Solid Spun Aluminum 8.5 footer - Maybe Regency

[linuxman]

Thanks Al!

Thanks for the encouragement! It is much appreciated.

I still think there is something wrong here. The C-Band numbers on G-11 should be at 90+, and the Ku numbers on ONN should be maxed out. I just don't know what the problem is. Tomorrow I am going to change out the old ribbon cable coax, and put in new double solid copper from the feed-horn to the box on the back of the dish. I am also going to take out the extra washer I put in for declination now that I have the other part tuned, and I know the wave-guide is in the dead precise center of the dish. I have it strung while doing all the above, and there isn't any warpage anywhere in the arc. I just don't get it.

I keep waiting for the magic shoe to drop and the numbers jump into place, but that isn't happening yet.

Heck, I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it would help.

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

Heck, I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it would help.

Ooouch....!!! That thought makes me cringe. Hope it doesn't come to that, but I know what you mean!

Al

 

[linuxman]

ROFLMAO!!

I just had a thought occur to me.

Did you ever have a dish that had more than one sweet spot?

I have that phenomena on the Birdview, and the thought just occurred to me that maybe I don't have the elevation/declination etc at the real sweet spot.

For instance, on the BV, I have a DBS LNBF hanging off to the side of the feed-horn. On every one of the DBS birds across the arc, I can get them in two locations. In one location, they come in pretty strong, but in the best location, they boom in.

I am going to mark where I am on elevation, and move the dish completely out of this zone, and see if there might be a different sweet spot either higher or lower with a stronger signal.

This dish can't be as bad as it appears. If it is this bad, it blows everyone's (including my own) theory about solid being so much better than mesh.

Fred

 

[DREAMFOX1]

What type of paint did you use?

 

[linuxman]

What type of paint did you use?

I used Rustoleum flat black mixed with a little Rustoleum flat white, both enamal.

There shouldn't be anything in the paint that would be causing a problem that I am aware of, but it is a good thought.

Fred

 

[caddata]

....theory about solid being so much better than mesh....Fred

Fred:

To be honest with you, I have to bite my lip everytime I see someone post, "since it's solid, it's better than a mesh of the same size". Bull squawkie! As long as the openings in the mesh (or perforated) dish are the correct size (less than .250"), the signal you want to use (Ku - 12 to 14 Gigacycles oops Gigahertz) sees it as a solid surface. Even sound waves are reflected. Next time, during a tweaking session, try listening to "the sounds of nature". I thought my low hearing levels had been cured the first time I experienced it.

Notice the hole pattern on the microwave door glass. The opening size indicates the frequency of the magnatron. Otherwise radiation levels would be too high for consumer use.

I can't agree to the "solid is better" theory. Surface accuracy is the most important dish requirement.

Harold

 

[linuxman]

I can't agree to the "solid is better" theory. Surface accuracy is the most important dish requirement.

I would certainly have to agree with you now Harold.

If this is all this dish has to offer, it certainly proves your point!

I would hope that it might be something else and not just an extremely poor quality design in the dish. Why put all the extra money into solid spun aluminum and not make the parabolic curve match the dollars spent on the material?

Fred

 

[linuxman]

I went up to the roof right after I got back from Church, and just now came down.

I tried adding declination and adjusting elevation to compensate, tried turning the whole assembly, all to no avail. I could not increase the signal higher than yesterday.

What is even more puzzling is that I can't even pull in the satop mux on AMC6 today. I even tried it before making adjustments.

I talked to the guy I bought the new Eagle Aspen LNB from last week about this situation. He agreed that it should be smoking the meter on C-Band, digital or analog. He also agreed that it should be doing a fantastic job on Ku band. He told me that they only had one Co-Rotor in the entire time they were selling C-Band equipment heavily that went bad. He said that it had gotten moisture in it, and it would not transmit the signal properly. They even sent it back to Chaparral to verify it.

I think there are two possibilities here.

Either the dish is just junk for digital satellite reception, pure and simple, or there are other mechanical problems.

Could the Co-Rotor not be transmitting full signal?

I mentioned that the probe arm was very hard to turn until I freed it up. Also this Co-Rotor was on a dish with no feed-horn cover for an unknown amount of time. That's how I knew it was a Co-Rotor. I could see it from the street.

The other possibility is that the new Ku LNB I bought last week is sub par, and should be exchanged.

I can take another Co-Rotor of one of my existing dishes and move it over to this dish to test it which I will probably do Tuesday. It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow.

If it turns out this dish is junk for digital, I can have it off, and a 10' Perfect 10 in its place in about 3 days. I certainly don't want to use it as planned for slaving the Traxis to the analog, and slaving the computer tuner to the Traxis for recording and High Definition.

What do you guys think?

Fred

 

[gabshere]

one of these days i will make the journey to see all those dishes.
i'm glad i get a wealth of information just sitting here and reading how matelicus you are on tuning squeezing everybit of last signal drop from the stream.
you guys are the best i actually like setting them up and tuning them better than watching them lol i know its crazy.

I can take another Co-Rotor of one of my existing dishes and move it over to this dish to test it

this will probably be your best option . i mark with color markers so i can place them back just right.

 

[linuxman]

i'm glad i get a wealth of information just sitting here and reading how matelicus you are on tuning squeezing everybit of last signal drop from the stream.

Some would call that an obsessive/compulsive personality.

Myself, I just call it over-achieving.

this will probably be your best option . i mark with color markers so i can place them back just right.

I do the same thing.

Edit: I actually have several C-Band only feed-horns here with LNBs attached. I can just put one of those on. That will tell the tale, at least on the C-Band side.

Glad to see you up and writing again. Hope you are feeling better!

