Anyone need a Birdview dish in ABQ?

[Lone Cloud]

I assume you got the 6 inch diameter pole. Did you also pull the footing out, or did you do like I did and cut it off flush with the ground?

Did you do a site survey? My location was above my roof on one end of my house. - no need to dedicate acreage on the ground,

I am really glad someone got that dish. When mine was not installed yet, I got it all cleaned and painted with flat white enamel on the sun side, and gloss white enamel on the shade side. Don't reverse that, or you will be finding dead, cooked birds and bugs scattered all around it, as they pass through the focal point. Bzzzzzt!

 

[skysurfer]

I assume you got the 6 inch diameter pole. Did you also pull the footing out, or did you do like I did and cut it off flush with the ground?

Did you do a site survey?

We (myself, dad and Radzoid) dug around the footing a littlee bit and then chipped away at the concrete with a digging bar and a sledgehammer. The concrete after a few bangs would fracture nicely so that helped with the pole's removal quite a bit. If the concrete would have been as hard as sidewalk concrete, the removal would have been much more of a PITA!

I didn't want to hacksaw the pole flush with the ground because I didn't know how high off the ground the dish would be once I buried the pole about 2 feet into the ground.

I didn't do a site survey - the dish is replacing a 7' dish because I am unhappy with the c-band performance of that 7' dish due to not being 2 deg compliant. The birdview is 2 deg compliant so it should be awesome on c and ku once I make the changeout. I"m trying to figure out how to adapt the birdview to the existing pole that is holding the 7' dish. Worst case will be to dig another hole and pour concrete to secure the birdview pole in the ground.

I am impressed about that 6 inch pole in that the lower 18" or so seem to have been smashed into a rectangular shape at the factory, avoiding the need for bolting on a no-rotation fin and making the installers job quicker.

I have no plans to paint it - the dish looks great as-is. My biggest decision other than mount-adapting or hole/concrete install of the 6" pole is whether I should put the remaining piece of the weather cover (basically the ring) on the feedhorn for a little bit better cosmetic look or leave it off because the top is broken out.

 

[Anole]

My pole appeared to have anti-rotation fins on a ring (short tube), welded on from the factory.
They were somewhat rusted away after 20 years, but the rest of the pole seemed fine.

As for the LNB cover, Linuxman and Stogie5150 had discussion about making a 'perfect' replacement.
Search for that conversation (or ask them the details).

 

[TRG]

Skysurfer, I'm in the Northeast Heights near the Arroyo Del Oso golf course (Osuna near Louisiana). Let me know if you need any help.

 

[linuxman]

I have no plans to paint it - the dish looks great as-is. My biggest decision other than mount-adapting or hole/concrete install of the 6" pole is whether I should put the remaining piece of the weather cover (basically the ring) on the feedhorn for a little bit better cosmetic look or leave it off because the top is broken out.

You can make a new feed-horn cover out of a 5 gallon plastic bucket purchased at any hardware store.

Cut the bucket off at the 4 gallon mark, or just under the circles that come on the bucket. Drill and mount 3 - L shaped brackets around the outside edge of the scalar plate with holes drilled into the brackets for screws to come in through the bucket sides and attach the bucket to the brackets.

Works like a charm and the bucket will last at least 2.5 years. That's how long my first one has been service. I took the extra step of cutting off the ridges and lettering off the bucket bottom of mine and painted it black.

It will work great and you will be happy.

 

[skysurfer]

Skysurfer, I'm in the Northeast Heights near the Arroyo Del Oso golf course (Osuna near Louisiana). Let me know if you need any help.

Do you think you can set up a week of 60-70 deg days so I can do a concrete pour if needed?

This winter is nowhere near as nice (temp wise) as last winter, that's for sure! Last winter was ridiculous in that I was doing dish peaking and tweaks whenever I felt like it because it was warm and sunny.

 

[skysurfer]

You can make a new feed-horn cover out of a 5 gallon plastic bucket purchased at any hardware store.

Works like a charm and the bucket will last at least 2.5 years.

thanks for the bucket idea. I should buy a few since they'll only last about 6 months in Albuquerque's UV environment.

I'll have to see what other birdview tricks and tips there are on this forum. I can already see how I might have to make a corotor adapter plate because it seems to me by visual observation that the feedhorn supports are further apart on the feedhorn ring than they would be if I had a corotor scaler ring on there. Maybe if I remove the feedhorn cover assembly lower piece I'd find something different like proper spacing for a corotor scaler ring (keeping fingers crossed).

 

[phlatwound]

skysurfer, you can increase the size of the center hole in the stock Birdview scalar and install a CoRotor.

 

[Lone Cloud]

Just a thought about increasing the scalar hole.

People were breaking those struts when they tried to get the scalar off, so I left mine on. I measured the throat of the lnb I was using, bought a good hole saw in that size, drilled that hole through a piece of plexiglass (wood would work too) and c-clamped it on the scalar so the hole in the plexi was dead center of the hole in the scalar.

The plexi then acted like a guide, guiding the hole saw dead center. Go slow. Use oil. Leave the scalar and struts in place.


Birdview Owners Club Member at large.

 

[putney]

Just a thought about increasing the scalar hole.

People were breaking those struts when they tried to get the scalar off, so I left mine on. I measured the throat of the lnb I was using, bought a good hole saw in that size, drilled that hole through a piece of plexiglass (wood would work too) and c-clamped it on the scalar so the hole in the plexi was dead center of the hole in the scalar.

The plexi then acted like a guide, guiding the hole saw dead center. Go slow. Use oil. Leave the scalar and struts in place.

Bob Villa couldn't have come up with a better method.

NO REALLY! HE COULDN'T!

Thanks for passing along the tip!