ASC 1.8m fringe reception in Sweden

kitschcamp · 05-08-2009

We live in southern Sweden, and prior to this setup I made the horrible mistake 3 years ago when we moved here of purchasing a Fortec Star 2.4m dish. I know... we didn't know any better, and we believed the salesman.

After a strong wind buckled it, we were without BBC for the best part of 2 years, then finally we saved up enough to get a decent dish.

I tried to track down an official mount, but it seemed to be practically impossible without importing them from the US directly or within Europe this shipping costs were astronomical. So we went for 2m of 4.5" galvanised pipe which was buried in concrete.

We already had some concrete posts burried in concrete in the land from the old Fortec Star mount, so we've recycled them for tethering and tensioning the new post to ensure it stayed totally vertical, especially whilst the concrete set. They were already set and solid, and it let us add additional support for the post, so why not?

We've used steel cable and turnbuckles to pull the bottom and tops tight, whilst pulling it vertical. Very small adjustments of the turnbuckles made it very very easy to get it plumb. And stay plumb whilst everything set.

The AZ-EL mount is absolutely fantastic! It weighs a tonne, but it's bloomin' marvellous. By 9am, everything was constructed, and by 10am we had BBC, ITV and Channel 4 coming in loud and strong. To say we're happy is to put it mildly.

Couple of things, the Canal Digital box can cope with running Astra 2D and 1W via a cheapo Biltema DiSEqC switch and barely lose an iota of signal quality. The tuner in that thing is great. I've hacked my second TiVo to use that as it's tuner.

Secondly, it would have been a lot harder to align without a decent satellite meter. We used a Magic Finder Plus, it has a meter and spectrum analyser in it, and can be picked up on Ebay

for under 200€, sometimes a lot less. I guess once people have set up there dish, they don't need it anymore, so... Anyway, the meter is great, I used the "Astra 28" settings to initially find the satellite. I'd then created a "new" satellite 'Astra 2D' on the meter with key transponders that I could use to really accurately align the dish on 2D. It worked a treat.

And a socket set AND spanners, plus a long dog leg 19mm spanner is an absolute must.

***Tivù*** · 05-08-2009

Very impressive indeed

I'm sure there must be potential in those corrugated house roofs for creating a parabolic indentation with an effective diameter of several metres ................. but only if you're happy to lose the first floor living space!

**satelliteman** · 05-08-2009

Nice installation

***CROSSBONES*** · 05-08-2009

Nice dish, with great results!!

**Telia** · 05-08-2009

Are you considering motorizing it in the future?

There is a German manufacturer who makes polarmounts for the Andrew 180 and 240cm dishes.

**Topper** · 05-08-2009

That is indeed a a fine looking install, no chance of that dish buckling

***kenny1234*** · 06-08-2009

Good Job! i want one lol

kitschcamp · 07-08-2009

Originally Posted by Telia

Are you considering motorizing it in the future?

No, we have a 4x LNB on the dish, and it supplies 2 TiVos, a DreamBox 800 and a DreamBox 500, so motorising it would be a RRPITA. Also, with the accuracy of aligning the dish on 2D, I doubt a motor could be accurate enough?

We've got a small 80cm dish for Thor and Sirius, and a small 40cm dish (iirc) for 19.2. Our old 80cm motorised dish decided it loved being stationary and refused to move any more about a year ago!

**antenna1** · 08-08-2009

Very nice very well done if you are getting low signal from 2d a motor would be a nightmare as it would only have to be out a few mill and the signal would go.

Originally Posted by kitschcamp

We live in southern Sweden, and prior to this setup I made the horrible mistake 3 years ago when we moved here of purchasing a Fortec Star 2.4m dish. I know... we didn't know any better, and we believed the salesman.

After a strong wind buckled it, we were without BBC for the best part of 2 years, then finally we saved up enough to get a decent dish.

I tried to track down an official mount, but it seemed to be practically impossible without importing them from the US directly or within Europe this shipping costs were astronomical. So we went for 2m of 4.5" galvanised pipe which was buried in concrete.

We already had some concrete posts burried in concrete in the land from the old Fortec Star mount, so we've recycled them for tethering and tensioning the new post to ensure it stayed totally vertical, especially whilst the concrete set. They were already set and solid, and it let us add additional support for the post, so why not?

We've used steel cable and turnbuckles to pull the bottom and tops tight, whilst pulling it vertical. Very small adjustments of the turnbuckles made it very very easy to get it plumb. And stay plumb whilst everything set.

The AZ-EL mount is absolutely fantastic! It weighs a tonne, but it's bloomin' marvellous. By 9am, everything was constructed, and by 10am we had BBC, ITV and Channel 4 coming in loud and strong. To say we're happy is to put it mildly.

Couple of things, the Canal Digital box can cope with running Astra 2D and 1W via a cheapo Biltema DiSEqC switch and barely lose an iota of signal quality. The tuner in that thing is great. I've hacked my second TiVo to use that as it's tuner.

Secondly, it would have been a lot harder to align without a decent satellite meter. We used a Magic Finder Plus, it has a meter and spectrum analyser in it, and can be picked up on Ebay for under 200€, sometimes a lot less. I guess once people have set up there dish, they don't need it anymore, so... Anyway, the meter is great, I used the "Astra 28" settings to initially find the satellite. I'd then created a "new" satellite 'Astra 2D' on the meter with key transponders that I could use to really accurately align the dish on 2D. It worked a treat.

And a socket set AND spanners, plus a long dog leg 19mm spanner is an absolute must.

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ASC 1.8m fringe reception in Sweden Upload your photos here (Don't link to them with img code, upload them), doesn't matter how basic your setup, it's nice to see what everyone is working with. If you've seen an interesting setup, then post it here. All photos here are copyright and cannot be used without permission of the poster.

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