10.5 ft. RAYDX dish and more

[AJV]

Didn't get a chance to leave stub wires on the box. He had it all disconnected when I get there.

I will probably get rid of the receiver later, but need it to move the dish right now. Thanks fo the input Fat Air.

Al

 

[AJV]

Well, I got the pole planted and the dish mounted. Reinstalled the button hook with the bend pointed down when pointed true south. Does it mak a difference which way the button hook is mounted? Installed my GeoSatPro CK-1 lnbf. Installed a new actuator, because the old one sounded like a bucket of bolts. Receiver won’t power up, so I bought a new VboxX.
I pointed the mount to my True south and tightened the bolts. Did a test run to see how close to the arc and seems to be really close, but only getting 48 quality. Played with the adjustment on the lnbf and did not improve. Grabbed the button hook and pulled down and it went to over 90 quality. I have a hold down strap holding it in place, until I get some cable and turn buckles for replacement. When I get the cable installed, I will do some more tweaking. Here is a couple of pictures so you can see the progress.

 

[FaT Air]

Measure from the edge of the scalar ring to the lip of the dish Top/bottom/left/right. Adjust till the are all equal. (Centering the feed) Then make sure the feed throat is aimed at the dead center of the dish.
It really doesn't matter the position of the button-hook, it's the position of the LNBF, as described above, and it's skew. Guy wires, good Idea. Looking GOOD. Think you're already enjoying this one.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Nice find! I had the same exact dish back in the 80's.

 

[waylew]

With a button hook I like to have the loop facing up,so it doesn't trap water.Otherwise it doesn't matter how you position it as long as the feed is centered.

 

[ACRadio]

It's usually accepted with buttonhooks that best sidelobe performance is with the arm in the up position....

 

[AJV]

Waylew and ACRadio

Thanks for the input. I did not think about trapped water and freezing in the winter.
I wil have to turn it around before I do anymore adjustments.

AJV

 

[sergei]

I did not think about trapped water and freezing in the winter.

I've had no issue with water or any problems with the buttonhook on my Raydx dish and I have it like your pictures. I also have the same mount that you have and I found this style to be a real pain to adjust at first. Great dish, I wish I had been able to find another one for my farm.
If you’re having to pull down on the buttonhook then your dish is out of adjustment. You my have to either loosen the large nuts and either raises or lower the dish and then play with the adjustable rod.

 

[AJV]

sergei

If you’re having to pull down on the buttonhook then your dish is out of adjustment. You my have to either loosen the large nuts and either raises or lower the dish and then play with the adjustable rod.

Last edited by sergei; Today at 05:41 PM.​

That was what I thought at first, and no matter what adjustment I did, left, right, up, down, adjust lnbf, it got worse.
When I pulled down on the button hook, it went up to more than 90% from 48%.

 

[rv1pop]

Since pulling down on the button hook improved the signal, the dish thinks it is warped -- and the LNB is not looking at the center or the focal point -- that adjustment! needs guy wires and turnbuckles!

 

[AJV]

Yeah, I have the guy wires to do this, but I am going to turn the button hook 180 degrees to see if I have to push up on it for good signal.


AL

 

[sergei]

I would really doubt that the dish is wrapped as they are really build strong, but that theory is easy to check. Myself I found using my First Strike meter and my Channel Master together worked great in adjusting my dishes. If you'll PM your phone number maybe I can give you some help over the phone since I've got the same dish.

 

[AJV]

Sergei,

I may take you up on that later, but today we are having thunderstorms and my wife is having knee
operation this afternoon. When I get some time to work on it I will PM you with info and let you know.

AL

 

[sergei]

I may take you up on that later, but today we are having thunderstorms and my wife is having knee
operation this afternoon. When I get some time to work on it I will PM you with info and let you know.

Being retired I've got lot's of free time to see if I can help.

 

[AJV]

Ok. I am thinking about getting rid of the button hook and changing it to a prime focus, to make it more permanently stable, because it does wobble in the socket on the

dish. I know the fd for the lnbf is important, but how critical is the distance for the scalar ring? I have scalar rings that are different diameters, so what determines

the distance for the scalar ring from the center of the dish? Is there a formula to figure the scalar distance as there is for the lnbf distance?

I had holddown straps holding the button hook in position with quite a bit of force on them, when I went to replace them with guy wires, I found out that I don't need them now.

So I think it sagged into position. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

AL

 

[KennyR]

Nice dish Al, I acquired one just like yours the other day. Haven't decided what to do with it yet, mine has the 1/4 inch c-band only mesh with 4 panels missing.It sure looks to be better made than my Uni-mesh or Sami dishes, wife says I need to get rid of some of them.(word of mouth and people wanting me to come and get them out of their yard,3 more wanting me to come get)have now uni-mesh= 2-5.5',1-8'using, 1-10' using, Sami= 7.5', fortec= 6' solid dismantled no polar mount. I measured the distance center of dish to scalar and it was 37", 38" to the alumn bracket that holds the scalar on ( Slightly twisting the dish on the pole left or right may help your alignment when the scalar is centered.)