enough to make one of these dishes a combo solid/mesh...The website you provided gave me a clue, but I rather talk to a professional, a Satellite dish engineer to get some input, hate to waste money on something that would not yield results… I want C and KU band reception, with my home made Linux based receiver, PVR, etc…that is the bottom line…in the picture here just replace wood with aluminum (the inner solid part), and find some fine aluminum mesh that is porous (the outer mesh part), and very exact in size of wholes…and bingo great C and Ku band dish…

 

[Anole]

That inner solid part is mechanical, not reflective.
The entire dish design is covered with -mesh- or whatever the builder wishes.
Their design is not solid/mesh, but basically all of one type covering.
Of course, you -can- make it solid/mesh if you choose.

Building a decent dish would be a big project.
However, not beyond the capabilities of a dedicated hobbyist .

As for finding a real sattelite dish engineer, good luck with that.
Real ones are few and far between, and likely couldn't care less.
The only one I know designes military phased-array radar antennas.
Knowing him, you'd wind up with a flat, 6' square panel, on a -fixed- post, that tracked electronically, not by moving!

 

[GreatFTA]

Hmmmm...
Looks like I could take my 8 foot fiberglass dish and just paint the whole reflection area with some kind of metal based paint.
I was told if I use a mesh dish to make sure the mesh holes aren't big enough to push a pencil thru...
So if a fiberglass dish has a metallac surface painted on it, would THAT work???

 

[Tron]

Be careful about using highly reflective paint, you could cook the LNB

 

[FordPrefect]

That inner solid part is mechanical, not reflective. The entire dish design is covered with -mesh- or whatever the builder wishes.
Their design is not solid/mesh, but basically all of one type covering.
Of course, you -can- make it solid/mesh if you choose.

Sorry I did not make my self clear, I knew the back of the dish skeleton on the picture I provided is for mounting, as the person that designed it did, I read trough the whole thread you provided, a lot of excellent information. What I meant was I wonder if I make a parabolic dish where the inner center is made up of solid aluminum weld that part to the frame from the picture but make the frame from aluminum for strength and to prevent warping…and outer rim mesh attach it the inner solid as well as the frame underneath…I am not sure there would be any advantage using this type of design. I thought that because I am trying to get receive both Ku and C band I would need something big but no necessarily solid…since all are saying that Ku requires smooth surface…while C band does not need perfection, thus the mesh.

Building a decent dish would be a big project.
However, not beyond the capabilities of a dedicated hobbyist.

I know my limitation, and of course I have friends that can do most of the high tech machining, welding…I would have a friend cut the frame ribs on a water/sand cutter and then have that welded to the mounting base solid aluminum about 10” diameter, then find a aluminum parabola (the most inner part of the dish) already made that would be welded to the frame. The mesh can be either welded or attached with aluminum screws.

As for finding a real sattelite dish engineer, good luck with that.
Real ones are few and far between, and likely couldn't care less.
The only one I know designes military phased-array radar antennas.
Knowing him, you'd wind up with a flat, 6' square panel, on a -fixed- post, that tracked electronically, not by moving!

I think I will use the links provided by the members from FTA Satellite forum to find the best design or the most optimal design for both Ku and C band…it would be nice to be able to ask questions about shapes and other details of dish antennas from a dish antenna or a broadcast engineer…but as you said not many around. For my project I think I will order a 1.2m and BSC621-2 C/Ku LNBF just to get going with the project…

I love this dish, but I would make few more ribs, and of course all aluminum and add about two feet of mesh on the outer edge of the dish to increase surface area for C band…the inner part would be great for Ku…pride21 did a great job on this dish…and of course VK4BKP for starting the thread on dish design…

Dish design:
http://www.w1ghz.org/antbook/contents.htm
http://www.satellite-calculations.com/

 

[Anole]

crazy satellite dish ideas

Yea, seems like you're on sound footing, there.

I'd thought about making a 4ft, 5ft, or maybe 6ft dish last year, but finally sobered up.
Was considering aluminum (extrusions or tubing), wood, and then cardboard/foam for the skeleton, and aluminum foil for the surface (backed by something...mylar?)
Maybe even a solid backing of the full diameter, then put in the parabola, and then fill the gap between the two with expanding foam to hold the shape.
Also thought about a tubular ring around the periphery of the dish... aluminum tubing?
...to make it easy to handle.

Where I live, it's pretty dry, so it would have been easy to water-proof against what little moisture we have.

Then, I started brainstorming with a buddy, and we thought about making a mold in the ground (or on a pile of play-ground sand), and casting a dish.
The guns that chop up fiberglas rope and shoot it with resin came to mind.
To make a more stable mold for multiple dishes, we thought about using concrete over sand...

Also, I seriously considered an offset dish, instead of prime focus.
Great for ease of handling, and fine for ku, but not so easy for C-band hardware, I guess.

Let us know what you come up with.

 

[FordPrefect]

Yea, seems like you're on sound footing, there.

I'd thought about making a 4ft, 5ft, or maybe 6ft dish last year, but finally sobered up.
Was considering aluminum (extrusions or tubing), wood, and then cardboard/foam for the skeleton, and aluminum foil for the surface (backed by something...mylar?)
Maybe even a solid backing of the full diameter, then put in the parabola, and then fill the gap between the two with expanding foam to hold the shape.
Also thought about a tubular ring around the periphery of the dish... aluminum tubing?
...to make it easy to handle.

Where I live, it's pretty dry, so it would have been easy to water-proof against what little moisture we have.

Then, I started brainstorming with a buddy, and we thought about making a mold in the ground (or on a pile of play-ground sand), and casting a dish.
The guns that chop up fiberglas rope and shoot it with resin came to mind.
To make a more stable mold for multiple dishes, we thought about using concrete over sand...

Also, I seriously considered an offset dish, instead of prime focus.
Great for ease of handling, and fine for ku, but not so easy for C-band hardware, I guess.

Let us know what you come up with.

Thanks Anole, you provided me with a lot of interesting and valuable information…but this will be my future project…I decided to get going with a project that started me in FTA, Dreambox Reality I PVR, so Fortec star FS6D-180CM C/Ku prime focus Dish antenna is what I will purchase…to get started, see thread below...I will keep this thread going as well, I think this forum can use a thread that deals with home based dish construction great for people like me that live in cold weather climate…I have a lot to learn about FTA, and I have plenty of time to learn…I really appreciate all the people that have helped in some way to get me focused and pointed in the right direction.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=82392

 

[GreatFTA]

Be careful about using highly reflective paint, you could cook the LNB

Ok...
What kind of paint should I use? I thought about using a aluminum paint (flat based).
Any suggestions?

 

[FordPrefect]

MrFTAMan,

I am sorry for hijacking your thread, did not mean any disrespect…just trying to learn as much as possible about FTA…

 

[Tron]

Ok...
What kind of paint should I use? I thought about using a aluminum paint (flat based).
Any suggestions?

As long as its flat and not highly reflective. Sunlight would be focused into the LNBF and the heat might cause damage.