Where are all the button-hook dishes?

[pacificrim]

I have been reading the Coop's Satellite Digests that were posted up a while ago and couldn't help notice that almost all of the ads in the magazine from all of the various dish companies over the years were of button-hook models. The thing is that I never ever see them, or saw them installed. Were button-hook models more expensive and thus sold fewer? I was looking for ads of either my KTI or my Unimesh in there and in both cases only the button-hook models were shown, yet I've never seen them around. Just wondering.

 

[wvman]

I have been reading the Coop's Satellite Digests that were posted up a while ago and couldn't help notice that almost all of the ads in the magazine from all of the various dish companies over the years were of button-hook models. The thing is that I never ever see them, or saw them installed. Were button-hook models more expensive and thus sold fewer? I was looking for ads of either my KTI or my Unimesh in there and in both cases only the button-hook models were shown, yet I've never seen them around. Just wondering.

I sold several button hook dishes over the years, but unfortunately, being aluminum, most of them went to the scrapyard. I have one 12.5 foot dish I'm going after in the spring that's a button hook. There are plenty of fiberglass dishes around with button hook feeds, but scant few wire mesh dishes. Most all of them have tri or quad leg feeds on them. UFI made their telescopic center tubes long enough to feed out the back of the dish making it easier to set the focal distance and polarity.

If I was a bit younger, I'd go after some of the fiberglass dishes, especially the 1 piece UFI's. They were deep, kept their shape, had great gain over C-Band and Ku, and were relatively inexpensive at the time. I can get all you want of these dishes. It's a shame everyone was in such a hurry to get rid of their BUD's. It's way cheaper to outfit one now than in the 90's.

 

[Magic Static]

Button hook style feed supports had issues and the "trained monkeys" that serviced them had even more issues Quad leg supports were easier to set up and required little if any maintenance. Both my C-Band dishes started life as a button hook but were converted to a quad leg setup long before I acquired them.

 

[wvman]

Button hook style feed supports had issues and the "trained monkeys" that serviced them had even more issues Quad leg supports were easier to set up and required little if any maintenance. Both my C-Band dishes started life as a button hook but were converted to a quad leg setup long before I acquired them.

You're absolutely right. I always machined tolerance rings on my lathe and pressed them inside the outer tube to take up the slack between the outer and inner tube. Some of them were made too light from the factory, especially with the heavier electronics available in the day. I have used support cables to center them. Today, with the Titanium LNBF's, weight wouldn't be a big issue.

Most of them were a bit sloppy to be sure, but it did prevent seizing up after a few years of service. Trying to get seized aluminum tubing apart presented it's own problems. If you used heat, you had to be sure you didn't melt the tubing, and penetrating oil usually didn't work its way all the way down the tube. They did have their advantage when fine tuning the focal distance and polarity.

 

[Lone Gunman]

My Unimesh and Raydx dishes I picked up locally over the years are both button hook so they are still around. The Winegard I bought new in 88 is quad leg support.

 

[. Raine]

My 9' Radio Shack dish and my 12' Conifer are both buttonhooks, my other dish isn't.

 

[armadillo_115]

Got 2 button hooks here. A 10 ft Channel Master mesh that works well with paracord/turnbuckles to stabilize the 'hook. A 'temporary' fix that is slipping into permanent status. lol

And this 12ft beast that has not been remounted yet:



I like how support arms make a parabolic more rigid. My 10ft Unimesh perf with leg supports does NOT dance in a strong wind like the CM button hook. ( I'm sure being a perf makes the UM more rigid as well)

The 12 footer had lots of flex when I checked it at the original owners site. Well.... after I removed the brush growing over and thru it.

If I ever mount the 12ft dish... I may fashion support arms to a collar.Let the 'hook pass thru the collar. I like the idea of being able to adjust FD and skew from the back of the dish.

 

[JFOK]

Hi All,

My button hook Radio Shack dish performed flawlessly for 11 years.

John

 

[dl76]

I picked up 10 foot wingard button hook a few weeks before xmas. It was in great shape on the pictures the lady sent me. I got there to the home. She already had some one take it off pole. They just picked it up off pole and dumped it upside down. Bent the hell out of one pannel. I about didnt take it home. But already drove 90 miles to get it.