Scouting a Paraclipse

[Anole]

Tron rolled one of these home last summer.
(I understand they are real tanks)
. . . and then . . . what happened?

Stogie got one last week, and is rebuilding it.
Pictures from him and Mauiguy have reminded me that there's one on my way to lunch.
Today, I took some poor quality cell phone camera pictures of it.
Thought maybe I'd look at the shots at my leisure, and see what I missed on site.

Can't tell the size.
Am disappointed by the mover - not an H-H.
Actually, I thought it was fixed-pointed, 'till I got home and saw the motor in the pictures!

Didn't have time to knock today, but after some planning and reflection, I may go by again next week.
Hopefully, the original user will have lost interest... or passed on... (that didn't sound quite right).

 

[Mauiguy]

Tron rolled one of these home last summer.
(I understand they are real tanks)
. . . and then . . . what happened?

Stogie got one last week, and is rebuilding it.
Pictures from him and Mauiguy have reminded me that there's one on myway to lunch.
Today, I took some poor quality cell phone camera pictures of it.
Thought maybe I'd look at the shots at my leisure, and see what I missed on site.

Can't tell the size.
Am disappointed by the mover - not an H-H.
Actually, I thought it was fixed-pointed, 'till I got home and saw the motor!

Didn't have time to knock today, but after some planning and reflection, I may go by again next week.
Hopefully, the original user will have lost interest... or passed on... (that didn't sound quite right).

I may be wrong, but counting the rings it seems as it might be in the ten to twelve foot range....

Maybe the original owner has rats like i do that eat the darned wires.....

 

[stogie5150]

Dang Anole....hope you know someone with a cherry-picker...I'd HATE to have to manhandle it down from there.....

Buttonhook feed, so your would have to retrofit it for Ku. But, if you have good performing Ku dishes, why bother? I can't figure out a reason why I need to mess with Ku on mine...I have 1m Primestars that are signal sucking machines for ku...

Go get it my Brother. :up

Buy me a round trip ticket and I'll come help ya.

 

[Anole]

Yea, I'm unimpressed with the idea of worrying about Ku performance on a BUD.
If that's all ya got, then sure.
But 1m Primestars or similar are less stressful than fine tuning and sweating the two-band deal.
Look at all the angst several members have gone through, just for dual-band!

I did notice that bruiser was up in the air.
I certainly don't relish getting it down.

And with no cool motor, it's even less attractive.
But it might be lighter! -

Yea, four rings. Whatever that means.
Well, since it's a tank, it may be 20 years old, but it's still in good shape.
Our weather is as mild as you could ask for. Lots of sun and no humidity.
And the mesh looks okay, too.

But you know... .that cherry picker with a hook idea does sound good.
Or a small crane.
Ya pick it up, drop it on a trailer, drive home, pick it up, and stick it on the pole.
Means not reusing the pole at the site, but . . . (just thinking out loud).
Might be worth renting one for the day.
Because I just don't see disassembling the dish as an option!

Will try to get a better camera and get some better pictures in a few days.

As for the travel arrangements, I've actually considered flying/driving/training/bussing over to St Louis to abuse Linuxman.
Think I could bring back a 12'er as carry-on luggage on any of those modes of transportation? -

 

[Mauiguy]

Yea, four rings. Whatever that means.

Actually the fifth ring is just visible in the last picture, and then there is the center plate. Those rings are about one foot apart so I am thinking more like 12 feet in diameter.

 

[thomas34461usa]

Hi Anole.
Looks like a great find. Is it hooked up against the roof or just on a tall pole? Do you wish to borrow my Dish Crane or would you want the dimensions of the Dish Crane to make getting down that dish easier?You just have to secure the dish Crane to the support pole, place the hook and secure the belt to the dish enough to secure it tight. Loosen the bolts and with the help of some frinds and you gently move it away from the pole as you lower it to ground level. Once that is done you can do what ever you feel to secure it, break it apart and take it home with you. Let me know if I can help out on this?
Tom

Yea, I'm unimpressed with the idea of worrying about Ku performance on a BUD.
If that's all ya got, then sure.
But 1m Primestars or similar are less stressful than fine tuning and sweating the two-band deal.
Look at all the angst several members have gone through, just for dual-band!

I did notice that bruiser was up in the air.
I certainly don't relish getting it down.

And with no cool motor, it's even less attractive.
But it might be lighter! -

Yea, four rings. Whatever that means.
Well, since it's a tank, it may be 20 years old, but it's still in good shape.
Our weather is as mild as you could ask for. Lots of sun and no humidity.
And the mesh looks okay, too.

But you know... .that cherry picker with a hook idea does sound good.
Or a small crane.
Ya pick it up, drop it on a trailer, drive home, pick it up, and stick it on the pole.
Means not reusing the pole at the site, but . . . (just thinking out loud).
Might be worth renting one for the day.
Because I just don't see disassembling the dish as an option!

Will try to get a better camera and get some better pictures in a few days.

As for the travel arrangements, I've actually considered flying/driving/training/bussing over to St Louis to abuse Linuxman.
Think I could bring back a 12'er as carry-on luggage on any of those modes of transportation? -

 

[Anole]

Tom -
Now that I look at what doesn't show up in my pictures (I was in a hurry), I'll have to go back and re-shoot from some different directions, look at the fully enclosed back yard, and work out a plan.

