Found a dish, need some opinions.

[GMFreak8]

well get the remotes & manuals if they have em.

i don't think any special wires . if you would prefer to run the all in one type cable. some places sell it its called ribbon cable it usually has two strands of coax and the motor wires & polorotor wires . usually it sells for around $1 /ft maybe you can get it cheaper.

main thing on placement is line of sight (LOS) so you would need to pick a place in your yard that has a veiw of the arc you want to see. i have runs of coax of 150 ft i have heard of 250 ft runs but if you can get it to 100ft or less it would be great.

connections policy ?? if you mean what type are the best , i used to use crimp ons but now i use compression.

OK thanks for the information. Who would have thought the most expensive part of this whole thing would be buying the cables.

I was looking at this: Installation Package

If I was to use just regular wiring for the motor, what should I look for? Would cat5 cable work?

 

[GMFreak8]

Found 350 feet of ribbon cable here: CommScope 350' FT Dual RG6 Flat Satellite Ribbon Coax Cable C-Band Outdoor Direct Burial Underground Waterproof Multi-Line Dual Digital Dish TV Antenna Signal with RG-6: Oak Entertainment Centers and Home Office Furniture, TV Antennas, Audio/Video, S

Anyone ever order from these guys? Seems like a good price.

 

[GMFreak8]

Here's some pictures of the dish. I couldn't get any of the receiver or anything. She wasn't home at the time. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[GMFreak8]

Here are some more pics. Does it look like the BSC-621 LNB will work with this dish?

 

[lumpkin666]

have you checked the dish to ensure that its still "round"? it looks pretty bent on the one side. you'll want it near perfect for ku reception

 

[GMFreak8]

have you checked the dish to ensure that its still "round"? it looks pretty bent on the one side. you'll want it near perfect for ku reception

I haven't checked yet. I was going to when I took the pictures, but I didn't feel right doing much without her there. Honestly I think the camera is exaggerating the bending. It doesn't look that bent in real life. I was thinking I might be able to pound it out with a rubber sledgehammer and a piece of wood?

 

[linuxman]

Honestly I think the camera is exaggerating the bending.

I use my camera for my eyes. The camera can see better than I can, and I had a similar ding in my Birdview, but it was the other direction. Out instead of in.

The only thing that will tell you how far out is the string test. You might be able to take the ding out, but it will have to fall in place almost perfectly.

Your camera is your friend!

Otherwise, it is a pretty nice dish!!

Fred

 

[GMFreak8]

I use my camera for my eyes. The camera can see better than I can, and I had a similar ding in my Birdview, but it was the other direction. Out instead of in.

The only thing that will tell you how far out is the string test. You might be able to take the ding out, but it will have to fall in place almost perfectly.

Your camera is your friend!

Otherwise, it is a pretty nice dish!!

Fred

Would that small of a bend cause that big of a problem? When I first saw the pic, it scared me, you're not helping. How much of a bend can be in the dish and it will still function correctly? It seems to be just that one area that is a little out of whack. Do you think it's still worth the $50? I'm gonna go back tomorrow and do the string test. Basically you put one string across the dish and one going down, and see how far apart they are from each other in the middle?

 

[linuxman]

Basically you put one string across the dish and one going down, and see how far apart they are from each other in the middle?

That is correct. I would put one string on top of the dent, and the other at 90 degrees from that. That will tell you how bad the warp is. Then I would try the strings at another point that doesn't involve the dented part. That will tell you if it is an isolated warp or not.

Myself, I wouldn't pay $50.00 for it, but that is just my opinion. Others might have a different idea. Dishes might not be as plentiful as they are in my neck of the woods.

If you can get it free, and can take out the warped section, or beat it into place, then it might be worth the trouble.

Again, it's just my opinion! Take it for what it is worth.

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

Found 350 feet of ribbon cable here: CommScope 350' FT Dual RG6 Flat Satellite Ribbon Coax Cable C-Band Outdoor Direct Burial Underground Waterproof Multi-Line Dual Digital Dish TV Antenna Signal with RG-6: Oak Entertainment Centers and Home Office Furniture, TV Antennas, Audio/Video, S

Anyone ever order from these guys? Seems like a good price.

