pics of the dish farm...post yours too :)

[cyberham]

For Those Afraid of Permanent Poles in Concrete

I am still moving my mini-tower around my heavily treed property. Although I can now receive 15W through 121W with my motor, my goal is to have visibility to 15W through 125W. The azimuth rotator inside the tower is not used but, I thought in theory, I could simply move the tower to any new location, touch up the due south azimuth with the azimuth rotator, then do orientation in the normal FTA manner using the H-H rotator on the back of the dish.

 

[sergei]

Well today dish number 7 was finished so I've got my second Prodelin 1.2M dish setup and for now is on 97W with a single LNBF for the KU channels, will add a second one later. Was going to aim it on 30W but decided against that as I've heard enough spanish to last a life time. So for now I've got a cable going onto a Channel Master switch box for my GeoSatpro so I can switch between C and KU, now just looking for a deal on a old FTA receiver.

Number 8...Just couldn’t resist another dish as I saw another Prodelin dish and decided yesterday that having an odd number of dishes just wasn't going to work so today I went out and talked to the people at an old Ford dealer about removing the dish and pole. I will get it down tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be in the fifties. So now I’ll be able to set each Prodelin dish to cover a given section of the arc and with multiple LNBF’s and some switches cover all the needed KU satellites

 

[Dishman Dan]

Number 8...Just couldn’t resist another dish as I saw another Prodelin dish and decided yesterday that having an odd number of dishes just wasn't going to work so today I went out and talked to the people at an old Ford dealer about removing the dish and pole. I will get it down tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be in the fifties. So now I’ll be able to set each Prodelin dish to cover a given section of the arc and with multiple LNBF’s and some switches cover all the needed KU satellites

You must be in prime Prodelin territory!

Do you run into snags about removing dishes like for insurance reasons or where contractors have to be registered?? I have a few I am trying to get in Erie but I am not quite sure how to prepare myself. Erie can be a real bear and I do not want to get bit!

 

[sergei]

Do you run into snags about removing dishes like for insurance reasons or where contractors have to be registered?? I have a few I am trying to get in Erie but I am not quite sure how to prepare myself. Erie can be a real bear and I do not want to get bit!

Never been an issue with anyone so far about removing a dish as most people are just interested in what I want it for. I probably should knock on some wood as I was in town today and spotted what looks like maybe a 4 foot CM dish at an oil company and I may just stop and check to see if it even being used although I'm not sure what I'd use it for other than a spare or maybe someone in my area might be able to use it.

 

[RT-Cat]

Never been an issue with anyone so far about removing a dish as most people are just interested in what I want it for. I probably should knock on some wood as I was in town today and spotted what looks like maybe a 4 foot CM dish at an oil company and I may just stop and check to see if it even being used although I'm not sure what I'd use it for other than a spare or maybe someone in my area might be able to use it.

Nice catch for number 8. I checked at a burned out and closed gas station the other day for a hughsnet and a directwav on the top of the boarded up building. Company manager said he would guess just after I took them the companies would want them back. Station has been closed for over a year. Oh, well. Have seen more small and big in the area but winter in Michigan is not dish pulling time. Even with the insane winter so far. Last year this time deep in snow and cold. Today I have grass all over the place. Insane.

 

[sergei]

Nice catch for number 8. I checked at a burned out and closed gas station the other day for a hughsnet and a directwav on the top of the boarded up building. Company manager said he would guess just after I took them the companies would want them back. Station has been closed for over a year. Oh, well. Have seen more small and big in the area but winter in Michigan is not dish pulling time. Even with the insane winter so far. Last year this time deep in snow and cold. Today I have grass all over the place. Insane.

Some people really have no ideal what's going on as the dishes are old, already written off and for sure would cost them more than there worth to be removed. As far as the weather it's about the same here, but I'm not complaining as I'm not burning a lot of propane so far to keep warm. The seven day forecast is showing temperatures still around the mid forties which means more rain, wind and muddy dog's.

 

[sergei]

Here's a picture of the dish being removed today. Hopefully the ground where I want to install the dish and pole is dry enough for me to dig the hole.

 

[dfecarter]

Very cool, good luck with using it. Would love to find a free dish like that around here (CT). They are few and far between and those that remain are often real bad off.

 

[kodaz]

my project

This is the project i have been working on.
I-beam with (3) tripod style lampost mounts. Special bracketing for moving dishes up or down the beam.
The beam is 40 ft long with braces welded and is bolted to the poles by brackets welded to the poles.
Completely disassemble-able in case i hate it later. The weather did not hold so the conduits are not complete.
We are fortunate to have very little wind in this valley/mountain north side hill.
Where the red circle is on the pic is where the permanent BUD will go and it will have the motor hooked up. again, the weather stopped me there but the hole is dug for it.

The rest of the BUDs are on mounts and north oriented so i can change Birds manually (battery) if desired. I did not put all the actuators back on them. at least one has a hand crank. Even the Darkstar is working well. it stringlined as the most True BUD so i gave it a go. Slowly getting it all wired too. 2 of the 3 are ready.

currently full time ku- 30w, 87w, 97w, 125w. Expandable still, just undecided.

and c-band- 40.5w,43w,55w,87w,91w,99w,103w, C-band rules man!
All Bandstacked. Tron, I followed your lead here. works good.
Ku - Crimestars, C-band- 7.5perfect 10, 8ft unimesh, 10ft unimesh, 10 ft darkstar.
i dont have 105w...yet, and 58w is currently winning the argument and not coming in. the DN dish is on the house still as it isnt bothering anybody too much there (wife) yet. But the dishes are out of the front yard and into a special location at the bottom of the back yard which is still under construction also - even the grass hasnt come in yet.
I wasnt going to post this pic but there is a Gas Well flaring in the background about horizon level. The thng lights up the whole valley at night. It is just a point of interest. I also signed a gas lease so i hope to retire soon . The new gas line passes 200 ft from my property line.

