Used 12 Foot Mesh Dish Pictures

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jsattv

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jul 4, 2006
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Finally got to the place where the guy had a disassembled 12 foot Mesh Dish for sale for $200.00. He said the Receiver is a Uniden 900, and he hasn't used the system for 5 years! He said the motor might need greasing??

The guy wasn't home but left me his ladder as the Dish was up on the Flat portion of his roof. So I carefully went up the ladder with my brand new knee brace on my leg and took some pictures. See pics 1 and 2. There was about a 2 foot step needed to get closer to the Dish but I didn't want to push things too far since I was already taking a chance just being up the 12 foot ladder. Looks like the Dish does NOT come apart, and it would be quite a chore to move it off the flat roof. Not so sure if it is worth all the work (ie would need 2 - 3 good friends and a truck) that would be required to bring it halfway across the city to my place??

Von Weiss Actuator on Pole - Is this worth going after?
At another location close to home there was a 12 foot dish on a steel pole that I had inquired about. Well someone beat me to the Dish and left just the Motor and Pole. They literally ripped the dish off the pole leaving the Von Weiss Actuator. The pole is solidly in the ground in concrete see pic. The pole and Actuator - if thats what is the proper terminalogy, are in the next 2 pictures. I wonder if the $200.00 Dish could be mounted to this pole and Actuator? Trouble is I think I would need a stick of Dynamite to get that Pole out of the Concrete.

Any comments, suggestions, would be very much appreciated.
 

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I can't tell from the pics whether or not the dish on the flat roof includes a non-pen roof mount. If it does, it *might* be worth the $200. I'd offer him $150 and see if he goes for it. Trouble is, BUDs are rather easy to find, and its equally easy to find people desperately trying to get rid of them (after all, nobody uses those big old dishes anymore ;) ) You could probably find one for free by looking around a bit, but maybe not with a non-pen roof mount.

As for the pole and actuator, the actuators are as common as the dishes, but if that one is particularly clean (no rust), it might be a good idea to ask for it. Von Weise is a good manufacturer.

I wouldn't bother with the pole unless part of the deal is that you must take that with you as well. You'll likely need a Bobcat to get it out of the ground :D
 
Thanks to your great high resolution pictures, a lot can be seen.

The first dish appears to have a decent motor.
I can see the 5" wires still sticking out of the back of it.
Tron looks to be right about the non-penetrating roof mount.
There's a short mast with bracing, in the pix.
It's not too badly disassembled - the octagonal ring that goes on the back of the dish is still hooked to the mount - just put the mount back on a pole and fit the dish to that ring, and bolt-away!
The LNB under that cover seems to still have its blue cap on it. :)
I'm sure one of our C-band experts will have some opinion of the dish brand.
Seems to be in pretty good shape, as best I can see.
That grey/silver thing to the right looks to be an amplified TV or FM antenna.

As to the scrap-mongers who took ripped the dish from the second mount, I'd like to string them up by their . . . :eek:
What a bunch of barbarians. Probably an aluminum dish. Couldn't have been worth that much in scrap metal. :(
The mount looks pretty substantial, and is slipped over the pole.
I'd go for the mount and motor, if it were free.
Always nice to have spare goodies, trading material, or a freebie for a friend.
If the pole were desirable, follow the suggestions in the C-band section:
- water the ground for a few days , maybe pierce the ground to get the water down there.
- gently roll a truck bumper against the pole to rock it a bit.
- lift out the pole and concrete with an engine hoist, or similar.
- take the whole thing home, dig a big enough hole, drop it in and pour just enough cement around it to fit your new hole.

Whether or not you need or want a 12' dish is a whole 'nother matter.
Whether or not you want to spend $100+ is a whole personal decision.

edit:
I'm no expert, but it sorta looks like that first dish does come apart into 8 or 12 panels.
Note the wide rib sections with all the bolts through 'em.
 
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Thanks a lot for the comments, Tron, Anole, and Edit. I didn't notice the nonpenetrating mount - thanks.

Question: What is all involved in setting up a 12 Foot C Band Dish for TV? That is, hopefully the Uniden 900 would be my Receiver - if it still works! But once the pole is set up - how do you go about mounting the Dish, Ring, and Actuator? Are there instructions available for us newguys on this type of setup? And is anything else required to get the C Band Sats?
 
