Picking up a BUD tomorrow

[SpiffWilkie]

I posted on FreeCycle a few days ago asking about dishes and got a hit from someone with a BUD in the backyard. I went to look at it today and am going back to disassemble it and bring it home tomorrow morning.
I couldn't get great pictures since all I had was the phone. I tried to take pics of the logos hoping somebody would recognize something. The one pic is hard to make out but it says Newtech 2000. The actuator(?) is a Houston, maybe. I don't quite recall. Is that going to do me any good? What would I need to take advantage of this setup? At the moment, my only receiver is a Diamond 9000HD. This dish is from a rental house so the current tenants don't have any other hardware for the dish.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[SpiffWilkie]

A couple of more questions. How much does the actual dish portion generally weigh? I'm planning on taking this apart (it looks like it breaks down in quarters) and just want to make sure a single person could do it. From my inspection, it seemed that all I need is a socket set, a crescent wrench and possible some screwdrivers.
I guess that was just one question and a statement.

 

[Lak7]

I take them down by myself.
I remove the Dish from it's mount, then the mount off the pole.
It's not that it's heavy, it's just awkward.
2 people is a breeze.

 

[Mike045]

If that may help, my XTI-10 has a weight of 190 lbs with the mount; the model XI-10 had with mount a weight of 160 lbs. If you can separate the dish from its mount, you should be able to move the dish without difficulty.


Mike

 

[turbosat]

Take the motor off, swing dish all the way east or west (whichever puts it closer to the ground).
Then you can take the bolts holding the dish to the mount , and just lower dish to ground. It's not heavy, be careful not to poke holes in it with the mounting ring when you take out the bolts.
Then the lnb supports can be taken off and the dish taken apart. *Take the motor loose carefully, they tend to want to stab a giant hole thru your dish when the dish swings free!!

 

[phlatwound]

I'd guess the dish itself (with feed supports and feedhorn) to be in the 50-70 pound range, and the mount to be about 40-50 pounds.

I have taken a 10 footer very similar to that one down by myself. Remove the dish from the mount and lay it down if possible, remove the scalar/feedhorn and the feed support arms, remove the center plate and then remove the bolts holding the dish sections together.

I would take a 6' or 8' step ladder but that dish is low enough to make it an easy task.

Take a pair or 2 of vise grips, as well as your sockets and wrenches. some (most?) of the bolts will break, spray them with penetrating lube if you can.

You need to get something to move your dish (G-Box, V-box, analog or 4DTV receiver. You will be able to watch C-band (Ku also if it is equipped) DVB-S & S2 with your Diamond once you get it all rigged, good luck!

 

[14karat]

If you take a can of PB Blaster and spray all the bolts & nuts the day before, when you come back the following day you won't have nearly as much problems with breaking bolts.
The dish face will weigh very little, but it is difficult to handle by yourself... I do it, but just don't expect it to be a piece of cake...
HTS = Houston Tracker Systems. It should be OK as long as it's not fried or the internals are stripped out.
If your handy with simple mechanics, you should disassemble it completely (helps to learn just how it works) and clean and relube everything. While you're at it, check the brushes on the motor (when they've been sitting a long time, they tend to get stuck.)
Looks like a nice dish - have fun with it!

 

[Anole]

double-BUD pickup tomorrow:

Get a $4 can of PBblaster, penetrating oil.
Best investment I ever made!

I like to shoot the hardware a few days ahead (and follow the instructions on the can).
But, I went over on Thursday, after a good soak on Saturday, to try to find what size hardware it had and to do some nut-bustin'.
Discovered some bolts had nuts on the back side...
I'd never seen them and never shot them.
They gave me fits.
So, each got a blast of PB and 5 minutes later, they were still tight, but they moved!

Much like WD40, it's not a long-term protection, but for gettin' into the hardware, it seems to work.
(for all I know, WD40 -may- work as well, but I read about PB on the forum, tried it, and since it works, I'm done)

 

[SpiffWilkie]

So, I just need any old cheap analog receiver to move the thing around? Like this one for example?

 

[Anole]

You don't need anything to move it for the purpose of collecting the dish.
For operation with your DVB receiver, I'd suggest what I got: Gbox 3000.
I came to that conclusion after following Linuxman's exploits with one, and discussing it with him and others.

 

[SpiffWilkie]

You don't need anything to move it for the purpose of collecting the dish.
For operation with your DVB receiver, I'd suggest what I got: Gbox 3000.
I came to that conclusion after following Linuxman's exploits with one, and discussing it with him and others.

