Installing my first used 39" KU dish. What LNB & Paint issues?

[Wms-Stargate]

The other day I went & pickup up a couple dishes. One i believe is a 10' UniMesh then I have this 39 incher. See pictures of the smaller dish.

1) Is there anyway to tell who made the 39" dish?
2) What kind of LNB would be best for KU and I want to get PBS TV stations first ?
3) Does bad paint effect signal?
4) Would a good size Yaggy for my internet create interference with this KU dish
5) How about overhead power lines?
6) This dish has a pretty wild bracket on it. Is there a cost effective way to mount it on a pole?

That's all I can think about atm...

So far I have bought...
---
1) One X2 M1 HD+, from X2ST off eBay
2) One Maverick LNBF, from KE4EST off eBay
3) Two different, USB Laptop Coolers, so I can set the receiver on one of them. I will bust out my pace unit and hack it up for the heat issues after I mess with it a bit.
4) 1 Set of Coax Stripper & Compression Tools. I can't find my other set.
5) I have a big roll of RG6 here all ready.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance
Bill

 

[KE4EST]

1) Is there anyway to tell who made the 39" dish?
2) What kind of LNB would be best for KU and I want to get PBS TV stations first ?
3) Does bad paint effect signal?
4) Would a good size Yaggy for my internet create interference with this KU dish
5) How about overhead power lines?
6) This dish has a pretty wild bracket on it. Is there a cost effective way to mount it on a pole?

1. Maybe someone here has seen one and can help identify.
2. The Maverick you got from me should work fine for that dish. It looks like it has had a rough life, if it is warped bad that will hurt your signal.
   
3. I have taken dishes like that and cleaned them up and just got a good brand of flat black or flat grey and painted them with, paint won't hurt. Gloss sometimes can over heat the LNBF when the sun hits it just right.
4. No this will not effect your Ku dish, it may though effect your C-Band, dependent on what freq. band they are using for your internet.
5. Nope
6. Just for fixed dish on 125W, you will just have to get crafty. Doesn't need to be nothing fancy, but you should incorporate some way to adjust elevation.

 

[Wms-Stargate]

Michael how can I tell if the dish warped?

 

[KE4EST]

The string test.
Get some string of some kind and some tape.
Pull a string across the center of the dish horizontally, and tape it in place.
Then do the same vertically and do the same. Ideally the strings should just touch.
If there is a large gap between them or they are pressing tight against each other it is warped.

 

[Wms-Stargate]

That is great information right there. Couldn't get any easier than that. Thanks man!
How tough is it going to be to hit PBS? I am still not sure if i can even clear the trees.
Can anyone even tell with a picture? Anyway here is a snap from dishpointer.

L&L if needed can be private messaged...

Thanks for your time again Michael.

Photo removed at OP request

 

[Wms-Stargate]

I just wanted to add a couple shots of my extra parts pile. This way I can get some ides on how to adapt the mount on this dish. Not pictured is a brand new Winegard DS-2076 30" inch dish I have here in the box. I should have enough tools & materials to make some sort of bracket for this old dish. Now I just need a plan.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to make a bracket for this relic?

Thanks
Bill

 

[bpalone]

On an offset dish, would it still be the center of the dish or where the LNB(F) looks at the dish, for a string test? I don't know the answer. Came to mind after thinking about how I understand an offset dish is made.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wms-Stargate]

On an offset dish, would it still be the center of the dish or where the LNB(F) looks at the dish, for a string test? I don't know the answer. Came to mind after thinking about how I understand an offset dish is made.

Thanks in advance.

This is an interesting question. So I will wait on doing the string test until this question is flush out. I did order up two cans of paint and I think I will go out and start stripping the dish now.

You know I noticed a couple of things a sec ago. I was out looking at the dish and trying to figure out the best way to mount it. Anyway I noticed 4 rivets in the dish. They line up perfectly square and dead on where the LNB would point to. I also noticed that the back pole had and adjustment. So I took another picture of that. Then I went down to one of my piles of junk. Where I have some heavy 6x6 with and 2x6 from the old days put together as a walk ramps.

I figure I would just mount the dish to one of those on level ground. Sure the old farm dog's around here will pee on it. However I will be able to move it and or raise or lower it as I see fit. You know I am just playing with this right now. I would be thrilled right out of the gate if I can get this one up and running. Maybe PBS is too hard to hit with me being a rookie and all. I guess I shall see when the receiver gets here on Friday.

 

[RimaNTSS]

On an offset dish, would it still be the center of the dish or where the LNB(F) looks at the dish, for a string test?

On an offset dish LNB should not be aimed at the center of the dish. Aiming point must be about 10% lower from the center (if 100% is height of the dish).

