Smallest dish for C-band reception?

[Anole]

In addition to the way Iceberg described mounting the Fortec 6' dish with sandbags, etc...
... there are a couple of alternatives if you are willing to chose a fixed location for a permanent mounting.

One is to use the above dish with this motor and a Vbox .
The motor acts as a motorized polar mount.

The other, is to get the dish with a polar mount, and put a standard linear dish mover (and a Vbox) on it.

Sadoun has the Vbox II on clearance, or you can go for the Gbox for a bit more.
The former has been discussed to death.
The latter is discussed at some length in a thread by Linuxman, recently.

 

[transco]

To my great surprise, I won a bid for a bunch of satellite gear on Ebay. Included is a Channel Master 10' mesh dish if I want it (depends on shipping fee). If I go this way I'd need an actuator controller such as the Vbox-II or Gbox so I can use it with my DVB receiver. Question: Which is better? Why?

 

[rv1pop]

To my great surprise, I won a bid for a bunch of satellite gear on Ebay. Included is a Channel Master 10' mesh dish if I want it (depends on shipping fee). If I go this way I'd need an actuator controller such as the Vbox-II or Gbox so I can use it with my DVB receiver. Question: Which is better? Why?

Congrats on the buy!
If the trip or shipping is too great, you might want to post the information here and maybe someone else, closer, would want to grab it! But I do hope you can get it. YOU ARE HOOKED!

 

[transco]

Congrats on the buy!
If the trip or shipping is too great, you might want to post the information here and maybe someone else, closer, would want to grab it! But I do hope you can get it. YOU ARE HOOKED!

Oh I've been hooked for a long time! I got my first C-band dish 22 years ago, a 10 foot Orbitron mesh which I am still using. Unfortunately, to get a good shot at the arc, I had to have it set on a 15' mast. I have a bad heart now and can't climb ladders, so I have to have others service it. It supplies the family's entertainment, but is no fun from a hobby standpoint... thus the new dish. Being ground mounted, it won't have the visibility of the Orbitron, but it'll be enough for hobby use. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to mount it. Probably either a cement filled hole for the mast, or a cement pad and flange mount. I'm still waiting for a quote on shipping. If it is too high, I will indeed post the info here for any possible takers.

 

[truckracer]

I am pretty fortunate to have a good line of sight from 43West to 148west here.

My neighbor planted a tree that my 10' dish is going to have to compete with before long.

 

[rv1pop]

Oh I've been hooked for a long time! I got my first C-band dish 22 years ago, a 10 foot Orbitron mesh which I am still using. Unfortunately, to get a good shot at the arc, I had to have it set on a 15' mast. I have a bad heart now and can't climb ladders, so I have to have others service it. It supplies the family's entertainment, but is no fun from a hobby standpoint... thus the new dish. Being ground mounted, it won't have the visibility of the Orbitron, but it'll be enough for hobby use. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to mount it. Probably either a cement filled hole for the mast, or a cement pad and flange mount. I'm still waiting for a quote on shipping. If it is too high, I will indeed post the info here for any possible takers.

How much room do you have around the base of the pole? I would consider building a climbing playhouse for the grandkids around the "firemans pole" with access to the "lookout tower" and a flat roof! (Play structures are not zoned out in several cities I know of!) That would give a nice platform to work on the dish. A 12 foot high platform would be a beautiful place for the kids to play on, I sturdy railing around it ..... My grandkids would love it!
Would a Navy style stairway / ladder be too hard to climb? A nite light at the top would give a power outlet, too.

 

[transco]

How much room do you have around the base of the pole? I would consider building a climbing playhouse for the grandkids around the "firemans pole" with access to the "lookout tower" and a flat roof! (Play structures are not zoned out in several cities I know of!) That would give a nice platform to work on the dish. A 12 foot high platform would be a beautiful place for the kids to play on, I sturdy railing around it ..... My grandkids would love it!
Would a Navy style stairway / ladder be too hard to climb? A nite light at the top would give a power outlet, too.

The mast is flange mounted to the patio with a bracket half way up, bolting it to the house; i.e. no open space to speak of. I did my time in the Army. Can you give me a link to a picture of a Navy style stairway?

(I see you are a fellow ham. Are you still active?)

 

[rv1pop]

Yep, still a ham and somewhat active. I am on VHF and UHF. I have plans for HF long wires dipoles and wire beams.

The navy ladders they have between decks on a ship wider steps than a normal ladder with side railing to grab ahold of. My dad could handle those kinds of ladders, because he could that a couple steps at a time and stop and rest leaning on the side rails. His ladder/stairs did come out of a decommisioned ship!

Your roof line should be about 9 feet high, so a platform with a sheet of plywood or 2x4 x8'would give you something to stand on. Just some thoughts. not trying to push you too hard, I want you to enjoy the hobby aspect. That would also give you a place to mount some verticals (J-pole for 146 and 440)