C band television should be with us for several more years. More channels and feeds will probably move to 16 and 32apsk modulations which will require a larger dish or reflector to receive them. In recent years, most homeowners have gotten good signal results on C band using reflectors 3 meters or less in diameter. Reflectors larger than 3 meters were needed when satellite television was first introduced due in part to low transmit power, and poor spacecraft design. In the mid 1980's and through the 1990's, reflector sizes for C band television were 3 meters or less for most installations at a home or residence. Commercial radio and television stations do not normally have many "small" dishes or reflectors. The smallest commercial television ku dishes are about the same size as what a homeowner would use for c band, or around 3 meters in reflector size.
There are not a lot of options for a decent reflector that is larger than 3 meters for C band operation. What is available can be expensive. You can expect to pay at minimum about 100 U.S. dollars per reflector foot for a new mesh dish that is larger than three meters. There is a little over 3 feet per meter, so you could expect to pay over $1,000 dollars for a New 3.7 meter mesh dish.
Mesh dishes can have many problems. The trick to getting a decent signal from the C or Ku satellite is to have a reflector that has a nearly perfect shape. Most mesh dishes are light and flimsy, so they do not hold their shape as well as a better built dish, which costs more money.
Commercial dishes are made to stricter standards than the mesh dishes that are sold to homeowners. Some commercial dishes may be used for both transmit and receive, which makes the shape of the reflector even more critical. Variables such as wind, snow and ice are considered when building a commercial dish, and steps are taken to ensure the dish or reflector will hold its shape under different weather conditions.
Many C band dishes are not being used. You can find both commercial and flimsy made mesh dishes in most parts of the United States if time is spent looking. A lot of these dishes may be removed for free if you only ask for them, while others may be purchased for a small amount of money. Every used dish should be checked to make sure it still has its parabolic shape before purchase or removal. It makes little sense to spend time and money installing a dish only to find that it performs poorly.
Consider carefully what you need. For example, a 7.5 foot dish will receive almost everything a 10 foot dish will receive, providing both dishes are aimed correctly, and providing both dishes have the correct parabolic shape. The 10 foot dish would produce a narrower, and slightly stronger signal which helps tremendously in areas of the satellite arc where many satellites are transmitting.
My current C band dish is about 7.5 feet or about 2.3 meters. I have spent some time looking for a replacement dish and finally found a 12 foot or 3.7 meter commercial dish. It is my plan for this thread to cover the installation of this commercial dish. The shape of the dish or reflector has been checked, and I expect to get much stronger signals when compared to the old mesh dish.
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Bigger Dish Needed: 3.7 Meter Installation – 09-09-2016,09:50 AM
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09-09-2016,10:06 AM
Here is a picture of the backside of the donor dish.
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The hardware for this dish is in very good shape.
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This dish needs a good cleaning.
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The dish feed is galvanized, but looks to have started rusting pretty bad.
Do not yet know if the feed will need to be completly replaced.
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This dish has been removed and disassembled. Next comes the fun part of digging a hole for it.
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09-09-2016,01:31 PM
I am located near Atlanta, Ga., and will try for about five feet in depth or around 1.5 meters. I had to remove the pole when the dish was removed by sawing it off low to the ground. I was able to measure the depth after cutting the pipe, and it was down about 5 feet.
There are 8 dish panels that weight about 19Kg or about 42 pounds each. This does not count the weight of the steel mount, so there will be a good bit of weight and wind load to deal with. Georgia has a clay soil for this area which should hold up good.
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09-09-2016,02:38 PM
Have you decided on how you are going to move that beast?
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09-09-2016,04:13 PM
I am undecided on what to turn or control the dish with. I thought about using the Titanium ASC-1, but I doubt it has the amps or power in watts I am looking for. As a last resort, I will buy a good 36 volt power supply and use a regular V box. (Have the V box control only a relay that is connected to the 36 volt power supply.) Mechanical skew is another thing I would like to have for this dish system, and is another reason I was looking at the Titanium piece.
This is really not the dish I wanted, but for the price of One Dollar, I found it hard to resist. My target is the 16 and 32APSK signals, and I think this dish is a bit small for that. Still, I am happy and thankful to get it!
Here are a couple pictures of the actuator.
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09-09-2016,11:11 PM
Why don't you ask Titanium if the ASC will handle the load. If not, can it be modified. He has helped others solving ASC problems.
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09-10-2016,05:18 AM
Is that a 36" actuator? I would suggest a VonWeise if you can get your hands on one.
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09-10-2016,08:30 AM
I may do that, but I see problems with his specs.
! estimate I need between 5-10 amps to drive this motor, or at least 100 watts of power. In a deal like this, voltage usually falls while the current level or amperage goes up when the motor is loaded. I am thinking I need between 100-150 watts of power to drive this thing. Use the formula Volts X Amps = Power in Watts.
Now, look at his specs for the ASC-1:
AC Voltage In 115/230Vac, 50/60hz - User Setting
Current in Operation 600 ~ 1200mA @ 115Vac
340 ~ 640mA @ 230Vac
Current in Standby 270mA @ 115Vac / 120mA @ 220Vac
Input Protection 2A @ 250Vac User Replaceable Fuse
Output Voltage M1 / M2 38Vdc (max)
Output Current M1 / M2 5A (max)
So we have a rating of 1.2 amps MAX at 115 volts, which gives us 138 Watts of power (Volts X Amps = Power in Watts)
Then below that, we have ratings of 5 amps and 38VDC which gives us 190 watts.
How can you have 138 watts going in and get 190 watts out? Even if you get 5 amps at 24 volts, that would be 120 watts. I think you need more than 18 watts to run the controller
Again, The ASC-1 may drive this motor without issue, but I do not trust it based on these specs.
A plus here is that there are specs to look at. Vbox and other cheap controllers do not tell you what you are getting, so you have to open it up and look at the wire size and transformer size.
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