Setting up a Big Dish

[stone1150]

The best way to enjoy the fta receiver to it's fullest is to have a c/Ku dish setup if you have the room. One should not be intimidated at the size of the dish. Just by taking your time and doing things properly you can be enjoying the benefits of both c and ku bands. In the world of the big dish, bigger is better. However that said one can get by with as little as 6 feet. 7-8 feet is considered the norm, while larger will expand the transponders that can be received when it comes to the weaker transponders. I ran an 8 footer for a few years only to size up to a 10 foot. The price was right, (free for taking down,) and it only cost me a new pole and some concrete mix from my local hardware store.

This series of posts should hopefully show you how it can be done. Let's first start by selecting the placement of your dish.

Your dish should be back enough from any trees that might be in the way. That said this will affect the lower sats as opposed to the higher ones because of the look angles.

As you can see by the pix, I have a couple of trees to get around. The ones to the south are 150 feet plus and belong to my neighbor. The trees to the west are mine but the dish sets back from them far enough that I can see AMC-7 without any trouble even with the leaves full on.

I used google earth to aid in the placement of my dish. You also can use a protracter by sighting along the angle needed to see the sat.

Once this is done to your satisfaction, grab a shovel and beer. It's time to dig!

[stone1150]

The pole that you use should be sturdy enough to support the dish well beyond the actual weight of the dish. The dish will be subject to heavy loads from the wind and you want a solid mount to prevent any movement of the dish. If the pole flexes at all it will be next to impossible to align the dish to the sat arc.

I mounted a 10 foot dish so I used a 9 foot pole. I had a fin welded to the base of the pole to prevent the pole from "spinning" in the ground. The fin only needs to be a few inches long and wide if it is set in concrete. The softer the soil, the sturdier the base needs to be. With my setup and soft soil, I buried it 4 1/2 feet into the ground. Even though my pole was 5 inches in diameter, I dug a 2 foot diameter hole and centered the pole in it on top of a brick at the bottom so the pole would not sink. I then used about 6 bags of concrete mix to fill the hole making sure the dish was supported and perfectly plumb. I can't stress enough about the pole being perfectly plumb! Once this is done, wait for the concrete to cure. I waited 4 days before mounting the dish. Then I let it sit for another couple days and kept checking the plumb on the pole to see if it was settling with the weight of the dish. After I was sure that the pole was firmly planted I proceeded to wire the dish.

So first locate the area to set the dish. Second, get a heavy enough pole to do the job. Third dig the hole large enough to hold the amount of concrete you will be using. Remember to place a brick or patio block at the bottom of the hole and set the pole on that so it won't sink into the ground over time.
Finally plumb the pole and brace it. then pour the concrete and wait for it to fully cure. You do not want to rush this last step. Let the mix cure! Good things come to those that wait.

[stone1150]

The dish is like a reflecter telescope. The dish gathers the signals and sends them to a single point, the feedhorn. Some feeds have seperate lnbs on them, others are all in one. The latter is commonly referred to as a lnbf. (Lnb feedhorn) Either way, I will refer to them as a feed.
The feed must be centered in relation to the center of the dish. It also must be set the correct distance away from the center in order to be "in focus". Centering the feed is easy enough. For quad or tripod feed mounts, measure from the outside edge of the scaler ring to the edge of the dish. Do this at 3 places for a tripod and 4 places for a quad. Adjust each leg of the mount so that each measurement matches the other. I.E. if the measurement is 45 inches on one, it should be 45 inches on all.

Refer to the pic. this will be 2 steps. First make the feed centered. Second set the focal distance of the feed. If you do not see your dish listed in the following post about focal distances, you can figure it out.

To check the focal length you will need to do a little math. F= the focal distance in inches, or the distance from the dish surface to a point one quarter inch inside the feed horn opening. D= the diameter of the dish in inches and d= depth in inches, from the intersection point of all those strings to the surface of the satellite. Therefore the equation you would use is F=(D*D)/(16*d)

For example if a satellite is 10 feet or 120 inches this would be D. Then the depth from the intersection point of the strings to the back of the satellite is 25 inches this would be d. Therefore F= (120*120)/(16*25) which equals 36 inches.

Hopefully your dish will be identifiable and listed in the following post.
At this time I must mention that your dish should be true and not warped. If it is warped slightly, it can be corrected. But too much and it is no good so you would be better off getting one that is in better shape. You can check the warpage by running string across the face of the dish. Run a few of them slicing the dish up like a pie. After running the strings, look where they cross. They should touch. Up to a 1/4 inch gap is O.K. but no more without being corrected.
For buttonhook mounts, the centering of the feed can be a little tricky. The mount tends to sag over time. As you move the dish across the arc, the feed sags in a different location making centering the feed a nightmare. I run a buttonhook. To correct this I ran stainless steel cables and turnbuckles from three points. These are then adjusted to center the feed and support it throughout the sat arc.

