Care and Feeding of a 12 foot Paraclipse...

[RnR]

Oh boy... just discovered this thread!

Umm... I have pretty much the same exact setup on my own property with a still excellent condition 12-footer Para in service. Although I don't have the quad=pole setup, everything else is the same including H-H chaindrive.

If I can snap some pics for ya to hopefully answer some questions... give me a shout.

 

[stogie5150]

Safety wire at a "screw" store... Tacoma Screw around here, is stainless and should work. If you have an aircraft surplus store they should have the wire and the twisting pliers also. (Boeing Surplus had a lot the last time I was in there.)

Yeah that was a thought I had too...they usta use that stainless tie wire when I worked in the shipyard...have no idea where to get it locally...

Good luck with this project, stogie, a nice true-and-tuned 12 footer should be an excellent signal gatherer. :up

And thanks to Mauiguy for the great tips and pics.

That's what I am hoping...IF I can get it right, it should be smokin on those cband DVB S2 feeds...Thanks for the well wishes...I am gonna need 'em...

Oh boy... just discovered this thread!

Umm... I have pretty much the same exact setup on my own property with a still excellent condition 12-footer Para in service. Although I don't have the quad=pole setup, everything else is the same including H-H chaindrive.

If I can snap some pics for ya to hopefully answer some questions... give me a shout.

I can use all the help I can get, by all means welcome and join in wherever you want!:up

 

[RnR]

Mauiguy, check out the length of the pipe sticking out of the concrete in the last pic. Thats ALL the pipe the sleeve was holding onto....I don't know HOW that dish made it through Katrina.

BTW ~

That's about all I've got mine attached to as well!

That wasn't the original plan of course, but when I dumped my 8' pipe into the hole (nearly filled with concrete) and since I didn't have a cross piece welded on to it like they show in the manual --- ZOOM! --- to the bottom of the hole it flew!!

My little 135# frame just couldn't haul it back out so I had to make do with the stub above ground. Worked pretty good for the last 20 years, but could be a touch more plumb. Certainly good 'enuff for C-Band and most all Ku.

 

[Mr Tony]

Anybody have a dead 4dtv they wanna sell the powercord and remote for?
It might be dead as a hammer for all I know...no telling how long its been unplugged...

stogie

couple options for remotes
-Radio Shack has some universals that work. I have a 4 in 1 light up that works awesome with the Motorola boxes (Starchoice 205, 315, 505 and a Voom box)
-search for Starchoice remote. Mike Kohl has some (or maybe its the Voom remote). Works just fine. Used my old SC remote on that 410 I got recently

 

[stogie5150]

BTW ~

That's about all I've got mine attached to as well!

That wasn't the original plan of course, but when I dumped my 8' pipe into the hole (nearly filled with concrete) and since I didn't have a cross piece welded on to it like they show in the manual --- ZOOM! --- to the bottom of the hole it flew!!

My little 135# frame just couldn't haul it back out so I had to make do with the stub above ground. Worked pretty good for the last 20 years, but could be a touch more plumb. Certainly good 'enuff for C-Band and most all Ku.

Luckily my 7.5 dish has a 3.5 inch pole already...and its four foot in the ground with about 5 foot sticking out...so I am gonna be fine....I think....LOL

 

[Anole]

Digiblur -
My apologies. It was late and I was thinking of Tron and his Paraclipse!

Stogie -
I had a talk with a motorcycle buddy today, regarding your chain.
He throws 'em away several times a year (because he puts on a new one)
They're just over $100 each, new.
You'd think dumpster-diving at any motorcycle shop would get you some satisfactory used samples.
Alternately, he said J.C. Whitney has new chains for maybe $30.
If your link-spacing is English (if it's 20 years old, that's a good bet), then look for Harley Davidson chains, not one for the Jap bikes, as they would be metric.

 

[stogie5150]

Finally got the courage to hook the motor up and see if it moves...it does...doesn't seem like much binding if at all....its S-L-O-W though I tell ya that...I noticed the motor itself is a Von Weise....36 volts too...POWER!

I am using a old, old MTI positioner...wonder is it 36 volts?

Here are some pics of the chain and stuff for your viewing pleasure...give me your opinion of the condition of the chain... I think it cleaned up pretty well considering...I ran it back and fourth, wire brushing it as it went, then oiling it with synthetic oil...then blowing the crud off with compressed air...

 

[Anole]

magnetic position sensor?

Does that Von Weise motor say: "Gear Ratio 525:1"?
They probably include the big chain in that calculation, because the motor/gearbox looks a lot like what's on the BirdView dishes.
. . . we should calculate the overall ratio of those Birdies, too.

