fabricating a cband dish

[jmc98]

How hard would it be to construct a cband dish and what would be needed?

 

[Lak7]

What is you goal building one yourself?
Save a few bucks?

I don't think you can beat Sadoun's price.....
C-Band prime focus satellite dish

Otherwise, scavenge one or even post in Craigslist.

 

[Techfizzle]

there is a video on youtube of some dude buildng one himself it looked neat, even made a machine to bend the ribs exact

 

[Anole]

The Aussies have a long old thread on building your own dish.
The title may say 75cm, but they get into all sorts of various sizes.
See the Vetrun Forum, and tell 'em I sent ya.

Now, as to the practicality.
If you lived in Cuba, it might make sense.
Living in most of North America, there is always an unused BUD to be found somewhere.
By careful shopping, I found two of the nicest dishes you could imagine, both with H-H mounts!
Just ask for it, haul it away, and set it up.
You'll be better off than trying to make your own.

 

[Techfizzle]

I would look for a dish first, unless you want to amaze you freinds by saing I built that!

the hard part would be making a mount that would properly track the arc.

 

[caddata]

.....the hard part would be making a mount that would properly track the arc.

That's the easy part because all the angles are adjustable. The hard part is maintaining plus or minus 0.015" accuracy for the parabolic curve. Without accuracy it takes a fifteen foot dish to perform like a six foot. That's the Birdview secret to performance, maintaining a true parabolic surface.

 

[meinename]

...the hard part would be making a mount that would properly track the arc.

No, once you've seen a mount that'll track properly, you'll know how easy it is!

 

[jmc98]

my problem is finding a small bud 6ft to 8ft for use at my present location thus the idea to build the dish

 

[Smith P.]

Is that mean you can get 12-15-20' dishes easily ?

 

[Lone Cloud]

I thought about that before I found two big dishes (including my current Birdview) for free - just haul them away.

I thought of borrowing someone's big dish and pouring concrete in it, flipping it over, waxing it and then fiberglassing a dish of the right size

There is also an amateurs way of making a parabolic shape with a string, a T square and a pencil. So you could possibly be careful with this method and then bend or form ribs to match the shape.

But they give big dishes away and the parabolas are much more exact than you can do on your own. Just look for a roof with a big dish in good shape with a small dish near it. Offer to take the big dish away.

As I said, I got two that way.

 

[caddata]

Check Ken Rieli's solar dish here:

Solar Reflector Dish Mold by Ken Rieli

Use the forward and back arrows to see the whole project. Doesn't look like he ever made the last posts to discuss the finished project.

Lots of trouble to make only one dish that's probably no more than 15% efficient as a microwave signal reflector.

Harold

 

[jmc98]

well after reading some post here decide against building my own dish now what would it take to get this dish in to working condition

 

[Lak7]

Slap an LNBF on, aim, watch TV.

 

[jmc98]

what kind of mount is that

 

[Lak7]

One heck of a mount!
It's flopped all the way West.
Looks to be a Fixed Dish setup only.

 

[Lak7]

This one is a beauty.....
Satellite Dish

 

[Lak7]

Or this...
Satellite Dish

 

[jmc98]

this dish is my second choice

 

[Techfizzle]

i would FOR SURE get the 10 foot unimesh
that old dish is old, at least pre 86

90 clams and you get a receiver to steer it

that old dish doesnt even have a regualr feedhorn on it a large ammount of fabbing would be required to put a regular feedhorn

 

[Anole]

all this for $90?

this dish is my second choice

Toshiba TRX-2200 receiver with video-cipher II module and Unimesh 10' dish with Norsat LNB and Ajax H-H 180 horizon-to-horizon gear-driven mount.

Geez, I'd be headin' out to beat you to it, if I were anywhere close!
Do you know what the heck you've got here??