What dish is this?

[colbec]

Does anyone recognize this type of dish? Looks like perf. aluminum, probably 10 footer. Much larger ring than my CM 10 footer.

I have a chance at getting this dish - is this a desirable type, better than say the normal Channel Masters in this area? Since the dish is in two segments it will be harder to deal with than a four segment CM.
I don't know at this point if the receiver is available.
What is the box on the pole for?

Thanks for comments.

 

[linuxman]

Nice looking dish!!

Don't know what kind it is, but it looks nice.

Can you get a few more pics from different angles, and a close up of the mesh. Make sure you can't put a #2 pencil through the holes.

Fred

 

[colbec]

Thanks for your interest linuxman:

Here are a couple more pics, large one from behind, and a detail from behind of the polar mount and actuator. I'm not happy with the quality of the images but it was very early morning, light all at the wrong angles. I will try to get more later when I am back in that area.

 

[linuxman]

The box is probably just a junction and ground block box. I put one on all my dishes too.

The outer edges is curled around like the Birdview that I have, but the mount is definitely not Birdview. Maybe a copycat type dish.

If you can hold the camera about a foot away from the mesh, it will let us see the surface and determine if it is mesh or perforated.

Thanks,

Fred

 

[colbec]

Just found another view that is quite interesting. It is a huge ring compared to others I have seen. Also an interesting adjustment at the top of the polar mount, those two threaded rods I guess control a fine angular side to side initial position of the dish.

The install was evidently very professional. The mast is concreted in, with a nice squared white base neatly edged (none of your bung in a bunch of concrete and cover it up with dirt), grass perfectly at concrete base level at least a foot away from the pole so you can run a lawnmower right past the pole and not have to go back and trim stuff the mower could not get because it was too close to the pole.

I will try to get a closeup of the dish surface.

 

[Anole]

very nice pix

Those two big threaded rods at the top, look like they are to set the declination.
Many dishes use a stack of washers to set it, and that gets the job done.

Hard to tell with all the black, but I think the elevation screw is that long threaded red-tipped rod below the mount, in the last picture.

This is looking like quite the antenna.
And in very good repair.
Wish I found one like it anywhere close to me!
I'd rent a truck and drive a hundred miles for a beauty like that!

 

[colbec]

Anole: Declination, yes, agreed. But why two rods? My CM has one big rod in the centre of the ring, then all the lateral movement is on the actuator arm. I read in another post that these polar mounts are often boresighted to Polaris for due south alignment. Once that is done and tied down, maybe there are slight defects in the surfaces that these rods can take into account before you start tuning your declination.

 

[caddata]

I believe it's an old phone company dish that was once used for terrestrial C Band microwave.

Their dishes usually had large attachment rings like that because it was pointed at the horizon and was subject to tremendous wind loads. The large ring spread the load over a much larger area of the dish and helped it hold it's parabolic shape. However, it would be the first one I've seen that used a tri-leg feed mount, as they usually had a buttonhook arrangement.

Harold

 

[colbec]

Thank you for that insight, Harold. Pointed at the horizon means extreme left or right, I guess, and a fixed dish, so perhaps the actuator arm is an adaptation. The big ring gives you huge amount of leverage, comparatively speaking.

As noted elsewhere extreme left and right indicates satellites closely spaced, so perhaps the two threaded rods assist in tuning against competing signals.

 

[Lynskyn]

I think the two threaded rods are due to the large size of the mounting ring. Should be much stronger than only one in the center.

 

[Steveo]

Although I don't recognise this dish colbec. It looks good with a strong mount and acurate surface, if the mesh is small enough it may work well for Ku. Noticed it's also a rather fast dish (deep). Just guessing but maybe about .35 FD. A deep dish does trade off a bit of gain but this can be a handy thing when it comes to rejecting terrestial interferance.
Steveo

 

[colbec]

Many thanks to all who commented. I have not heard back from the owner, but early days yet. I will keep you posted.

 

[caddata]

.....extreme left or right...

If it was a terrestrial microwave dish, it would have been mounted to the side of a tower, and the polar mount would have been added after it was retired.

Looks like a good dish, and if it passes the #2 lead pencil test, it will work perfectly for Ku reception. The pencil is a good "go-no go" guage for Ku compatability. If the pencil won't go thru the openings, you're in good shape. Is it perforated or expanded metal? If the openings are round or hexagonal, it's perforated. If the openings are oblong, it's expanded metal. If the openings are oblong, the longest dimension can't be larger than the pencil's diameter.

Congratulations on your find.

Harold

 

[colbec]

Thread resurrection:

I spoke to the owner today (saw him drinking beer in front of the garage). He is willing to let the dish go for some token dinero, so I will be lining this one up. It pays to be politely persistent.

Seems the dish is a Winegard. The owner is sure of this because he works for a major electrical distribution company in this area. He was able to talk technically about the dish and its focal depth. It could well be that he was able to get this one at a special price originally because the same type was being supplied in bulk to a telecomm company in the area.

I have now taken down 3 x 10 footers almost single handedly by dismantling the dish into segments which is a pleasant and doable job. This one will be more of a challenge since it comes in only two segments, top and bottom. If anyone has any hints on how to get this one down safely without putting any bends in the dish (I would hate to spoil it) that would be good.

I shall be able to find help to get this one off. There is no hurry. Plenty of time to savour the experience of nursing a nice dish to a new home.

 

[Likvid]

Heh nice, the dish is close to the graveyard, i bet they beam all souls out to the universe with that dish, so called paradise.

 

[Gilgamesh]

The design, uses the large ring as support structure and help keep curvature of mesh. mesh is preformed "stamped" these were very nice antennas.

in them good ole days of the 80s when C-band ruled, there were all kinds of designs, some old actuator arms used relays etc. which were mounted in boxes on the dish pole. and earlier still, we didnt have LNB,s, we had LNAs, and used a downconverter at the dish. the downconverter would send its 70 Mhz IF to the receiver indoors.

 

[colbec]

Indeed it is a quality antenna and would likely stand up to hurricane force winds. The perforations are in what looks like quarter inch material. No problem holding the shape on this kind of dish.

However, it is beyond the capacity of my team of one to handle this dish at my end. I have found assistance to get it down, but re-erecting and maintaining such a heavy dish at my location does not fit with my purposes. I can see now why the base of the dish is so well formed, it must have a huge concrete footing.

I think it is more in my line to fiddle with the lighter and more manageable mesh 10 footers. Those I can move around, re-erect, straighten up and otherwise keep under control. This dish is a wonder, but just too heavy to be suitable. I'm sure it will be snapped up by some other happy hunter.

Realist just won out over the idealist.