Got a bigger dish

[armadillo_115]

Woohoo! Picked up a 10 ft Channel Master mesh , button hook today.Dish washed up nice at the car wash and looks almost new once I got the green moss off. Only one 'Z' shaped tear in the mesh about 6 inches long. (And a hole the size of a hammer head where I slipped while beating a mount ring bolt out. ) Both easy fixes.Mesh is attached with a bizillion screws...no cheezy clips and slots.
I forgot to do a string test before taking it apart,but I'm not expecting warpage.It doesn't appear to have ever been hit anywhere.
The steel mounting ring is rusty of course and will need some sanding and primer/paint but is still strong.Pivot bolt moves freely,unlike my current dish.
No name visible on the actuator but a patent number was registered to Venture MFG.Outer tube is 2 inches,inner tube is about 1.75 inches.Outer tube measures 32'' long.Only other identification I found was 'Super Sensor' written inside of the electrical housing box.Hopefully actuator will still work or be repairable.This actuator makes my 24' actuator look like a toy.
The owner was super nice and even sprayed all bolts with PB Blaster 2 days prior.NO bolts rung off and all are reusable! Daughter and I broke it down into quarters and loaded it in 1.5 hrs.Much easier job than I was expecting.
Now I need some good weather ... and I'll be running with you big dawgs! lol

No new photos yet.Here's the one from the ad:

 

[fred555]

Congrats on the new BUD! Post plenty of pictures when you enter the setup phase.

In 6 -8 weeks you will receive your special secret membership card in the mail now that you are eligible:

 

[armadillo_115]

Something else I forgot besides the string test : I meant to number the quarter sections before taking them apart.
Will that be a problem during reassembly?

Also,out of curiosity: Does it matter which way the button hook is turned? I have a photo showing how it was before.
Thanks y'all

 

[waylew]

The panels shouldn't really matter,they're supposed to be all the same.I like to put my button hooks with the "hump" to the top,just so there's no chance of trapping water and freezing.

 

[mmewrench]

Congratulations on the new dish and welcome to the club (you get a membership ring when you upgrade to a 12 footer). It will give you many hours of pleasure (and a bit of frustration now and then). You may want to replace the old fasteners with stainless steel. The stainless will not react with the aluminum and in ten years they will come apart just as easily as they went together without the PB blaster.

 

[armadillo_115]

I'm still keeping an eye out for a free 12 footer someday,but it isn't a priority if this 10 footer works as expected.I looked at a free mesh dish today that appears to be 12 ft or larger ... but it is like 20ft above ground.
( Only viewed from a distance since owner was not home) I don't think I want to tackle one at that height.I might find another easier to remove.It did look NICE though.

Don't want to do much of anything the next several days....winter has arrived here.Gonna be 11 degrees here in the morning.Possibly 8 inches of snow Friday and Saturday.

 

[migold]

Congratulations!!! Good Job !! waylew has a good idea for the button hook. Mine is off to one side, and I think others I've seen are also this way. Could just be the way the original installer put them.

 

[KJ6EO]

Congradulations .... a nice score. Besides any other awards, you should receive a Brownie Button too . Some TP's are weak, you'll really enjoy the 10 footer. Pitch that servo horn and get yourself an orthomode feed with two Norsat 8115's. We should hear you loud and clear now on LV-426

 

[mmewrench]

I still like my servo. for the cost of two 8115's you can buy a 3120 (norsat PLL). The servo takes a second to switch polarity but you wont notice that because the dish is still moving. If you want Ku on the dish, The money you save on the corotor versus the bullseye feed plus the lnbs will buy you top quality norsat pll's and the ASC1 to power them (maybe even a new receiver).

 

[armadillo_115]

Ortho...servo...corotor...I haven't learnt that foreign language yet.lol
I'll stick with my Titanium C1PLL for now.I almost had a stroke when I looked at prices on Norsat and Chapparal websites. Mama Armadillo would dent a frying pan over my head if she caught me even looking at those.I sold here the "Let's get a Bud and we can drop D----tv" idea to save money.

Maybe add a KU lnbf on the side later. It'd be fun to play with Ku,but I'm really not impressed with what's available on KU.Can y'all recommend a good/cheap KU lnbf to mount on the side? I believe it needs to be a polar KU lnbf?

Or possibly a CK1S C/KU LNBF.But I'm not sure about the DRO on the C band.I need more knowledge before I'll even know what's good.

Right now I mostly wish I had a warm building to work on the dish.Nothing is going to get done on it without some warmer weather.BRRR

 

[waylew]

Right now I mostly wish I had a warm building to work on the dish.Nothing is going to get done on it without some warmer weather.BRRR

Oh hell,I put my first dish together in February,during a blizzard,in my driveway.That was 20 years ago,would I do it now,hell no!

 

[fred555]

The 6 foot dish in my avatar was put together inside the house last winter and the cat made a fort out of it for a while,
as it laid in the floor of one of the bigger rooms for a week or two.

Then I put it up in a blizzard. Quickly. Very Quickly.

 

[armadillo_115]

The priming and painting I will have to do is the biggest concern,temperature wise

 

[armadillo_115]

...Can y'all recommend a good/cheap KU lnbf to mount on the side? I believe it needs to be a polar KU lnbf?

Or possibly a CK1S C/KU LNBF.But I'm not sure about the DRO on the C band.I need more knowledge before I'll even know what's good...

Any ideas for the above?

 

[armadillo_115]

...Can y'all recommend a good/cheap KU lnbf to mount on the side? I believe it needs to be a polar KU lnbf?

Or possibly a CK1S C/KU LNBF.But I'm not sure about the DRO on the C band.I need more knowledge before I'll even know what's good...

Any ideas for the above?

 

[fred555]

Any ideas for the above?

Most of the good prime focus Ku gear has to be ordered from Europe. I have a 6 foot prime focus Ku dish presently.
I spent month researching what to do.

I have tried this:
http://gotcband.com/collections/ku-lnbf/products/sl1p-geosatpro-single-standard-ku-prime-focus
seemed to work OK and the price is good.

But I bought another dish that had a Corotor II, a C/Ku feedhorn.
I am presently using the Ku side of the Corotor II on my 6 ' fixed non motorized prime focus Ku dish.

 

[mmewrench]

hmmm. Prime focus means that if your lnb is not centered and focused precisely at the center of the dish you lose signal. Try that new titanium combo lnbf. You can be the first to review it.

 

[FaT Air]

Any ideas for the above?

Think I'd mount the Prime focus Ku LNBF in the prime focus and offset the C band LNBF to the side. My thinking is the Ku wavelength is shorter than C . Think a longer wavelength may be more forgiving when offset.

 

[armadillo_115]

Lots of good ideas,folks.Thanks! Still considering all suggestions.

I just noticed the double post at #14 and #15.Don't know how that happened ...both posts in the same minute.Makes me look impatient.

 

[armadillo_115]

Progress report: I ground off the rust as best I could from the mounting system today and primed/painted it.Hope to do the same to the buttonhook tomorrow.I will not paint the parabolic now,it looks ok as is.Maybe I'll spray it a bit in the spring... while mounted.
Had to hoe away the icy snow and level it down first.Then put down some straw and plywood so I wouldn't be standing in the snow while working.Air temperature wasn't bad.

Need to replace both mount bushings.All bolts are reusable so far.

Still not sure how/where I will reassemble the dish yet. Probably have to wait until the snow is gone and the mud dries up.