Sadoun SD180G Review

[Tron]

What kind of signal are you getting and are you aiming at 72W or 137W?

I have not aimed the dish yet, as I still have a couple of minor details to work out with the mount and pallet. Hopefully, I will be able to get a signal within the next couple of days. When I do acquire NASA, I will be aiming at the 72W mux.

This morning, I decided to go ahead and add washers as Corrado had done with his Fortec. I had a large stockpile of suitable 1/4" washers that were to be used on the 7.5' Perfect 10, so I used them on the SD180G (I'll buy more for the Perfect 10). I also flipped the ring clamps on the dish, as per Wrdavis' suggestion. I am very pleased with the results. Lastly, I attached the feed supports, scalar, and Eagle Aspen B1STACK to the dish. Except for some final touches, the assembly of the SD180G is now complete. I will include pictures of this morning's work and the preliminary testing in a future post.

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg,

The Fortec 180cm dishes are different than the Sadoun new 180cm (6ft) dishes (i.e. the SD180G: Ground Mount Style, and SD180PM: Polar Mount Style. )

If you want to keep this as SD180G "only" review, I would recommend you move the Fortec posts to anew thread.

broke off the Fortec dish post to another thread

 

[Sadoun]

broke off the Fortec dish post to another thread

Good thanks. That will keep it clean and tidy for readers.

 

[Tron]

Part 5 - It's ALIVE!

Eureka! After nearly 5 years in the TVRO hobby, Tron has FINALLY acquired his first C-Band signal! Well, not exactly my first, I've helped a friend set up a BUD and aim it... But, it is MY first C-Band signal! This long-awaited event took place just after midnight on Friday, November 13, 2009. The SD180G (a.k.a. "PortaBUD") has come to life!

So far, I've only aimed at 72W for the NASA mux. My number one priority in buying this dish was to be up in time for the STS-129 mission, which launches at 1:28 p.m. Central Time on Monday, November 16th. I wanted to get everything done just a bit early in case Murphy reared his ugly head ... Here are my results on 72W:

SD180G 180CM dish, Eagle Aspen B1SATSTACK stacked C-Band LNBF, Visionsat IV-200
-------------------------
3786 (V) 4340 - 69 Q
3956 (V) 4167 - 78 Q
3996 (V) 2220 - 65 Q
4040 (V) 26667 - 84 Q

These transponders and frequencies are taken directly from The List here at SatelliteGuys, and do not include feeds. More results to come in the future... I might have to wait until after the shuttle mission is over to really get a look around the arc though. I've been very busy with the new dish farm over the past couple of weeks and I will have more pictures up very soon!

 

[Mr Tony]

congrats Tron on C-Band

I'm in the process of putting my 6 footer together and the first thing I noticed is the panels are HEAVY (versus the Fortec)

 

[Tron]

Thanks Iceberg... I was wondering about the panels. These seem to be very sturdy, and would probably resist warping or bending very well. I've never had the opportunity to actually touch a Fortec 6' dish for comparison. I shot some pics yesterday morning, and will try to get them up soon. I have to sort through them, as some are of the SD180G (and therefore belong here in this review thread), and some are of the new cabling and infrastructure supporting the new wing of the dish farm (I'll probably post those in the "Pics of your dish" thread in the Shack)...

 

[Mr Tony]

you could cross post them in both

 

[Tron]

Is there a way to upload the pics just once and link to them from both threads? I've actually been wanting to ask that question for awhile now, but I didn't want to go too far off topic in other threads... Thanks!

 

[Mr Tony]

I think only mods can do that. I know I can "copy" a post from one thread to another and have done that with posts that got duplicated (like anole's switch FAQ and Radar's motorized setup thread).

Just post the pics in one thread and send me a PM. I'll copy it to the other thread

 

[Tron]

Part 5 - Conclusion.

Sorry it has taken so long for me to get this review concluded (and to complete another review I am working on for WSI), but I had a family emergency during the past week or so, and STS-129 has been ongoing. I am going to work on these two projects with (hopefully) more time on my hands.

I'll begin by closing out this review of the Sadoun SD180G (I might add more results later, after STS-129 has landed and I have a chance to surf the arc a bit). I have been using the dish for the past week, on a daily basis, to record STS-129 Shuttle mission content. Not once has there been any problem with the signal, and in fact, the signal from the 72W transponders has been very strong and steady. It's been there when I've needed it, reliable and strong throughout any weather conditions, and that's why I started the PortaBUD project in the first place. The SD180G and Eagle Aspen B1 SAT STACK LNBF have made a great team.

