Odd looking dish.

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swampman

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jul 22, 2006
503
3
South Louisiana
Saw this one a few miles from my home and had to get pics of it. :rolleyes: I don't think I've ever seen one like it. Noticed the mesh actually wraps around the outer ring! And what kind of mount it that? Anyone know who made this dish?
 

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What you have is the cadillac of all dishes ever manufactured.

Where do you live in South Louisiana? :D

I have relatives in Abita Springs.

If you don't want it, I'll be over to pick it up.

By the way. It is called a Birdview. See my avatar!!

Fred
 
What you have is the cadillac of all dishes ever manufactured.

Where do you live in South Louisiana? :D

I have relatives in Abita Springs.

If you don't want it, I'll be over to pick it up.

By the way. It is called a Birdview. See my avatar!!

Fred

LOL...so THATS what a Birdview is! In the last couple of months, I've looked at alot of dishes, but have never seen one like it til now.

BTW...its not mine, but wish it was.
And Abita springs is a couple of hours away. ;)
 
OK guys. For someone who couldn't recognize a Birdview, ;) what makes this dish so special? Is it the construction? It's receiving capabilities? Looks?
 
Read this thread that I wrote!

All about Birdview and Dish Hunting.

It is one of the most precisely built parabolic curves of any dish out ther, and there is no guess work in where the feed-horn should be set, and the motor/mount is built like a swiss watch.

It sucks in signal like a thirsty man after water. :D

Fred


Also the Signal Quality as stated in a different thread is that compared of a 10 footer, even though the dish is 8.5.
 
swampman go get that dish! Great pics too, I would love to know what type/brand camera made those pictures too.
 
I'll go with a hunch.... KODAK P712 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA


Digi I would say you're psychic! :D

turbosat, digi hit it! 12X optical zoom / 7.1 megapixel, superfast shuttle speed will freeze the blades on a helicopter(literally)! Well, not literally...but you know what I mean. :)

turbosat I think I may make an attempt at it. Hope it goes better than the 1.8 meter channel master that fell through. :(
 
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I'd advise to pull out all stops to acquire that Birdview. If you're going to have a BUD, this is the one you want.

Check out Fred's posts, they'll pretty much walk you thru refreshing, installing, and tweaking it.

I had to leave mine in Arkansas when I moved to Florida about eight years ago, and I'm still mourning my loss. During my time with it, it survived ice storms and tornados and never missed a beat. You could lash your house, family, and vehicles to it during hurricane season and not worry.

One good tweaking was all it took, never required any other tuning, but I was constantly rewiring, greasing, painting, cleaning.....you know the story. Bumped my head on it with the riding mower and suffered a "lost time" incident as a result.

The HH mount is a real piece of work. I'd compare it to a "Swiss Watch" for quality of design, construction, and operation. It's a true HH that'll go 90 degrees to the earth in both directions.

Harold
 
Digi I would say you're psychic! :D

turbosat, digi hit it! 12X optical zoom / 7.1 megapixel, superfast shuttle speed will freeze the blades on a helicopter(literally)!

turbosat I think I may make an attempt at it. Hope it goes better than the 1.8 meter channel master that fell through. :(

I cheated... It's in the EXIF of the picture. Download the picture to your desktop. Right click it, hit properties, hit the summary tab, hit advanced. It will show you everything you need to know about the picture.
 
I cheated... It's in the EXIF of the picture. Download the picture to your desktop. Right click it, hit properties, hit the summary tab, hit advanced. It will show you everything you need to know about the picture.


And I thought you were psychic. Pffft! :D
 
Thanks for the info (exif? lol didnt think of that) I'm looking around for cameras and the quality looked so good I had to ask. I had my hands on a Sony Mavica I think it was called back in 2001 and the quality looked similar to me. That one was about four thousand bucks I think back then.
Good luck on the Birdview, I would almost trade my Chevy for a birdview!
 
OK I went to talk to the owner of the Birdview I spotted yesterday(mesh). The lady of the house said it wasnt used in years(since they got the mini dish), but was working fine when last used. I asked her if she still had the receiver, she said she thought she still had "both of them". :D She said she didnt really see keeping it, however she would have to run it by her son who works offshore. Ugh. He'd be back next week. And she took my phone number.

On my way back home guess what I spotted? Another Birdview! A solid. I pulled into the driveway. An elderly woman lived there and she said her husband died about a year ago, and had no reason to keep that thing. She thought the receiver may be in the attick. But wasnt sure. Her son-in-law was coming by next week and she'd ask him to look for it.

Here's my delima. Which to choose? I think I actually prefer the mesh as it seems more visually pleasing in my back yard. Not to mention less weight than the solid. (of course if the solid is aluminum, maybe not that big a difference). Any advantages/disadvantages to either one?

On a side note... the mounting posts on these Birdviews are MASSIVE! Looks like maybe 5-5.5" diameter! Here are a few pics of both.
 

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Here's my delima. Which to choose? I think I actually prefer the mesh as it seems more visually pleasing in my back yard. Not to mention less weight than the solid. (of course if the solid is aluminum, maybe not that big a difference). Any advantages/disadvantages to either one?

On a side note... the mounting posts on these Birdviews are MASSIVE! Looks like maybe 5-5.5" diameter! Here are a few pics of both.

Sweet LOS on that one pic!
 
Great Swampman!!

That's fantastic!!!

Take them both. The parts will interchange in the mount, and you might need some of them.

I think the solid might be a little better on Ku, but the mesh will be fantastic if you can imagine anything better. :D

The original Birdview receivers are worthless. Won't even work with regular lnbs. What is on the feed-horn is an LNA I think. Uses BNC connectors, so again it is worthless. You can have the center hole of the original scaler ring milled out about 30 thousands of an inch all the way round, and a co-rotor will fit in there perfectly. Set the F/D ratio at .42, and you are good to go. :D

If you are going to put it in the ground, you will want to dig up the original post because it is really a tube, and not regular pipe. There are things welded onto the inside that allow for a bolt to come in from the top of the cap to tighten the mount on the pole, and a plate where the bolts on the side of the cap are for tightening without crushing.

You won't find any 6" schedule 40 pipe. The closest I could come if 5-5/8" OD.

As far as heavy, the solid might be a few pounds heavier than the mesh, but not much. My wife, 16 year old daughter, and 12 year old son stood mine up vertically almost for mounting on the dish. Not really heavy, about 75 lbs. maybe.

Both are fantastic finds, and easy to get to. I still have a solid pending permission that will be a bear to get down. :D But worth it none-the-less.

Go get them guy!!!

I am proud of you. It takes a special kind of personality to have the cajones to actually walk up to a strangers door and ask them the questions necessary to walk away with a free dish. You are one of them!! :D

Congratulations!!

Fred
 
YES great find
i agree get em both set one up and give the other to one of your buds here :D
lol
i think the solid will draw a couple of more points SQ wise but as for looks the charcoal grey one might be more pleasing in the yard. the white is a loud dish
i need to go ask about the one i found... they said give them a few weeks
 
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