Identify This Dish; New Addition to the Bunch

[gpflepsen]

Found this dish, as identified in the C-Band forum:

Kijiji, eBay, and Craigslist dishes for you to take a look at











Picked it up late last night by just putting if on the trailer and hauling it ~130 miles home completely assembled, which was probably a mistake. I rationed that the 60-80 mph wind blowing across the reflector wouldn't hurt anything. I didn't think of the mass and lever arm of the Rx/Tx assembly pulling on the feed support and stabilizer arms, which lead to the feed support mount at the dish breaking long with one of the side support arm mount holes in the dish. Oh well, live and learn...



First thing to do was to cut down the NPRM so it's only about 4'x4' instead of 6.5'x6.5'. I don't kneed the size for stability, just a base to hold the dish for some testing. Here's the dish peeking out of the back shop door with the smaller base.




This is the Tx/Rx with the feed for the reflector. My goal was to reuse the rectangular feed horn with an Eagle Aspen 270 Ku LNB. This was pretty simple to do. Only the feedhorn mounting holes needed to be elongated to let them mate up. Here's also the new LNB and old feedhorn temporarily tied to the feed arm in the proper position.




The mount is a EL/AZ with Skew. All aiming axis have scales that are fairly accurate.


97w was easily acquired, along with 87w, 103w and 125w. The scales are by far the best of any dish I've used. Just swing them around to the numbers you need and the sat is right there. Nice!

I used the RT and NHK transponder off 103 to jusge performance. I was easily able to get 15.8 to 16.0 c/n on the SH200 meter on 11940 V 20000. Not sure how that compares to my other dishes, I'll note c/n for the various dishes when I get to getting them put in service.

The reflector is 23.5" wide by 53" wide.

A couple last photos, one with a Primestar 84e reflector laid on for comparison. If anyone has an idea of what this is, please inform! I've looked at Prodeline Hughes Earth stations and cannot find anything. I did find the TX/Rx assembly, but that wasn't that much help, and n ow I can't "re-find" it again.

 

[primestar31]

I've seen those at remote gas stations around here. They are used as transmit/receive stations for credit card authorizations. Not sure how good it would work as FTA, since the aperture is quite small. Might be good for mounting multiple lnb's using creatively bent EMT, and receiving 2-3 sats at once though

 

[beavs2112]

there is no question in my mind that its a prodelin/gd satcom dish. The feedarm bend, type of bolts used and the az/el scales are all the exact same as my 1.8m Prodelin. Take a look at this Prodelin document found here and below.
http://www.gdsatcom.com/vsat/Technical_Docs/geometry_drawings/4000-031.pdf
In the first section they give a drawing of elliptical and RECTANGULAR shaped dishes. Then in the bottom chart called shaped antennas look at the row called 1.0m rectangular. The 1.0m rectangular dish dimensions are exactly as you described in post #1. (23.5x53)
Also guaranteed the part # will be somewhere on the back of the dish unfortunately its covered up be the de-icing heater.
Unfortnately I can't find the assembly drawing. Maybe e-mail/call Prodelin for assistance.
Also kittyhas1000legs saw one here http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/possibly-saving-a-dish.336898/

 

[armadillo_115]

Glad you got it Gpflepsen! Maybe all my dish postings haven't been in vain after all.

I have no idea what it is,or how well it will function...but it looks cool as heck.

 

[FaT Air]

Not sure how good it would work as FTA

All this assumes you use the matching feed.
Effective area determines gain. 23x53=1219 (dropped the decimal to account for the round corners) Should have comparable gain performance as a 1.0 meter (1257sq.in.) (90cm area is ~1018 sq.in.)
and the adjacent rejection somewhat better than a 1.2 meter. Dish Width determines adjacent rejection.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

there is no question in my mind that its a prodelin/gd satcom dish. The feedarm bend, type of bolts used and the az/el scales are all the exact same as my 1.8m Prodelin. Take a look at this Prodelin document found here and below.
http://www.gdsatcom.com/vsat/Technical_Docs/geometry_drawings/4000-031.pdf
In the first section they give a drawing of elliptical and RECTANGULAR shaped dishes. Then in the bottom chart called shaped antennas look at the row called 1.0m rectangular. The 1.0m rectangular dish dimensions are exactly as you described in post #1. (23.5x53)
Also guaranteed the part # will be somewhere on the back of the dish unfortunately its covered up be the de-icing heater.
Unfortnately I can't find the assembly drawing. Maybe e-mail/call Prodelin for assistance.
Also kittyhas1000legs saw one here http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/possibly-saving-a-dish.336898/

I wish I'd been able to get a hold of that property owner... I had to leave it behind in CT when I moved out here. I kind of wanted it just because it's unusual. The dish further down that thread will be heading to a new home soon.

