Sat Dish Rescue - Andrew 3.0m

[beavs2112]

As originally posted in another thread I have rescued another dish from the metal scrappers. The previous owner was going to cut it up and sell it for the scrap aluminum since he thought no one used these things anymore.
"Operation Rescue 3" was a success and it is now in my possession. It's a real beauty. It's an Andrew Corp. (ASC Signal, now CPI-ASC) 3.0m spun aluminum solid reflector. It's a TVRO model with a very heavy duty polar mount. I think this is the model# It looks like Andrew welded two sheets of aluminum together then spun the unit. I can make out a welded seam in it.
The actuator is a old Warner Electric 24" stroke Potentiometer model so I'll just use one of my Von-Wiese units as a replacement.
Of particular interest is the factory scalar (luckily still on the dish) Its much bigger than todays scalars (shown here with a Chaparral on top) The 6 rings per side are only 12.5mm apart instead of the usual 15-16mm. Also its not entirely a flat scalar. For some reason Andrew made the rings concave Titanium do you know why Andrew might have done this? The feed bore diameter is 70mm which is a coincidence because I wanted to use the dish on ku and the outer diameter of an Invacom ADF-120 prime focus feedhorn scalar is 70mm I think. So it should fit nicely inside the feed bore of the Andrew scalar.
So the plan is to paint the polar mount with grey rust paint. Its a reddish brown color now. Also the reflector will get a good cleaning then on a pole she goes It should make for some interesting testing. Since the model # of the dish basically turns up nothing on the internet & I don't have a manual for it I am curious whether it was originally designed to work in both the C&ku bands.

 

[Titanium]

SCORE!!! Very nice rescue!

What is the FD ratio? The slight concave shape to scalar might suggest that ratio is high. Having the scalar that was designed specifically for the reflector is mighty fine! Probably much better performance than using a generic flat type.

Hope you will be able to post up some comparisons between the OEM and the Chaparral.

 

[Comptech]

Lucky dog!

 

[hank123]

Dude that is Great! High high gain. Can't wait to see this monster in action
32apsk hunt time!

 

[wvman]

As originally posted in another thread I have rescued another dish from the metal scrappers. The previous owner was going to cut it up and sell it for the scrap aluminum since he thought no one used these things anymore.
"Operation Rescue 3" was a success and it is now in my possession. It's a real beauty. It's an Andrew Corp. (ASC Signal, now CPI-ASC) 3.0m spun aluminum solid reflector. It's a TVRO model with a very heavy duty polar mount. View attachment 129054 View attachment 129058 View attachment 129060 I think this is the model# View attachment 129059 It looks like Andrew welded two sheets of aluminum together then spun the unit. I can make out a welded seam in it.
The actuator is a old Warner Electric 24" stroke Potentiometer model so I'll just use one of my Von-Wiese units as a replacement.
Of particular interest is the factory scalar (luckily still on the dish) View attachment 129061 View attachment 129066 Its much bigger than todays scalars (shown here with a Chaparral on top) View attachment 129062 View attachment 129064 The 6 rings per side are only 12.5mm apart instead of the usual 15-16mm. Also its not entirely a flat scalar. For some reason Andrew made the rings concave View attachment 129063 Titanium do you know why Andrew might have done this? The feed bore diameter is 70mm which is a coincidence because I wanted to use the dish on ku and the outer diameter of an Invacom ADF-120 prime focus feedhorn scalar View attachment 129065 is 70mm I think. So it should fit nicely inside the feed bore of the Andrew scalar.
So the plan is to paint the polar mount with grey rust paint. Its a reddish brown color now. Also the reflector will get a good cleaning then on a pole she goes It should make for some interesting testing. Since the model # of the dish basically turns up nothing on the internet & I don't have a manual for it I am curious whether it was originally designed to work in both the C&ku bands.

Great find. Wish I could locate one of those. Well worth the effort to restore it. Here's something I found about Andrew dishes. Skybrokers - Andrew (ASC Signal - CPI)

 

[beavs2112]

SCORE!!! Very nice rescue!

