Compact concealed sat dish for hotbird in Dublin, Ie

courghan

Hello guys, I will be moving in my first apartment in about a month and I will probably have to get the rid of my 65cm offset dish (maplin) that has been serving me so well until now as I won't be allowed to keep it on the balcony.
I was thinking to replace it with the maplin 45cm square dish. I would build a little box for it and cover the front with a thin PMMA sheet (similar to the cube sold by digicams-uk) or some other suitable non interfering material (what could I use ?? a fine mesh plastic net?). The benefit of the flat panel of course is that there is not big LNB bracket sticking out and taking over half of the small balcony. If the "front cover" reduces the signal, could this be compensated by using a better LNB?
I am waiting for your expert advice as I have very little knowledge on Sat stuff!

4dbennett

Why do you need to cover it M8??

deep joy dave

courghan

I need to cover the dish because we are not allowed to have dishes on the balconies...the developer signed an exclusive contract with a crappy little cable tv supplier.

2cvbloke

There is the DigiGlobe and DigiCube "secret" dishes, they appear to be an innocent pedestal light but indisde is a dish...

If you're making your own, used coloured or smoked/frosted perspex to hide the dish....

But 99% of the time, the owners of the towerblocks generally couldn't give a monkies if you have a dish on your balcony or not, they just have it on paper just to please the people they're contracted to...

__________________

courghan

Does anybody know if this 45cm square flat dish really performs as well as a standard offset 65cm dish? Can I put a twin lnb in it - for astra and hotbird - ?

Thanks

HB13DISH

I haven't evaluated it, but I doubt if it can since size does matter.

Read this thread Post #5 from last week regarding HB+Astra model.

Beacon

EU gives you the right to have a sat dish - not a lot of people know that!

I too live in Dublin and have the same clause in my lease. So I looked around and I found this on an Eu web page. Does it help us do you think, or only if we can afford to take them all to the EU court!

Reference: IP/01/913 Date: 02/07/2001

HTML: EN FR DE ES IT
PDF: EN FR DE ES IT
DOC: EN FR DE ES IT


IP/01/913

Brussels, 2 July 2001

Services: Commission sets out right to use a satellite dish in the Internal Market

The European Commission has adopted a Communication in which it states that private individuals should be free to use satellite dishes without undue technical, administrative, urban planning or tax obstacles. The right to do so flows from the free movement of goods and services, which are both fundamental Internal Market freedoms. The Commission's intention is that the Communication will respond to the numerous requests for information and clarification which it has received on the subject in recent months from private individuals and the European Parliament. This Communication is the first initiative under the new Strategy for Services, launched in January 2001 (see IP/01/31).

Park Royal

Put a bin liner over your dish to hide it from prying/spying eyes. If asked tell them it is just a cover for your reclining deck chair, to protect it from the weather.
Parky