Well, read this site 'till your eyes bleed, and you'll know pretty much everything about setting up a C-band dish.
As for how to put the parts together, all I know is what I've seen in pictures on the 'net, and I could lash it together in no time.

Some of the parts in your pictures are upside down.
IF you decide to get the dish, lay all the parts out on your driveway or somewhere reasonably clean, and take individual pictures of each .
If necessary, we can describe how to twist each part to reassemble the whole thing.

Oh, and while I don't favor the $200 part, one thing I gotta say . . .
Most people getting a freebie would have to go take down the dish.
Here, yours is already down and disassembled (somewhat).
So, that does save you labor and effort.
Getting the little pieces off the roof shouldn't be a problem.
Not so sure about that big dish.
Get the C-band members to discuss how to get the dish down in one piece and transport it.
Alternately, get them to discuss how to break it into 2, 3, or 4 sections.
 
WOW It seems like it would have taken more effort to tear the dish off that pole than it would have taken to remove a couple of bolts. I wonder if it was removed by someone who had no tools and needed to move it quickly (i.e. an unauthorized scraping mission)

As for the dish on the roof. I'd be hard pressed to pay more than $100 for the whole mess, but the non-pen mount would be nice to have. That dish comes apart, as anole pointed out. It should be easy enough to remove.
 
I looked at the pictures above, and the mount is simply a stand for a non-penetrating mount. The holes at the end of the support arms were bolted into something. Probably bolts through the roof, and therefore not a non-penetrating mount.

You would still need the out-riggers to hold the blocks or sand for ballast to make it a true non-penetrating mount.

As Anole said above, the panels should come apart where you see the bolts are. Looks like a nice big mounting ring and has a nice intermediate ring for stability.

I personally wouldn't give over $50.00 for it.

Fred
 
winegard dish

That dish does come apart, maybe just 4 sections like my 7.5winegard. I'd grab it if I needed it, and had a place for it. They are well made dishes, perforated, not mesh, and good for ku also. Wouldnt be too heavy to set up either. Take out the bolts from the sections and go with it. Don't see many winegards around these days, not here anyway.
 
Thanks gentlemen, I really appreciate the all the great comments, - one other thing, - What is required / needed re the type of LNB, & Receiver for C & KU Band for this big Dish? Can the existing UNIDEN 900 Receiver be used?

And yes $200.00 seems a bit too much, as Linuxman suggests, I think I'll offer less, (after I try to arrange for some helpers). If the deal is accepted I'll need to do a serious yard survey to try and figure out just where this Dish could go in my yard while still being able to maintain my Vegetable Garden. Need to get a clear East to West shot of the Horizon!! Maybe I should do this first?
 
Too hard to tell from your otherwise great pictures, but ...
If you were to move that pole from the second site over to your place, and get it plumb in cement ...
Then, when you bring the 12 footer over a few days later, you could just drop it in place.
(subject to the parts fitting, of course)
And the spare mount 'n motor from the 2nd pole would be tradin' goods! :)

As for the LNB, you need to peek under the cover and see what ya got, there.

And above, I meant to say it looks like you have 6 or 8 petals on the dish.
 
There are too many BUDS out there for free or next to nothing to pay $200 for in my area. Especially if you need to remove it from a roof. The old pole found elsewhere will probably be too short for a 12' dish when cut off and replanted properly. Interestingly it appears to be inside another pipe if you look close.

On my 10' dish the 3.5" pole is 4' in the concrete. Locally such pipe is difficult to locate. The closest thing is a concrete filled column at Home Depot for $39 and is only 10' long.

I wouldn't worry to much about the receiver,good for dish moving or analog feeds if it works. You would be better to spend the money on a 4DTV capable receiver and find a free dish.
 
oh what a stinker

Well I don't know about you guys. But I got my big arse dish for free and know where there is a few other ones I bet I could get for free. Inlcluding one I saw today on top of a business roof. In fact there is a few on top of roofs that I'm sure is not used anymore. But it looks like I found my needle in the heystack and only 8 blocks or so from where I live.

