Mounting the SuperDish

[fv3]

Note I did not say they had to be metal, only that the reflective surface had to be "metalized". There are coatings and/or binders that will create a suitable reflective surface.

In hindsight, I maybe shouldn't have waved the "metal" word around....

 

[Tim Hanthorn]

I have the impression that the UberDish will actually be manufactured as either a 105 or a 121. So you will get either one or the other and it will not be switchable. (Note the spacing between 110 and 105 is different than the spacing between 119 and 121....)

You might be right about that. It would simplify things for the consumer, but it would also raise manufacturing and inventory issues for DISH.

If you look at the mock-ups of SuperDISH it looks like there is a standard Dishpro twin LNB with the third LNB held out to the side on a bracket. I assumed the dish would ship with one bracket to hold that LNB on one side for the 105 configuration, and a second bracket with a different geometry to hold it on the other side for 121.

All pure speculation on my part...

One thought about this set-up is that with the right switching, SuperDISH could become a 4 satellite solution...hmmm

Tim

 

[Stargazer]

I agree with you Tim. I think it just takes a different adapter for the SuperDish to get it to work with 121 instead of 105 and the 44 DishPro Plus switch to come out next year would be the solution for 105/110/119/121 SuperDish.

 

[fv3]

This seems to be the one they showed on the Charlie Chat: http://www.dishretailer.com/ts2003/4/MVC-003S.JPG
http://www.dishretailer.com/ts2003/4/MVC-009S.JPG

Note in the first picture how everything is all molded plastic with the appendage arm integrated into the larger twin LNB housing.

Of course, since this is an engineering mockup, it may have no relation to the final model.....

 

[Phil T]

I mounted my Dish 500 using an aluminium fence post pole in concrete. If the Superdish is a different diameter pipe, will I have to tear it out and start over or will there be a pipe adapter Dish will/can use?

 

[Tim Hanthorn]

That won't be a problem, Phil.

DBS Installers have been adapting to big dish and prime star poles for years. I've seen solutions that are home-made and ones sold by third parties. Somebody will quickly come up with a solution for this one. It sounds like you have a good solid mount - metal pole in concrete. You're going to be fine as long as you can see a little farther to the left to 105.

Tim

 

[Stargazer]

The SuperDish they showed on the last Charlie Chat did not have the lnbf's look the same as it does in those Team Summit pictures on Dishretailer.com website. It looked like it had a twin lnbf and a single lnbf next to it seperate, not all in one piece.

I also think there will be solutions seen for the small pole to a larger diameter for the SuperDish. I have seen people use U-bolts to bolt the mast mounts to the poles on the side if it was a different diameter. I dont know if this can be done with the SuperDish in all situations due to the increased weight the SuperDish will have. It will depend on how sturdy the pole is and how well the pole is in the ground. When using this method you may need to bore out the existing holes in the mast or drill new holes in order to get the U-bolts to go through the mast mount.

 

[fv3]

The SuperDish they showed on the last Charlie Chat did not have the lnbf's look the same as it does in those Team Summit pictures on Dishretailer.com website. It looked like it had a twin lnbf and a single lnbf next to it seperate, not all in one piece.....

I went back and looked at the pictures from the Charlie Chat posted in another thread, and I don't see how anyone can really tell anything about it from those.

However, keep in mind that the twin LNBF would be for 105 and 110 (if the model shown is really the UberDish 105), so the phyically westernmost (but viewing-wise easternmost) LNBF will be a Ku-FSS, not a DBS unit. So that's going to be a very odd Twin.....

This is why I want to see some official literature, docs, installation manuals, etc. for the UberDish. Right now, we are reduced to speculating based on 1) TV screen captures of a mystery object which may or may not be what we think it is, and 2) second- and third-hand reports of possibly inaccurate or confused comments from Dish executives to groups of retailers and installers....

 

[Tim Hanthorn]

Stay tuned...more info on SuperDISH was promised at the Baltimore Team Summit later this week. I believe, however that the twin would remain pointed at 110 and 119 with the ku-FSS LNB on one side to point at 105 (a little farther east) or on the other side to point at 121 (a little farther west). Ultimately, there could be two ku-FSS LNBs (one on each side of the twin) to get a look at all 4 satellites.

The way the geometry works on the dish 500 the LNB to the east looks at the satellite to the west (119) - the signals reflect off the dish across to the opposite side. I would expect SuperDISH to work the same.

I'm sure the gurus will have some answers for us in a few days.