[stone1150]

For those running a seperate feedhorn with lnbs attached, the skew is set by a servo motor that the receiver controls. For those running a c/Ku lnbf, the skew must be set at the time of setting the focal distance. What the skew does is align the probe inside the feed with the signal comming down from the bird. There are 4 types of polarity. Horizontal, Vertical, for the most part. Then there is Left and Right circular. The kind that is used on many overseas birds and direct and dish. The polarities are different so as the signals do not interfere with each other. A transponder will be lets say vert polarity, the next one will be horizontal. The polarity is set on a lnbf by rotating the feed. I set my dish to the highest point in the arc at due south. I did not worry about seeing a sat. Due south inline with my north mark on my pole and the dish mount totally straight. I then went to the front of the dish and put some tape at 6 oclock. Now the back of the lnbf will have some marks on it. The object is to set the 0 mark at the 3 oclock posisition. So by marking the dish like I did, I then moved the dish to the lowest point I could and set the feeds 0 mark at 90 degrees to the right of my mark. Could I have just made a mark at 3 oclock? Sure if I could of reached it! But due to the size of the dish that was not an option. While setting the skew I referred to the following and set the focal distance.....

Focal Length Distances



Make of Dish Size of Dish Focal Length F/D Ratio Solid One Piece Solid More Than One Piece Mesh One Piece Mesh More Than One Piece

KTI (Kaul-Tronics
UXI-6 ) 68 inch (5.666 Foot) 0.40 * (4 Sections)
KTI (Kaul-Tronics SI-10) 68 inch (5.666 Foot) 0.38 * (4 Sections)
KTI (Kaul- Tronics S7.5) 7.5 Foot 0.40 * (4 Sections)
KTI (Kaul- Tronics KTI-10) 10 Foot 0.38 * (4 Sections)
KTI (Kaul Tronics STI-12) 145 inch (12.08333 Foot) 0.40 * (8 Sections)
KTI (Kaul- Tronics STI-161) 191 inch (15.91666 Foot) 0.30 * (16 Sections)
ORBITRON (SX-7M) 7 Foot 31.75 inches 0.38 * (Sections ?) TOP
ORBITRON SX-8.5 8.5 Foot 35.75 inches 0.36 * (Sections ?)
ORBITRON SX-10M 10 Foot 42.56 inches 0.36 * (Sections ?)
ORBITRON SX-12 11.7 Foot 50.12 inches 0.36 * (Sections ?)
ORBITRON O-16 16 Foot 57.12 inches 0.30 * (Sections ?)
ORBITRON Other Models PDF File Click Here
Paraclipse Classic PT 12 Foot 53.375 inches 0.375 TOP
Paraclipse Classic Islander 14.5 Foot 53.375 inches 0.310
Paraclipse Classic CD 12 Foot 53.375 inches 0.375
Paraclipse Classic CD 14.5 Foot 53.375 inches 0.310
Paraclipse Classic CD 16 Foot 56.250 inches 0.30
Paraclipse Eclipse Series 8.5 Foot 39.5 inches 0.40 *
Paraclipse Eclipse Series 10 Foot 35.875 inches 0.30 *
Paraclipse Eclipse Series 12 Foot 47.875 inches 0.333 *
Paraclipse Hydro 4 Foot 18.900 inches 0.40 * (Steel)
Paraclipse Hydro 5 Foot 23.100 inches 0.39 * (Steel)
Paraclipse Hydro 6 Foot 23.125 inches 0.335 * (hydroformed)
Paraclipse Hydro 7 Foot 31.800 inches 0.375 * (hydroformed)
Paraclipse Millennium 3 Foot 26.125 inches 0.65 * (Galvanealed Steel)
Paraclipse Millennium 4 Foot 0.50 * (Galvanealed Steel)
Paraclipse Millennium 5 Foot 0.50 * (Galvanealed Steel)
Patroit 6.1 Meter 96 inches 0.400 * (Solid Aluminum)
Patroit 5 Meter 96 inches 0.488 * (Solid Aluminum)
Patroit (Old Style) 4.5 Meter 63 inches 0.35 * (16 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 4.5 Meter 62 inches 0.35 * (16 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 3.8 Meter 61.8 inches 0.413 * (16 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit (Old Style) 3.7 Meter 57.6 inches 0.40 * (16 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 3.1 Meter 41 inches 0.336 * (8 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 2.8 Meter 33.1 inches 0.30 * (8 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 2.4 Meter 32.1 inches 0.34 * (6 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 2 Meter 23.6 inches 0.30 * (8 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Patroit 1.8 Meter 31.9 inches 0.45 * (6 Draw Die Formed Pedals)
Perfect 10 (6S) 6 Foot 25 7/8 inches 0.390 * (4 Sections)
Perfect 10 (7.5S & TI) 7.5 Foot 33 1/4 inches 0.375 * (4 Sections)
Perfect 10 (10S & SI) 10 Foot 44 5/8 inches 0.375 * (4 Sections)
Perfect 10 (PE1000) 10 Foot 41 inches 0.34 * (4 Sections)
Perfect 10 (12SII) 12 Foot 52.0 inches 0.375 * (4 Sections)
Perfect 10 (14SII) 14 Foot 63 7/8 inches 0.375 * (4 Sections)
Sami (UPS6) 6 Foot 26 1/4 inches 0.375 * (4 Sections) TOP
Sami (S7.5 & SI7.5) 7.5 Foot 33 3/4 inches 0.38 * (4 Sections)
Sami (SC10 & SI10) 10 Foot 45.6 inches 0.38 * (4 Sections)
Sami (SM12) 12 Foot 57.6 inches 0.38 * (6 Sections)
Sami (STI12) 12 Foot 59.0 inches 0.40 * (8 Sections)
Unimesh (7ASI) 7 Foot 33.6 inches 0.4 * (4 Sections Mesh Screw Att)
Unimesh (10AS) 10 Foot 48 inches 0.4 * (4 Sections Mesh Screw Att)
Unimesh (10AL) 10 Foot 48 inches 0.4 * (4 Sections Mesh Press Lock)
Unimesh (10PR) 10 Foot 48 inches 0.4 * (4 Sections Perforated Press Lock)
Unimesh (12XL) 12 Foot 57.6 inches 0.4 * (4 Sections Mesh Press Lock)
Unimesh (12PR) 12 Foot 57.6 inches 0.4 * (4 Sections Perforated Press Lock)
Winegard (QD-0750) 7.5 Foot 31 1/2 inches 0.35 * (4 Sections)
Winegard Pinnacle (CK-1088) 10 Foot 33 5/16 inches 0.278 * (8 Sections)
Winegard Quadstar (QD-1000) 10 Foot 41 inches 0.35


