stogie5150's Birdview install

[stogie5150]

This might work.....clearance will be a problem though.

Beamclamp Box Bolt ™ expansion anchor


Even better. I had forgotten all about these.....its been ten years sice I left after all...

They used to use these when I worked in the shipyard in thin aluminum, exactly what we have right now. Only problem is it takes a special 100.00 tool to install them.


Plusnut Blind Fasteners - Find Plusnuts Fasteners at Cardinal Components

 

[stogie5150]

After 3 hours of solvents, degreasers, Simple Green HD cleaner, and a pressure washer, this is the result.

Don't EVER leave your dish under an oak tree. LOL

Least its behind the house, and shouldn't affect the signal a whit.

 

[Lone Cloud]

I gotta say it. My Birdview is the best thing I ever did in this hobby. I admit to doubts at the outset, since the dish it replaced was a 7 foot 11 inch solid. I thought "How much better could it be"?

I just get three times the satellites and channels. I have repeatedly gotten Monday Night Football feeds in 1080i hidef!! I project that onto a ten foot diagonal screen. Projectors are so much better than they were just a few years ago. Block out most of the light and, with the hidef at that resolution, provided courtesy of the Birdview company, you have got a real gift.


I can't imagine a 12 footer of another manufacturer doing much better. And I can still do better by changing out the BSC 621 for maybe a dual c-band lnb setup. I also think a little tweaking of the declination and some aiming precision at far east and west will tune me into the arc even better.

Add all of that to the speed of the HH motor ! Great! Also, my prior standard looking dish had the actuator sticking out with a lot of steel angle irons all over it. The Birdview looks so much cleaner.

If you like the big dish, you'll really like this big dish. I think the satellites sense these Birdviews and make a point of sending better signals to them

 

[linuxman]

Looking Good Stogie!!

Another few hours and you will have it clean.

 

[stogie5150]

Looking Good Stogie!!

Another few hours and you will have it clean.

That's it, brotherman. Its as clean as its gonna get.
Well, lemme put it this way. That's all I am going to spend on cleaning it.

I was chipping paint along the edges cleaning it as it is, I am not ABOUT to re paint the whole thing. NO SIR.

 

[stogie5150]

Declination Adjustment....

A lot of electrons have been expended by all of we Birdview restorers about setting the declination on these beasts.....I had a go at mine today, after a trans-state phone conversation with the Head Birdview reclamation specialist in Missouri (Linuxman).

Common knowledge is that the Birdview solids have an average 5 degrees of declination built in. Well, mine was closer to 6 degrees when I measured it.... You measure declination by taking the angle of the elevation bar, and subtracting that from the actual angle of the back of the dish, right in the middle of the hole. I used a digital angle finder, and stuck it to a steel scale to keep it flat across the hole. That hub back there is NOT flat, so it takes quite a bit of doing to get it as good as you can.
Since I needed LESS declination, I needed washers between the BOTTOM bracket and the dish. Off I went, and let me tell you, handling loose washers is a PAIN! So what I ended up doing is taking my washers and wrapping them with ONE layer of masking tape to hold them together, then slide them between the dish and the mount and re-install the bolt.

My numbers:

Declination I needed : 4.43 degrees
Declination I started with: 5.7 degrees.

Seven washers later...I have 4.4/4.5 degrees difference. My angle finder has a tolerance of +/- .1 degree...so I think I did good.

Pic you say? Sit down Anole, as always I don't forget about you, my Green Brother.

 

[linuxman]

A lot of electrons have been expended by all of we Birdview restorers about setting the declination on these beasts.....I had a go at mine today, after a trans-state phone conversation with the Head Birdview reclamation specialist in Missouri (Linuxman).

Common knowledge is that the Birdview solids have an average 5 degrees of declination built in. Well, mine was closer to 6 degrees when I measured it.... You measure declination by taking the angle of the elevation bar, and subtracting that from the actual angle of the back of the dish, right in the middle of the hole. I used a digital angle finder, and stuck it to a steel scale to keep it flat across the hole. That hub back there is NOT flat, so it takes quite a bit of doing to get it as good as you can.
Since I needed LESS declination, I needed washers between the BOTTOM bracket and the dish. Off I went, and let me tell you, handling loose washers is a PAIN! So what I ended up doing is taking my washers and wrapping them with ONE layer of masking tape to hold them together, then slide them between the dish and the mount and re-install the bolt.

My numbers:

Declination I needed : 4.43 degrees
Declination I started with: 5.7 degrees.

Seven washers later...I have 4.4/4.5 degrees difference. My angle finder has a tolerance of +/- .1 degree...so I think I did good.

Pic you say? Sit down Anole, as always I don't forget about you, my Green Brother.

Great Job!

I would have never thought about taping them together. I just put mine in loose. Course it took a few times on each bolt to do it.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Great Work so Far! BTW what are those green things on your trees ?LOL

 

[Anole]

Thanks for the pix and the story!

Seven washers? For a degree 'n a half?
Well, it's good to know the adjustment is fine enough for even the most dedicated and picky tuner!

I keep a chunk of beeswax in my toolbox, and have used it to stick things together in the past.
One screw to a screwdriver, for instance.
But seven washers! -
Great solution.

So, keep us informed as you twist the dish on the pole, to bring it onto the arc.

 

[stogie5150]

Great Work so Far! BTW what are those green things on your trees ?LOL

Thanks. If I ever look around and there are NONE of those green things on the trees,well, I'll know its time to move farther south.

Thanks for the pix and the story!

Seven washers? For a degree 'n a half?
Well, it's good to know the adjustment is fine enough for even the most dedicated and picky tuner!

