Odd looking dish.

[swampman]

Great Swampman!!

That's fantastic!!!

Take them both. The parts will interchange in the mount, and you might need some of them.

I think the solid might be a little better on Ku, but the mesh will be fantastic if you can imagine anything better.

Thanks for the kind words linux. I started reading the link in your previous post about your Birdview find. Extremely interesting stuff in regards to the mechanics of these Birdviews! I may try to get both of them. (Although I have a feeling the chances are better at getting the solid than the mesh). Just a feeling I have. But who knows. I'm not worried about removing the dish. It's that enormous post that concerns me. That monster looks very heavy! I wonder how long it actually is? How much is in the ground surrounded in concrete?

 

[linuxman]

The post itself is much lighter than it looks.

As I said, it is not pipe. It is tubing. Tap on it with you pocket knife. It will sound tinny. It is the diameter and concrete bottom along with the welded sections that gives it it's strength.

It depends on how much concrete that they installed it with. Probably not more than 3 foot deep.

The only reason I would get it, is because it fits perfectly to the cap. It will make setup and adjustment much easier for you.

Fred

 

[caddata]

There seems to be a slight misconception brewing here that the solid dish will be a better reflector than the perforated dish. The Birdview is not a mesh dish, it's perforated.

As long as the holes are less than .250" dia. (#2 pencil) the perforated dish will be just as efficient as the solid. The Ku signal sees it as a solid surface. Just because you can see thru it doesn't mean the Ku signal can pass thru it.

The belief that a solid is a better reflector than a mesh dish will usually be true. Flat mesh is formed by slitting, stretching, and flattening the sheetmetal. The result is an oblong opening wider in one direction than the other. It may pass the pencil test in one direction, but the other direction may fail the test. That's where the problem takes place. In the long direction. The Ku signal will pass thru the long dimension (if it's greater than .250"), reducing the efficiency of the reflector.

Perforated metal is made punching holes (round, square, or hexagonal) thru the sheetmetal.

If it comes down to where you may choose between the two, go with the one you prefer for what ever reason. One's not more efficient than the other. As a matter or fact, the perforated offers less wind loading (in moderate speed winds) than the solid.

Harold

 

[swampman]

Thanks Harold, so the Birdview would be considered perferated...NOT mesh. I stand corrected as well as learned something. Question though...other than Birdview, is there any other manufacturer that made the perferated dishes?

 

[stogie5150]

Do you have a trailer to get it home? Where do ya live? I am in Slidell if you aren't too far away I might be able to help ya if you need it... Where are the dishes....up by Abita?

Makes me wish my wife wasn't so dead set on me NOT having a BUD... I see them EVERYWHERE down here. there's a mesh one 100 yards from my house, I think its a uniden dish....I am still working on my wife...I think If I could find a six footer I could talk her into it...

 

[caddata]

...other than Birdview, is there any other manufacturer that made the perferated dishes?

Haven't seen many specifically manufactured for TVRO, and of those, they weren't near the quality of the Birdview (material thickness or accuracy of the parabolic curve). Seen lots in military, particularly maritime.

Hope it works out so that you can get at least one of the Birdviews, if not both.. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Harold

 

[linuxman]

Hi Swampman,

I have acquired a 10' Winegard Pinnacle which I just finished putting up for my family TV. It is a perforated dish as well as the Birdview. The material is not nearly as thick, but the parabolic curve is almost as accurate as the Birdview. I get about the same signal quality on it as I do the Birdview, but it is ten foot across. I get the same quality on the 8.5' Birdview perforated. That should tell you something about how well the Birdview performs.

I believe DrHydro has a perforated Channel Master 10 footer, and he gets great signal too.

So that makes at least 3 manufacturers that at one time made perforated dishes for consumer use.

It is pretty easy to tell what is perforated and what isn't. Harold has given a great explanation between the two above.

Fred

 

[swampman]

"You do have to purchase the birdview reed sensor from skyvision so it will be compatible with today's receivers with built-in dish movers. I wondered why they never integrated their receivers with dish movers."

Taken from linux's "All about Birdview" link. So my question is, if I would chose to make this a stationary dish(doubtful but maybe at first), would this reed senser still be necessary with my Coolsat? And what about using any old analog receiver to move the dish, would the senser be necessary then? Just looking at different possibilities.

 

[lumpkin666]

"You do have to purchase the birdview reed sensor from skyvision so it will be compatible with today's receivers with built-in dish movers. I wondered why they never integrated their receivers with dish movers."

Taken from linux's "All about Birdview" link. So my question is, if I would chose to make this a stationary dish(doubtful but maybe at first), would this reed senser still be necessary with my Coolsat? And what about using any old analog receiver to move the dish, would the senser be necessary then? Just looking at different possibilities.

