was there a BUD manufacturer named Birdseye?

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MotleyFool

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jan 27, 2007
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I have a want ad posting in our company newspaper looking for DirecWay dishes. I've actually picked up two freebies this way. Today I got a call from someone asking me if I was interested in a "Birdseye" dish, said he's had it since 1985, might even have some of the electronics to go with it. I asked him if it was a 6' or 8' dish, he said it was larger.

I haven't done any BUD stuff, so I don't know a thing about it. However now I'm thinking about at least taking a look at it.
 
If it's a Birdview get it if you can. They were some of the best dishes made. Some were spun aluminum and some were hydroformed aluminum. Some were solid and some were perforated. They were manufactured in Kansas and were sold all over the country.

Had one in Arkansas before I moved to Florida six years ago. Found it in a satellite dealers scrap yard. It was a hydroformed perforated 8 ft. Rigged it for C/Ku. The HH mount was bulletproof and was easily converted to function with my Uniden receiver. Used the system for about 10 years without ever touching it after it was optimized. That time span included several tornados and ice storms. Watched satellite TV thru all the weather episodes.

The pipe that it mounts on may be hard to find. It's 6" schedule 40 black pipe. Found mine in a scrap yard. The pipe was 10 ft. long and I sank 4 ft. in the ground.
 
I think that Andrew's king post should work for those, it is 6 5/8" diameter.

http://www.andrew.com/search/BN_PA-100541-EN.aspx


I know where a Birdview is here also. The old couple that has it doesn't use it, and tells me that they gave it to their son in law. But son in law never comes to pick it up, it's been going on 2 years now that I get that story from them, and the dish just sits there doing nothing. Aggravating. :mad:
 
If he bought it in 1985 and it has the original electronics, it may have a dual LNB assembly that uses LNBs that are at different intermediate frequencies than the industry standard (950-1,450Mhz), and if so, you'd have to retrofit it. It also probably uses a potentiometer for detecting the dish aim. I think Skyvision has retrofit kits to address those problerms. The one I worked on was built like a tank.

When the first, stand-alone VideoCipher descrambler units came out, there was an impedance mismatch problem with the early Birdview receivers, and to match it up so that it would work, you had to put two 300 ohm to 75 ohm baluns between the receiver and the descrambler.

I think the early Birdview receivers use 26Mhz-wide filters which sacrificed detail to reduce speckles.
 
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I think that Andrew's king post should work for those, it is 6 5/8" diameter.

Have you ever bought from Andrew? I installed an Andrew 4.5 meter dish on top of the ABC News building in Washington,, DC back in 1994, and Andrew wanted $600 for a "touch up kit" that consisted of a gallon of white enamel, a pint of red enamel, and a quart of resin for reattaching the heater elements. I think they threw in a bag of black plastic harness ties as well. Just find a mount with a nice 4" I.D. mast and find a local welder to make you up an adaptor sleeve for less than $100.
 
I think that Andrew's king post should work for those, it is 6 5/8" diameter. :mad:

That's the outside diameter of 6" pipe. The inside diameter varies by the schedule (wall thickness)

Most likely, it can be easily located at any scrap yard. Mine (10 feet long) cost $10.00.
 
Have you ever bought from Andrew? I installed an Andrew 4.5 meter dish on top of the ABC News building in Washington,, DC back in 1994, and Andrew wanted $600 for a "touch up kit" that consisted of a gallon of white enamel, a pint of red enamel, and a quart of resin for reattaching the heater elements. I think they threw in a bag of black plastic harness ties as well. Just find a mount with a nice 4" I.D. mast and find a local welder to make you up an adaptor sleeve for less than $100.


I've bought a few parts through Dow electronics for CM/Andrew products. They were always reasonably priced.
 
Once I move into a new house, I will be going to my grandmothers to pick up her old Birdview dish and mount complete with all electronics. One day, I took a power supply to it just to see if the H-H dish mover still worked and it started moving with no problem! I bet they paid close to 4G's for that total system back in the day. They weren't cheap! I also have the 2 boxes (discrambler and dish mover). That's what turned my interest into C-Band back in the day because of all the raw stuff I use to watch!
 
I talked to them again this AM, this time to the wife. She definitely called it a Birdview :) and said they used it until about 15 years ago. She said they couldn't find any of the associated electronics, so all I'd be getting is a dish, but hey that's better than nothing. Especially since it sounds like I could use the dish for Ku also. A buddy at work who's more tuned into BUD stuff said he'd go over there with me to check it out.

Maybe by this summer I'll have a BUD and not one that was over advertised on the Super Bowl last night. ;-)
 
This thread has peaked my interest in Birdview once more , I have a 8-9 ft Solid White Spun Aluminum Birdview Dish in the garage with mount motor and post , so whats keeping me from installing it .

#1 missing feeder Tri-supports

Originally mine , left it with the house when we moved in 89-90 , I had passed by the house many times , they had it pointing straight up filled with soil and was being used as a flower bed, they hacked off the feeder supports. One day they tossed it in the alley and my brother brought it home.

Come spring I'll check it out again , do the string test to see if it's warped , I would have to retrofit the supports , I'm a little intimidated by the task, I underestimate myself but I think I can do it.

Any ideas ?
 
This is not mine , just a pic I found , but it's exactly like it, minus Feeder supports hacked about 2 inches away from dish.
 

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Problem #1: missing feeder Tri-supports

Can be duplicated, but someone will need to supply you with dimensions. The original feed mount wasn't adjustable. The installer just had to bottom out all the fasteners and it was dead on. You may need to design some adjustment into your new one.

Problem #2: filled with soil and was being used as a flower bed

Sounds like a scene from "Planet of the Apes". Some people have no respect for technology or fine craftsmanship. Good idea to verify it's accuracy. I hope there's no corrosion from it's stint as a planter. Keep in mind that it's aluminum and your new feed needs to be aluminum also. If aluminum is a problem, stainless steel could be used. Carbon steel (painted or galvanized) is not compatable and should be avoided. Electrolysis is a problem at all contact points with dissimilar metals. You can use plastic washers and caulk but you'll still have a potential problem over time. If you're near a coastal area, the electrolysis problem would be much greater. My old dish had an asphault gasket between the dish and the painted carbon steel HH mount.

With a little effort on your part, you'll have a dish that will give excellent service for a long time.
 
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