Spring Is Here Finally - Post your springtime projects

[fred555]

Spring is finally here. After sitting inside all winter planning your projects for when things thaw out, what are you working on?

I had some cable runs that were sub-optimal, running past the entry to the house, out to my switch box and back the same direction. I also got rid of lots of buried conduit and started using conduit above ground behind bushes etc... Much easier to work with.

Here is where the box was, dark and behind some bushes.


Now I moved it to a spot near were the cables enter the house, and up high where I can see inside it.


Only have two dishes rewired so far but they are the important ones, 97W Ku and 101W C.
Three Zinwell powered multiswitches, two Chietas hidden behind the two Amiko diseqc switches.
I also recommend marking the incoming cables. Lowes has some stick-on numbered cable lables, they're great.

Here is a peek inside:


This picture shows the layout of the powered multiswitches. The framework and bracketry were all custom made by me last year, serves as a ground buss also. This location also puts me closer to the electrical service ground rod.


Bottom view, lots of 4-8mm PG-9 connectors. I also believe in service loops, not pretty but if you need the extra slack one day, your going to be glad you have them:


Here is where the power supplies are:


Here is the schematic:

Right now it is setup for 4 receivers and 6 LNBFs, but expandable to 8 receivers 8 LNBFs.

As far as the parts:

The switch box is a BUD Industries NEMA box, notice the nice gasket it has in the picture above. BUD makes some great outdoor boxes.
Amazon product ASIN B005T57PK4
And the smaller remote power supply enclosure:
Amazon product ASIN B005T57OLY
And the 4-8MM PG-9 connectors. These are a must have for any outdoor coax application:
Amazon product ASIN B00EZ9UBRO
Labels are a must when dealing with lots of coax:


I still have more work to do in re-cabling the other dishes, but the fact that spring has sprung and I am able to start is a move in the right direction. I almost forgot, I got my 10 foot Winegard planted a few weeks ago too. http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/dish-id-help-needed.342888/

 

[KE4EST]

Wow that is a very nice set-up. Thanks for sharing. I love to see nice installations like that.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

Nice work there.

My big project this spring is packing up and moving 2,100 miles with the wife and cats to Grand Junction, CO. We've gotten rid of lots of stuff, but still have a way to go. I'll be cleaning up a 1m dish I plucked from the roof of my store (with nprm) and giving it a nice paint job, but toss the DirecTV World Direct dish most likely. I miiiight be able to convince her to keep it if we have room in the uhaul shipping container thing.

 

[jmc98]

Big project finish reinstallation my of C Band dish and get it tracking the arc smaller project that will happen get my motorized 90cm installed permanently and fine tuned

 

[Mr Tony]

well lets see...this will happen next week when I move
get my antenna set up at the new (temporary) location and hope I get more than 1 station

 

[piyi]

That is a very clean looking installation fred555. I will strive to make mine as good as yours. Thanks for the links. I am going to be installing my first c band dish. I am getting ready to plant the pole. I will need to dig a 180ft trench to bury the conduit to carry my wires. I am still trying to figure out what kind of switches I need though.

 

[fred555]

That is a very clean looking installation fred555. I will strive to make mine as good as yours. Thanks for the links. I am going to be installing my first c band dish. I am getting ready to plant the pole. I will need to dig a 180ft trench to bury the conduit to carry my wires. I am still trying to figure out what kind of switches I need though.

I put up a fence on the north side of my property and all dishes are along the fence. A very short piece of conduit takes the coax to the fence.
The coax is then tie strapped to the fence, avoiding lots of trenching.
If you have a roto-tiller, on certain models you can remove all the tines but leave the inner ones. Makes it into sort of a trenching tool. Or you can also rent a ditch witch for a half a day. If the coax is in conduit you don't need to bury it too deep, 8 inches may be good.

 

[fred555]

well lets see...this will happen next week when I move
get my antenna set up at the new (temporary) location and hope I get more than 1 station

And that reminds me, my CM-7777 preamp blew out in less than a year, no OTA channels for me.
One more thing to do.

 

[piyi]

I put up a fence on the north side of my property and all dishes are along the fence. A very short piece of conduit takes the coax to the fence.
The coax is then tie strapped to the fence, avoiding lots of trenching.
If you have a roto-tiller, on certain models you can remove all the tines but leave the inner ones. Makes it into sort of a trenching tool. Or you can also rent a ditch witch for a half a day. If the coax is in conduit you don't need to bury it too deep, 8 inches may be good.