So the Gbox 3000 would allow me to completely rely on my current receiver and not have to worry about a separate controller (My receiver sends commands to the Gbox which in turn sends commands to the motor)? Or I can use it alone to control the motor if I want...The price of an old analog receiver sounded nice, but the Gbox sounds nicer.

 

[boomer_106]

Does the G box have Polarity control? I'm guessing that's not a voltage controlled LNB on that old dish. That uniden would work nicely for you

 

[Anole]

you're right:

Does the G box have Polarity control?

Nope, that was to go into the Gbox 4000, but it's been delayed.
Considering the current down market, who knows how long?

I'm guessing that's not a voltage controlled LNB on that old dish.
That uniden would work nicely for you

I'm afraid you've got a good point.

I'm anti-servo, so I plan on installing a voltage controlled LNBF.
Possibly one of the following: SatelliteAV CK-1, CK-2, or Sadoun B1satStacked.
(or, with my good luck, maybe a full-blown BullsEye II will fall into my lap!) -

 

[boomer_106]

Nope, that was to go into the Gbox 4000, but it's been delayed.
Considering the current down market, who knows how long?
I'm afraid you've got a good point.

I'm anti-servo, so I plan on installing a voltage controlled LNBF.
Possibly one of the following: SatelliteAV CK-1, CK-2, or Sadoun B1satStacked.
(or, with my good luck, maybe a full-blown BullsEye II will fall into my lap!) -

I'm so used to moving my dish and controlling polarity with the Analog C band receiver, it doesn't really bother me. Those Bullseye II are sweeeeeet though. I could then blind scan both polarities at once rather than having to initiate a scan two separate times for each satellite

 

[N6BY]

If you're going to re-use the pole you might want to pick up a jack hammer on the way there. Thats what I had to do when I got my BUD -- the old concrete was too hard to break off with a sledge hammer.

 

[Anole]

a little off topic, but:

Spiff -
From the pictures, your pole looks pretty rusty.
I'm getting two BUDs tomorrow, and one pole is quite rusty, too.
Wonder how long it takes to go over the whole thing with a wire wheel?

Or, maybe there are other solutions?
Some sort of rolling trick?
Drag it down the road behind the truck?

Maybe using a length of sand paper around it half way, and buffing it like you would your boots with a shoe polish rag?

I get over 8 square feet for a 9' long, 3.5" diameter pole.
Sounds like a lot of work!

 

[N6BY]

Spiff -
From the pictures, your pole looks pretty rusty.
I'm getting two BUDs tomorrow, and one pole is quite rusty, too.
Wonder how long it takes to go over the whole thing with a wire wheel?

Or, maybe there are other solutions?
Some sort of rolling trick?
Drag it down the road behind the truck?

Maybe using a length of sand paper around it half way, and buffing it like you would your boots with a shoe polish rag?

I get over 8 square feet for a 9' long, 3.5" diameter pole.
Sounds like a lot of work!

Mine was rusty after I got it out. I sanded it with 100 grit sandpaper. Then I applied rust-remover and rinsed it off. Then some more sanding. Finally I painted it black with RustOleum and it looks like new.

 

[SpiffWilkie]

Refinishing a rusty pole is what kids are for!
Actually, my oldest is only four, so she won't be the greatest help with that (but that won't stop her from trying.
I plan on sanding and recoating with rustoleum as well.

On another note, the dismantling was a success. Now, I know nothing about c-band so this is all going to be very new to me. Below is a pic of the lnbf label.
Does this one look like it will serve me o.k.?

 

[boomer_106]

Well by gosh, he does appear to have a voltage controlled LNB. The noise figure is at 30k though. According to the geo orbit site 25 or less is todays industry standard. I don't know when that was last updated. You can find what I'm talking about under LNB on the following page. That being said, you can always try it and see if it's acceptable. Might be just fine for you. Are you going to leave this dish as C band only or add KU to it?

Footprints by Dish Size - Adjusting the Polar Mount for Prime Focus Antenna - C/Ku-Band Satellite Systems - Tuning, Tracking, Azimuth, Elevation, Declination Angles, F/D Ratio, Focal Distance, Inclinometer, LNB/Feedhorn Assembly, Actuator Assembly, C

 

[SatPhreak]

It is a voltage controled polarity lnb, which is what all FTA boxes can control so it should work good. Although the noise is 30K and the new ones are around 17K it will probably still be good enough to get digital signals. If you get a Gbox 3000 you will be able to control the dish all with your FTA remote.