 

[Tron]

Looks like a well-engineered switching system!

 

[kodaz]

I only have 2 receivers connected at this time, a S9 and an old coolsat 5k. The switching system works,but not perfectly.
sometimes the receivers fight each other. I think the commands somehow feed back thru.
i have a thread on all this that i will be including all relevant data on this when i get Brians new box.
i cant draw any conclusions cause the coolst 5k cant even go past 6 uncommited. it hangs up on 5 (DisEqc 1.1)
The good news is that i can run 3 boxes even if not at the same time yet.
i am addicted to this hobby, i confess and throw myself at the mercy of the court.
I plan to get 2 of Brians micros to test the switching with.

 

[sergei]

I only have 2 receivers connected at this time, a S9 and an old coolsat 5k. The switching system works,but not perfectly.
sometimes the receivers fight each other. I think the commands somehow feed back thru.
i have a thread on all this that i will be including all relevant data on this when i get Brians new box.
i cant draw any conclusions cause the coolst 5k cant even go past 6 uncommited. it hangs up on 5 (DisEqc 1.1)
The good news is that i can run 3 boxes even if not at the same time yet.
i am addicted to this hobby, i confess and throw myself at the mercy of the court.
I plan to get 2 of Brians micros to test the switching with.

When I started on my system I decided that I wanted something more in line of a cable system so the wife wouldn't have to be using different remotes, just the TV remote in any room. So I have only one switch used on a Prodelin Ku dish and all my other receivers are using Channel Plus modulators which gives me right now 14 channels. And I'll be adding another one to cover the new Dish Network 322 that I'll be adding when the weather improves next week.
You'll have to go to the back of the line and take a number as the court has a very long line here.

 

[Andrew K]

I have one motorized Ku dish with my OTA antenna mounted at the top of the pole. It's worked well since I installed it last summer. The tripod legs are screwed into the roof trusses. I drilled a hole through the pole and threaded a bolt through to prevent rotation. The tripod mast is a bit flimsy though and rotates a bit back and forth when the wind hits the dish.

So far, the dish has withstood about 55 mph winds with no movement. Although It worries me every time the big wind gusts come in.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I have one motorized Ku dish with my OTA antenna mounted at the top of the pole. It's worked well since I installed it last summer. The tripod legs are screwed into the roof trusses. I drilled a hole through the pole and threaded a bolt through to prevent rotation. The tripod mast is a bit flimsy though and rotates a bit back and forth when the wind hits the dish.

So far, the dish has withstood about 55 mph winds with no movement. Although It worries me every time the big wind gusts come in.


View attachment 73613View attachment 73614

That's a pretty nifty setup there.. I like the all in one setup.
It looks like your OTA antenna has a motor too? I need to get a motor for my OTA antenna too.

 

[Andrew K]

That's a pretty nifty setup there.. I like the all in one setup.
It looks like your OTA antenna has a motor too? I need to get a motor for my OTA antenna too.

It's nice because I can get everything from 15W to 129W.

 

[Magic Static]

The Multi-band OTARD. A few recent pics of my latest dish setup.

 

[Dishman Dan]

The Multi-band OTARD. A few recent pics of my latest dish setup.

Very nice!!!

I have never run across a H2H motor yet! Neat OTA mount too!

I was wondering where is the 30" Winegard and the 6' WSI special that is in your signature? How do you get around those darn OTARD rules with those neighbors so close by?

 

[Magic Static]

Very nice!!!

I have never run across a H2H motor yet! Neat OTA mount too!

I was wondering where is the 30" Winegard and the 6' WSI special that is in your signature? How do you get around those darn OTARD rules with those neighbors so close by?

Well this is Montana, and even though I'm in the middle of this valley surrounded by the city, 15 years ago we didn't have paved streets and this was county property. Still surrounded by city property then. HOAs have not been developed here and the neighborhood council likes it that way Nobody wants to start finger pointing here as we all live in glass houses I didn't have neighbors to the east untill a year ago.

The other dishes are still with me on top of the storage shed

Except Dish has been canceled and the dish removed. I have a 10' mesh lined up to replace the WSI 6' special when the weather permits.

 

[gms49ers]

FINALLY tooks some pics

Been in the house now for 7 years, and the C-Band and movable KU were the first to be planted. Had to lower the 10' as a compromise to the HOA. The one on the far right is a CM 1.0M on a SG2100 motor. The one right behind (also a CM 1.0M) is pointed at 110. My Prodelin 1.2M is to the left of that and it's fixed on 129. The old Primestar (90cm Channel Master) on the far left is on 119.

 

[RT-Cat]

Been in the house now for 7 years, and the C-Band and movable KU were the first to be planted. Had to lower the 10' as a compromise to the HOA. The one on the far right is a CM 1.0M on a SG2100 motor. The one right behind (also a CM 1.0M) is pointed at 110. My Prodelin 1.2M is to the left of that and it's fixed on 129. The old Primestar (90cm Channel Master) on the far left is on 119.

Bummer on the 10 footer. That IS low.....
Nice set up. Enjoy.

RT.