Thanks for the tip fred555. My tiller is so old not sure how removing the tines would go (it is one of the original troybuilt). Even though the digging is fairly easy I may consider renting a ditch witch and put in some extra water spigots too.

 

[fred555]

Thanks for the tip fred555. My tiller is so old not sure how removing the tines would go (it is one of the original troybuilt). Even though the digging is fairly easy I may consider renting a ditch witch and put in some extra water spigots too.

I like to have multiple projects when renting tools too. Its a smarter way to maximize the rental dollars.

There is a stand-on/ ride around hole digger called a dingo. I put in a fence last year, used it to dig dish holes while I was at it, and holes for some shrubs.

 

[Mr Tony]

And that reminds me, my CM-7777 preamp blew out in less than a year, no OTA channels for me.
One more thing to do.

that would have been changed immediately
I will probably need a pre-amp where I will be...and we still will only get CBS, FOX & PBS

 

[. Raine]

Nice work there.

My big project this spring is packing up and moving 2,100 miles with the wife and cats to Grand Junction, CO. We've gotten rid of lots of stuff, but still have a way to go. I'll be cleaning up a 1m dish I plucked from the roof of my store (with nprm) and giving it a nice paint job, but toss the DirecTV World Direct dish most likely. I miiiight be able to convince her to keep it if we have room in the uhaul shipping container thing.

Hey, Kitty, maybe if you break it down into pieces, it'll fit in the U-haul better? If you do end up having to toss the World dish and it still has the original LNBs and LNB mount on it, I'd be interested in it.

Hope your move goes smoothly, with no hitches!


Fred, your wiring looks a lot better than mine!

My big project this summer will be moving all my dishes to a different spot so I can get LOS to more sats toward the East and get the 9' into a more easily accessible and safer spot. Hopefully this goes better than my work on the dishes today did, today I swapped some feeds around, trying stuff out and only managed to make a mess of things. Today was one of those days that I should of left well enough alone!

 

[fred555]

that would have been changed immediately
I will probably need a pre-amp where I will be...and we still will only get CBS, FOX & PBS

With the addition of my 10 footer and METV1, METV2, Heroes, Decades, Movies!, PBS, PBS World and TVO,
the preamp order can wait until next payday.

 

[Jason S]

No photos now. Most of my wiring is run. Now, I have numerous projects planned to move dishes around the property. Essentially, consolidate the 1.2m dishes (and add a Stab HH-120 on one) near the C-band. Also looking to swap the 7.5' Echostar for the 10' SAMI and maybe get the Chapparel corotor working on the SAMI... In the meantime, maybe rebuild the Von Weis motor on the Echostar and move the converted pay dish across the yard...

 

[Titanium]

Raising a 65' 3 stage crank-up tower at my home for better line of sight on my Ubiquiti point to point system dish. Hope to increase speed to 75+meg for better reliability streaming of raw HD content from c-band system at the office 1/2 mile to home.

Also installing a 10/15/20m beam, 80/40m inverted V, adding 2nd XG95 UHF TV antenna with "at antenna" SiliconDust tuner to include WiFi router mounted at 60' level.

Oh, and getting my Amateur Radio License....

 

[Kraven]

Ideally...rotate shed 90 degrees to have enough space to install, and conceal, a 6ft or 7ft BUD. If not, add a mini-bud to the existing set-up.

 

[danristheman]

Kraven is their a reason why you have to hide your bud inside your shed?

 

[Corrado]

Professional looking install fred555, Thanks for the photos.

I completed my Spring dish tune-ups last weekend, just a tweak here and there now that the freeze-thaw cycles seem to be over. I just ordered C1-PLL Lite LNBF to try out, that will be my next project. I plan to swap out one of my old C2s out for a comparison. It's also good to have a spare anyhow.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Spring is finally here. After sitting inside all winter planning your projects for when things thaw out, what are you working on?

I had some cable runs that were sub-optimal, running past the entry to the house, out to my switch box and back the same direction. I also got rid of lots of buried conduit and started using conduit above ground behind bushes etc... Much easier to work with.

Here is where the box was, dark and behind some bushes.
View attachment 106141

Now I moved it to a spot near were the cables enter the house, and up high where I can see inside it.
View attachment 106142

Only have two dishes rewired so far but they are the important ones, 97W Ku and 101W C.
Three Zinwell powered multiswitches, two Chietas hidden behind the two Amiko diseqc switches.
I also recommend marking the incoming cables. Lowes has some stick-on numbered cable lables, they're great.

