TEN Foot Channel Master Up before winter

[chapelrun]

A bit more progress today

Very pretty fall day here in Virginia so this afternoon I worked on my dish some more.

My son helped me flip it over (face down) so I could work on the back. The four steel supports had to be removed and I used hand held grinder with a wire brush attachment to get all the rust off. Then of course I painted them dark brown, let them dry and put them back on.

One thing I have found is - - - it always takes longer to do any one task than I think it is going to take.

My son is off from school Monday and Tuesday this week so I may try to get Tuesday off to put the dish up on the mount. Still trying to get up before winter but it has already snowed so I don't know if that counts. I plan on using the front-end loader on the tractor to lift the dish into place.

A few PIX.

 

[Keystone7]

Hey Chapelrun, that's looks great. That beats my 36". You are pretty lucky to have one of those. Maybe next summer, I will look for one in my county. Looks good!

 

[bobvick]

Is that a Chaparral Dual C feedhorn you are using there? You will love it, I have one with two Norsat LNB's like you have there and it works great.

 

[turbosat]

Nice work Chapel, I like the dog's 'nonplussed' look, lol. It''s like "they dig a perfectly good hole and then fill it up"

 

[chapelrun]

Nice work Chapel, I like the dog's 'nonplussed' look, lol. It''s like "they dig a perfectly good hole and then fill it up"

You just don't know how true that statement really is - - - the day I did the concrete I was by myself - - -trying to get the pole perfectly plumb - - - well if I'm working - - - the dog wants to work too. (His job is chasing a ball). He must have dropped his ball into the bottom of that 5 foot hole at least 4 times. I can tell you it is hard to get a tennis ball from the bottom of a 5 foot hole when you have a 10.5 foot pipe in it. He is a really good dog - - - he always keeps me company when I'm working on my dishes.

 

[RT-Cat]

Nice pics Chapelrun.
Ruffles is just waiting for that to go up so you can start the next one and he can play with his ball and that hole.
I had laugh about you having snow and I'm in cold Michigan and have not seen any yet! That sure was one bad storm that went through your area.
Once again, be safe when you put that monster up.

 

[chapelrun]

Is that a Chaparral Dual C feedhorn you are using there? You will love it, I have one with two Norsat LNB's like you have there and it works great.

I bought the Chaparral feedhorn and both Norsat LNB from a member here over a year ago - - - they have been waiting in my basement since. I hope to press them into service very soon. I decided to go C-Band only on this big dish because I already have a .75 PrimeStar tracking the ARC for KU band.

 

[sergei]

I plan on using the front-end loader on the tractor to lift the dish into place.

Since I've used my tractors front loader to install all my BUD's I was wondering how large of tractor are you going to use?

 

[chapelrun]

John Deere 2040

I have a JD-2040 pictured here. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I want to do this safely.

PIX of Tractor - - - I think I'm most happy going 3 mph on this tractor.

 

[sergei]

I have a JD-2040 pictured here. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I want to do this safely.

PIX of Tractor - - - I think I'm most happy going 3 mph on this tractor.

Not sure what your reach is with the FEL on the JD tractor but When I installed my 8' Channel Master I used 2 small C-Clamps and moving straps attached to the sides to hold the dish while I moved it to the mount and using my forks helped with my reach until I got at least one bolt in the mount.

 

[Cham]

The front-end loader was invaluable when I installed my 10' fiberglass dish. It was way too heavy to handle myself (never anyone around when I need them for this type of thing). I even used the loader to install an 8' aluminum dish for the neighbor. Guess that is one of the required tools for C-band!
I found a 10' channel master not too far away and decided to stop by one day and ask if I could take it off their hands... The positioner had broken and it was pointing horizontally into the trees to the east of their house, and I also noticed trees to the south that were likely too tall and close to allow reception. The fellow that answered the door said he paid $9k for the system back in the 80s, I could have the dish, mount, and whatever else out there for $4k. Needless to say I didn't bring it home. I wished him luck though...
-C.

 

[chapelrun]

Today, we tried to put up the dish using the tractor and front-end loader. This first attempt failed. Tractor behind dish and strap through the center of the dish but front-end loader would not go high enough to lift into place.

Next try - - - tractor will be in front of dish with dish standing and strapped to bucket - - - this should give plenty of lift to get lined up and bolts in place.

Sorry no PIX - - - we were lucky just to get everything back on the ground safely.

 

[chapelrun]

Entire Family including dog PLUS Tractor - - - Finally get 10 footer into the air!!!

Very nice day today - - - so the entire family put up the 10 footer !!! :up

Started by putting sand in a feed bag and placing it in the bucket of the tractor - - then with lots of help stood the dish up and roped it to the bucket.

Took about 30 minutes to get lined up enough to put the first bolt in place, then kept using the tractor and rope and muscle to get the rest in line to bolt together.

My daughter took pictures of the event. Took me a long time to get to this point but now extremely happy with the results.

 

[sergei]

Nice job and having a tractor with a FEL makes all the different in the world, so we who have one can really enjoy them.

 

[Anole]

Lookin' good! - :up

Sure was a struggle, though.
Should give you years of fine service.

Kinda makes ya wonder how this would've been installed 25 years ago?
4-man crew?

 

[chapelrun]

Sure was a struggle, though.

I looked it up just now - - - from the time I picked up the dish until I had it back up in the air (ONE year and two months)

Here is what it looked like when I got it.

 

[KE4EST]

Wow Looks nice all set up.

 

[djflako]

Looks nice Very nice

 

[brex2001]

An excellent restoration! Great work!

 

[fulszjep]

How heavy is the dish?