My antenna's stock.

[RimaNTSS]

Hi Folks!
I would like to post pictures of all my antennas. Not all of them are installed, so, officially I can not post their pictures in "picks of the dish farm...post yours too" thread. And I have more than one dish, so will need several posts to show them. Will try to do some explanation in couple ow words about each antenna and also post some picks. Is that acceptable plan? TBH, I have selfish interest in this plan- just to know exact number of antenna's I have and, hopefully, getting some helpful ideas from another users about those antennas.
Will start from smallest to biggest. So,my smallest dish is 55cm Gregorian type. It is at least 15 years old, has barely visible printing on it's "face" - Kreyselmeyer Superfocus". Had it installed on my balcony and got arc 53*E-30*W (about maximum arc I can get from this balcony) .
I've seen same dishes under the name of Philips. Have heard that also Fibo55 is common name. It is motorized on original Fibo mount. Got it from one SAT-hobbyist from France, another friend helped with delivery.
Main parameters of big mirror: 550x600mm, offset angle 23,6*, opening angle about 78*, F/D=0,61.
I have also heard Gregorian type systems are performing better than usual offset dish about 10% better. I am tending to agree to this statement, however going to do more comparison test.

 

[. Raine]

That's a neat looking mount on that dish, looks like it's built good!

 

[RimaNTSS]

My next small "player" is 60cm Kathrein, "made not in China". All nuts&bolts are INOX, very solid mount, easy to fix on the pipe without any wrenches. Main parameters of this antenna are: offset angle- 26*, opening angle - 84*, working area 596x664mm.
Dish came with twin LNB, unfortunately little bit out of usual frequency range.
Did not installed this antenna yet and if decide to install that will be just for some kind of experiment, such as comparison tests against 55cm Gregory I started topic with.
What else? Material is steal, painted. Very easy to remove dish from mount- just untighten 4 screws.

That's a neat looking mount on that dish, looks like it's built good!

This particular mount is from 90cm antenna, but they are replaceable, and basically same. Motor itself is very small and has optical sensor for pulse-counting.

 

[RimaNTSS]

I am not sure I will be able to keep this tempo "one day-one dish", but there is another Kathrein. This one is just a copy from yesterday's, just slightly bigger. It has 738x805mm working area, 23,5* offset angle, 72,3* opening angle and about 0.66 F/D. I came as a set with single original LNB/ I am actually using this antenna to watch family's favorite TV channels. Those channels, especially at the evening time having very weak signal level and we usually need > than 90cm antennas to get them with some weather margin. But this 74cm Kathrein did not let down any signal last several days. So, I suspect this is quiet good antenna.
And, again, it takes about one minute to remove mirror from mount for whatever reasons: maintenance, measurements or change to another one.

 

[RimaNTSS]

Hi all!
I am sorry, but should go one step back.... found another tiny dish in the garage wrapped in plastic bag. I do not really remember when and from where I got it, but there it is. Triax 64 made for Canad Digital sat-provider. It was never installed for sat reception, that is for sure. Made quick measurements, it has 595 x 660mm working area, 25,6* offset angle, 75* opening angle. Installed it and caught Astra 4 @ 4,8*E. Yes, it works, but I will never use it, will look for somebody who maybe needs it. I will only take from set of this dish 40-to20mm LNB adapter.

 

[RimaNTSS]

In my life I only bought 4 new dished from satellite shops. First one was T90, actually my first dish which I still use and will write about it little bit later in this thread, so when I bought it I simply needed something to start with. And another 3 dishes I bought as a batch several years ago. Price was so good (something like 5 buck for each) that I could not resist to collect them I thought maybe it is good idea to install lots of small separate dishes based on a principle "one dish- one satellite". Those dishes are about 75cm wide (did not measure them precisely) and more than 80cm in height. I even installed all 3 of them at one point of time but then removed. Presented one to my Father-in-law (installed it at his place). Presented another one to friend of mine, it is in friends storage now. For dish #3 I made multifeed for 3 satellites and put it on the attic. It is laying there as you can see on the attached picture. I do not think I will ever install this antenna for me, most likely it will go as a present to somebody who just need to install it and forget about it and just watch TV channels on his screen.

 

[RimaNTSS]

I think that now I should step to 90-cm size of dishes. This one I got some time ago, of course second-hand, but it is made of plastic, so after washing it is again good to go. I do not know why, but I did not paint mount and feedarm (perhaps they looked OK for me or I had not enough time). Of course, I changed all nuts&bolts to INOX and after a little swing installed with Quad circular LNB for watching some TV channels. It's size is approximately 90cm (do not really remember exact dimensions), performs more or less the same as usual offset 90cm dish. I like this type of dishes, they are very light, durable and good for making multifeeds.