Use the above measured distances from the face of the centerplate to the inner ring face of the feed horn.

4 feet = 1.2m
5 feet = 1.5m
6 feet = 1.8m
7 feet = 2.3m
8.5 feet = 2.6m
10 feet = 3.0 m
12 feet = 3.8m
16.4feet = 5m
20.01feet = 6.1m


Again if you don't see your dish listed or can't identify it, do the math in the above post......

[Guest]

Awesome info stone, sounds like years of experience. Your motor peeked my eye, is that an HH motor? I've only seen 2 of those at another site, which move big dishes.

[stone1150]

Awesome info stone, sounds like years of experience. Your motor peeked my eye, is that an HH motor? I've only seen 2 of those at another site, which move big dishes.

Yes that is a h to h setup. My old dish that can be seen in the backround on a couple of pics was hit by a falling branch and I needed a replacement. My mom saw the 10 footer for free in the paper. I had to travel 35 miles due south to get it but it came with a houston tracker 5 receiver and a drake receiver. It was originally set up to run both receivers with a duel C-band lnb. I replaced the lnb with a combo c/ku feed and hooked it to my 4dtv receiver and slaved a pansat 9200 with s-2 add on. All I had to do was adjust the elevation and declination a bit to compensate for the move north and center the feed. So I added the guy wires and turnbuckles to support the feed and keep it centered. I'm so dead on that there is no difference between c and ku signals. I track from intelsat 805 to the east to amc7 to the west. Have a great day!

[stone1150]

I know it seems like alot yo do. But it's not as bad as one thinks once you get going. If anyone has any questions, just ask and I will do my best to clarify for you. Have a great day!

[el bandido]

There is a lot of good information here!!! I appreciate you taking the time to put all of this together!!! EB

[ViP3R]

Excellent information and appreciated.

Thread stuck..

[Guest]

I thought I knew all the ins and outs, obviously I was wrong. I have a long weekend coming up, starting on Friday-think I'll see if I can max out my bud.
Thanks for the info Stone.