Yeah I was surprised too that it took that many..but it is what it is, If it would have required one more washer under there I would have had to go get longer bolts.

I keep a chunk of beeswax in my toolbox, and have used it to stick things together in the past.
One screw to a screwdriver, for instance.
But seven washers! -
Great solution.

The right kind of tape will work on most anything! It only took Linuxman telling me, and then me trying it just one time, to realize that one at a time on the bolt was NOT going to work. I have a short patience stick, and I KNEW it was gonna break quickly if I didn't figure out SOMETHING....LOL...thus the tape. Being a Country boy, I never am far from duct tape...LOL

So, keep us informed as you twist the dish on the pole, to bring it onto the arc.

All I am waiting on is FedEx to bring the LNB, and I can get to aiming....I have the coax run inside, I have the motor hooked up (even with a little quick connect pigtail so I can plug in the positioner box at the dish and not have to cut the wire or break the connection), I have my coax cut for the run from the LNB to the junction box disecq switch,stand by.....LOL

 

[Anole]

Thanks. If I ever look around and there are NONE of those green things on the trees, well, I'll know its time to move farther south.

Boy! Ain't that the truth?

All I am waiting on is FedEx to bring the LNB, and I can get to aiming....

Oh, my! I thought you had multiple LNBs to choose from,,, all on hand!
What do you have in mind for this dish?
Did you order up a CK-1 from SatAV ?
If so, I'm really going to be anxious to see if you can duplicate Linuxman's success!
And if an impatient Cajun can, I might be able to, too!

 

[phlatwound]

Yeah I was surprised too that it took that many..but it is what it is, If it would have required one more washer under there I would have had to go get longer bolts.

I wonder how some sort of wedge (plastic, wood, metal....unobtanium?!??! ) would work, in lieu of washers? Or maybe those open-side washers (like they use to shim auto body sheetmetal?

....Being a Country boy, I never am far from duct tape...LOL

Duct tape, bubble gum and bailing wire (pronounced "wahr") will cure about anything mechanical.

All I am waiting on is FedEx to bring the LNB...

What did you decide to use for your LNB/feed setup? Also, please post a pic/description of your pigtail when you get a chance, sounds like a great idea.

 

[stogie5150]

Oh, my! I thought you had multiple LNBs to choose from,,, all on hand!
What do you have in mind for this dish?
Did you order up a CK-1 from SatAV ?
If so, I'm really going to be anxious to see if you can duplicate Linuxman's success!
And if an impatient Cajun can, I might be able to, too!

I HAD intended on using a co-rotor in the beginning, which I DO have, but when Linuxman started talking about the performance of the CK-1, hell, I figured if it could make him satisfied, I would be ecstatic! LOL Plus I have no flange mount Ku LNB for the Co-rotor, and they cost upwards of 60.00, so I figured I might as well try the CK-1.

Only thing I am concerned about is Ku, Anole, to be honest. I do not know if my aiming skills, and my understanding of the whole thing, will be sufficient to achieve acceptable Ku performance.

What did you decide to use for your LNB/feed setup? Also, please post a pic/description of your pigtail when you get a chance, sounds like a great idea.

I am gonna use the SatAv CK-1 voltage controlled C/Ku LNB. I just don't like messing with servos with DVB. Too much trouble.

What I did is really simple. Instead of using a butt splice to connect the motor/sensor to the wires coming from the house, I used male/female quick disconnects. Then once I disconnect the box inside, I have some 10 foot wires made up with quick disconnects on the ends, so all I have to do outside is just plug them up and go. I did it on my Paraclipse, and it works really well, especially when you are tuning the dish almost daily while getting it like you want it.

 

[browncow]

How do you figure what your declination angle should be , for the birdview sytems?Is it by zip code or long/lat ? As you are aware i will be doing the same things as you are with with my new setup and i am trying to get this thing right so any help would be appreciated.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Aluminum and steel don't play nice together, dielectric corrosion.

 

[phlatwound]

How do you figure what your declination angle should be , for the birdview sytems?Is it by zip code or long/lat ? As you are aware i will be doing the same things as you are with with my new setup and i am trying to get this thing right so any help would be appreciated.

Here's a good explanation of declination, and a chart that should give you the dec. value for your location.

Footprints by Dish Size - Latitude Declination Chart - C/Ku-Band Satellite Listing

That whole website is a wealth of info:

Footprints by Dish Size - Adjusting the Polar Mount for Prime Focus Antenna - C/Ku-Band Satellite Systems - Tuning, Tracking, Azimuth, Elevation, Declination Angles, F/D Ratio, Focal Distance, Inclinometer, LNB/Feedhorn Assembly, Actuator Assembly, C

 

[stogie5150]

Aluminum and steel don't play nice together, dielectric corrosion.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but if it was a real problem, down here in this wet, salty, humid climate my dishes wouldn't last a week. And I can show you dishes that have been in use for 20 years that are still in good shape.

Still doesn't hurt to use some good paint on any exposed metal and anti seize on the bolts, though.

 

[linuxman]

Thanks. If I ever look around and there are NONE of those green things on the trees,well, I'll know its time to move farther south.

What about that white stuff on the ground down there.

Ready to move further South yet?

 

[soundman33]

You mean this white stuff?


And I'm farther South than Stogie......

 

[skewed]

stogie5150, mabye,......well..............you ,know.................I ..was kind -of-thinkin-............we could,.............you know, kind of exchange info so when I get ready to set my bird view up in spring you can give me a hand?

I caint wait, and with the trouble that RTN networks are going through it is looking like I am going to need that c-band.

On another note SNOW !! Ps, I'm in new iberia louisiana