Fortec FS6D 1.8m Dish

[PopcornNMore]

I just ordered a Fortec FS6D 1.8m dish from Sadoun Satellite. When it arrives I will be comparing how well it does against the Channel Master 1.8m offset dish. I am also thinking about coming up with 1 foot extention panels to make the Fortec an 8' dish.

Has Iceberg ever done a review on the Fortec FS6D 1.8m dish? If so, does anyone have the link?

 

[voomvoom]

Congratulations on your order. I can't wait for your results? I've often wondered which would out do the other (off-set vs. prime focus), maybe now I'll find out? I've also had some thought into extention panels to make a dish larger and hopefully more reliable. But, haven't given it enough thought to actually try something.... Please post your results? Thanks...

Al

 

[caddata]

....thinking about coming up with 1 foot extention panels to make the Fortec an 8' dish....

Popcorn:

Gee I wish we could do that, but looking at it from an engineering perspective it may be a very complicated project.

First the existing parabolic curve must be duplicated either on paper or virtually in a computer, and then templates fabricated.

Second the curve must be extended one foot, maintaining plus or minus 1/16" accuracy to acheive even 50% efficiency. Sheetmetal fabrication could only be achieved by a highly skilled craftsman using costly equipment by fitting the petals to an accurately (plus or minus 1/16") fabricated wood or plaster buck. Polyester (glass fiber) construction would be equally difficult in mold construction and a suitable electrically reflective roving obtained (very hard to buy in small lots). Wire mesh would be hard to embed in the polyester and maintain accuracy of the curve.

After the curve has been extended, a new focal point must be determined and the feed support modified accordingly. F/D ratio would change for sure from the original dish.

Don't want to discourage your thoughts but his would be a very challenging project. I'm not saying it can't be done.

Harold

 

[Anole]

pictures

the end of this thread has Iceberg's Fortec 6'
http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-...-band-dish-what-satellite-normally-aimed.html
here he puts two LNBs on it:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-satellite-discussion/92274-2-c-band-lnbs-one-6-dish.html

 

[PopcornNMore]

VoomVoom, yes I will be posting my results.

Caddata, my first dish back in the 80's was a 6' (Spiderweb I think it was called) and that did offered extension panels to make it a 8' dish which I eventually purchased and installed. I hope to accomplish the same type of thing with my new Fortec 6' dish.

Anole, thank you very much for the links. I wrote Iceberg a PM, but he never responded. He must be out adjusting one of his many satellite dishes.

I got this dish for an unbelieveable price from Sadoun Satellite. I just hope I don't put him out of business.

 

[Corrado]

PopcornNmore, I'm curious about how you will mount yours. I have one of these since last year, but I hate the mount. I had it on a pallet and just tried it here and there. Was contemplating a permanent mount of some sort. Any ideas?

 

[PopcornNMore]

Corrado,

That is a good question. I will keep you posted.

I actually bought this dish because of the mount. My Channel Master 1.8m is the reflector only with the feed support legs. My options were to either build a homemade mount or to buy one. Dow Electronics and Future Satellite charge around $130 plus $50 shipping due to its weight. I recently saw one on EBay for only $49 plus $46 shipping that I was going to bid on, but I would still need to get a 4.5" O.D. pipe, dig a hole, pour cement, etc just to aim at one satellite. Plus the feed support legs are not designed to hold a C band feed horn.

A few days later I noticed the Fortec 1.8m dish up for auction with the mount and feed support legs designed for C band included for the cost of the CM mount. Plus I don't need to dig a hole, pour cement and get a pipe in order to view one satellite.

At a later date (possibly next year) I will make or purchase a mount for the CM and get that one setup as well, but for now at least I can enjoy C band with the Fortec.

I was thinking of placing the dish in the corner of our back deck, but it may need to be elevated to clear the roof of our house. I saw that Iceberg had his on a 30" high table, but then I read that it fell over in a strong wind. I may build a sturdy stand out of pressure treated wood in the corner of our deck and securely fasten the bottom of the stand mount onto it.

It arrived today, so I need to get it up as fast as possible onto the deck before the wife changes her mind. I will be posting pictures as soon as I have it installed.

Thank you everyone as always for your help.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Installed Dish

Today I started installing my new Fortec 1.8m dish. The instructions could have been a lot better. Only 1 page of instructions are provided with this dish and does not show a lot of detail. Thank god I am an engineer.

I also thought the dish could have been made a lot stronger, especially the mount. However, since I got this dish at a great price I can't complain.

Attached are photos of the dish assembly as well as a stand I made out of pressure treated wood last night to mount it onto so that it has a clear line of sight over my house. The only problem is that I made the stand 24" X 27" and the bottom ring of the mount is 25.5" in dia. I may just add a pressure treated 2X4 along the one side and then paint. I want to fasten this stand against the deck using lag bolts in order to firmly secure during winds and bad weather.

Tomorrow I am going to try to get a signal with and without the stand to see just how good my line of sight is.

 

[voomvoom]

Thanks for the pictures Popcorn. Good Luck finding your LOS, I'm sure it's there somewhere.

Al

 

[Mr Tony]

VERY nice pictures

I'm in the same boat as you in tryingto overshoot the house. I use a table that is 30" high and it allows me to clear my roof. I don't know what latitude you're at but at 45N the dish looks like the pic below on True south.

