c-band: Spun aluminum or mesh

[Jasontherock]

Which is better?

 

[Techfizzle]

alot of the people on here use mesh and they look less unsightly
about 2 years ago when I had just statrted fta I cringed when I passed up a solid spun birdview in mint shape because i didnt know what it was for people like them best of the spun's

 

[AudioFox]

All things considered, I would recommend mesh over any other reflector. The ones I have right now (a 10' Channel Master and 7.5' SAMI) are both mesh. They have great performance on both C & Ku bands (the perforations are ~ 1/8"), aren't battered about by the wind that much, don't impose too much of a load on the actuator, and most importantly-they're way better looking than solid dishes. Some disadvantages would be that they are more prone to damage from hail and its a little harder to remove dents from mesh.

 

[Anole]

three choices

The very few spun aluminum dishes I've seen, were made to very high quality (commercial) standards.
There are the 8½ foot Birdviews discussed so fondly on this forum.
And, there are DH dishes which the fellows occasionally find.

From what I've read, I'd take either over a rag-tag, wind-blown mesh.
Now, a mesh in good shape, would be light and easy to transport, and do a great job, so I wouldn't turn my nose up at 8..10 feet of some decent model.

What I'd really love to find and haul home, are the more recent commercial molded dishes.
Generally molded of a thermobonded plastic, and likely reinforced with fiberglass, they are not too heavy, not too thick, quite accurate.
They can be identified by the molded-in ribs on the back side.
Not to be confused with the much heavier old blown-fiberglass dishes made in the early days.
Those typically do -not- have ribs on the back side, and they weren't really molded.

ACradio has some nice 8' Channel Masters on his picture site.
McGuyver also has a nice 8' Channel Master, here in his picture gallery.

I think the answer is: use what you can find.

 

[Jasontherock]

I am fortunate to have my choice of either. I come across them everyday.

 

[Anole]

Post three or four good pictures of each of your favorite choices.
I'm sure the guys here will give suggestions on which looks best.

If you have your pick of so many, ya might look for one originally mounted lower so you don't have to climb onto a house to get it.
Look for a dish in better shape. (minimal rust & corrosion)
Find one with a nicer LNB setup (maybe C + Ku band)

The solid white Birdview dishes generally look like crap after 20 years in the field.
I think some soap 'n water, a power washer, or a drive through a car wash on the way home, will fix 'em right up.
If you look at the pictures I linked above, McGuyver had a pretty ugly Channel Master.
His pix show before and after a paint job. It now looks new!

A lot of ugly dishes clean up very well.
Some paint and lubricant, will put them back into service for another 25 years.

 

[Techfizzle]

a big dishwasher lol

 

[somery]

Solid is better! If that much air passes through, wouldn't that mean some signal too? My dish did fine in the 90mph wind gusts from Hurricane Ike, being solid and all....
ok maybe not on the signal going through the mesh, if the holes are pencil tip size or smaller for ku.

At the time when my dad ordered the setup, they told him that this 9' dish would be the best size for both c and ku, over a 10' mesh, which was supposed to be harder for ku signals.

 

[linuxman]

Solid is better! If that much air passes through, wouldn't that mean some signal too? My dish did fine in the 90mph wind gusts from Hurricane Ike, being solid and all....
ok maybe not on the signal going through the mesh, if the holes are pencil tip size or smaller for ku.

At the time when my dad ordered the setup, they told him that this 9' dish would be the best size for both c and ku, over a 10' mesh, which was supposed to be harder for ku signals.

It all depends on the dish surface accuracy and the trueness of the parabolic form.

There is virtually no difference between my Birdview solid and my Birdview Perfed dish which has holes that a #2 pencil will not quite pass through. Not just the tip, but the whole pencil. Holes almost 1/4" big. Any hole smaller than that appears to the signal as a solid dish.

If it is a good quality mesh that hasn't been beat up by hail, loosened up by strong winds over the years, you can expect pretty decent signals from it.

 

[voomvoom]

I would go for the Spun Aluminum dish before any Mesh dish..... even the one Linuxman could not get to work right....!! Although that one may not have been Spun Aluminum, maybe just a Solid, but still I would pick it over Mesh.
If it was a Perforated (spelling?) dish, I would go for it over a Solid, and maybe a Spun Aluminum..?

 

[tdti1]

Solid hands down if it's not warped, also hope it is not a cheap low end no name, that at times can be hard to tell if you are just grabbing it with no testing.

 

[kevinv]

The solid white Birdview dishes generally look like crap after 20 years in the field.
I think some soap 'n water, a power washer, or a drive through a car wash on the way home, will fix 'em right up.

The Birdview dish at my parents' home still looks new (minus the Birdview decal). About 3-4 times a year, I give it a cleaning with a mixture of bleach and water. Takes the bird droppings, sap, soot, etc, right off and doesn't harm the finish. Sadly, many Birdviews are abused and end up looking like dirty underware.

According to a brochure that came with the dish, solid Birdviews are supposed to withstand wind speeds up to 100 mph.

 

[Anole]

The Birdview brochure I read, sounds like it's got baked on ... something.
Did they have powder-coat back in the 80's??
And apparently, it stands up to sun, time, and weather pretty good!

Of course maybe if it was baked onto something that could rust, it might not fair so well.
I guess that aluminum dish could be part of the magic recipe.

As for the "dirty underwear" look, I've seen 'em after a good cleaning, and they still snap right back.
...as best I can tell - maybe the owners really spent a week on 'em, but in the end, they sparkle again!