 

[n0qcu]

Once the specs are out we will know, but I believe that on the 105 dish that 105 & 110 will be a "twin"
and on the 121 dish 121 & 119 will be a twin. The reason would be that 105 & 110 and 119 & 121 are too close to use seperate LNBF's on a single dish.

 

[fv3]

Stay tuned...more info on SuperDISH was promised at the Baltimore Team Summit later this week. I believe, however that the twin would remain pointed at 110 and 119 with the ku-FSS LNB on one side to point at 105 (a little farther east) or on the other side to point at 121 (a little farther west). Ultimately, there could be two ku-FSS LNBs (one on each side of the twin) to get a look at all 4 satellites.

The way the geometry works on the dish 500 the LNB to the east looks at the satellite to the west (119) - the signals reflect off the dish across to the opposite side. I would expect SuperDISH to work the same.

I'm sure the gurus will have some answers for us in a few days.

IF (and only if) the SuperDish shown on the Charlie Chat is the UberDish 105, as we have been led to believe, then the Twin consists of a Ku-FSS LNBF and a DBS LNBF. And that makes sense, since the spacing from 105 to 110 is smaller than the spacing from 110 to 119, also matching the spacing of the LNBFs on the various mockup UberDishes I have seen pictures of.....

We want details!

 

[Tim Hanthorn]

I see what you guys are saying about satellite spacing, etc. As I think about the two obviously different mock ups we have seen, it looks like DISH has taken a look at both scenarios we are discussing (one appears to have a traditional looking twin and the other has that oddball one).

The big meeting is on Thursday, so we should be able to end all this speculation in a couple of days.

 

[JohnnyB40]

You have easier access to the dish when it is on the ground vs. the roof. It would suck to have to go on the roof to get the ice and snow off your dish in the winter or to repair it if needed.

and considering the timing of this offer winter may come in play
why does Dish always time these offers with winter??? tired of freezing my buttt off when they could have just offered this a bit earlier !

 

[Stargazer]

And then the trees start blooming and blocking the signals on some of these SuperDishes when next Spring comes.

Couldn't they make the adapter slot for 105 allow that lnbf to point more towards its focal point a certain direction rather than being spaced closer to the 110 lnbf?

 

[fv3]

....Couldn't they make the adapter slot for 105 allow that lnbf to point more towards its focal point a certain direction rather than being spaced closer to the 110 lnbf?

No, not really.


For an alternative to the UberDish that is not a torus, check this out:
http://www.vepo.nl/triax_multidish.pdf

This has a little bit about offset fed antennas:
http://www.mlesat.com/antennas.html

 

[Guest]

Mounting to side of tower?

This will be my first dish and I will get it professionally installed but I'm guessing I need to do some prep work first. I have my doubts that an installer would know what to do with where I want the dish mounted. I have a triangular antenna tower next to my house that I want the dish mounted to the side of. The tubing for the 3 legs are made of 1" OD tubing so I've bought four 1" saddle clamps. I've never seen a dish mount but I'm guessing they have 4 mounting holes in a rectangular pattern. I'm thinking that I can mount a vertical 10"X14" .250 aluminum plate vertically using the saddle clamps or just mount a couple of strips of aluminum channel stock horizontally instad of the plate. The installer could drill the dish mounting holes. One of the sides of the tower faces due north so I figure I'll do the mounting on one of the other two sides. Any thoughts? is 10"X14" likely to be too small?

 

[Stargazer]

Make sure there are no trees closeby that would block the signal. That size of plate should work just fine. I have a tower just as you describe by my house. The only thing I would worry about is that lightening would be more likely to strike it depending on how high up your tower is, even though the dish itself will be made of plastic/fiberglass.

 

[gpflepsen]

... even though the dish itself will be made of plastic/fiberglass.

Really? The superdish won't be steel like all the previous dishes?

 

[Lightnin1]

The superdish is no heavier than a Starband dish. The SB dish actually weighs alot more. The mounts that came with these are universal wall/roof mounts and are heavy duty. I have done 52 SB installs, 10 of them were on roofs. If it is done right, it can be installed on roofs or walls and be very reliable.

... even though the dish itself will be made of plastic/fiberglass.

Really? The superdish won't be steel like all the previous dishes?

No. It is just basically a starband/primestar type dish which are made mostly from fiberglass

 

[fv3]

According to Scott, the type 1's will be metal, the Type 2's are fiberglass...
http://www.satelliteguys.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=533

Apparently there are different production runs and designs....