12' Paraclipse or 9' solid Birdview, your opinions please.

[hags]

The 12' Paraclipse removal and move is scheduled for this weekend. Sometime early either Saturday or Sunday morning. As luck would have it while running for work I passed an old motel with a white dish out front, a quick look and I thought I saw a 9' solid Birdview. After turning around and getting off the tollway I came to the hotel, found the office and asked with whom to speak to about the dish. The woman working the front desk asked "why? you want it?", to which I replied "yes", her answer was "take it, it's your's". Anyway, long story short, she turns out to be the owner. After talking to her for few minutes I went to check out the dish. Perfect condition, with H-H motor (working according to the owner), minimal weathering, the decal still partially intact, and the complete pedestal mount. Now, faced with this choice, based on performance, which would be your pick? I"m not sure if I wanna grab them both. I could get the Paraclipse up and running ASAP. The pedestal mount of the Birdview will require more concrete. Pics to follow if I pick up the Birdview tonight.

 

[KE4EST]

Both...haha.....I would choose both to have one as a back-up, but if I could only choose one I would go with the Paraclipse.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Birdview over a Paraclipse Classic. The Birdview should have much better performance due to surface accuracy. Love the Paraclipse Classic looks and gets extra points for style, but will have increased sidelobe patterns. Have owned both.

 

[hags]

I cannot find any gain/frequency info on the Paraclipse dish. Interesting on the Paraclipse pick, being (almost) totally ignorant I am leaning toward the 9' solid versus the 12' mesh. I'm not sure how much they differ at C-band frequencies , not sure the mesh/solid thing is a factor with the intended use being C band only. So I can only guess.

 

[pro96]

Id take any of the 2 coming from an actual 6 foot for myself.

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[KE4EST]

Yeah I did the 6-footer thing for awhile, so much better when you go bigger.

 

[phlatwound]

Most likely that BV is 8'-6, not 9'. They also made some 9'-6 but I have only seen one of those.

I,of course, would get both.

 

[Anole]

Get both; decide later !

I sent Stogie a text and asked him to look at this thread.
He actually has both up 'n running right now.
And his Paraclipse is even on a rare H-H mount!

You might list what you need the dish for.
Or where you plan to aim it (and your actual location).
Perhaps the Birdview H-H matters more to you than 12'.

Not having both, it's hard to offer an opinion.
The BV will take some work to mod and set up.
(all the white solids I've seen are 8.5' ; BV perfs are 8')

Both dishes should stand up to seriously bad weather.

I would (and did) go for the Birdview.
But I lusted and shopped for one for years.



Edit:

I'm not sure how much they differ at C-band frequencies , not sure the mesh/solid thing is a factor with the intended use being C band only.

I missed that earlier.
Have to see what Stogie says.

 

[phlatwound]

...BV perfs are 8'...

I've never seen an 8.0' BV of any stripe, they may exist, but my perf is 8.5'.

Somebody (might be Stogie) had some old BV brochures with the sizes.

Great dishes, built like a tank, and surface accuracy unbeaten in most any other "consumer-grade" dish.

They just take some work to make them compatible with the 21st century.

 

[Anole]

Phlatwound - if you got an 8'6" BV perf, I'll take your word.
Never seen one, personally.
Thought Linuxman reported his was 1/2 foot smaller than his solids.
Maybe my memory is faulty.

Lot of us have what looks identical to BV perfs, and mine is 8'0".
Pretty sure it was stamped, not spun, too.
Always thought the BV company bought it from a third party.
Maybe they had trouble spinning perforated sheets?

But if yours is really 8'6" (and spun), that's enlightening.

 

[phlatwound]

Phlatwound - if you got an 8'6" BV perf, I'll take your word.
Never seen one, personally.
Thought Linuxman reported his was 1/2 foot smaller than his solids.
Maybe my memory is faulty.

Lot of us have what looks identical to BV perfs, and mine is 8'0".
Pretty sure it was stamped, not spun, too.
Always thought the BV company bought it from a third party.
Maybe they had trouble spinning perforated sheets?

But if yours is really 8'6" (and spun), that's enlightening.

Here is a pic of my 3 BV reflectors @ 8'-6, I have one of the solids in operation now.

Are you talking about the "AMCI" (?) dish? I don't see much similarity in that one in your pics to a BV, other than it is a perf reflector with a rolled perf edge.

Sure would like to find someone that worked at BV with some knowledge, some really interesting info out there somewhere.

 

[Magic Static]

I've been crying over the death of several BV dishes. A perf and a stainless solid one too. Trampled by horses

 

[madmadworld]

http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/293076-found-a-Birdview-need-help?p=2990835#post2990835

pendragon
I picked up a Birdview last year and it's one of my prized dishes. For Ku it's hard to beat, although that is with a virtually custom dual orthomode feed. For C it's a good performer, but nothing special for its size. My 10' dishes easily outperform it

 

[toucan-man]

Them's fightin' words.

 

[hags]

Most likely that BV is 8'-6, not 9'. They also made some 9'-6 but I have only seen one of those. I,of course, would get both.

You are correct, but the 8.5' BV was marketed as 9' and is listed as such in their catalogs. I measured the dish and it is indeed 8.5'. I may pick up the Paraclipse as well, but the almost 4' of overhang on each side of the 8.5' wide trailer I have though is enough to give me pause.

 

[hags]

Birdview over a Paraclipse Classic. The Birdview should have much better performance due to surface accuracy. Love the Paraclipse Classic looks and gets extra points for style, but will have increased sidelobe patterns. Have owned both.

Ah ha, now that I can understand. I have futzed with terrestrial FM antenna design and building for over a decade I have come to favor gain over pattern, in general. How any of those experiences compare to C-band I don't know but thanks for the info.

 

[hags]

Here's a few pics with my 7 y/o working the camera. Also, I'm in luck, the motor has the reed sensor kit installed. It's too bad that putting this in operation entails a new concrete pad. Now it's on to the Paraclipse.

 

[Anole]

The Birdview looks excellent!
Even clean.

Your kid did a fine job with the camera.
Be sure to take him/her along on all your recovery and install missions!

Hope you took the pole.
The BV mount won't fit onto anything else.

Anxious to see more pix.
Both installing the BV, and recovering the Paraclipse.

 

[hags]

Oh yeah, I took everything, the dish, mount/motor, and the stand. After having read through a bunch of threads on here I see I got really lucky to have the reed sensor kit and the scalar ring conversion already installed on this Birdview. I thought he did a good job too, especially for being 7 y/o, I did get a few of these shots though.

 

[Anole]

Glad to hear it's mostly all converted!

The other mod is to move the scalar a few inches away from the dish.
Should be well documented in several threads.

Oh, and you may need to fine tune declination with washers.

Think that covers everything.