 

[RimaNTSS]

T90 has slightly bigger dimensions than 90cm, but, according to technical data and real life experience, it works more or less as 90cm dish. This is my first dish, I got it 11 years ago. Spent lots of time installing, reinstalling, tuning, modifying it. It was installed at 5 different locations. I am pretty happy with it. Very good dish.

 

[RimaNTSS]

This one I got as bonus, actually saved it from laying in dirt and dying. It is very heavy, first of all mount and also dish itself. I think dish is made from 1mm metal. Whole construction weights something like 20 kilos (estimate). Dish was used for 2-way internet, that was said by previous owner. Horizontal size about 90cm. Someday will probably install it just for interest.

 

[RimaNTSS]

As I will not be online for couple of days, I will post very short description about another antenna (I have 4 of them, so good to go without posts for 4 days ). Is that OK?
And this is 90cm Gregorian type. One friend of mine was in great need of subreflector of such antenna, so I gave it to him. Therefore I have 3 full sets of 90cm Gregory type and one is just main mirror. According to theory Gregory antennas perform some 10% better than usual offset antenna. There are several names for these antennas here in Europe, such as Fibo, Philips, Delta Star, but dimensions of the main mirror are same 900x990mm, offset angle 24,6*, opening angle ~75*.
There are small differences in sub-reflectors used. Sub-reflector has shape of cut from rotational ellipsoid, quiet complicated geometrical figure- figure that has 2 focal point.
Have not installed any of them yet, they just stored in the cellar. Unfortunately, these antennas not in the production anymore, and possible to buy only second-hand ones.

 

[RimaNTSS]

OK, I think I have no more 90cm antennas. Time for 1m ones. First one is kinda sat-dish (however there is written "Radiation hazard from Satcom antenna"). I think if proper LNB rightly installed it can work well. Interesting that this antenna can be moved from place to place in relatively small box

 

[KE4EST]

That is a neat looking dish there.

 

[RimaNTSS]

There is another 1m (in fact 978mm) Echostar Prime-Focus dish. Got it unused but without any metal parts (no mount, no feedarms, nothing ). I do not think fabricating of metal bits will be serious problem. Antenna's opening angle is 60*, so any of universal LNB should be OK for this dish.

 

[danristheman]

Rima that is a really flat dish, gain is going to be low on that one.

 

[RimaNTSS]

that is a really flat dish, gain is going to be low on that one.

It seems flat on the picture. It is 65mm in depth. And, I do not care about gain (no pain no gain ) Will install it and check performance. Bad gain- will rest on the shelve in the garage.

 

[polgyver]

Rima that is a really flat dish, gain is going to be low on that one.

The dish's gain does not depend on its focal length, it depends on the ratio of its surface (active borehole area) to the area of LNBF's throat.
Of course, if the dish has been somehow distorted (flattened) then its gain would be lower. The focal cloud shape should be small and round.
All of it is easy to see using small mirrors and Sun light.
Cheers, polgyver

 

[RimaNTSS]

Another day, another antenna
This time it is Toroidal 1031 x 1658 mm very old, Made in Sweden dish. It is multifocus and, according to manual, performs as 1m in range of 26*. I've got 2 of them recently. Had no time to install but looking forward to that process. It is very robust dish, made of ABS plastic and has no mesh but reflective layer inside. Made more than 20 years ago. This dish has 13* offset angle- strange, but true. Have plans to do installation this summer. Going to change all nuts&bolts to INOX, make new feedarms, repaint.

 

[RimaNTSS]

Another dish I have is 110cm (something about 117cm in diagonal). It is made of plastic, very light and quiet good for making multifeeds. In my area people use it for multifeeds like on attached picture (36*E-1*W) with good results. Just install once and forget for a long time.

 

[RimaNTSS]

I think I do not have dishes smaller than 1,2m, so, first of that size is my "no-name dish" which I've got some years ago. It is made of usual metal but painted good and has no rust. I did not made any precise measurements of it, but I think it is about 120cm. I have installed and reinstalled it several times, including installation for party we had a year ago (just for couple of hours to watch ice-hockey game). I like this dish, but still think that plastic dishes are better, at least in the sense of their durability. Appreciate if somebody can tell me the name of this dish, however, I do not believe you have them over the pond.

 

[RimaNTSS]

Another 120cm dish I have is very old (so old as East Germany), I mean more than 25 years old. But, at the same time it has never been used for SAT-reception. Former owner said to me the dish was never installed outside and was used for exhibit purposes indoors. I call this dish NSC-120 (not sure about exact name of it), where NSC stands for Northern Satellite Corporation. There is original polar-mount in the set and stand. Material- plastic. Main parameters:
- working area 1206 x 1348mm
-offset angle 26,5*
-opening angle 89*
- weight 10,4kg