Here are the final set of pictures. I will also post some additional pictures in the "Pictures of your dish farm" thread of the support work (cabling) for the new ground level dish farm where PortaBUD resides. In the first picture, we are introduced to PortaBUD and the beginnings of the new dish farm. The Eagle Aspen B1 SAT STACK is seen in pics #2 and #3. I liked Corrado's idea for adding washers (pic #4). Pic #5 shows the ground mount stand bolted to the dish reflector. I wanted the ability to disconnect PortaBUD from the cable leading to the house and connect a receiver at the dish site without disconnecting from the LNBF itself, so I added a ground block (pic #6). The cable leading from the LNBF is strapped snugly to the LNB support pole (pic #7). I weighed the dish down considerably, since we've been having high winds with our cold fronts (pic #8). Pic #9 shows PortaBUD's shadow, and a glimpse of how I managed to get coax out to the new ground level dish farm without burying the cable. Burying would have been next to impossible, since the ground is filled with tree roots, and also rocks that were used for fill. There are four coax cables in all (two runs of PVCX3B). Finally, pic #10 shows PortaBUD as it now sits, fixed on 72W and providing wonderful SD and HD feeds of STS-129 from NASA-TV.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Tron, Now all you need is to make that dish move someday with the pole mount, Gbox etc... more money of course. I enjoyed all your pics and info. Blind

 

[Tron]

Thanks Blindowl... I've planned for this dish to always be fixed (not necessarily on 72W, especially since I'm only using that programming during missions). If MicroBUD (my next project) can get the NASA-TV transponders (but we're talking a 99CM dish here), then I will use it for NASA-TV and move PortaBUD over to 99W. Otherwise, the 7.5' Perfect 10 with its Venture actuator and a G-Box 3000 will solve many mobility issues ...

 

[Blindowl1234]

Yeah the perfect 10 will do the trick too. Anything beats going outside in the cold Ohio winters to move the dish around....getting old and lazy here...Blind

 

[okbluzman]

I really like the looks of this dish but for my application am needing AzEl (altitude/azimuth) setup. Do you think it would be possible to modify the included mount to work in this fashion or does anyone know where I might find a mount of this type that could work with this dish?

 

[Tron]

Sadoun has this exact dish with a polar mount instead of the ground mount. Galaxy Marketing (a site sponsor) is currently offering a sale on a similarly sized panel dish with a polar mount. Here is a thread on the subject.

 

[updatelee]

how do you feel the quality of the dish is ? I own a fortec 180 which apears identical to the sadoun and WSI one, prob made in the same plant.

The fortec is the cheapest flimsiest pos Ive ever owned. I dont have alot of faith it lasting more then a year or two before it crumbles. you can bend the panels just by looking at them funny. The whole thing weighs maybe 15lb and the penels will bend by applying that much pressure to them.

The thing is litterally made from HD tinfoil with only the bent ridges providing any structural integrity.

I should go out there and actually put it on a scale so others can compare it to theirs.

UDL

 

[TRG]

how do you feel the quality of the dish is ? I own a fortec 180 which apears identical to the sadoun and WSI one, prob made in the same plant.

The fortec is the cheapest flimsiest pos Ive ever owned. I dont have alot of faith it lasting more then a year or two before it crumbles. you can bend the panels just by looking at them funny. The whole thing weighs maybe 15lb and the penels will bend by applying that much pressure to them.

The thing is litterally made from HD tinfoil with only the bent ridges providing any structural integrity.

I should go out there and actually put it on a scale so others can compare it to theirs.

UDL

I typed up a long reply but lost it when satelliteguys logged me out. Anyway, I'm thinking that with the price of steel going up manufactures are trying to stabilize costs by using cheaper materials. I.e. thinner sheet metal gauges. My brother noticed this with metal roofing materials as well. In today's economy we are seeing a lot more instances of people paying more and getting less.

When did you buy your dish? Mine was purchased about 3 1/2 years ago during a close out sale. If my theory is right I might have gotten some older (heavier) stock.

 

[updatelee]

I bought mine used but it looks brand new so I can't tell. Just not impressed. I'll be keeping an eye out for a used channel master or something better

 

[Tron]

I have never owned any other 6 foot panel dish, so I have nothing to compare the Sadoun model to. From everything I've heard here, however, it is of thicker gauge steel than most others.