Replacing 7.5ft with 10ft

[pacificrim]

I knocked on a door today and got a free 10ft mesh - good shape with what looks like 1 partially torn panel. I don't have pics but will post some when I take it down on Saturday.
My current 7.5 is a Unimesh. I'm not sure whose this is but I'm hoping I can mount the new dish on the existing Unimesh mount, sparing the work involved with that. No guarantees but I'm hopeful.

 

[pacificrim]

I'm going to take it and also a 12 footer down the road but I think the 12 footer is a tougher sell

A ten footer is really "just one more ring bigger honey, like a foot wider on each side...you and the neighbours won't even notice."

 

[primestar31]

I'm going to take it and also a 12 footer down the road but I think the 12 footer is a tougher sell

A ten footer is really "just one more ring bigger honey, like a foot wider on each side...you and the neighbours won't even notice."

Pay for a surprise "Spa Day" outing for her. While she's gone, swap dishes. Bet she doesn't notice anytime soon.

 

[danristheman]

Just tell her she needs new glasses that are just a little bit out of focus bribe the eye doctor a little bit. Just do a magic act make something disappear then reappear.

 

[wvman]

I knocked on a door today and got a free 10ft mesh - good shape with what looks like 1 partially torn panel. I don't have pics but will post some when I take it down on Saturday.
My current 7.5 is a Unimesh. I'm not sure whose this is but I'm hoping I can mount the new dish on the existing Unimesh mount, sparing the work involved with that. No guarantees but I'm hopeful.

I got a 10 foot Unimesh dish at the end of the summer that had about 6 inches of 1 panel out of the track. I didn't even try to fix it because I haven't found a good way to get them back in the track. I wish Unimesh hadn't put the lip on the outer edge of the dish, else you could slide the entire panel out and slip it back in the track. It would only have to come out a foot. I figured it was better left alone than chance knocking more screen out of the track. I have a 7 1/2 foot with a bent screen, I can experiment on it come spring.

 

[wvman]

Just tell her she needs new glasses that are just a little bit out of focus bribe the eye doctor a little bit. Just do a magic act make something disappear then reappear.

I swapped out a 7 1/2 footer for a 10 and my wife never noticed. The funny part was, the dish I took down was grey and the one I replaced it with was black. Women generally don't pay attention to things like that, but they do notice when one of their channels disappeared.

 

[pacificrim]

I swapped out a 7 1/2 footer for a 10 and my wife never noticed. The funny part was, the dish I took down was grey and the one I replaced it with was black. Women generally don't pay attention to things like that, but they do notice when one of their channels disappeared.

Were you able to reuse the ring mount or did you swap that too? I am hoping to only replace the dish portion.

 

[wvman]

Were you able to reuse the ring mount or did you swap that too? I am hoping to only replace the dish portion.

I swapped the entire dish. Are you looking for a polar mount?

 

[pacificrim]

I got it! It's in pieces in my van. Unfortunately, I never got my phone out to take pictures due to the rain I was working in.

The polar mount had 8 connection tabs whereas my current Unimesh has 4. I am not planning to use the polar mount that it came with if the tabs line-up. Some of the tabs were rusted through and some were very thin, so I just cut them to remove the dish from it. If I have to fabricate something to attach it, I might as well work with the one I already have on the pole.

Elements of it look a lot like my Unimesh, but I guess that's the case with most.

There was a motor attached. Looks like a 36". I'll attempt to restore it, but not too stressed about it.

There is only 1 damaged mesh panel, and 2 small welds broken where the petals meet in the middle. None are a big deal. It is straight and in good shape.

I'll post pics tomorrow when I get it out of the van.

 

[pacificrim]

From what I can tell it looks like a KTI/Echostar 10'

Here are the pics.

 

[wvman]

Were you able to reuse the ring mount or did you swap that too? I am hoping to only replace the dish portion.

I did some measuring over the weekend and found the ribs on a 10 foot Unimesh to be the same width as the 7 1/2 foot. The mounting ring was slightly smaller, but with the saddles at 90 degrees apart, I would think a 10 foot reflector would fit where the 7 1/2 foot was. You may have to drill 4 new holes for the mounting bolts, but I don't think it would make an ounce of difference what reflector you used, 10 or 7 1/2 foot.

I never actually measured the difference, but it could only be a few inches. As far as I can see, wind load could be a factor as the dish would be mounted closer to the hub. Hopefully, you will get by with replacing the dish only. Good luck.

