Found a damaged BUD, now what?

[yuccabrevifolia]

I just dragged an old 7.5 foot Laser home from the desert. The mesh is in pretty bad shape and the LNB and actuator will have to be replaced. I don't think it has been used in 15 years given what the people who had it told me. Cruising around the web reading, people have used flashing to replace mesh on older dishes. Others have tried heavy window screen. Not many have really talked about the results. Has anyone tried anything like this? I'm not afraid to experiment with materials if anyone has ideas. Thanks in advance!

 

[hwm]

I used standard sheet aluminum that sold in rolls for roofing work to replace badly damaged sections of mesh in my Winegard 10 footer I rescued from a junkpile. It works fine so far, and has survived 60+ MPH wind gusts. This is the large dish in my avatar photo.

Some tips I would offer from my experience rebuilding mine are: Break the dish down into sections where it unbolts before trying to repair or replace mesh. This way you can more easily wrestle it into the position you want, and reach both sides of the area you are working on.

I found it helpful to turn the individual sections on their side as I replaced the mesh in its grooves. That way the lower edge stayed in its groove as I coaxed the upper edge into place.

I used a pop riveter tool to secure the newly repaired sections to the old mesh.

Even if the actuator motor is shot, you can still use the actuator jackscrew to manually position the dish. Save the drive shaft from the actuator motor and chuck it in a cordless drill.

Many of the best English language true FTA channels are on C-band. It's a worthwile project.

 

[Long Hair]

I used galvanized steel roof flashing on a 7.5 and it worked good. My ku signal come in
about 10 higher on the quality and the c-band stayed the same. I recovered the whole
dish, when it was still in the air mounted on a nine ft. pole. (It was fun) Good Luck.

 

[cracklincrotch]

I found it helpful to turn the individual sections on their side as I replaced the mesh in its grooves. That way the lower edge stayed in its groove as I coaxed the upper edge into place.

What I did with my Winegard 7.5 was use WD40 to lubricate the grooves the mesh slide into. Worked very well with the dish still mounted 9' in the air.

 

[sideswiper]

good find hope you enjoy c band as much as i do

 

[yuccabrevifolia]

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. I'll give it a shot. The mesh on this one is held on with machine screws instead of a channel, so it should be even easier than what you all describe. Off to Home Depot in the morning to find parts. Thanks for the ideas! Nice to know I can use it as an antenna rather than the backup, which was to use it as the top of a gazebo.

Yeah I'm looking forward to this. I've had a KU band setup for a year now and every time I look at Lyngsat I envy people with big dishes.

 

[fastscirocco]

The repairs I've seen all of the screening was replaced with sheet metal.
If I understand correctly if you want C and KU replaceing the screening
with sheet metal will improve the KU signal ... is that right?

 

[cracklincrotch]

I'm curious about that too, and to what extent it makes a difference.

 

[phlatwound]

I was under the impression that as long as the holes in the mesh were small enough, the reflector would appear "solid" at Ku frequencies?

Probably more critical will be getting the repair material (whatever you use) to conform to true and accurate parabolic form, especially for Ku.

 

[cracklincrotch]

My experience with aluminum coil stock makes me think that it would quite nicely as it is flexIble to a certain point. Install it so the curve of the coil runs from the center to the outside of the dish. That way it will conform to the dish.

 

[yuccabrevifolia]

Quick update.

I wanted to post something to let people know what the final disposition was and to add (ever so slightly) to the body of knowledge here.

I just got the dish up and happily receiving signals from 91w. Man I had no idea how much is really up there! I'm currently at about 75 strength and 40% quality on what I can get without fine tuning, so I would say the repairs were a success.

Attached are a couple of pictures of the dish and the label of the mesh I found at Home Depot here. A couple of observations: The mesh is almost exactly the same size as the original only flat. Also it is very sharp around the edges and springy, and should not be handled without gloves. It got me a couple of times when I was cutting it. It holds the shape of the dish very well for what it is.

BTW: The Frankenstein appearance to the repairs is due to the roll being 12" wide and the repair needing to be about 16" at the top, and also to me being a rank amateur.

All in all this worked out very well. Thanks again for the input and ideas!

 

[Anole]

Your patch works, and is prettier than some. - :up
So, it's hard to argue with!

Thanks for the ideas!
Nice to know I can use it as an antenna rather than . . . the top of a gazebo.

You DO know what we do to people around here, who commit that sin...? -