Here is a peek inside:
View attachment 106143

This picture shows the layout of the powered multiswitches. The framework and bracketry were all custom made by me last year, serves as a ground buss also. This location also puts me closer to the electrical service ground rod.
View attachment 106144

Bottom view, lots of 4-8mm PG-9 connectors. I also believe in service loops, not pretty but if you need the extra slack one day, your going to be glad you have them:
View attachment 106146

Here is where the power supplies are:
View attachment 106147

Here is the schematic:
View attachment 106145
Right now it is setup for 4 receivers and 6 LNBFs, but expandable to 8 receivers 8 LNBFs.

As far as the parts:

The switch box is a BUD Industries NEMA box, notice the nice gasket it has in the picture above. BUD makes some great outdoor boxes.
Amazon product ASIN B005T57PK4
And the smaller remote power supply enclosure:
Amazon product ASIN B005T57OLY
And the 4-8MM PG-9 connectors. These are a must have for any outdoor coax application:
Amazon product ASIN B00EZ9UBRO
Labels are a must when dealing with lots of coax:
View attachment 106148

I still have more work to do in re-cabling the other dishes, but the fact that spring has sprung and I am able to start is a move in the right direction. I almost forgot, I got my 10 foot Winegard planted a few weeks ago too. http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/dish-id-help-needed.342888/

Spring is finally here. After sitting inside all winter planning your projects for when things thaw out, what are you working on?

I had some cable runs that were sub-optimal, running past the entry to the house, out to my switch box and back the same direction. I also got rid of lots of buried conduit and started using conduit above ground behind bushes etc... Much easier to work with.

Here is where the box was, dark and behind some bushes.
View attachment 106141

Now I moved it to a spot near were the cables enter the house, and up high where I can see inside it.
View attachment 106142

Only have two dishes rewired so far but they are the important ones, 97W Ku and 101W C.
Three Zinwell powered multiswitches, two Chietas hidden behind the two Amiko diseqc switches.
I also recommend marking the incoming cables. Lowes has some stick-on numbered cable lables, they're great.

Here is a peek inside:
View attachment 106143

This picture shows the layout of the powered multiswitches. The framework and bracketry were all custom made by me last year, serves as a ground buss also. This location also puts me closer to the electrical service ground rod.
View attachment 106144

Bottom view, lots of 4-8mm PG-9 connectors. I also believe in service loops, not pretty but if you need the extra slack one day, your going to be glad you have them:
View attachment 106146

Here is where the power supplies are:
View attachment 106147

Here is the schematic:
View attachment 106145
Right now it is setup for 4 receivers and 6 LNBFs, but expandable to 8 receivers 8 LNBFs.

As far as the parts:

The switch box is a BUD Industries NEMA box, notice the nice gasket it has in the picture above. BUD makes some great outdoor boxes.
Amazon product ASIN B005T57PK4
And the smaller remote power supply enclosure:
Amazon product ASIN B005T57OLY
And the 4-8MM PG-9 connectors. These are a must have for any outdoor coax application:
Amazon product ASIN B00EZ9UBRO
Labels are a must when dealing with lots of coax:
View attachment 106148

I still have more work to do in re-cabling the other dishes, but the fact that spring has sprung and I am able to start is a move in the right direction. I almost forgot, I got my 10 foot Winegard planted a few weeks ago too. http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/dish-id-help-needed.342888/

Excellent setup! I use the same BUD boxes for my setup which I received free from work along with conduit runs. Thanks for the link for 4-8MM PG-9 connectors. I have a few coax runs that I simply drilled a hole into the bottom, but these connectors would seal them tight.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

Hey, Kitty, maybe if you break it down into pieces, it'll fit in the U-haul better? If you do end up having to toss the World dish and it still has the original LNBs and LNB mount on it, I'd be interested in it.

Hope your move goes smoothly, with no hitches!

I doubt fitting it will be much of an issue (breaks down easily). It was hard enough to convince her that we should keep the 1m since we nave no LOS right now and it's just taking up space. I showed her the cost of a new 1m with NPRM and she figured we should keep it instead of re-buying out there. It has the original linear LNB + feedhorn (c120 flange) plus a circular LNBF that could be swapped out so you can get 2 birds 6 degrees apart. I could probably bring it by in exchange for a few bucks for gas or a 6-pack of non-light beer.