That's all assuming they want it gone.
First things first, eh? -


Mauiguy -
I looked at Stogie's pictures again, and saw the five rings.
I'm pretty sure this one is as big as his...

Really hard getting a feel for it, from so far away.
Didn't even see the motor when I was shooting.
Found it on the pictures, once I got home!

And, as Stogie said, without the H-H motor, this is a lot less interesting . . .
. . . but I'll check on crane and flat-bed rentals, anyway.

 

[Tron]

OK, I don't usually frequent the C-Band forum (after all, since I *still* don't have my Paraclipse up, I don't qualify as a C-Bander! ), but seeing the word "Paraclipse" on the recent post list, I had to check it out.

Anole, I say go for it. This one looks to have all of its mesh, which seems to be somewhat rare for whatever reason. I didn't even know Stogie was re-meshing one! I guess I really need to get over to Slidell soon :up

 

[Anole]

Tron -

I keep zinging you about once a quarter concerning your beast.
Check the latest Sadoun LNB-give-away thread. First or second page.

Yea, you should read Stogie's great thread, and go give him a hand.
Then, you'd be fully prepared for installing yours!
Maybe he'll return the favor and come help you.

Then maybe with the help of Mauiguy, form the Paraclipse Club... yes, you'll be really PC ! - :up

 

[rv1pop]

Did you notice the ham antennas? And what is that in the swimming pool? Of course, we know that one green thing has to have pictures to be able to see things, and when he does, he can read the number of degrees a mount is off !!

If you use a crane, watch out for the OH power lines. But in LA, can't you get a chopper from one of the TV stations to just lift it off the roof and fly it to your place?

 

[Anole]

But in LA, can't you get a chopper from one of the TV stations to just lift it off the roof and fly it to your place?

We did that in Viet Nam, for our MARS station.
Got one of our base 'choppers to fly up our Log Peridoc Vee antenna, and put it atop our 90' pole!
Wish I had pictures of that!

 

[Mauiguy]

Tom -
Now that I look at what doesn't show up in my pictures (I was in a hurry), I'll have to go back and re-shoot from some different directions, look at the fully enclosed back yard, and work out a plan.

That's all assuming they want it gone.
First things first, eh? -

I know there is the desire to remove a dish and haul it in one piece. My experience has been that for me and my little pickup truck it was better to totally disassemble the dish, by unclipping the mesh then taking the cross supports out etc, and then putting it all in my truck.

That way it is a one person affair. The only hard part is that mount. That polar mount is steel and is very heavy, and needs to be lifted off of the mounting pole.

If it is completely disassembled the only thing difficult to get off of the roof would be the mount which could be lowered using a rope and a couple of assistants. Al of the rest could be taken down a ladder.

 

[Corrado]

That dish looks to be in pretty good shape, Anole. I have only seen one Paraclipse here in NY. The owner of that one passed away and just sits there overgrown with vines. I talked with a guy across the road (he's a Ham) about it, since the property looks abandoned.

The 2 of us were curious about moving it in one piece. Another concern moving it is the assembled width of the dish on a trailer. In NY, a permit is required for oversize loads.

If the future brings a big change over to S2, a 12' dish might become highly sought after.

 

[mikekohl]

I installed many dozens of 12-foot Paraclipse antennas in the 1980s while living in Alaska, and while it was easier to assemble things on site, weather was often an issue. Remember hauling a preassembled one in the back of a pickup for 80 miles, hoping that a State Trooper did not stop and put a tape measure across the width of the load. Luck was with us that day, but unless you have a very tall moving truck to hide the dish diagonally, it is going to be difficult to transport one across a large metropolitan area without problems with traffic and regulations, even with a wide load permit. Another option would be the dish trailers most of us used back in those days, which allowed us to mount the antenna so that it stood on a pole with the elevation at a very vertical angle, turned so that it fit within the width of the trailer (use a 12 foot long trailer to deal with the other dimension). The only risk there is traveling on roadways that had low-hanging wires, as a 12-foot dish mounted on a trailer can be a magnet for trouble.

 

[thomas34461usa]

offer of my Dish Crane

Anole, Please don't forget my offer of my Dish Crane. Or you can have one made up like I did for around 100$ Once you used it you will wonder why you never used it Sooner! Anyway it a hell of a lot cheaper then Air Plane Tickets for help to come your way! lol
Tom

Tom -
Now that I look at what doesn't show up in my pictures (I was in a hurry), I'll have to go back and re-shoot from some different directions, look at the fully enclosed back yard, and work out a plan.

That's all assuming they want it gone.
First things first, eh? -


Mauiguy -
I looked at Stogie's pictures again, and saw the five rings.
I'm pretty sure this one is as big as his...

Really hard getting a feel for it, from so far away.
Didn't even see the motor when I was shooting.
Found it on the pictures, once I got home!

And, as Stogie said, without the H-H motor, this is a lot less interesting . . .
. . . but I'll check on crane and flat-bed rentals, anyway.