I would pass unless it was a roof mount. I wouldn't mind finding a roof mount. Just to temp setup that dish I got the other day in the yard. lol

Later,

Josh
 
One thing to make sure of, is to be sure the dish isn't warped or twisted.too. Just because it is faced down and look flat, doesn't mean it would be flat while on the pole. The old two string method would help determine that.
Wow, 12 foot dish? That's a biggie!! I never saw any on them in my neck of woods. Mostly 5, 6, 7.5, 8 to 10 footers...
Good luck with this babe...
 
And, check the mesh screen for the hole sizes. If it is 1/4 around, too big for Ku. If in doubt, find a mesh dish in your neighborhood and compare theirs with this 12 footer. The older mesh dishs has bigger hole sizes than the newer ones.
 
Used 12 Foot Dish Pictures

And, check the mesh screen for the hole sizes. If it is 1/4 around, too big for Ku. If in doubt, find a mesh dish in your neighborhood and compare theirs with this 12 footer. The older mesh dishs has bigger hole sizes than the newer ones.

Other Pictures & Dishes:
Thanks a lot for the very interesting comments. Just for the record the guy has 4 other small Dishes, but he said he is not using them all. I asked him about the Triple Dish in the Middle with 3 LNB's on it. He said he was NOT using it currently. Wonder if this type of Small Triple LNB Dish could be utilized (with the right LNB's) to get instant switching for say Satellites 95.0W, 97.0W, and 101.0W?? See other pictures.

There was also one more picture of the 12 Foot Dish taken from further away. He did say it was an aluminum dish. Pretty hard to tell if the holes are 1/4 inch but I have to wonder why he wasn't using the 12 Footer for KU Band, - unless this is a limitation of the Uniden 900 Receiver or as MrFTAMan mentioned, maybe the Dish itself can't support KU which would NOT be good!! ? He also mentioned that the Uniden 900 Rx had some type of card?? But he wasn't sure if the card still worked? What would that be all about and am I getting the full story here?
 

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For the dish to receive Ku, it would have to be fitted with a corotor or similar feedhorn which allows both C and Ku LNBs to see the dish. Can you get a look at what's underneath the LNB cover?

The dish may still be able to receive Ku even if it is not fitted to do so, however corotor feedhorns can be somewhat expensive.
 
dishes in the first picture

All the way to the left is a two-LNB Dish 500 .
I can't tell if it has two individual LNBs or a big double-wide.
But, it's circular and made for 110/119º.

The three-horn dish in the middle is DirecTV Phase III dish, and it's described in other threads around here.
Again, it's circular and while not totally useless, it's pretty odd for any FTA usage.
All the switching is done inside the head, so that separate switch below the LNBs is probably from the next dish over

The third dish is an upside down DirecTV Phase II dish with two LNBs
It's not configured the way it's normally shipped, if memory serves.
The LNBs should be all the way to the far sides of the bracket, at 101º and 119º.

The fourth dish , all the way to the far right in the picture, and standing, has only one LNB.
It's from Dish Network, and would typically have been used to get 61º or 148º wing birds in some markets.

Your pictures are quite good! :cool:
 
Thanks Tron and Anole. Are the Corotor LNB's for C/KU use still sold today, and who would sell them? Looks like that 12 Footer Dish may not have been in use for quite some Time!! Is the "Direct TV Phase III Dish" of any use for being able to be adapted to 3 Linear Satellites?
 
If all else fails, you might be able to pick up a decent Corotor-II on Ebay for a good price.
And even the lnb's. I got an 8' mesh dish a while back for free, from a local church when I installed their new 3ABN setup for them. It had a nice coroter setup and lnb's ( C & Kuband).
And I sold the commercial Receiver they gave me for more than enough money to buy some other toys. Not a bad day for a volunteer job.
The Phase III Dish is really not large enough to give enough signal for linear sats. It may work well enough on one or two, that have some powerful transponders. But, a larger dish
will do much better.
grusome
 
Here is a new one and it doesn't include LNB's, it's in the 2nd row to the far right:
C Band Products
You can find sellers who will include LNB's with the Corotor. You can also see some LNB's on this page at the bottom of the page. As you will notice from the prices of the LNB's, the best ones are expensive. The cheaper ones will work, but if you want the best, it will cost you. If you're like me, you may have to get what you can afford?

Al
 
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