I highly suggest once you get your TS found, make a make a mark on the adjustable bar to raise & lower elevation...then you know how high to go

 

[PopcornNMore]

Aligning Dish

Today I tried for several hours to align the Fortec 1.8m satellite dish onto a C band satellite with no luck. The highest signal I received was around 32, but not strong enough to lock in a picture. I believe my main problem is lack of LOS due to the house.

I also modified the 24" X 27" stand I made by adding a 2X4 on each side to make the table 27" X 27" in order to fit the ring mount. Two horizontal 2X4's were also added to the bottom, so that the stand can be secured to the deck using lag bolts.

I am still nervous about placing this dish onto the stand due to possible high winds. This is why I tried today to get a signal to see if it is possible to avoid using the stand. Since I had no luck in getting a signal I believe the stand will be needed.

I would like to someday create a concrete pad in the back yard to mount all the dishes onto. But this would require more time, work and money.

Attached are pictures of my dish and newly modified dish stand.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Quick question:

What is the best way to determine the proper elevation adjustment for a given satellite on this Fortec 1.8m dish?

For example: Galaxy 3C in Gibsonia, PA has an elevation setting of 40.5 degrees. When I place an angle finder onto the front of the dish it reads near 70 degrees in order to get any signal. Where could I place the angle finder in order to read 40.5 degrees?

 

[Mr Tony]

Popcorn
I just checked my dish and I am at G4 which is near my true south (93 is my TS). I measured the "slider" arm and the top piece from end (the top) to where the 2 pieces come together is exactly 17"
That is for 38 elevation.

As for the dish pictures, that dish seems to be aimed way too low. Prime focus dishes are true so 45 degrees is a legit 45 degrees There is no offset

 

[PopcornNMore]

Thank you Iceberg for your help. I will adjust to 17" tomorrow night after work to see if that helps. It at least gets me near where I want to be.

I also figured out that when the magnetic side of my angle finder is placed onto the front of the dish it is measuring away from 90 degrees instead of zero. This is why I saw the 60 - 80 degree range when a signal was present instead of 20 - 40. When I place the non-magnetic side of the angle finder onto the front of the dish it reads correctly.

I am thinking of doing the following:
1) Securing the white stand I made out of 2X4 pressure treated wood with a 3/4" plywood top to the deck using 4 large lag bolts.
2) Placing dish on top of stand.
3) Securing bottom ring mount using supplied brackets with bolts going thru the 3/4" plywood and tightening with nuts on the bottom.

Would the dish then be ok from heavy wind, snow and other weather? Or would you choose another mounting method?

 

[voomvoom]

There is no offset

There is an offset for Prime Focus dishes. It's called "Deviation", and where I'm at it comes to 6 degrees of deviation. It's probably different for different locations, I don't know? I'm at 32.5n and add the 6 degrees to that comes to 38.5 degrees. The way I use my angle finder (protractor) it comes off the 90 at 51.5 degrees to hit the arc. Here is a Calculator that can get it close for you:
http://home.att.net/~tarek/azel1.htm

Good Luck!

Al

 

[PopcornNMore]

I believe deviation is only used when motorizing a dish. Since this dish will be manually adjusted only the elevation needs to be set.

 

[Anole]

please correct me . . .

I thought it was called declination...
... and this reference says all az/el calculators include the declination in their measurements.
That's why you don't have to compensate for it manually, in the field.

However, it implies to set up a BUD, you dial the declination to zero, then add back the declination to your elevation (given by the calculators) and set your dish accordingly.
Then, if you use an inclinometer to bring the dish down the declination amount for your area, using the declination adjustment, you should be right on.

Of course, there are short cuts, but the above would be the "hard way", I guess.
Obviously, if you can get your inclinometer on both the frame and the dish, the difference is the declination.


I'll have to think a while to consider how this all applies to SG2100 and HH90 type motors . . .

 

[PopcornNMore]

You're right, declination.

 

[Anole]

more info

More info never hurts.
And, sometimes correct statements, taken in a vacuum, are misleading.

Prime focus dishes are true so 45 degrees is a legit 45 degrees There is no offset

Taken alone, this is not wrong.

There is an offset for Prime Focus dishes.
It's called "Deviation", and where I'm at it comes to 6 degrees of deviation.

Well, for a BUD, there is a declination adjustment, and for parts of North America, 6º sounds pretty good.
This is not wrong, from a BUD-user's standpoint.

I believe deviation is only used when motorizing a dish.
Since this dish will be manually adjusted only the elevation needs to be set.

There's a lot of truth in this one, too.
Everybody need declination, but for many of us, it's already built into our Az/El calculators, so we ignore it.
So, if we are talking about manually adjusting the fixed Fortec 6' on it's Az/El mount, any old Az/El calc will give us all we need.
If we're using the Fortec 6' (or any BUD) on a Polar mount, (which implies we're using a motor), then the declination must be adjusted manually.

If we have a little dish on an HH90/SG2100, then the motor bracket is elevation, and what you would call the elevation on the dish mount is the real declination.
That's why I think so many people have trouble adjusting the little motors -
The current wisdom uses incorrect and confusing terminology for the two interacting adjustments.
By just calling it what it is, I feel it'd be a lot easier to understand.


film at 11

 

[voomvoom]

film at 11

I can't wait to see this film at 11. You're right Anole, declination is the word I intended to use. I spelled that word left and right and up and down and it just didn't look right. I just left it like what is there? Now I know why it didn't look right, I was using the wrong word? Thanks for correcting me!

Al