What is the FD ratio? The slight concave shape to scalar might suggest that ratio.

It's 0.30 from my rough math. 122" Dia 25" depth. It's definitely a deep dish. Very similar to my Pinnacle. Since the Invacom is only from 0.32 f/d I might have to get it machined for slightly more to match the dish 0.3.

 

[beavs2112]

Great find. Wish I could locate one of those. Well worth the effort to restore it. Here's something I found about Andrew dishes. Skybrokers - Andrew (ASC Signal - CPI)

Thanks for the info. I want to email them to see if they have any manuals or sales brochures. One thing missing off the dish is the big red lightning bolt logo (ASC's TM). Maybe they'll have a decal for a modest fee.

 

[Cham]

I have a dish here that is almost identical, but I don't have the scaler (or any of the feed parts), or the original mount for it. Awsome to have the proper feed/scaler! Yes these are very deep dishes, should be good for rejecting terrestrial interference and the like.

Just curious what size pole the mount will fit on (largest common size), and would you be able to post a few pictures of the mount? I might try to fabricate one, I have never seen an original Andrew polar mount, all the TV stations and cable companies around here only have the fixed mounts for these dishes. Thanx in advance!

 

[Cham]

Mine has the lightning bolt logo, badly faded though. I could take a picture of it and you could project it onto your dish, trace it out, and paint it on?

 

[beavs2112]

I have a dish here that is almost identical, but I don't have the scaler (or any of the feed parts), or the original mount for it. Awsome to have the proper feed/scaler! Yes these are very deep dishes, should be good for rejecting terrestrial interference and the like.

Just curious what size pole the mount will fit on (largest common size), and would you be able to post a few pictures of the mount? I might try to fabricate one, I have never seen an original Andrew polar mount, all the TV stations and cable companies around here only have the fixed mounts for these dishes. Thanx in advance!

I'd be happy to take some pictures of the polar mount maybe later this week or the weekend.
Oh thats too bad about the scalar.

 

[wvman]

Thanks for the info. I want to email them to see if they have any manuals or sales brochures. One thing missing off the dish is the big red lightning bolt logo (ASC's TM). Maybe they'll have a decal for a modest fee.

It's hard to find information on anything these days because everyone has been bought out by someone else. It looks like Andrew has changed hands at least 3 times since they began operations. Each time it changes hands, it gets more difficult to find information on products offered by the former company. I was lucky enough to find a website that has master reset passwords for just about every satellite receiver ever made. I expect it to disappear one of these days.

 

[wvman]

I have a dish here that is almost identical, but I don't have the scaler (or any of the feed parts), or the original mount for it. Awsome to have the proper feed/scaler! Yes these are very deep dishes, should be good for rejecting terrestrial interference and the like.

Just curious what size pole the mount will fit on (largest common size), and would you be able to post a few pictures of the mount? I might try to fabricate one, I have never seen an original Andrew polar mount, all the TV stations and cable companies around here only have the fixed mounts for these dishes. Thanx in advance!

Almost any polar mount would work with the proper modifications. As long as you get the dish centered on the mount, it could be used. As for the feed legs, once you do the math on figuring the focal distance, round or square tubing could be used to make the feed legs. It would be easier than starting from scratch building one. Just a suggestion.

 

[Cham]

I actually have the original feed legs. I suspect the fellow that originally took down the dish either sold the feed horn/scaler/LNBs, or threw them out not knowing their value. He had been using some sort of home-made feed horn/probe with a home-made LNA, but couldn't get it to work with "the new digital satellites". He kept the home-made "stuff", it wouldn't have worked for me anyway. I have some regular scaler rings I can use so I am not worried about making something work... it's just how well it will work will be the issue. Even have a spare C2PLL ready to go.

I do have a polar mount from a 12 footer (SAMI?) but it's way too light duty for this unit, so I plan on copying it somewhat using heavier gauge steel and real bearings etc. Something to work on in the shop during the winter. I'll set it up soon temporarily in the dish farm, likely aimed at 97 or 99w...

