Had Pics Too!

[catthepatch]

Well, from all the flack, I decided to get a digital camera. Got one yesterday, didn't work! Had to get a memory card for it. So, today I got one and got a bunch of good pics. The problem being I'm not up with the technology and lost all the photos I've taken. So, with a little bit of help, I will be able to show everyone my issues.

[catthepatch]

Guess I'll have to walk around and get some new pics of the layout. I'm trying here and have just got to get used to the camera. Good pics to follow. Want to get the BUD up soon and want to have a visual record. Got me to thinking that the best record is the one that all your friends can also see. So, its back to the books, owners manual, so I can get some shots to you!!!

[easily confused]

Guess I'll have to walk around and get some new pics of the layout. I'm trying here and have just got to get used to the camera. Good pics to follow. Want to get the BUD up soon and want to have a visual record. Got me to thinking that the best record is the one that all your friends can also see. So, its back to the books, owners manual, so I can get some shots to you!!!

Modern technology, arghhh. Can't wait for the pics ctp

[catthepatch]

Second try at uploading pics. Will hopefully get this figured out soon or I'll have to kill something!

[catthepatch]

Well, guess they came up. Guess I'll need some pointers on this subject. Had to do a quick crop of the photos as I think they were too large? Got 2 actuators I think are 36"ers. The tape measure is out to 5' and they look fairly descent. Now I have to get a mount welded to the pole so I can bolt it to the foundation which is 12' to the left of my other pans.

[catthepatch]

Here's the bolts in the foundation I was thinking of using.

[Costactc]

Awesome pics CTP, I like how you transported the bud complete, you'll find it easier to install that way. Your jacks do look like 36". Doesn't look like you have to worry about the neighbours, do you actually have neighbours?
Nonetheless, looking good and keep us updated.

[potroco]

Real nice pictures specially the TruckBud. I'm in the same process.

[catthepatch]

I think my closest full time neighbor is about a mile away as the crow flies, about 3 by road. Have a weekend part timer about a half mile away.

[Bowhunters]

Great pics Cat.

On the four bolts in the foundation for your pole mount I would be worried, i'm in my 50's and I was raised on a farm that had old foundations still in the ground similar to that and the concrete in those foundations like that tend to rot with the exposure to rain, snow, freezing and thawing and develop small cracks inside and some of those type foundations aren't very deep in the ground either.

Also those bolt studs only tend to go about 4-6 inches into the concrete and if thats from an old farmhouse or barn the foundation may not be more than about a foot deep into the ground, when a big thunderstorm and wind comes through it could pull those bolts right out of the concrete and lay the dish over.

They would likely be fine for a small dishnet, etc dish that weighs 20 lbs but for a 10-12ft dish that grabs a lot of wind and may weigh 200 - 300lbs you really should cement a pole into the ground, you need about an 8-10ft pole and about 4-5ft of it down in the ground with a couple bags of cement and don't forget to use a bubble level to make sure the pole is perfectly verticle.

JMO

[catthepatch]

Don't think this foundation is going anywhere soon, here's another shot of it's size. The bolts I think, will be okay, if not, oh well, time for the shovel.
Here's some pics of the feed. Think it's the same gardiner as "risk" was showing. Any thoughts?

[Costactc]

I can't tell from the pic what kind of feed you have. I need you to tell me what is written on the lnb and the feed, especially under the chaparral name.

[catthepatch]

Gardiner HEMT 30 model # C95 - 30, Noise temp 30°, low noise block downconverter
input 3.2 - 4.7 GHz, Gain 65dB, if 950 - 1450 MHz. That's the lnb or the part bolted on with the coax connector.
Chaparral Patent Pending #4414516. That's on the feed horn. Will look again as that's all I saw.
Was having net problems earlier today and will try and show some more pics...

[catthepatch]

Gardiner HEMT 30 model # C95 - 30, Noise temp 30°, low noise block downconverter
input 3.2 - 4.7 GHz, Gain 65dB, if 950 - 1450 MHz. That's the lnb or the part bolted on with the coax connector.
Chaparral Patent Pending #4414516. That's on the feed horn. Will look again as that's all I saw.
Was having net problems earlier today and will try and show some more pics...

Well, here's my lnb. Hope this will work. Checked out the polorizer and it works.

[Costactc]

Alright Ctp, the lnb is ancient and will not do you any good. What exactly do you want to see and I'll be able to suggest what would be best for you. From what I see, I think your best bet would be to get an lnbf and scrap the entire feed you have.

[catthepatch]

Already have a ku band 36" getting 61 to 125 and circular 91, 110 and 119 with the option to add more pans. Don't have a HDTV so, all I would really need is a basic C-Band lnb for sats from 61 to 148. I have looked at several web sites but, have no idea of the quality. Guess I can't just get an lnb that can bolt onto the waveguide as this one does have a scalar ring.

[Costactc]

Your main choice for an lnbf would be the dmx or geosat, if you decide to use your feed than you have many choices but you will need an stb or ird receiver for servo.

[catthepatch]

Bud got blown off the truck today just after I checked and tightened the tie downs! Now it has a bent support arm and tied down to the telephone pole and a couple of other points. Wicked wind here today out of the West. Had a heck of a time just pouring the concrete for the pole today. Had a good chuckle when one of the cats took a tumble in the wind.

[easily confused]

Bud got blown off the truck today just after I checked and tightened the tie downs! Now it has a bent support arm and tied down to the telephone pole and a couple of other points. Wicked wind here today out of the West. Had a heck of a time just pouring the concrete for the pole today. Had a good chuckle when one of the cats took a tumble in the wind.

