Hughes Satellite Internet Dish w/o Arm

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ziggy1222

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Aug 18, 2008
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I purchased a Hughes Satellite Internet Dish without the LNB arm at a garage sale for $10. It is a .74M dish measuring about 34" by 28" with a 2 3/8" skewable mount. I am planning to "southern engineer" a LNB arm. Does anyone have one of these; any ideas as to where I can get a PDF manual for this dish? I'm looking for the length of the arm from the face of the dish and how high up does the LNB mount from this arm. Of course this dish was used to receive and transmit...I'm only looking to use it for reception. Thanks.
 

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When you have a really nice and well marked mount like that, there is one solution most wouldn't think about...

Get a plumb pole and stick the mount+dish on it.
Aim the contraption to the azimuth of your true south (or any nearby) satellite.
Now, dial the mount to the elevation of that same bird.
HOLD your LNB out where the focus should be, 'till you find the signal.
You may want to whip up some temporary LNB holder, just to get started.
Once you have the location, document it, and build a final LNB mount.

hot trick: you -can- try using a DBS satellite & LNB, just to get into the ball park.
Once you're close, fine tuning with a lower powered FSS bird 'n LNB won't be so challenging.
 
What you have on that dish is a special mount for a tripod, used by truckers and RVers. It is worth a lot more than the dish itself.
 
"What you have on that dish is a special mount for a tripod, used by truckers and RVers. It is worth a lot more than the dish itself."

I bought it from a guy who lived out of his RV...he said they now use Wifi which I guess is becoming more prevalent at parks. Are you referring to just the pod sized aluminum mount with the 2" pole welded to it or everything but the reflector itself? Perhaps I should put that part on ebay.
 
The pod sized aluminum mount with the 2" pole welded to it. But the elevation adjuster is also specifically designed for portable use, but I am not sure if it is "universal" to all Hughes dishes.

In any case, you should be able to easily sell it for a profit.
 
trucker/camper:

Oh, I totally missed that!
The adapter moves the dish back over the tripod, to make it more stable.
Below are a couple of pictures of a similar unit in operation.
(originally posted long ago, by another member)
 

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I have what looks to be the same dish for my HughesNet, just with a pole mount. I will try to take some measurements in the next few days.




PC160216.jpg
 
"I have what looks to be the same dish for my HughesNet, just with a pole mount. I will try to take some measurements in the next few days."

That would be great. From your picture it looks as though the two square tubes fit inside the cast aluminum mount. Could you give me the length of the square tube from the front lip of the mount to the end...in other words the length of what I can see as a tan colored square tube. I am thinking about using some angle iron from a bed frame which will go on the outside of the cast aluminum mount...I will have to add 3" to the length you give me to have my angle iron reach to the back of the aluminum mount.

From your picture it looks as though the front of your feedhorn is about in line with the ends of the square tubes...is that correct?

Also can you give me the approximate distance from the center of your feedhorn to the lowest corner of the two square tubes...that would correspond to where the corners of my angle iron would be.

One last thing would you say that your feedhorn is "aimed" such that it is parallel to the square tubes or is it aimed to hit the top bolt of the mount on the dish.

Thanks for all your help.
 
That would be great. From your picture it looks as though the two square tubes fit inside the cast aluminum mount. Could you give me the length of the square tube from the front lip of the mount to the end...in other words the length of what I can see as a tan colored square tube.

Yes, the tubes fit inside the mount. From the front lip of the mount to the end of the tube is about 24-3/8".

From your picture it looks as though the front of your feedhorn is about in line with the ends of the square tubes...is that correct?
Not quite. It is a little bit closer to the dish than that.

Also can you give me the approximate distance from the center of your feedhorn to the lowest corner of the two square tubes...that would correspond to where the corners of my angle iron would be.
About 5-3/8 inches, if I understand your question correctly.

One last thing would you say that your feedhorn is "aimed" such that it is parallel to the square tubes or is it aimed to hit the top bolt of the mount on the dish.
It is aimed toward the top bolt of the mount, which appears to be the center of the dish. Distance from this bolt to the face of the feedhorn is about 26".
 
Outstanding...thanks for the extra photo. You have given me some great data points to try to replicate the position of your feedhorn. Happy Holidays !!
 
Yeah...I already thought about that. Give me some time for the "southern engineering" that's going to be involved here. I got to figure out how to get the feedhorn clamp to swivel and aim it toward the center of the dish.
 
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