Question about wind and digital KU signal

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you would have to make a bracket and mount it at the top or bottom, a flat 3 or 4 inch steel sheet (plate) should do it( would have to be fairly long maybe 4 or 5 ft.). would probably be able to mount it to the buds mesh panels where they bolt together. would probably have to stick up ( or down) 18inches to make enough clearance for the small dish and you would have to either bend it to gain the correct elevation angle or build a bracket ( so you could adjust). sounds like a good tinker project.
 
Sounds interesting, and maybe something for the future, but I don't think right now would be a good time.

My wife already thinks I am nuts going around and collecting dishes.

Fred
 
Hey guys, I have been making phone calls, made a few drives through the countryside yesterday talking with some folks, joined freecycle, and then sat back and waited for the phone to ring.

God has surely blessed my scrounging, as this is the first of the many finds I will end up with.

I was referred to an old Primestar dealer yesterday by a friend in the business, called him to make inquiries. He said he had some stuff in the loft of his garage, and would have to look at it and call me back. The following is all he had left, and I cleaned it out.

2 - 84e 40x30" Primestar dishes, brand new and still in the box with plastic wrapper on them and instruction manual. BTW the LNB's have two outputs, one for vertical and one for horizontal, and no identification on it other than a simple number 989080731.
6 - Channel Master non-penetrating pole mounts 36x36" with 26.5" upright still in the box.
2 - 72 inch ground poles, brand new.

Here are a couple of pics:
new-84e.jpg 84e-label.jpg non-pen-roof-mnt.jpg

I gave him $60.00 for all of it. $10.00 each for the 2 dishes, and $5.00 each for everything else. I feel so fortunate to make this great find.

This will make everyone sick. He told me that about a year after Primestar went out of business, he had tried to sell some of the big round 41x44" metal dishes, and ended up hauling off a 2-ton truck load of them to the dump just to make room in his garage. This was all he had left. :(

I do have a couple of questions:

1. If you look closely at the picture of the dish there is a little piece of gray plastic on top of the plastic bag. It is a piece of the visor on the feed horn that has broken off sometime during the long time of storage, movement around, etc. That piece was still in the box, but the other one is broken too at the same spot, and I guess that piece fell out of the box at one time or the other, because it is missing.

Will that little portion of the visor affect the signal caught by the dish?

2. The next two are about the mount.

The mast on the mount is 26.5" tall. Will that be high enough for me to motorize this dish and it not hit the roof, or blocks when it is all the way over?

3. The current mast on the mount is 1/16" steel, whereas the ground poles are 1/8" steel. Should I replace the current mast with a piece of the heavier pole and move it up to maybe 36"?

4. Will one section of this mount hold this dish at 36" with an SG2100 motor on it?

If not, I can bolt two of them together into one and adapt the mast to both. making it 6x3'.

I have to go look at a metal dish tomorrow afternoon that is supposed to be over 40" round. We'll see when I get there. The guy wants $50.00 for it, and again we'll have to see how much I think it is worth to me.

If you can answer any of the questions above, I would appreciate it very much. Am very close to putting up a dish now, just have to order a motor and a UHF remote control, run some coax, and I will be in business.

Thanks, Fred
 
Thanks BK,

I know where there is another used 84e. I found it on an office complex that had all 3 units vacant, but the owners number was on the sign and I called explaining that P*star had gone out of business etc, and offered to take it down for her, she said, no I don't think so, so I politely told her that if she ever changed her mind, to be sure and call me. That was on Tuesday, so I knew there was something better ahead. When the door closes in front of you, turn sideways, and there will be a better door open for you there. :)

I am probably going to keep everything for right now. I could put up an instant dish farm. :D
 
This truely is your LUCKY day Linuxman, first you get a BRAND new Primestar and you get to talk to me on the phone. It just does not get much better than that :)

Only kidding of course, but it really is a GREAT find.

All the BEST!
 
that was a good find. hope you have a lot of fun setting it up and getting things running like you want. seems like with a little bit of persistance those primestars can be found.
the broken rain guard can be replaced, it mainly helps keep the rain off but other products can do the same.
have fun
 
Hi George,

I was hoping that is was only a rain protector. I think a little Rain Shield might take it's place and do just as good a job.

Yes, there are a few of these 40x30's left, but it will take persistence and determination to find them. As FTA gets more popular, they will become more and more scarce.

Fred
 
Fred
I don't have my lnbs here with me but if i remember correctly the rain guard actually covers/ blocks the vent hole area ( breathe) for the main lnb plastic enclosure. From looking at it i don't think theres enough broke off to worry about.
but a coating of that rain stuff surely wouldn't hurt.post us some pics when you get it setup.
have a great day & weekend
 
Thanks George,

I think I can find a piece of plastic from a round container about the same diameter, cut it to approx the same size and shape, then glue it on, and be good as new with the Rain Shield.