 

[pacificrim]

I did some measuring over the weekend and found to ribs on a 10 foot Unimesh to be the same width as the 7 1/2 foot. The mounting ring was slightly smaller, but with the saddles at 90 degrees apart, I would think a 10 foot reflector would fit where the 7 1/2 foot was. You may have to drill 4 new holes for the mounting bolts, but I don't think it would make an ounce of difference what reflector you used, 10 or 7 1/2 foot.

I never actually measured the difference, but it could only be a few inches. As far as I can see, wind load could be a factor as the dish would be mounted closer to the hub. Hopefully, you will get by with replacing the dish only. Good luck.

Thanks for the footwork Wvman!
I might have a bit of extra work, but using the new rusty, seized and now tabs removed mount would be A LOT of work.

I hammered out the damaged mesh and got them back in the slot.

I need to make 2 new LNB struts/poles. and paint it all.
It could be up by Xmas!

 

[wvman]

Thanks for the footwork Wvman!
I might have a bit of extra work, but using the new rusty, seized and now tabs removed mount would be A LOT of work.

I hammered out the damaged mesh and got them back in the slot.

I need to make 2 new LNB struts/poles. and paint it all.
It could be up by Xmas!

Good deal. Glad it's coming together for you. Luckily, I have never had the tabs rusted away. I've had bolts rusted to the point that the threads were gone and some of them were rusted into a point. I usually try to twist off any bolts like that and replace them with stainless steel bolts that will last forever. I've never had much luck getting the mesh back into the slot on Unimesh dishes because of the "L" shaped lip along the outer edge of the dish, so if they are only out a few inches, I leave them alone.

Six inches of screen out of shape isn't going to make a noticeable difference in the signal level. I have one like that, and unless you look really close at the mesh, it's hard to see. Some things are best left alone.

 

[pacificrim]

The new dish was a few hundred feet from the Pacific ocean, so it got hit pretty hard with salt on a regular basis. 3 of the 4 thinner tabs were not even attached but were pretty much dissolved on the ring mount. More or less anything steel was disappearing - like the LNB poles/struts. 2 of the 4 are toast. The dish is in very good shape and now I have the panel back it looks great. I used some fine stainless wire used for crab traps that worked perfectly. I'll paint it - might even give it a camo paint job to help it disappear.

 

[pacificrim]

Done!!!
The dish shape was perfect on the string test. Ku performance is better as of course is Cband!
I drilled new holes to match the existing mount on the pole but it worked out perfectly already knowing it was perfectly tracking the arc.

Yay!

BTW - my neighbours are pissed!
So, apparently people can notice the difference between an 8ft and a 10ft. huh.

 

[primestar31]

Done!!!
The dish shape was perfect on the string test. Ku performance is better as of course is Cband!
I drilled new holes to match the existing mount on the pole but it worked out perfectly already knowing it was perfectly tracking the arc.

Yay!

BTW - my neighbours are pissed!
So, apparently people can notice the difference between an 8ft and a 10ft. huh.

Your neighbors actually said something, and you care what they think? Paint a big fluorescent middle finger on the back of the dish to show them what YOU think about what they think...

 

[pacificrim]

I might lower the dish a foot or 2 since it does partly block a view of a mountain for my neighbour. I get it. For me it blocks a house and offers privacy, but their mountain view is affected from their lawn. I can drop it a bit and it won't make a difference for performance and I suppose to my benefit it would be easier for me to work on.

Anyhoo, From all I can figure and find - that this dish is a KTI SI-10.

I'm pretty impressed with the Titanium CK1S on this 10 footer.

I'm not running the prime focus Invacom Ku and C1WPLL sidecar like I did for the 7.5 Unimesh I took down. I installed a Titanium CK1S and today was plug and play. I spent 20 minutes tuning multiple sats and that was it, but having a good meter helps. It wouldn't be this easy with a STB at the dish or yelling back and forth to someone inside...

 

[pacificrim]

An update on the the dish and the CK1S - I gave it a bit more of my time and am really impressed with its performance. I am now getting Reuters on 113w in Ku, which is just out of my footprint and always been a bit of a challenge and an indication of accuracy, but my surprise was getting the circular FTA news channel on 119w.

When I got the dish it didn't have the center plates. I took the ones off of my Unimesh when I disassembled it and put it on the new KTI. It definitely stiffened it up and looks better too.

 

[pacificrim]

I just found my "new" dish's old home on Google Street View. Hard to believe it survived as well as it did.