My epic all-night Paraclipse odyssey...

[Tron]

Stogie, thanks for the PM and offer

Keith, I'm sure most here would agree concerning my story that "that could be me!" I'd been watching that dish for SO LONG, hoping to get my hands on it one day, that when I saw it in the trash, I had to save it

Brotherhood, the Paraclipse dishes seem hard to find around here. This one is not the only one I've seen, but they're far less common than the steel, black-painted BUDs you see everywhere.

Al, I'd LOVE a 16 footer! Might have to use a helicopter for that one though

 

[Davage]

I'd love a 16 footer too, but right now I've pushed the WAF to the limit with the 7.5 footer. We live right in the city, and have a very small back yard.

 

[voomvoom]

I'd been watching that dish for SO LONG, hoping to get my hands on it one day, that when I saw it in the trash, I had to save it

The Primestar (in my avatar) was like that. It happened on a morning with a family loaded car heading out on vacation, going from mid-Georgia to southern Maryland. There it was laying on the ground, pole and all, and there was no way I could stop. Nine days later when I returned from my trip, it was no where in site. My fear was my timing had probably landed that dish in the garbage or a dumpster somewhere? A couple of days later as I drove by people were in and out of the house (appeared to be re-modeling) with paneling on the porch and saw horses with 2x4's in the yard. I stopped and asked what they did with the dish, he said it was laying around back, "Do you want it?". I said "You bet!". He said it's yours, take it. I offered to pay him for it, he wouldn't take anything. So now it's mine (or rather my sisters).

Al

 

[voomvoom]

I'd been watching that dish for SO LONG, hoping to get my hands on it one day, that when I saw it in the trash, I had to save it

The Primestar (in my avatar) was like that. It happened on a morning with a family loaded car heading out on vacation, going from mid-Georgia to southern Maryland. There it was laying on the ground, pole and all, and there was no way I could stop. Nine days later when I returned from my trip, it was no where in site. My fear was my timing had probably landed that dish in the garbage or a dumpster somewhere? A couple of days later as I drove by people were in and out of the house (appeared to be re-modeling) with paneling on the porch and saw horses with 2x4's in the yard. I stopped and asked what they did with the dish, he said it was laying around back, "Do you want it?". I said "You bet!". He said it's yours, take it. I offered to pay him for it, he wouldn't take anything. So now it's mine (or rather my sisters). Of course this was not in the Weeee hours of the morning, it was full daylight.

Al

 

[john green]

Al, A story so good you told it twice.

 

[voomvoom]

John, the first chance I get, I'll tell it again. I just love a happy ending!

Al

 

[Tron]

Al, glad you got the second chance at the Primestar I was weighing all options, and the thought even crossed my mind that the garbage collectors would leave it due to size. Later that evening when I passed the house, I was glad I took it when I did. The entire trash pile was gone, even the roughly 500-pound post with concrete (which was the only part of the whole dish assembly I left). I still can't figure out how the garbage collectors managed to lift it into the truck...

 

[Tron]

Finally got a chance to shoot some pictures since I was back there with the camera for the 3ABN dish

 

[linuxman]

Nice dish Tron!

You can fix up the mesh pretty easily and have a whale of a dish.

Great job on the story and the find.

Fred

 

[Anole]

Yea, screw the mesh... that frame is built like a tank !
Would sure love to have one of those follow me home.
Could probably tie a rope to it and drag it behind the car.

I'm not that familiar with big dishes up close.
Thanks for the pix . . . now, I'll know what to look for!
... not having any Birdview dishes out this way . . .


Any idea what those cost new?
Or how much more than a mid-quality dish of the day?

 

[Tron]

Linuxman, thanks for the encouragement I did notice that the mesh is attached by simple wire clamps, so replacing it shouldn't be a problem. I will also, unfortunately, have to replace the buttonhook, since it was bent at a 90 degree angle and broke from metal fatigue. At least I have the correct measurements

Anole, I'm not sure how much they went for back in the day (they're no longer made, of course), but I've heard they were quite expensive and considered among the best of the BUDs. Some of the guys over in the C-band forum would probably know more specifics The Paraclipse dishes certainly LOOK nice, especially that frame.

Dragging it behind my car was an option I entertained, but I figured that would probably scrape the heck out of the dish. As it was, I scraped the edges noticeably by rolling it. Also, if I had gotten pulled over by the police, that would have been a moving violation I decided that keeping a vehicle out of the equation would be in my best interest. A wagon would have been nice, but I don't have one

 

[voomvoom]

Nice pictures Tron. I wanted a 16' Paraclipse in the early days, but couldn't afford one. There are some 10' ones around here. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd start knocking on doors. I'm sure someone would let their's go?

Al

 

[Tron]

They're really nice dishes. A 10' (or even 16') would be very cool. I'm going to have to get mine fixed up I'd have knocked on the door to get this one, but I find doing that somewhat awkward. Had I knocked instead of waiting for them to take the dish down, it might have saved some damage, especially to the buttonhook. However, I would have had to figure out a way to pull that 500+ pound block of concrete out of the ground by myself