What's tops in satellite projects on your "When Spring Arrives" list?

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"On the Air" in MI
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Oct 13, 2007
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West Central Michigan
Been a rough winter for many a member here, so....with Spring (calendar-wise) in sight, now.....what is the first, top single or list of "Waited for Spring" satellite TV projects on your list?

Mine is running new actuator and sensor wire, as shielded as possible to drive RF far away from my FTA dish so I can try using an X or G-box. (Thus getting rid of the old 4D only being used as a dish mover.)

Betcha we all have some spring "outdoor" satellite projects on our lists by now......

Enjoy!
 
Since I got my old C-band dish working, I may play with the KU a bit. I ran all new wires and buried them so all thats left is to play with the little dish. That is til I think of something else to tinker with.
 
I have an orthomode feed with two Norsat 8515s, a "naughty mod" Zinwell MS4X8WB-Z multiswitch, all waiting to be installed when the weather cooperates.
 
I need to move my 8 foot dish about two foot farther to the right of where it is now. I'm having issues with AMC3 on the RTV channels and I have to wait on the ground to dry real good first....Stupid trees!.....Blind
 
Already starting on mine... I'm replacing my old NPRMs supporting the motorized dishes with DTV Slimline mounts bolted to Superdish NPRM bases. The old 2 3/8" NPRM from Motor 1 will be used for my T-90.
 
I got the pole planted and the C Band dish up in November, then broke my wrist. Everything came to a stand still for me/us.

Now the doctor wants to rebreak the wrist to reset the bone (THREE MONTHS LATER??) but I still want to get back to that dish and get it aimed as a stationary dish with a dual feed so we can watch it in the bedroom and the living room.

Other things "pending" too.

Photto
 
Total overhaul for me. I'm getting a "Sun Setter Awning" and all the dishes are in the way. So I'm moving them all. But first will be setting up the new C-Band dish. That has been too long in getting to completion.
 
I have my eye on about an 8 foot C-band dish about four miles from my house. I would like to get that set that up this spring. I would be a vast improvement on the 5 and half foot ghetto moved I currently use. I also need to figure out a way to get a Ku dish up to the lake in Michigan without the campground owner or my wife shooting me.
 
I already started...I am consolidating things down to two receivers and two dishes. Thus the link in my signature. Simplify,simplify,simplify.
 
I gotta figure out a 'non-satellite' excuse to sell my wife on to get rid of about 10 large pines which are blocking my BUD's LOS from 72W to 83W and from 101W through about 119W.

Also, if she visits her sister for a couple of weeks, I really could use a third line of RG6 run from my dish garden to under my house.
 
My neighboor at my cabin had his boy cut down a bad maple tree the other day. A limb caught the power line and that force snapped my cabin power pole off and brought it to the ground.

He and I had talked about running the electrical service underground a few years back, so he is going to rent a trencher for me if I want to get the underground line run now.

Maybe I will have them trench a cable slot underground for my satellite up at home at the same time. I just live 3/4 mile up the hill from my river cabin.

Currently, I have RG11 cable laid out on top of the ground, which I have to move everytime I mow. It was a temporary setup at the time, just to test the LOS. But, about three or so years later it isn't sounding so temporary anymore. This will be a good opportunity to complete it and make it permanent.

Then, I will go out dish hunting when it is warmer and find me a BUD. I will start plans to set the BUD in at the location I have picked. It is a most excellent installation site for my yard as it has a LOS for every satellite from 28.5 to 164.2 degrees west! There are no trees or buildings in that LOS, only the curvature of the earth limits me.

I would lay in a PVC tube or conduit so that I can pull cables through easily in the future to accomodate any changes I might wish to make. I might use underground sprinkler tubing if I can get my hands on some that is large enough diameter. What do you think? Good idea?

RADAR
 
I got an 8 foot Radio Shack bud last fall and bought a dmx242 to go with it. Hope to get it planted this year without too much grief from the wife.
 
bassist said:
I gotta figure out a 'non-satellite' excuse to sell my wife on to get rid of about 10 large pines which are blocking my BUD's LOS from 72W to 83W and from 101W through about 119W.

Also, if she visits her sister for a couple of weeks, I really could use a third line of RG6 run from my dish garden to under my house.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that a "pine-bore" beetle, with symptoms similar to copper nails driven in a circle around the base of each tree, would be an appropriate excuse. :)
 
MY SPRING PROJECT

This spring project is making my Prodlin 4 footer more solid on my hand truck. I had mounted the 4 foot dish on a hand truck so that I can move it in and out of the garage easier. (I live in an HOA complex)

The first try at it I had the post mounted in the front of the hand truck. The weight distribution was all in the front and the dish had a tendency to tilt forward. I move the post in the back of the hand truck and moved more weight to the rear making the weight distribution better. I needed to move the motor even back further and I had mounted the motor on an old J-mast and now my problem is torsion twist.

When you rock the dish sideways, (simulating windy conditions) the motor bracket, the mast, the post and the hand truck, twist and distort. I need to beef up the metal on the hand truck and eliminate the post.

I was leaning toward making a mast out of water pipe and have it shaped so that it would attach to the back of the hand truck and with elbows extend the mast at the back enough that the weight will be distributed better and hopefully I can eliminate the distortion when the dish is twisted sideways.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

Mike Lib
DSCF5411.JPGDSCF5412.JPGDSCF5413.JPG
 
Hi folks,

My "when the snow's gone" list includes new bushings in the polar-axis of my 10 ft. Perfect-Ten mesh dish. It succumbs to the stiff
breezes way too easily!

But before it goes back up on the pole, I'm gonna set it up again on the old temporary test rig and do some major fine tuning to the
focal point, skew, and scalar adjustments, as well as getting the mount angles set to perfect!
Hopefully, all that will raise up the Q levels on the 8PSK signals!

Speaking of the "pole", I believe I can shorten it about a foot or so now too. That will help stiffen it up a bit. I left it a bit high to
give the dish it's clearance over the peak of the garage, but the snow just doesn't get that deep up there.

I've also got a 90cm motorized Ku dish up there sitting idle. I want to hook it up to the 21" TV in the garage, and maybe pipe some
of those satellite radio services into my "DogHouse" stereo (4 Cerwin Vega 12" on an old Realistic powerhouse amp). -- PARTY-TIME!


Success to everyone's spring projects, and remember, Safety First!
 
I have a newly added project for spring now.

A lady I work with is buying a new house on the river south of my home town. There is a newer BUD installed out along the bank of the river and it is in the way for ther airboat launch.
She told me yesterday that I could have it as soon as they close. I am not sure what size it is, but I think 6 or 8 foot and it is a mesh dish. Next warm day that I have time I will get out and look it over personally.

Yippee! :)

RADAR
 
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