No, but that's a real good price, when comparing it with the price at Skyvision.

Al

 

[GMFreak8]

Yeah I really don't want to spend the $50 on the dish, but on the other hand, it's solid and not mesh, and there aren't many dishes around this area anymore. I've even put ads in the paper for one, with no bites. The ones I do see are mesh, and I'd like a solid dish, so I can get decent KU and C band reception. I asked if she wanted to give it away, but she said she had a friend interested in using it for a swimming pool (how she expects to do that, I have no idea), and said if she can make a little cash on it, she'd reconsider giving it to her friend. So I offered $20, she said no, offered $40, and she said make it $50 and you can have it. I told her I'm interested, and to not get rid of it. Haven't talked to her since. Just went back to take the pictures. I don't want to spend the money, yet at the same time, I'll probably regret it if I don't get this dish. I figure, at the end I'll have around $450 into the setup. That includes the Ku/C LNB, the Vbox II positioner, 350 feet of ribbon cable, and a mercury II receiver. Worth the investment?

I'm not gonna buy anything until I get it setup in my yard and I can test everything out with the current receiver and see if everything works and I can get a decent line of sight to the satellites.


How much do you think that bent section will affect the signal? I think I might be able to pound it back into a mostly normal shape. I do believe that it was in use after the dent was put there. Her husband used the dish up until his death, and he also put the dent in there, so I assume the dent was there when it was still in use. This is the first and only solid dish I've found in this area. $50 isn't much, I guess I can take the risk. I'm always on the lookout for dishes now, so maybe I'll come across another one. Hell, I'll just collect them and keep them in the garage, or put them in an array, each pointed at different satellites, boy my neighbors would just love that.

That is correct. I would put one string on top of the dent, and the other at 90 degrees from that. That will tell you how bad the warp is. Then I would try the strings at another point that doesn't involve the dented part. That will tell you if it is an isolated warp or not.

Myself, I wouldn't pay $50.00 for it, but that is just my opinion. Others might have a different idea. Dishes might not be as plentiful as they are in my neck of the woods.

If you can get it free, and can take out the warped section, or beat it into place, then it might be worth the trouble.

Again, it's just my opinion! Take it for what it is worth.

Fred

 

[GMFreak8]

No, but that's a real good price, when comparing it with the price at Skyvision.

Al

Yeah, it's the cheapest I've been able to find. I think I'll order it. Afterall, it's pretty hard to screw up a order of cable. Not like it's a complicated order. Plus they have google checkout, which gives me an extra layer of protection.

 

[Anole]

You weren't actually planning on running 350 feet from dish to house, were you?
There are limits.

edit:
Just took a close look at your pictures.
The skirt around the dish is messed up in two places, but I can't see any actual trouble with the reflector surface.
You are there, so your opinion is better.
Looks mostly cosmetic, to me.

If you should decide to replace some of the rusting bolts, just remove every other one, clean, prime, and paint , then put in new hardware.
For a second pass, do the same to the remaining parts.

 

[caddata]

Here's some pictures of the dish....

Eight:

That's a nice looking dish. I notice a couple of things I'd look out for.

(1). That damaged petal in photo #2 appears to be the result of an actuator failure that caused the dish to fall into the post. Not sure if you can repair it but it shouldn't affect the overall performance very much. May make the focal point odd shaped and off center.

(2) The materials of construction may be so that it is not efficient for Ku reception. Some early dishes were for C band because Ku was eight or so years away. If it's constructed from carbon impregnated roving or cloth, there may not have been the effort to make sure that gaps were kept to a minimum. Any gaps of voids in the carbon will reduce the dish's ability to reflect the Ku microwaves.

Neither of my concerns could be answered until the dish is optimized, so I'd install it and see what happens. You can't really tell until you give it a try.

Good luck, and congratulations on your find.