If you make it stationary, no reed sensor is required. The reed sensor just lets the receiver know that the dish is moving (stationary = no moving = no need for the sensor)
Just about any receiver you'll find will need that sensor - that's how it knows that it has gotten to the right spot. That sensor sends a signal letting the receiver know how far the motor has turned (thus where the dish is pointed). Without the sensor, the receiver would not know where to stop. Most receivers will still move the dish without the sensor, but they will throw up an error about every 2 clicks or so stating that the it cannot read the sensor (thus you'll have to manually keep clicking the east/west button everytime it stops because of the error)

 

[Anole]

don't waste money

...and it's at this point I have to ask... how hard is it to make such a mod?
Or a multi-sensor mod, with several clicks per revolution of the motor shaft.
Perhaps, as I mentioned previously, using hall-effect sensors...

 

[linuxman]

Hey Anole,

I spent the $70.00 on the first one, but won't spend it again.

I now have the pieces, and they could be made up pretty easily. I am not comfortable doing that type of thing, but would pay my neighbor to put the pieces together for me.

We have that in the works, just don't know when he will have time.

Cost of the pieces would be less than $20.00, maybe even less if you use hall effect sensors.

Fred

 

[lumpkin666]

I've never really thought about the reed sensor, but it should be SUPER easy to implement, as it's about the most simple solution for measuring the turn (or basically any followed distance). Of course everything seems simple to me until I have everything torn apart and everything bought to build the solution....that's why my basement is full of "projects" that never quite go completed

 

[swampman]

Strike one!

Well, the lady that claimed she saw no reason to keep that thing(the Birdview solid), now is changing her story. Now there will be an auction to get rid of all the tools her late husband had, and the dish may be included. So basically I wont hold my breath on that one. However as luck will have it, I happened upon another Birdview! And this time the owner said without a doubt I can have it. Although I'm still waiting on my primary choice, the perferated one. And as recommended by many here, you can't have too many, so I will pick this one up in the mean time. Here it is.

 

[linuxman]

AWESOME!!!

Don't worry about the other one. It will still be there after the auction unless someone buys it for scrap which they won't because if they have to pay for it they won't make any money on scrapping it.

Also I noticed on this one. It has been adapted to a more modern polarotor and LNB. If you are lucky the conversion kit has been installed too.

Take all three if you can get them. Someone in your family might get interested in FTA or a friend even.

Congratulations again!!!

Fred

 

[swampman]

Thanks Fred. Conversion kit installed would be good news. A pic of the feedhorn on that dish.

 

[linuxman]

It doesn't look like the scaler rings on mine, but the plate is the same because the support arms bolt up properly. Maybe Birdview adapted in their newer models.

I would need to see the other side of the feed-horn close up to be sure, but that looks like a polarotor that slides in and out. If it is the same size as a regular co-rotor, you won't have to worry about milling out the center hole.

You may have saved a ton of work.

WOW!!

And they all said I was lucky.

Fred

 

[caddata]

....I've never really thought about the reed sensor, but it should be SUPER easy to implement....

After the "store bought" hall effects conversion failed to work reliably on my Birdview, I tried to fabricate a replacement. Couldn't get the homebrew unit to work reliably either. Couldn't find magnets small or powerful enough.

I built several with microswitches and finally came up with one that used a pair of microswitches with rollers on their levers mounted on a homebrew circuit board. The contraption was still working when we moved to Florida. Can't say for sure it's working now, but it worked for over five years without fail.

If someone had several old scrap linear dish movers, he might be able to salvage the magnets and press them into holes in a new homebrew hub. The hub would need to be fabricated from some type of plastic (dielectric). Access to a lathe will be required because the thing must run true without any wobble. I found that an air gap of no more than 0.020" was about the limit.

Harold

 

[gabshere]

you are lucky fred but right now Swampman is giving you a run for the money

three birdview week is a good week

 

[swampman]

It doesn't look like the scaler rings on mine, but the plate is the same because the support arms bolt up properly. Maybe Birdview adapted in their newer models.

I would need to see the other side of the feed-horn close up to be sure, but that looks like a polarotor that slides in and out. If it is the same size as a regular co-rotor, you won't have to worry about milling out the center hole.

You may have saved a ton of work.

WOW!!

And they all said I was lucky.

Fred

I'll try to get a better pic of the other side of lnb tomorrow.

Sure is nice to talk to someone with an eagle eye that catches these things!

 

[linuxman]

HeHe!!

Harold is the one with the Eagle Eye. He catches more than I do, and knows infinitely more about them.

I learned most of what I know about them from him and some of the others here who have them.

There are several threads on Birdviews on this forum. Just do a search at the top and use "birdview". You'll find all of them.

Fred