Must have been a day for winds all over. Wind averaged 35 to 40 Km/hr but I saw 3 gusts that measured in excess of 60 Km/hr on our anemometer. Even after a wave of T storms went through we are still at 25Km/hr. Too bad about the dish but watching the cat tumble must have been a hoot

[Bowhunters]

Bud got blown off the truck today just after I checked and tightened the tie downs! Now it has a bent support arm and tied down to the telephone pole and a couple of other points. Wicked wind here today out of the West. Had a heck of a time just pouring the concrete for the pole today. Had a good chuckle when one of the cats took a tumble in the wind.

Thought you were going to bolt a pole onto the cement barn footer with the four bolt studs?

[catthepatch]

Digging a hole was more economically sound as transporting the pole to town, welding $$$, mounting and hoping securely sound. Whereas 4 bags of ready mix and a done deal. Today I'm off to town to pick up the 9 footer on a portable base. This one I believe will be easier to mount on some bolts, just have to drill holes.

Happy Testing!

[Costactc]

Digging a hole and pouring cement usually is much cheaper. How about some pics CTP? Have you decided on your feed?

[catthepatch]

Was too windy to get the 9 footer today, maybe Tuesday. Am going to try it out with what's on there for awhile before deciding on an upgrade. Don't want to rush into anything too quick. Not that I don't want to get it up and running asap. Will get some pics real soon, thinking about the rigging is keeping me busy at the moment along with repairs after the storm.

Happy Testing!

[Costactc]

No rush CTP, good things come to those who wait. The wind has been nasty here today as well, I have quality signals ranging from 0-99% on some channels depending on the gust of wind.

[risk]

o man, those winds you guys are speakin of are the winds one poster said in my post. . .

but lucky for me we dont have those kinds of winds here. . .few and very far in between.

[Costactc]

We don't get those winds very often either, but when we do my dishes are dancing on their poles.

[catthepatch]

Here's my pole planting party of one:

[Costactc]

Awesome pics CTP.

[risk]

nice guy. . .just have to let it set for a bit and then get that dish on that pole like a dancer :D

[Bowhunters]

Great pics, looks great to me.

Another BUD going up! And people said BUD was dieing. LOL

[catthepatch]

Busy day today, a lot on my mind. Buddy came down and loaded up the 3 dirt bikes and left a snowmobile, meanwhile I was setting up my gin poles. Fixed the support arm, ran a new wire up the other and put it all back together again. Now the fun started! Rolled the dish in front of my gin poles and hooked up the come along. Got it up within 6" and realized I was still short. Back down and reattached it lower, up we go and the gin poles start to totter, crap!!! Down again and modify attachment, up and away!!! Took a few just to get it right and voila it's on the pole! Had to use my wire pullers after the first try as the come along needs a rebuild. Just a little tired as I type this. Do have pics of the setup, just don't know if I'll get them up now as it takes forever with dial up...

[catthepatch]

Well here they are:

[Bowhunters]

How come such a tall pole, you get 'hip deep to a giraffe' snow there?

With the pole that tall its especially good that you cemented into the ground as 60+ mph winds with gusts would create a lot of leverage against those bolt studs.

[catthepatch]

The pole is down 4' and is also a schedule 80 pipe, 1/4" thick walls, weighed about 150-200 pounds. Need the height to cut the grass with the tractor. Had a bit of fun installing this by myself today.

[easily confused]

Well here they are:

Awesome pics CTP and nice setup to get that dish on the pole alone. I like to use the front end loader on either the tractor or skid steer.

[Costactc]

WTG CTP, awesome pics- welcome to the the society of bud junkies.

[catthepatch]

Now I think I'll start another thread to get some input on actuators, lnb/lnbf, servo motors and all the stuff I have no experience with. For instance, of my 2 actuators, why is one's mount near the end of travel and the other near the motor? Do you need those special connectors for the servo or can you just solder and shrink wrap them?

[Costactc]

If you decide to go with servo, no need for lnbf but you'll need two seperate lnbs for both bands and an stb that can accomodate the servo wires. For all intent and purposes, much easier and cheaper to go with an lnbf.

[Bowhunters]

The pole is down 4' and is also a schedule 80 pipe, 1/4" thick walls, weighed about 150-200 pounds. Need the height to cut the grass with the tractor. Had a bit of fun installing this by myself today.

Dang, i'll bet you did.

On LNB's i'm with Costactc on going for an LNBF since you are buying now, I have the old traditional style dual feedhorn with C-Band and KU-Band LNB's with an external servo motor but back years ago when I bought mine LNBF's didn't exsist yet (at least not for home satellite). LOL

LNBF's certainly seem to be the way to go now if you are going to buy, price, simpler, no external servo, etc.

On the motors having the adjustment bracket in different spots, 'one on the end and the other near the motor'. That may be due to the type dish and brackets that those movers came from, back over the years there have been several brands and even different types of BUD dishes (shallow dish like yours and deep dishes like old button hook types) and even the brackets were different including some people welding home made ones for when repairs were needed.

Since you have two dish movers you may find that one may be longer than the other, there have been 5 or 6 lengths of movers made for BUD's out there but the 24" and 36" are probably most prevalent on home BUD's with people. If you find that you have a 36" long mover that works you will probably want to use it so you can cover from east coast sats all the way across to west coast satellites as a 24" mover will limit the amount of sky you can cover.