Harold

 

[gabshere]

i thought it was a good looking dish needing some attention...

but you notice the feedhorn , the way its up there you would have to adapt anything you change it to. most likely you could just remove the center and slide a newer one in. you might even have to remove the scaler and have it machined so a need feedhorn will fit it. that shouldn't be a problem. I just couldn't tell if the old one would remove. i did like the bubble dome on the bottom side lol makes it look like a light.

like mentioned above you would have to "optimize" and it looks like it was setup for c-band only . You might have to tune (push / pull each section untill you have the best shape for ku since it has a lot of sections to adjust. probably have to string every section.

this is a big dish and might take a bit of time. it will probably be worth the effort . but also don't be scared to examine a few mesh dishes , they have very good reception. i know some of us like the solids (I have two mesh dishes a 7 1/2 fter & 10 fter) both have good reception. plus the advantage of a mesh is they are light.

around here most mesh dishes are being let go for free. another thing to consider, i'ld say most of the 4dtv equipment was on a mesh dishes , so you might find one of those when looking for a mesh dish , i know i found two (of the 4dtv receivers) when i got my 7 1/2 ft dish.

don't feel like 350 ft run of coax is going to be impossible but you also got to realize the longer the run the more signal loss you have . if the run is going to be long another type of coax might be needed. it would be best if you can keep your runs as short as possible. i have runs of 100 & 150 and my next project is about 200 but i would have to test anything longer for good reliable reception. i perfer to keep it in the 100 ft range.

my next project will be a dish farm maybe like hermitman's now thats a dish farm

 

[GMFreak8]

You weren't actually planning on running 350 feet from dish to house, were you?
There are limits.

edit:
Just took a close look at your pictures.
The skirt around the dish is messed up in two places, but I can't see any actual trouble with the reflector surface.
You are there, so your opinion is better.
Looks mostly cosmetic, to me.

If you should decide to replace some of the rusting bolts, just remove every other one, clean, prime, and paint , then put in new hardware.
For a second pass, do the same to the remaining parts.

Hopefully not. I know RG6 cable isn't very good for longer runs. I'm thinking it'll be closer to 200 feet or so.

I took the strings and did a string test. From what I can tell, the dish seems to be off about an inch. Would that make much of a difference? I'm not sure if I did it right, but that's what I came up with when measuring where the bends in the skirt were. Seems to be ok in other places around the dish.

The bolts actually aren't too rusted at all, so that'll be fairly low on my priority list. I just want to get the thing working first. What type of paint should I look for for this dish anyway? Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

 

[GMFreak8]

i thought it was a good looking dish needing some attention...

Thanks. I think I may be able to pick it up tuesday.

but you notice the feedhorn , the way its up there you would have to adapt anything you change it to. most likely you could just remove the center and slide a newer one in. you might even have to remove the scaler and have it machined so a need feedhorn will fit it. that shouldn't be a problem. I just couldn't tell if the old one would remove. i did like the bubble dome on the bottom side lol makes it look like a light.

So the BSC-621 won't just slide in there? I was hoping that'd be the case. yeah I thought the bubble looked different.

I was wondering if it could be removed also. There's gotta be a way to remove it, it'd be completely idiotic if it wasn't replaceable. Hopefully it won't be too bad to replace it.

like mentioned above you would have to "optimize" and it looks like it was setup for c-band only . You might have to tune (push / pull each section untill you have the best shape for ku since it has a lot of sections to adjust. probably have to string every section.

Do you think the panels will bend easily enough to get it perfectly aligned? I did the string test where the panels were bent and one one that wasn't and it seemed to be only 1 inch or so off. Will that make that big of a difference with the KU-Band reception?

this is a big dish and might take a bit of time. it will probably be worth the effort . but also don't be scared to examine a few mesh dishes , they have very good reception. i know some of us like the solids (I have two mesh dishes a 7 1/2 fter & 10 fter) both have good reception. plus the advantage of a mesh is they are light.

I'm not planning to stop with just this dish. I'd like to get a mesh eventually. I know where one is, it's just a matter of getting the owner to part with it. I'd like to eventually have a few dishes.

around here most mesh dishes are being let go for free. another thing to consider, i'ld say most of the 4dtv equipment was on a mesh dishes , so you might find one of those when looking for a mesh dish , i know i found two (of the 4dtv receivers) when i got my 7 1/2 ft dish.

