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Rescued two Prodelins, need help otherwise

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remove the broken out section. Then lay a mat W/resin across the back side,
(Where it's required to stick, use some 60 grit sandpaper to rough it up a bit for something to bite to.) Turn it over and fill in the void with more mat and resin fitted to the void. Avoid air bubbles and voids. They will likely 'blow out' / produce cracks/ in high temps.
Finish it off with a bit of sandpaper and exterior latex. Take your time and it won't be noticeable at all from the front.
 
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I've already clean-cut some of that frayed material out from behind the broken out chunk, and peeled off the delaminated layers behind it so that the facing with the mesh in it sits in place a little better. I took out some other frayed and delaminated material off the back yesterday while I was there just to get a little prep work done. Gonna look for some fiberglass spaghetti to use for the actual filling in and overlay with the mats when that's ready. I'll have to pay close attention to the cracks along the rim because if I foul them up, it will be warped.
 
You don't need to buy "fiberglass spaghetti".After roughing up the old glass and removing any that has sheeted apart: Just cut up some fiberglass mat with a razor blade and undo the strands.Mix the strands in with the resin and hardener.Then work it into the cracks before adding the matting on top.Each additional layer of mat should get progressively smaller so there are no air bubbles at the edges.Have a large pan or something to resin in the matting on BOTH sides before placing them on the repair site.You want the matting to be completely wet,then pat it into place with a stiff brush.All matting should be wet,BUT too much resin has no strength.No need to sand BETWEEN layers as long as you work fast and lay all layers before it cures.At least 3 layers of matting are required for strength. * Have all matting precut before you start so you can work must faster.*

* Almost forgot: All that matting goes on the BACK side of the dish,off coarse. *

Let it dry at least 24 hours.The final surface should be smooth and slick.You can sand it afterwards and smooth it with a light coat of body filler (Bondo) and primer like a car repair if ya want it real 'pur-day' .

BITD I used at least 5 layers of matting on fiberglass boats.

Ok...I rambled on enough.
 
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The wind does get pretty bad where this may be going up. So I don't think it would hurt to go a little overkill.
 
Okay, planning ahead.

I stand a better chance building my feed rods from galvanized emt and getting it right than finding the original pieces at Sutty's and not having them warped all to beat whack. So that's how I'm going to go forward with that. So, what are the lengths of the feed rods for both dishes, from the edge of the reflector face up to and including the feed itself? My LNB mount will be set on top where the three feed rods meet.

And, can I use a Primestar receiver to try the dishes out on any bird?
 
Primestar receiver - Trash them. Only mpeg1 capable. (I just recently discovered 2 in the museum and set them on the curb)
An Mpeg2 receiver will work well on 97W. Standard Def OK. There's only a few HD mpeg4 channels on 97w.
Parabola Calculator 2.0, with some measurements, can get you close enough to mock up feed supports. Fine tune and then finalize the assembly. I kind like that idea as it permits multiple lnbf's being mounted.
 
Trash them? No way! There's plenty of space inside that box to do something else with if no good for anything else.

Multiple LNB's, would I somehow need to interface a switch in there somehow? There's receivers that rotate the dish to the bird you want, not sure how it works otherwise.
 
ThisBUDs4U said:
Multiple LNB's, would I somehow need to interface a switch in there somehow? There's receivers that rotate the dish to the bird you want, not sure how it works otherwise.
Click to expand...
Many people do two or three lnbs on one or more stationary dishes. Connect everything to your receiver with a 4 or 8 port diseqc switch (or multiswitches and diseqcs if feeding more than one receiver). Channel changes on those lnbs are instant as you don't need to wait for the dish to move. It can be done on both C and Ku dishes. Check out these threads for ideas:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/mounting-two-lnbs-on-one-c-band-dish-question.350383/ (Lots of pics)
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/my-first-multiple-lnbf-setup.344711/
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/microhd-five-lnbs-one-4x1-diseqc-switch.351662/
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/using-multiple-lnbs-on-a-dish.351498/
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/switch-setups-simplified.134124/
 
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I'll have to look at these a little later when I can actually sit down and read through them and look at everyone's setups. From the sound of things though, it seems as simple as picking the birds you want, and setting the LNB for each bird within the arc corresponding the birds you want, along the focal arc provided by the dish itself. Also sounds like I'll be able to use both dishes.
 
Multiple LNB setups look like a lot of fun. I see the mounts for multiple LNBs on offset dishes being straight rather than being bowed, I figured the focal length wouldn't be uniform going across like that. Or does that only work on certain dishes? Would I be able to use the parabola calculator to determine whether the LNB mount would need to be bowed or not?
 
Focal length won't be uniform across the whole dish. This thread is a very informative read.

This post shows the curved mount Linuxman fabricated.

My setup on a 1.2m dish with straight EMT (tubing) was mostly for ease of manufacture with insight from those who had built one before. Many of the universal LNBF holders allow fore/aft movement of the LNBF to adjust focal length as well as height adjustments. The LNBF will also need to be able to swivel on the mount a bit to 'see' the center of the dish. After so much offset from center, depending upon dish size, the reception of an offset LNBF will degrade.

Rimantss version here and Keith Brannen version here show some variations of a multiple LNBF mount.
 
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ThisBUDs4U said:
Would I be able to use the parabola calculator to determine whether the LNB mount would need to be bowed or not?
Click to expand...
No. it will only calculate the point for the center LNBF. Those mounted off to the side is pretty much trial and error for the most part. LNBF's mounted to the west (east) of the center will see east (west) of the centered LNBF.
 
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All good to know and will give me something to think about. I've got my focal lengths too, after plugging in the information on the Prodelin data sheets. Once I get all of the necessary repairs made I can begin constructing.
 
I almost forgot. In addition to the Prodelins, I also have two of the long elliptical DBS dishes. One is a Super Dish and the other is a Direct Slimline. I wonder if these would be useful in anything like this. Or at least provide a model for me somewhere down the road since both are multiple LNB dishes.
 
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