Rescued two Prodelins, need help otherwise

[ThisBUDs4U]

I went by the Ford dealership on Friday and saw the two satcom dishes that were on the roof weren't standing there anymore. I'm thinking about going C-band anyway, and had a few minutes to kill, so I decided, why not? I had nothing to lose by trying.

So, I went inside and asked about them, was taken out back where they were, and got a buddy of mine to help pick them up and get them out from out back. They're at his place right now. One is a 7ft 1.8m Prodelin offset dish, and the other is a 4ft offset dish, also appears to be made by Prodelin. I'm wondering if these dishes can be used for C-band programming, the digital channels and if I can buy the pay channels and be able to get them with these too. Also I'm wondering how to make repairs on them, where I can find the mounting and feed hardware for them that way I can be able to use one or the other?

 

[bpalone]

I am not familiar with those dishes. But, you will be asked for pictures. So..., maybe you can by your friends and take some if don't already have them. Then post them up here and someone can help you better then.

Good job of saving them from Mr. Scapper, all to many have died that terrible death.

And, last but certainly not least.... WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!!!

p.s. The larger one will do some C band, but there may be some things you won't get. The smaller one would too, but there would be a great deal you wouldn't get.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

Without taking any pictures, which I will have to do anyway to cover the extent of the damage on the larger dish, the closest cross-reference that I can do is the General Dynamics 1184, and the 1123. The 1.8m dish shows signs that it was used as a sled. It was loaded up with the other dish and all of their hardware and launched off of the roof to land and dump into the scrap container below. The container was for the metal parts so they took the reflectors back out. I can see one spot where the end on one of the mounts took a bite into it upon impact. Something it landed on from behind was sticking up and punched a hole close to the middle the size of an orange. The fragment still hung but the overlaid mesh under the finish broke along the edges. I have a baseball size chip on the outer edge. I might not be able to provide any more input until the weekend at the earliest.

 

[bpalone]

If the mounts are not with the dishes, could it be that they are in the Bin you mention? If that is the case, it would a great benefit to go back and make deal with them for the hardware. Would probably have to at least pay them scrap value for it, and it would be REALLY worth more for you. Life will be much easier if you can.

I hope that I understand what you wrote above correctly.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

If I knew who owns the container then I could get it for scrap value once everything was offloaded back to base. The tough part about it is the container isn't sitting just inside the gate. I really dont know exactly where the container is. Then I could catch a glimpse of who it and it's content belong to on the side of it. The other challenge being that this is a dealer we're talking about, and they do all of their in-house and warranty repairs there, that it is likely filled to the brim. So being able to get it is one matter. And finding it undamaged is going to be another. I know General Dynamics bought out Prodelin a while ago so I wonder if they would still have parts for these dishes.

 

[bpalone]

Well you could look at pictures of mounts and even probably find some to look at in person, then fabricate your own mount(s). But, you might be time and money ahead to locate another dish in your area you could take down and relocate to your home. Hopefully someone else will chime in here that would have an idea for you. Get some pictures, someone might even have an old mount laying around that would work.

Unless they blue wrenched the mounts, they could probably be repaired. So, don't throw in the towel just yet. But, pictures will help us to help you.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

There is an identical 7ft dish on the roof of the Tops supermarket near the dealership. I believe that one is still in service. If I can get a picture of the Prodelin on that rooftop. That is, if. I think it can only be seen from the red light. I'll try something anyway. Other pictures I've seen of the same dish look like the mount is made of channel iron.

 

[beavs2112]

Also I'm wondering how to make repairs on them, where I can find the mounting and feed hardware for them that way I can be able to use one or the other?
I know General Dynamics bought out Prodelin a while ago so I wonder if they would still have parts for these dishes.