4DTV confuses me. What exactly makes it different from DVB?

don't feel like 350 ft run of coax is going to be impossible but you also got to realize the longer the run the more signal loss you have . if the run is going to be long another type of coax might be needed. it would be best if you can keep your runs as short as possible. i have runs of 100 & 150 and my next project is about 200 but i would have to test anything longer for good reliable reception. i perfer to keep it in the 100 ft range.

I don't think it'll require 350 feet of cable. I just would like to have extra. I think it may be closer to 200 feet or so. Can you put an amp on it to extend the range even farther?

my next project will be a dish farm maybe like hermitman's now thats a dish farm

Wish I had the space for that.



Thanks again for the replies and help. It's truly made this whole experience, much easier.

 

[GMFreak8]

Eight:

That's a nice looking dish. I notice a couple of things I'd look out for.

(1). That damaged petal in photo #2 appears to be the result of an actuator failure that caused the dish to fall into the post. Not sure if you can repair it but it shouldn't affect the overall performance very much. May make the focal point odd shaped and off center.

Hmm, interesting. So that's what happens when an actuator fails. That's gotta be one of those "oh sh*t" moments. I think it may be able to be hammered out. I'm wondering if the actuator that is on there is the one that failed.

(2) The materials of construction may be so that it is not efficient for Ku reception. Some early dishes were for C band because Ku was eight or so years away. If it's constructed from carbon impregnated roving or cloth, there may not have been the effort to make sure that gaps were kept to a minimum. Any gaps of voids in the carbon will reduce the dish's ability to reflect the Ku microwaves.

How the heck can I tell what type of material it's made out of? It seems like solid steel to me.

Neither of my concerns could be answered until the dish is optimized, so I'd install it and see what happens. You can't really tell until you give it a try.

Good luck, and congratulations on your find.

Harold

Thanks man. I'm hoping it'll all eventually work out. I wish I could find another dish in better shape, but so far, I haven't had any luck. Like I said, I do know where one mesh one is, I may pick that up too. Does anyone have any idea when the dish may have been produced? I can't find any information on the dish at all.

 

[gabshere]

So the BSC-621 won't just slide in there? I was hoping that'd be the case. yeah I thought the bubble looked different.

I was wondering if it could be removed also. There's gotta be a way to remove it, it'd be completely idiotic if it wasn't replaceable. Hopefully it won't be too bad to replace it.

i suspect it will just slide in, but thats just it. until you try we can only guess. i agree it would be idiotic but take a look at that scaler its bolted onto the buttonhook arm. to replace the scaler you would have to weld or adapt another to it. most dishers are easier than this and just bolt on at the scaler.

Do you think the panels will bend easily enough to get it perfectly aligned? I did the string test where the panels were bent and one one that wasn't and it seemed to be only 1 inch or so off. Will that make that big of a difference with the KU-Band reception?

I think you will get it to work. with a bent or damaged dish you will only know when you get it home. string each petal and see how the shape is. from what i've seen its not to bad. mine looks like the surface of the moon with all the hail dings i have in it lol.... but if you don't get it to get the ku reception you would like it would still make one heck of a c band only dish. still lots of stuff up there to point a stationary (or motorized) dish at

4DTV confuses me. What exactly makes it different from DVB

it is different, with it on the lyngsat sit you can pick up the videocipher & digicipher signals. you can also subscribe to tv channels much like dtv or dish but i think the Picture Quality is better due to the compression those services have to use to put up so many different channels. the subscriptions are usually cheaper. i was thinking this was the predecesor to dtv & dish

 

[caddata]

How the heck can I tell what type of material it's made out of?.....

Eight:

A closer look at picture #7 indicates it's not FRP. I thought I saw glass fiber strands when I first looked at it.

A magnet will tell you if it's steel. Lack of corrosion would indicate nonferrous metal like aluminum.

Harold