I didn't see a picture from the far side where the cog on the motor/gearbox engages with the chain.
How many teeth does it have?
er: And how many links in that chain per inch (or 10 inches)?
Actually, ya need the circumference of the big chain-wheel,
. . . but how many links to go 180º would be fine.


Anyway, my real question, is where the hell do you put a magnet wheel on that beast?


PS: thanks to all the chatter and pictures of the Paraclipse . . .
I've identified one on the way I go to lunch every day.
Now that I know more, I'll have to stop and look at what sort of positioner it has, and maybe ask about it.

 

[linuxman]

Now that I know more, I'll have to stop and look at what sort of positioner it has, and maybe ask about it.

Careful Anole!!!

You might get interested in one of the bad boys and look at all the work you would have to do!

Nice pictures Stogie.

The chain looks better than the one on my Pinnacle and it has been running fine for over a year. It's not like you are going to drive down the road with it at 100MPH.

As long as it flexes where it is supposed to, it will be fine.

 

[Mauiguy]

Finally got the courage to hook the motor up and see if it moves...it does...doesn't seem like much binding if at all....its S-L-O-W though I tell ya that...I noticed the motor itself is a Von Weise....36 volts too...POWER!

I am using a old, old MTI positioner...wonder is it 36 volts?

Here are some pics of the chain and stuff for your viewing pleasure...give me your opinion of the condition of the chain... I think it cleaned up pretty well considering...I ran it back and fourth, wire brushing it as it went, then oiling it with synthetic oil...then blowing the crud off with compressed air...

Heck looks ok to me. If there is no play in it I'd slap some marine quality grease on it and give it a go.

 

[stogie5150]

Heck looks ok to me. If there is no play in it I'd slap some marine quality grease on it and give it a go.

Its tight as a DRUM. There is NO play at all, no sloppiness at ALL. I was kind of surprised.
I was looking for a way to grease the pivot point of that chain wheel...I noticed from the manual it has a plastic bushing in it...but I squirted a little oil on it anyway....LOL
Once I get it put back together, I am going to get some 'green grease' and grease it up well. Either that or put it on a monthly regimen of synthetic oiling...LOL

I have another question...I started reassembling it today, I have it all bolted back together but not tightened...do I string it from rib to rib across the dish to check for flatness? The 'sight' method will not work for me as I do not have stereo vision like most people do..so I have no depth perception....but strings don't lie.

My flooring guy 'just threw away about five boxes" of the strips for the mesh...grrrrr...he says I cannot get it locally I have to go to New Orleans, but I can get 2" wide material so it will hold the mesh better....speaking of mesh I picked up a 1/4 MILE roll of 17 ga. galvanized fence wire as Mike mentioned earlier so I have the clip making wire...looks like the whole dish is going to need re-clipping because the clips are rusted to bits.

This is gonna take awhile...LOL

 

[stogie5150]

I didn't see a picture from the far side where the cog on the motor/gearbox engages with the chain.
How many teeth does it have?
er: And how many links in that chain per inch (or 10 inches)?
Actually, ya need the circumference of the big chain-wheel,
. . . but how many links to go 180º would be fine.

...you didn't see a picture because its pretty much enclosed front and back.

And, I'll tell you this, if I didn't think it had the potential to be the very best performing dish in the world, which everyone has always said it was, ever since 'back in the day', I would NOT be going through all this, trust me. Run of the mill 10' dishes are a dime a dozen down here. And I really don't have much use for the H-to-H mount either, I cannot see much past 50 degrees or so due to my house in the way..I just thought it was COOL, even when I was a lad, I remember seeing them and thought they were cool and built like a tank. As a former aluminum fitter/welder, I DO appreciate good engineering and workmanship. The Paraclipse has that in spades. :up

This thing is a TON of work. a TON. And its 97 in the shade, even hotter in the shed I have it in, but at least I have shade and a fan.....

 

[Anole]

Yea when the story got to "hundreds of hand-made clips", my brain turned to mush.
That's a whole lot of work!
Wonder what the installers got paid to put them on your property initially?

For such a Cadillac dish 'n mount, you'd think they'd have installed a counterweight.
Is it well balanced without one?

 

[stogie5150]

Yea when the story got to "hundreds of hand-made clips", my brain turned to mush.
That's a whole lot of work!
Wonder what the installers got paid to put them on your property initially?

For such a Cadillac dish 'n mount, you'd think they'd have installed a counterweight.
Is it well balanced without one?