 

[primestar31]

I actually have the original feed legs. I suspect the fellow that originally took down the dish either sold the feed horn/scaler/LNBs, or threw them out not knowing their value. He had been using some sort of home-made feed horn/probe with a home-made LNA, but couldn't get it to work with "the new digital satellites". He kept the home-made "stuff", it wouldn't have worked for me anyway. I have some regular scaler rings I can use so I am not worried about making something work... it's just how well it will work will be the issue. Even have a spare C2PLL ready to go.

I do have a polar mount from a 12 footer (SAMI?) but it's way too light duty for this unit, so I plan on copying it somewhat using heavier gauge steel and real bearings etc. Something to work on in the shop during the winter. I'll set it up soon temporarily in the dish farm, likely aimed at 97 or 99w...

Find a polar mount for an old FIBERGLASS dish, and you'll have the proper strength you need for a 10ft spun aluminum dish.

 

[wvman]

Find a polar mount for an old FIBERGLASS dish, and you'll have the proper strength you need for a 10ft spun aluminum dish.

A lot of the fiberglass dishes we used had the offset built into the mount. Had to give them the dish site location, and they built the mount accordingly. Even UFI had their mounts like that. Only the commercial dishes we used had adjustable offsets. I know that sounds nuts, and it was, but that's how they came. We found a workaround by adding washers between the top or bottom bolts that held the dish to the mount to have some sort of adjustment. It actually worked pretty well, unless there was a radical difference in dish site locations.

 

[beavs2112]

would you be able to post a few pictures of the mount?

here's a pic of one that was on kijiji (maybe around montreal last year?). it looks identical to mine. I'll be taking some more pics of mine and some measurements etc soon maybe next week so you can have one fabricated. Heres a pic of one from kijiji near Aylmer oNt. with the same mount.

 

[beavs2112]

Just thought I'd share the latest info on my rescued 3.0M Andrew dish. Thanks to the generosity of fellow member pacificrim I now have the proper factory feed-throat to go with the scalar. It looks like this (minus the LNBS). So they used a one inch thick bit of Styrofoam to plug the throat. It looks just like the blue stuff used to insulate outside walls. I cut it out and want to use a plastic cap I have from an old LNBF. The blue chaparral cover doesn't fit over the thoat cause the throat is too wide. Its a nice snug fit.
So the feed is a solid piece of square aluminum machined out. They use what look like thin aluminum rods to convert the circular RF signal to linear RF signal for the LNB. And some sort of aluminum pin maybe to act as a tuned frequency cavity?

It's interesting that there is such an abrupt ridge about 1/3rd of the way down the throat. It was used to hold the Styrofoam plug in place. I thought abrupt ridges like that were a no-no in a waveguide due to the reflected energy they cause. But since the Andrew engineers probably knew what they were trying to accomplish much better than me I will leave it alone. It's also quite clean inside given it's age.

 

[beavs2112]

And a couple of pics of the polar mount for Cham. Yes that's a regular Chaparral C-band flat scalar resting on the polar mount for size comparison. It's not a continuous variable or fixed declination adjustment. They just use different bolts holes for say 3.0/3.5/4.0/4.5/5.0.5.5/6.0 degrees. (see last picture) I'm pretty sure it will work for my 6.0 degree declination.

 

[Cham]

Yes that's a nice super well built mount @beavs2112!
I have a line on another 10 foot Andrews and a 12 foot Andrews dish (also comes with a 80ft Trylon tower), local telecom co. is decommissioning their cable head-end in town. Luckily I know the riggers who are taking it all down, my "garbage truck" will likely be parked nearby.
These are all stationary dishes. If I put them up I really don't need another motorized dish, that would be four stationary and one polar mount in my dish farm. Just not really sure what satellites to point at! I just hope they don't keep the feed horns and LNBs! Guess we'll see...

 

[pacificrim]

Wow, nice work! I'm glad it worked out for you .