 

[gpflepsen]

I've seen those at remote gas stations around here. They are used as transmit/receive stations for credit card authorizations. Not sure how good it would work as FTA, since the aperture is quite small. Might be good for mounting multiple lnb's using creatively bent EMT, and receiving 2-3 sats at once though

From my limited testing today, it's a good performer for Ku service!

there is no question in my mind that its a prodelin/gd satcom dish. The feedarm bend, type of bolts used and the az/el scales are all the exact same as my 1.8m Prodelin. Take a look at this Prodelin document found here and below.
http://www.gdsatcom.com/vsat/Technical_Docs/geometry_drawings/4000-031.pdf
In the first section they give a drawing of elliptical and RECTANGULAR shaped dishes. Then in the bottom chart called shaped antennas look at the row called 1.0m rectangular. The 1.0m rectangular dish dimensions are exactly as you described in post #1. (23.5x53)
Also guaranteed the part # will be somewhere on the back of the dish unfortunately its covered up be the de-icing heater.
Unfortnately I can't find the assembly drawing. Maybe e-mail/call Prodelin for assistance.
Also kittyhas1000legs saw one here http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/possibly-saving-a-dish.336898/

Thanks for the pdf link. I'd seen that before but could not locate it again. I took the back cover off and removed the heater elements. I'll have to strip off the foil and look for the model number. The 11 degree offset is good info for know. Thanks!

Glad you got it Gpflepsen! Maybe all my dish postings haven't been in vain after all.

I have no idea what it is,or how well it will function...but it looks cool as heck.

I think a lot of people keep track of that thread. you never know when something will pop up! Thanks.

All this assumes you use the matching feed.
Effective area determines gain. 23x53=1219 (dropped the decimal to account for the round corners) Should have comparable gain performance as a 1.0 meter (1257sq.in.) (90cm area is ~1018 sq.in.)
and the adjacent rejection somewhat better than a 1.2 meter. Dish Width determines adjacent rejection.

I figured a 10 degree offset angle giving a projected area equivalent to a 1.0m dish. I'm definitely using the feedhorn as it's made for the dish. I tried a feedhorn off the 84e and it seemed to work OK, but I didn't explore it very much.

Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[danristheman]

I've seen those at remote gas stations around here. They are used as transmit/receive stations for credit card authorizations. Not sure how good it would work as FTA, since the aperture is quite small. Might be good for mounting multiple lnb's using creatively bent EMT, and receiving 2-3 sats at once though

I seen the same thing around here with the gas stations around here they also use it for the lottery since it is more secure than over the internet. That dish is a nice though you can make a brace to fix the fiberglass where the support arm is look at my dihs for example.

 

[Cham]

Sould be a really good dish for Ku when using the original scaler/feed. Think these are usually single polarity? Should be able to find an adapter for using two LNBs for dual polarity.
I have noticed locally that one pipeline company that used these dishes for data uplinks have changed to a round 1.2m dish. Was hoping to find the rectangular dishes somewhere (maybe dump?) but have not found anyone that knows where they went, including one of the employees that work at that company (head office). All he knew is that there was an update and a crew came out to change them. they are likely in a warehouse somewhere to be auctioned off or disposed of...

 

[gpflepsen]

Sorry everyone for uploading such large pics. I didn't realize they were so big. I have them resized but I can't edit the first post anymore.

Sould be a really good dish for Ku when using the original scaler/feed. Think these are usually single polarity? Should be able to find an adapter for using two LNBs for dual polarity.
I have noticed locally that one pipeline company that used these dishes for data uplinks have changed to a round 1.2m dish. Was hoping to find the rectangular dishes somewhere (maybe dump?) but have not found anyone that knows where they went, including one of the employees that work at that company (head office). All he knew is that there was an update and a crew came out to change them. they are likely in a warehouse somewhere to be auctioned off or disposed of...

I am going to use the original feedhorn to get its benefits. This gets both polarities without issues. The waveguide of both the feedhorn and the Eagle Aspen 270 LNB are round and almost the same diameter. They seem to work OK together.


The wave guide polarizer (correct term?), as I understand them, divert only the V polarization and pass the H straight through. Orthomode blah blah blah... One thing that stuck in my mind was "remember Horizontal is Hard to bend".

 

[beavs2112]

Thanks for the pdf link. I'd seen that before but could not locate it again. I took the back cover off and removed the heater elements. I'll have to strip off the foil and look for the model number. The 11 degree offset is good info for know. Thanks!

I wouldn't take the foil off in case you want to use or sell the anti-ice unit. the model # isn't really all that important.

 

[bobvick]

Favors the old Pico Kid? Anybody remember it? I have an old magazine that has a advertisement for one. I'll post it if I can find it.

 

[FaT Air]

Appears that the 'bug shield' is missing from the feed horn.

Think I'd cut up a soda bottle, Flatten out a section with a heat gun and use some silicone to glue it over the opening.

 

[gpflepsen]

Appears that the 'bug shield' is missing from the feed horn.

Think I'd cut up a soda bottle, Flatten out a section with a heat gun and use some silicone to glue it over the opening.

Good point.

Is plastic generally transparent to Ku signals? Think I'll try something flat like a cool whip container lid.

 

[Titanium]

Poly materials create an insignificant attenuation, but when water sheets or streams the surface becomes a RF shield. When you're done installing the cover, coat the surface with some rain X or other beading compound.

 

[FaT Air]

I've got soda bottle plastic covering the feed on the 84e. I have plenty of signal where it's aimed so didn't notice any degradation (Q reduction).
Just check it annually as I don't think it's IR stable. But mine has been 3 yrs and still not brittle.
Also using soda bottle for a rain shield on an inverted
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/attachments/invertedshield1-30-16-jpg.113419/