From the looks of the clips, I don't think they will be hard to INSTALL...the factory probably had them premade and ready to go. One of the guys that have done it already will correct me if I am wrong, but the install of the clips looks like the easy part. Fabrication of hundreds of the clips, by hand, looks like the gray hair inducing part...

They DID have a counterweight system for them the 12' and the 14', but paraclipse did not reccomend it in high wind conditions. The dish itself is NOT very heavy at all, and with the beefiness of the mount, I am not surprised they hold up, not at all.

 

[Mauiguy]

Its tight as a DRUM. There is NO play at all, no sloppiness at ALL. I was kind of surprised.
I was looking for a way to grease the pivot point of that chain wheel...I noticed from the manual it has a plastic bushing in it...but I squirted a little oil on it anyway....LOL
Once I get it put back together, I am going to get some 'green grease' and grease it up well. Either that or put it on a monthly regimen of synthetic oiling...LOL

I have another question...I started reassembling it today, I have it all bolted back together but not tightened...do I string it from rib to rib across the dish to check for flatness? The 'sight' method will not work for me as I do not have stereo vision like most people do..so I have no depth perception....but strings don't lie.

My flooring guy 'just threw away about five boxes" of the strips for the mesh...grrrrr...he says I cannot get it locally I have to go to New Orleans, but I can get 2" wide material so it will hold the mesh better....speaking of mesh I picked up a 1/4 MILE roll of 17 ga. galvanized fence wire as Mike mentioned earlier so I have the clip making wire...looks like the whole dish is going to need re-clipping because the clips are rusted to bits.

This is gonna take awhile...LOL

I used the string method when tightening and went from rib tip to rib tip. Also, I installed the quad pole set up and freed hgorn while it was on the ground.

The one thing that astounded me was when I was bolting the feed poles and the feedhorn plate together was how it looked so true. I walked around the dish and it looked great, but when i measured it i found that i had twisted the poles a little and the feedhorn was about an inch out of being centered.

The lesson here is that with my dish I need to assemble the feed while the dish is on the ground. There is no way to accurately measure the distance from the scalar rings to the edge of the dish once it is mounted.

You can always measure from two sides but the side that is up at the twelve foot mark is almost impossible to measure from.

I do not envy your task of re-clipping the entire dish, but it makes for a real nice surface when you do.

I spent a saturday and sunday making little clips, then took my time attaching panels.

One thing I did that you might consider.

I attached all of the mesh except for the two sections that would be closest to the ground when the dish was at my eastern end of the arc. That way, folks could have trusses and some support rings to help lift the dish into position on the mount rather than trying to do it all without smashing the mesh.

Even with only 75 percent of the mesh installed I could watch TV that night. Quality levels were a little low though....

With regard to the wider strips of flooring material: The only cautionhere is t watch the part that goes in to the rib itself. Let's call it "T" stock. Of course the top of the "T" is the part you will see. The base of the "T" is the part that goes in to the rib. One some material that base is too long, and the "T" cap will not pull down tight to the mesh. That is why I recommended that particular number on the page that I sent. It had the shortest base....

 

[Mauiguy]

Yea when the story got to "hundreds of hand-made clips", my brain turned to mush.
That's a whole lot of work!
Wonder what the installers got paid to put them on your property initially?

For such a Cadillac dish 'n mount, you'd think they'd have installed a counterweight.
Is it well balanced without one?

I can offer the following about price to install as it was in Hawaii about 1990. I had a twleve foot paraclypse with a polar mount installed at my place. Total cost for dish and installation and houston tracker 5 IRD was right at the 3500 mark.

I cannot offrer any informationas to what they paid after shipping though. Container loads would have been the most economical, but then the market was small out here , so i am not sure how they brought them in.

 

[stogie5150]

Well its back together...and flat.

Bolted it back together, put two strings across, met perfectly, no muss no fuss. I was happy.

Also tried my hand at a couple of mesh clips.Looks like ALL the mesh is going to have to come off and be redone, it has slipped out towards the outer ring and it doesn't fit in the flats on the ribs...all the clips are toast anyway.... I am going to have to piece the outer mesh panels because the replacement mesh I have isn't wide enough to make it one piece....

 

[linuxman]

Looking good Stogie!

When you first started, I kinda thought maybe it would be nice to start looking for one of these, but after a few days of reading your thread, I think the Birdviews are enough work for me.

 

[stogie5150]

Looking good Stogie!

When you first started, I kinda thought maybe it would be nice to start looking for one of these, but after a few days of reading your thread, I think the Birdviews are enough work for me.

Pansy.

 

[linuxman]

Pansy.

Absotively!!!