Recent content by mikekohl

Some suppliers to the cable and satellite industry do not always mention a Underwriter's Laboratory listing. I was just reporting my personal experience between Alaska and hot climates such as those in California and Nevada. Black plastic stands up much better than a lighter color such as...

It is a lot easier to change cable ties every time you need to get inside those buckets. Would suggest buying a bag with a few dozen or more black ties, 8 inch length. The 8 inch length because they have more gripping power than smaller ties, and the black color because light colors are much...

New information: The Internet Archive has made major progress on digitizing much of Bob's materials, that were stored in Denver since 2018; picking them up in July 2024. I completed an inventory on the collection in early 2019, and it took another six years to get to the next steps, which...

If you are having precipitation, Montana drops out quickly. Only solutions are to wait for better weather or use a larger antenna.

It was super strong before the storm and today's adjusting, so will probably have to fix this scientifically. It IS Spring, so weather isn't really an obstacle as long as it is not raining. Thanks for confirming. Mike

I've been recovering from the alignment issues caused by frequent high winds buffeting my 10-foot Winegard Pinnacle Perf. Got the whole arc working again from 55.5 to 139 West, but seeing strange reception situation where 103 West used to be. 93 97 99 101 and 105 West are all working right...

Ironic that the original licensees of broadcast stations got their frequency for free, in the interests of promoting no-charge TV for the public. In the spirit of that system, two digital transitions later, it would only be fair that the primary dash-1 channel on any frequency plus any other...

Not questioning your expertise...I just know from decades of experience that Ku band and DBS reception falls apart when you have a mix of precipitation, especially when temps hover within a few degrees of freezing. It is a lot easier to sweep snow and slush off the dish before it gets deeper or...

If your Satellite antenna is easily accessible, take a snowbrush out to it and gently remove the snow from the reflector. Wet snow or ice that forms after changing from freezing rain is probably the worst case reception situation (other than thunderstorms), and if your backup plans are not...

I have used a 10750 MHz local oscillator setting with a conventional Ku-band LNBF, and it can quite often receive the lower end of the DBS frequencies (12224 upwards) in a blind scan. Unless in the first part of your above pictured scan, you used 10750 on a regular Ku-band LNBF to scan the...

Just went through some old pictures circa 2010, and found a mechanical drawing of a commercially manufactured heavy duty polar mount once made and sold by Prodelin, for their 1.8 meter offset Ku-band antenna. They quit offering these more than a decade ago, but if anyone has an offset dish of...

Nothing concrete to describe yet. There are always hurdles, but I am optimistic that something of interest will develop in the near term. Just don't want to disappoint anyone with dates or promises, so will let you know when there is news.

That looks like a 1.2 meter Fiberglass type, and the mounting head on the back has a strong resemblance to Primestar. Take a look at any numbering on the top rear area of the reflector to determine if this is Channel Master, Prodelin, or something else.

The Orbitron C-10 was of the type that used a locking strip that pounded in between each panel. I never did like that model, because it had issues in high wind areas and simply did not hold completely in place. The SX-10 was similar to the SX-8.5 in that you had to slide in the panels as...

I worked for Frank Leach from 1991 to 1999, as Technical Director at Orbitron. He came to Wisconsin to study under Frank Lloyd Wright, and stayed in the Spring Green area for many years, retiring when the business was sold in 1999. Sometime in the early 1990s I remember an episode of Northern...