If I were you I'd call GD Satcom and ask if they sell parts to the public. AFAIK they still make this dish so I'd bet they have parts for them in North america. http://www.gdsatcom.com/index.php
Just remember your dish is a VSAT product.
Or call these guys http://www.satcomresources.com/
or maybe these guys http://www.satellitedish.com look on their website under lnb-bracket/adaptor they sell feedarms so maybe they sell mounts also.

I wanted parts for my Channel Master offset dish last year & I setup an account. I had the parts in three days from Skyware Global.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

Awesome! If I can repair the dish then I'll give it a shot.

 

[spongella]

Recyclers and garbage companies usually have their name and number on the garbage container and if you can get that, you can call them.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

I don't think I'm going to worry about those mounts. Those mounts are stationary polar mounts intended to be pointed at just a single bird and left there. That kind of mount is common and I can get them anywhere. I'm going to keep my eyes open until I come across some channel iron and a tracking polar mount used on other BUDs. I'll have to be able to make the repairs to this one dish before I get too excited doing anything else.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

Alright then, here we are!

Here's both of them. Hopefully I can fix the bigger one. The smaller one isn't near as bad.

Any thoughts? What's the best way to repair these?

 

[bpalone]

Hopefully someone with more experience than me will chime in, too. The big dish is probably salvagable, but will require good patching to fix the broken area in the reflecting surface. It isn't all that big, so probably wouldn't cause to much signal loss. The smaller one, looks ready to go after get a mount made, including a holder for the LNBF. I am assuming it was an offset. I think I would build a fixed mount first, just to be sure I liked what it gave me, then maybe upgrade it to a polar. You have a lot of work ahead of you and assuming you enjoy fabricating things you will have fun.

Do search for finding the focal point on an offset dish, both here and google. You will find how to measure and calculate it. It is pretty much just a good starting point, but gives close enough to build to with adjustments for fine tuning. If you could get the mounts out of the scrap container, it would sure make life easier.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[RimaNTSS]

I do not like way how 1,8m dish was treated ad damage is not looking good. And it is not just glue some plastic to the surface, there is mesh inside and it is broken and not repairable. But, how it already said by bpalone overall loss of working area is not so great and dish, if managed to make mount for it, will, most likely perform less than 5% worse than undamaged. That will not be easy task to make AZ/EL mount for this antenna and Polar-mount even much more difficult.
1,2m antenna after washing can go directly on any polar-mount (after some adaptation of course).
Feedarms for both antennas is not a big deal- manageable.
I have both such an antennas and know very well positions of their Focal points, offset angles, opening angles, all dimensions, so, when author is ready to start fabricating LNB holders, just ask me.

 

[FaT Air]

Do search for finding the focal point on an offset dish

Parabola Calculator 2.0 Use the WIFI tab for offset dishes. Will get you as close as measurement inaccuracies allow.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

Just out of curiosity, would I be able to repair the structure and surface, and overlay new mesh on top of the repairs and get away with it? I have to put a new finish on the front of both dishes since they are weathered and the mesh is exposed on them anyway.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

The container belongs to Sutty's, up here close within the vicinity of the now-defunct Blue Swan airport. It's a game of beat the clock with them. When I see that container is no longer there, it's back at Sutty's, and who knows how quickly they process their material as soon as it is offloaded there. I won't be able to try to do anything at least until the following day. I've never been there personally, so I have absolutely no idea how long the material sits around before they take care of it.

 

[waylew]

I'd just patch up the fiberglass and not even worry about the mesh.As long as the dish isn't warped,the signal loss from that small area probably wouldn't be noticeable.

 

[ThisBUDs4U]

What should I use for a finish? I'm worried that the exposed mesh can lift up from the reflector substrate, meaning the dish itself may not be warped, but the mesh can warp if it lifts. Seeing that it is beginning to do so along the outer edge at the bottom and I don't want it to do so any further.

 

[waylew]

I'd just get it as smooth and flat as I could and then patch it up with fiberglass mat and resin,2 maybe 3 layers.Clean the rest of it up and throw a coat or two of paint on it,something outdoor/automotive type paint.