Adventures in dish hunting and what we find

[john green]

Yea love my TRX1520 but you can't have my remote

 

[stogie5150]

Yea love my TRX1520 but you can't have my remote

I know the people very well, I went to school with their kids, I am gonna talk to them and see if they can find the remote.

 

[gabshere]

great find , usually your best finds are through friends or close to home that looks like the 7 1/2 fter i got ( i think cable concepts) could be a perfect 10 (sold under several names) thats in poor shape but it came with a great 25k c band lnbf and the readings are in another thread.

if you have to get a remote you can also consider a new ( in the box ) ird that has it all for just a bit more (theres a thread on them here somewhere or even someone might have one in the classified section) but the toshiba is a good IRD ( i always likes the GI line ) but the 2220 was my next choice.

if you need help just start a new thread and we will all jump in ... you will love the c-band digital side and analog side ( during sports times ). i just ordered my V-box III to set all my satellite positions and just slave the analog GI450i off it for the sports stuff
plan on finishing up several stationary big dishes soon.

 

[pmb1010]

Vbox III ?
Didnt know one was made.

Whats the difference, or advantage of a Vbox II over or behind a Vbox III?

 

[gabshere]

Vbox III ?
Didnt know one was made.

Whats the difference, or advantage of a Vbox II over or behind a Vbox III?

Auto turn-off function
Re-synchronize Function
Includes a 22 key remote control

V-BOX III

 

[turbosat]

stogie if thats the toshiba that has no buttons on the front, or just ch up/down, I think I have the remote stored along with the rec. I'll look tomorrow. If you could find a 'learning' remote to send I would 'teach it' the commands, fire it back to you. Let me make sure I got the same one.

 

[stogie5150]

stogie if thats the toshiba that has no buttons on the front, or just ch up/down, I think I have the remote stored along with the rec. I'll look tomorrow. If you could find a 'learning' remote to send I would 'teach it' the commands, fire it back to you. Let me make sure I got the same one.

Yep, that's it, not a button one on the front....

Thanks for the offer, I am going to call them today and find out if they have the remote or not...I have got a lot on my plate today though...so I might not get it today...I have to get the pole in the ground so I can start....got to get an impromptu site survey done...I don't think I have a place that can see the whole arc just like my Ku dishes I am going to have a LOS issue, so I may have to compromise on the placement.

 

[voomvoom]

I got off my A?? and moved my Mesh Reflector...

I got out yesterday morning and got around to moving my 10' mesh to a new pole. The reason for moving the pole is a pine tree is growing slowly, but surely, in it's path. It already blocks more than 2/5th's of the dish, when I'm on AMC3. I figure it will be better and easier to move the dish, than to cut down the tree and have my neighbor come down on me hard. The tree is on my property, but my neighbor is my mother. I just don't care to go there, if you know what I mean? I don't remember when I set the pole, it seems like it's been a year or so. The pole is plumb and level. I took 8 bolts out of the mesh reflector, and removed it from the polar mount, while leaving all wiring in tact. The new pole is about 10' North of the old pole. Then I moved the polar mount over to the new pole. Next came the mesh reflector, I struggled somewhat with it, I just couldn't get it onto the polar mount by myself. So, I backed my truck next to the new pole and managed to get the mesh onto the back of the truck. That made it so much easier, I had it on in about 10 minutes after that. The new pole is about 6' above the ground, where the old pole was about 5' above the ground. That extra foot seemed to make a difference with my struggles, of course I'm about 15 years older than when I put it on the old pole, by myself. Anyway, when I started it was around 82 degrees, and now it was in the upper 90's. Time for a break, I decided to go to town and get new bolts to replace the ones I had taken out to get the reflector off. They (at least 3) were a bit rusty, I was relieved not to ring any of them off. I put a couple in it to hold it till I got back from town. I waited till late in the evening to get back on it. About an hour before dark I put the new bolts in place and went on to line up the dish. I had to reprogram all the sat positions on my 4dtv, they were off from 11 points from the Noon (AMC3 @ 87.0w) position to 23 points off at the western position (C4/AMC10 @ 135.0w). I could not find AMC7 (@ 137.0w) at all and G1/G15 (@ 133.0w) was so low the HBO/Cinemax channels were pixelating. However, the Starz channels were doing fine. All the other sats seemed to be doing fine. I then went through the DVB channels and they all were very much improved, before they were anywhere from 45% to 75%, and now they are 80% to 100%, with some pegging the meter. AMC3 which was the main reason for moving the dish, went from "the Tube" iffy at 30% and TVU and Spirit "hit or usually miss" to a wopping Tube = 75%, TVU = 60%, and Spirit = 62%. I am more than pleased at the moment, and know it will get better when I get out there and finish lining it up. I know the azimuth needs to go from South to West slightly. I found while on G1/G15 that moving the elevation North improved the signal, and on AMC3, if I move the elevation South it improved the signal. So, I at least have a good idea which way to start, when I get started again.

Al

 

[gabshere]

AL
with the change in location only being 10 ft is the gain in signal due to blockage being gone or are you saying that you are in the process of repeaking the dish and have gained this much.
i know you didn't list the lnb/f , I compared several a few days back and have several signals on amc3 in the 97 range on my 7 1/2 fter (and i know i need to re peak/ tune this dish)

I will be working on two of my dishes today and tomorrow so i'm watching with interest....
keep up the good work

 

[linuxman]

Way to go Al!

I know about the hot part. We are getting a little relief from the heat now, and I am looking forward to some cooler weather to do some more work on mine.

Glad you got it moved.