 

[Titanium]

The string test still applies to offset dishes like this model.

BTW... If the dish was elongated on the horizontal axis (models designed to provide increased side lobe attenuation or multiple satellite reception), then the string test would not work. Example:

You may paint any surface of the dish and feed except the face of the LNBF.

As long as you don't mess with the length/height/position of the LNB clamp in relation to the reflector, the rear mount can be fabricated any way that you want. I have seen "installs" where the dish was leaning back against a sandbag! LOL!

 

[Wms-Stargate]

Well here is 1/2 of a stripped dish. Waiting on the ol' lady to get home with another poly disk. She says she can't find any flat paint. Only primer so I told her to buy Satin Black. What about white paint can that be shiny?

 

[Cham]

I would avoid shiny (high gloss) paint. Turns your dish into a solar LNB furnace... Flat white is best, but camo or any other colour is fine too as long as it isn't reflective. I painted my 10 footer green to match the trees immediately behind it. Now no one notices it.
That mount should work fine for a stationary dish. Maybe bolting it to one of those spools will keep it out of the local dog's way and make it easier to adjust, just as long as (the spool) is sitting solid on the ground and not wiggling around.
Better yet mount the dish to a "lazy susan" ring on top of that spool and you will have a rotating base for it... If you set the spool to the equatorial plane, the dish would track the arc and you could mark out each satellite position on the bearing ring, and there you have a polar mount!

 

[Wms-Stargate]

That's a cool idea! So I was thinking what could I use to pull that off. Well how about a riding mower mandrel. I have tons of them around here. I can pop one out of a bad deck.

 

[stecle]

I would apply a red oxide primer before the final coat.

 

[a33]

3) Does bad paint effect signal?

6) This dish has a pretty wild bracket on it. Is there a cost effective way to mount it on a pole?

3: Important thing seems to be if you will freshly paint it, that the new paint shouldn't contain metal parts, or lead parts, I have read.
I have no experience with the difference, however.
And no high-gloss paint, as written above, to reduce the sunlight-mirror effect and the possibility of your LNB melting.

6. I like this bracket . No need to dig a hole for a pole; it is stable just standing on the ground or on a flat roof.

greetz,
A33

 

[spongella]

Nice pictures wms-Stargate. You are getting good advice here from the folks here. I can hit 125W from NJ, but it is pretty low in the sky so definitely give it a shot.

That dish when properly cleaned and coated with paint will look like new. Is it metal or fiberglass, I might have missed that in the posts.

If I remember 121W has a strong signal with a marker card saying "Congratulations you've hit 121W" so if you see that you know you are getting near 125W.

Like that wooden mounting wheel. You can weigh it down with bricks/blocks/stones if necessary but make sure the mounting pad is level.

Try different areas of the property if you don't succeed in getting 125W the first time. Moving the dish to different areas can make a difference. And also remember to adjust the skew.

Good luck with your installation.

 

[RimaNTSS]

I see it is aluminum dish. Once I did approximately the same procedure, only dish was 1,8m PFA and I cleaned it from both sides, After cleaning brought it to the paint-shop where they powder-coated gray paint (no metal in the paint).

 

[Wms-Stargate]

3: Important thing seems to be if you will freshly paint it, that the new paint shouldn't contain metal parts, or lead parts, I have read.
I have no experience with the difference, however.
And no high-gloss paint, as written above, to reduce the sunlight-mirror effect and the possibility of your LNB melting.

6. I like this bracket . No need to dig a hole for a pole; it is stable just standing on the ground or on a flat roof.

greetz,
A33

3) Momma came home with...

1 Can of Rust-oleum, Gray automotive primer
1 Can of Rust-oleum, Satin Granite (aka gray) ---> No shine to this at all & just for the dish
1 Can or Krylon Maxx, Flat Black ---> for the brackets
1 Warrior, 4-1/2 in. Polycarbide Abrasive Wheel

I have googled and googled and can't seem to find anything on metal / lead particles in the paint. Not quite sure if they do or don't. My google_fu is failing me in my old age...

6) Yea I think I am going to bolt it to one of those 6x6 walkways so it doesn't move. Let the dog pee on it and the deer jump over top...

 

[Wms-Stargate]

Welp all that paint went back except the primer. I found flat white and am now waiting on a decent day to put one more can of primer on the dish. Then I will use the flat white.

Now I have another issue. I rolled the dice on my first LNBF. I bought a Maverick for it and it's too small to fit the holder. So what different sizes do they make? I will go round up my caliper and get a inside measurement on it.

It's always something isn't it?

Thanks
Bill

 

[RimaNTSS]

I bought a Maverick for it and it's too small to fit the holder.

Twist couple of layers of insulation tape around LNBF's neck and forget about this issue.