Fred

 

[linuxman]

Well I have been beaten.

The rain held off here, and has been forecast to not start until late this afternoon, so this morning I went up to the roof, and took the Co-Rotor/LNBs off the SAMI dish which runs the family 4DTV and put that assembly on the spun aluminum dish.

No change in SQ% on any of the satellites I have setup in the Traxis.

Changed everything back and sat there thinking about what the dish might be good for. I have been concentrating on digital C-Band and digital Ku, so the thought occurred to me that maybe I could switch the 4DTV to this dish.

So I started setting up a few analog satellites just to check C-Band analog signals. Everything works great with outstanding SQ on the Legacy receiver so I moved over to AMC2 to try out the analog Ku test card. I couldn't even tune it in. Got Doc Scott on C-Band but not a whiff of AMC2 Ku. I did find an analog Ku feed, but it was so distorted I couldn't tell what it was with a SQ of 170 out of 255.

The only conclusion is that this dish was made for C-Band analog period. I don't even want to try the 4DTV. All of the 4DTV signal is digital too, so I guess the dish is worthless. I wouldn't even want to give it away to someone else.

I don't have much alternative but to scrap it. That goes against everything I stand for with FTA, but sometimes there is no other choice.

Now the question remains, which dish do I put up to take it's place?

If you remember, a while back I bought a bunch of parts from a C-Band seller who passed away and I bought some parts from his wife. Among those parts was a brand new still in the box mounting ring, support arms, plates, decal and hardware for a 10' Perfect 10 dish. I have since taken down a 10' Perfect 10 dish and the petals are almost perfect.

I could put together an almost new Perfect 10 ten footer, or I have the 10' Unimesh that I took down a while back too. I also have a like new 7.5' Perfect 10 dish that I could put up, but would rather have something bigger.

The purpose of this dish is to look for analog feeds, have the Traxis 3500 to scan for wild feeds, and have the computer SkyStar 2 card for recording and HDTV with a future of perhaps an HDTV receiver.

I know where there is a Paraclipse semi-perforated 8.5 footer, but the chances of getting it are slim and none. It is at a motel and is owned and run by some out of town people. I know it is a Paraclipse because that is what the name says.

So what should I replace this dish with, the 10' Perfect 10 dish, the 10' Unimesh, or hunt for another dish?

Fred

 

[gabshere]

well you have it all setup for c-band it would make a good c-band only dish so someone would like one of those. say no to scrap

it could be a tester dish thats what i would like to try is placing several lnbf's on one satellite dish.

 

[Anole]

Well I have been beaten.

So what should I replace this dish with, the 10' Perfect 10 dish, the 10' Unimesh, or hunt for another dish?

I've been keeping quiet, due to having nothing to contribute, but enjoying the hunt just the same.

At this point, I wanted to ask: how would a birdview do for your signal hunt?

 

[gabshere]

well you have it all setup for c-band it would make a good c-band only dish so someone would like one of those. say no to scrap

it could be a tester dish thats what i would like to try is placing several lnbf's on one satellite dish.

 

[linuxman]

Hey Anole,

how would a birdview do for your signal hunt?

If I could find another Birdview that I didin't have to kill someone to get it, that would be perfect. Just don't know where one is that is available.

Hey George,

it could be a tester dish thats what i would like to try is placing several lnbf's on one satellite dish.

The thing doesn't even get good quality digital C-Band. The CW on G11 should be at a minimum of 90% SQ, and this thing is only giving me 75%. When I hooked up the Pansat last week and was showing 75% on the Traxis, the Pansat meter was showing about 65%. The Pansat on the BV gets it at about 90% consistently, so that would put the Traxis meter at maxed out.

I might give it one more round using Mike Kohl's method of moving the Co-Rotor in and out later this week, just to prove once again that I have done it all correctly. Other than that there is nothing else to do.

Fred

 

[Inno]

I'm very sorry to hear that you came to a not so good conclusion. I had thought it would be a wonderful dish for you.
I had a 7.5 foot spun alum. a number of years ago but didn't ever play with it too much. Right off the bat I noticed that the signal strength wasn't all that hot with it. I didn't spend much time tweaking it 'cause I had a 10' mesh which worked just fine.........perhaps it just wasn't all that great to start with.
What a pity you went to all that work.

 

[linuxman]

Thanks Inno!!

What a pity you went to all that work.

The work was worth the effort. If it had turned out well, it would have been a great dish, and you don't know until you try.

I learned two very valuable lessons from this adventure.

1. Harold's opinion that an accurate parabolic reflector is more important than whether it is mesh or solid up to .250" hole size.

2. Don't put a lot of work into unknown dish brands until you have tried them out, Ie, don't paint it until you know you are going to keep it.

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

Sorry it didn't work out Fred. I thought you had another excellent dish, guess we were wrong? I think you should go with the Unimesh. Only because I want to see results from it, and possible comparisons with the other dishes? I do believe the Perfect 10 would be the better of the 2, but I still would like to hear your discoveries of the Unimesh?
Also, even though it didn't work out, you did an excellent job trying. Thanks for letting us experience it with you!

Al

 

[Diamond Jim]

My condolences.

 

[caddata]

....an accurate parabolic reflector....

We need a board member versed in geometric measurement. Surface accuracy measurement would be simple with an inexpensive set of measuring instruments ($200,000.00). We could send him a plaster cast and he'd give us a thumbs up or down.

Until we can afford that, we're stuck with how you did it; backbreaking labor and wasted effort at times.

Don't think that your efforts were in vain. They weren't. This entire post was a textbook demonstration in step by step setup and maximum tweaking. Anyone tracing your steps would maximize their system.

Harold