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

AL
with the change in location only being 10 ft is the gain in signal due to blockage being gone or are you saying that you are in the process of repeaking the dish and have gained this much.
i know you didn't list the lnb/f , I compared several a few days back and have several signals on amc3 in the 97 range on my 7 1/2 fter (and i know i need to re peak/ tune this dish)

I will be working on two of my dishes today and tomorrow so i'm watching with interest....
keep up the good work

Hey George, it needed repeaking in more ways than one. The old pole is slightly off from plumb, don't know how much. Or how I manage to put up with it for so many years, I guess I'm not hard to please.. It doesn't have any concrete around it, it's 3' in the ground (the new one is 4' in the ground, with more than enough concrete). From one end of my arc to the other, I would have to peak to watch a channel. For example, I always have to peak for AMC7, and it would be hit or miss. If I did (and I do often during college hockey) peak for AMC7, when I'd go to AMC3 (at the other end of my arc), I would have to repeak for it, and it has been hit and miss. But, I think the tree contributed to that, the tree only interfered on one sat, AMC3. Both lnb's are Cal Amp, the C is 25k (I think), and the ku is .7db (I think), and they are better than 15 years old. It's old enough that this Corotor2 is one before the ADL lawsuit, which made them relocate the probes, which I understand are not as good as they were with this one? I got back out there this AM (very unusual for me, to follow up so soon, and it was already 80 degrees), after sun-up and turned the Azimuth a hair, and had to reprogram the sat positions. Now I'm getting 46% on AMC7, the HBO/Cinemax channels on G1 went up to 56%. And then I tuned in AMC8 for the radio found there, and I got 74%. To bad I can't find any video on it. On the other end, I'm now getting the Tube = 99%, TVU = 90%, and Spirit = 87%. All in all, I realize I should have taken care of this several years ago. I am a very happy camper!

Al

 

[voomvoom]

Thanks Fred, if it wasn't for the encouragement of you guys on here, as well as a couple more places with good solid help, I would still be content with occasional pixelation and low signal strengths. Now I think I've cured that, at least I hope I have. I've never been able to get SBS6 or AMC6 or any other bird to the east of AMC3 with this dish. Well actually I did watch AMC2 years back when it was @ 85.0w (now it's at 83.0w), right next to AMC3. Later today or maybe this weekend, I'm going to give them a shot? Later....

Al

 

[gabshere]

I'm now getting the Tube = 99%, TVU = 90%, and Spirit = 87%

yes this number seems more inline with what you should be getting
sounds like your getting close i'm going to push mine over to sbs6 and see what everyones talking about

 

[linuxman]

Way to go Al!!

That's half the fun of this hobby. Everyone trying to do everything just a little bit better.

Every little bit of signal strength helps!!

Fred

 

[gabshere]

i'm still trying to find enough coax to run to Linuxman's setup ...

 

[stogie5150]

I got another 1m P* today, complete with the LNB cover and all...dang thing was at LEAST 20 feet in the air, and all I had was a 10 foot ladder, let's just say it was interesting to say the least, but I got it. Its in pristine shape other than a little oxidation but I am going to paint it anyway....

That one is gonna go on my eastern sky setup where I have the 84e now. So I'll have two P* 1m's covering the whole sky!

 

[linuxman]

Another nice find Stogie!

I gotta find some more of those guys! I know where there is one about an hour North of here, and I have located a couple in St. Louis, but just been too hot to pursue them.

Glad you got yours.

Hey George! If you can find that much coax, feel free to hook up.

Fred

 

[linuxman]

All this talk about a Paraclipse in the FTA Shack forced me to go out and investigate the one I think I found.

I actually first spotted this dish a couple of months ago, but there wasn't anyone home. Today after church I thought I would swing by there and see. The lady was home, and said I could take measurements and pictures and then we could talk about it. More on that later.

The dish measures 9' 1" diameter.

Here are the pics:



My question is, is this a Paraclipse or something else?

The ones I have seen in pictures here have the octagonal shape with no outside rim. Is this a later model. There wasn't any id tag of any kind except on the feed-horn, and it is too faded to see.

Anyway, the lady came out the back door and we got to talking. She used to work for Intersat when they had their headquarters in St Peters, MO back in 1983-4. So she know all about satellite TV, but hadn't used her old Uniden receiver for a few years.

She said that she had heard that there were hobbyists and foreign language people interested in the big dishes. I told her I was one of the hobbyists, and like all hobbyists, we don't spend a lot of money on our hobby.

Long story short, she wanted to know what the hobbyists' were interested in, so I told her. I explained about the DVB type receivers, especially the Pansats and the VBox IIs etc and how they can control a big dish. I also told her about 4DTVs etc.

So I may not get this dish, but I may have my first paying customer install which will officially launch PCB (Poor Country Boy) Satellite into business.

She said she had a lot to think about, so I left my card and she said she would let me know soon what she has decided to do.

Either way I win. If I get the dish or a paying customer.

Just a word of encouragement for those of you thinking about dish hunting. The word is starting to get around, and the "free" dishes may soon become a thing of history.

So get out there and start hunting today, and definitely as soon as the leaves start falling. They are much easier to see then.

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

My question is, is this a Paraclipse or something else?

The ones I have seen in pictures here have the octagonal shape with no outside rim. Is this a later model. There wasn't any id tag of any kind except on the feed-horn, and it is too faded to see.

Hey Fred, I don't think it's a Paraclipse dish, in fact I'm sure it's not. But, it's a nice looking dish, whatever it is?

Al

 

[linuxman]

Hey Al,

I didn't know if it was or not.

I did find a picture of another model dish that Paraclipse made, but this one doesn't look like that one either.

It is probably just a dish that stole part of their design. It is very well made, and is in excellent shape.

Just have to wait and see how this story plays out.

My wife put the nix on PCB Satellite. She said that any satellite business would have to conducted under the current company name.

Fred