I probably won't start the actual setup until next weekend. Have to prep everything first.

You have a good weekend too.

Fred
 
i made a cheap bracket out of the base mount for my round P*. then i made one out of a dtv dish mount. it was actually a phase III mount wich gave it tilt ability (no need for a motor mount. but i did like the way it sleaved up to the motor.
another easy way to mount it on a motor would be to order a bracket from one of the sponsers. like this
http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Fortec-Star/Dishes/FC090CM-36-inch-offset-ku-band-satellite-dish-antenna.htm

the one on the left is like the phase III mount with out tilt
the one on the right would work but would have to work on bolting it to the dish
and of course you could build you own.

have a great weekend
 
When I got the new P*Star 40x30, out of the box, I took it across the street to a guys that ships UPS all the time, and weighed the entire dish with all the bolts, LNB, holder arm, and stock unmodified mount, and the whole weight was only 20 Lbs. That weight includes everything that would be hanging off the motor.

I weighed the mount by itself just to see, and it was only 4.5 Lbs., so I am going to try it by just inverting the stock mount and shimming it with a piece of 2" split PVC, and see what happens.

From all I have read here, the motor will handle 27 lbs., so I should be fine.

Fred
 
I still haven't gotten an answer to my questions about the non-penetrating mount that I posted a picture of in post #26 above.

The stock mast on the mount is 26.5" tall.

Will that be tall enough for me to motorize this 40x30" Primestar dish and it not hit the roof or blocks when it is all the way over to the East or West? Especially if I try to put a bigger dish say the 41x43" oval Primestar if I ever come up with one? Or Maybe a 1.2M at some point in the future. Half of 43" is approx 22". Half of 48" is 24"

The current mast on the mount is 1/16" steel, whereas the ground poles are 1/8" steel. I am replacing that now with the 1/8" thick steel pipe from a ground pole. While I am replacing it, do I need to go up to say 30" or 36" high?

To let you know where I am coming from, the specs on my 10 footer call for a 56" distance from the ground to the cap, for the dish to clear the ground when H to H. That is less than half of the width of the dish.

I think the 36x36" platform is big and heavy enough to take care of the added length. I also picked up an 1/8" thick piece of scrap steel plate 36x36", and have it bolted to the bottom of the frame. I picked up 8 concrete blocks as well. The plate alone is 50Lbs., and the blocks weigh 40Lbs each.

Give me your thoughts and opinions about the height of the mast.

Thanks, Fred
 
Hi Fred, not having a mount anything like that, I don't know. But, in guessing, I would have to say it should depend on your line of sight, compared with the angle of the roof, and which side of the pole the dish would be on as opposed to the roof. And, you should need a pole to be at least more (in length) than half of the size of the dish. With 40" being the largest figure, I would say, at least more than 20". If the dish is facing into an angled roof (or will possibly will turn into it with a motor), it might would need to be longer. I'm fairly sure that mount should be OK, on most roof's.

Al

Edit: Of course I wasn't even thinking about the cinder blocks that would take away another 7.5". But, I still think the mount will probably work?
 
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Fred
I'm only guessing at this, i figure when most primestar dealers were setting these things up they already had a supply of post that would fit into the shaft of that pen mount. so if you have a fencepost handy see if the pen post will receive it . probablt any 2 3/8 post will fit it. that just me guessing. Check the dish pole mount with it they are probably the same size and both receive a 2 3/8 pole.

also height is a personal pref. most people like to consider things like lower is great (or better for windy areas) i mount higher so i can mow around / under and we don't often get the high winds in this area.but there is going to be a limit ( to height) cause only some many blocks on that pen and you want it to be stable.

so i think with that light primestar 6' or or higher isn't going to be unreasonable ( just harder to work on) lol lol and with the bigger dishes 4 or 5 foot range is probable going to be safe.
 
Hi Al and George,

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

It will be mounted on my roof. I have a flat roof, and the building is 125' x 50', so it will be mounted up there, and LOS is not going to be an issue I don't think.

I have a good solid 2-3/8" galvanized pole that I am replacing the stock cheapy pole with on the non-penetrating mount.

I just wanted to make sure to get it up high enough so that when it is swung over all the way to the East, or West, that the edge of the dish doesn't dig into the roof or the blocks on the mount. I don't want to go any higher that nescessary as wind is the problem, and I am trying to solve it with this dish. :D

Thanks, Fred
 
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