Antique Prodelin (10 ft) project

[nelson_b]

O.K - Folks -
In a moment of madness i bought this dis - assembled dish just over a year ago , but its only over the past couple of months that i,v had enough time to see just exactly what i had here (other hobbies have had priority)
anyway i did a partial assembly inside the garage to get an idea of the - stand - mount - and general dimensions of things ....

Now the work begins - i need to make sure this monster is planted securely - but also that i can remove the pole at a later date as this cannot stay here long term at all -- also it needs to be lower by about two feet
the box is covered by a piece of plywood and 3 in of concrete finishes the job off - and the polar mount is added

Have to continue this in another post - as i,v reached the picture upload limit - l.o.l.

Later ;)

 

[RimaNTSS]

I like this!

 

[archive10]

yes, very nice!

 

[nelson_b]

Ok - to continue -

No pics of the petal assembly - but it was done on the yard in front of the mount -

so now the task of raising the dish onto the mount -- made an A frame with ladders and secured it to the mount - then using a block and tackle hoist - lifted it into place



Right finally the beast is up
as you can see it is very old - i can find no info on this model online anywhere ?
and a few repairs have been done in the past to dish petals although mainly to the support ribs
but all things considered its o.k.

a bit of work had to be done to fit a more modern C band l.n.b. and the button hook type support was not sitting exactly central - so some stay wires have been added

i,v added some extra support for the pole as i could see a small amount of flexing in the wind
and just for a bit of fun i,v added an old Echostar jack/motor - which actually moves it -
i thought the weight would be too much.
even though it has no declination adjustment - luckily it follows the arc that is visible from that position almost exactly its limited to 40 east to 40.5 west due to nearby buildings



Done a certain amount of signal testing on some sats a week or two ago but have been too busy at work etc just recently to log all the ones that i can see ........

 

[archive10]

yes, very nice!

No, in fact, it's very very COOL!

 

[Captain Jack]

Um...wow. You kept that quiet. Makes my 1.8m Channel Master look like a child's toy!

 

[Archived-1]

WOW nelson love it, any joy with that illusive 7W TP , great stuff pal, I will be keeping an eye on your findings with the beast.

 

[beavs2112]

as you can see it is very old - i can find no info on this model online anywhere ?

Hi nelson_b. That's a very nice dish. Comparable to my CM 3.0m PF. I believe yours is a Prodelin Model 1305 antenna. they are very common in North America. I have a copy of the spec sheet for it but can't seem to find the assembly manual. Maybe CH has one. Strange that it has no declination adjustment. My 3.0m CM has the declination done by the length of steel plates in between the back frame and the dish itself. Maybe yours has a similar arrangement?

 

[nelson_b]

Um...wow. You kept that quiet. Makes my 1.8m Channel Master look like a child's toy!

I,m just a bit hopeless when it comes to documenting my projects
i enjoy the building and fine tuning of the dishes -- but documenting it all is a bit like school/office work (something i have never liked) and work and other hobbies also intervene !!
this Prodelin is just a summer plaything, and cannot stay where it is for long maybe another month or two .
my 1.8 Channel master has been a permanent fixture for many years - and i.v no plans to move it.
i look forward to being able to compare C and k/u band results with you when you are up and running with your 1.8 c.m.

 

[nelson_b]

WOW nelson love it, any joy with that illusive 7W TP , great stuff pal, I will be keeping an eye on your findings with the beast.

I,v had a lot of fun building and fine tuning this monster dish ... but as i,v said it cant stay where it is for too long .
re - the transponder at 7 west
although changing the l.n.b from c120 to a standard l.n.b.,f on the 1.8 resolved things with the 31.5 transponders , it has not done so with the 7 west one ..... i think this is an out of footprint issue with this weak transponder ... i,m still getting zero signal

 

[nelson_b]

Hi nelson_b. That's a very nice dish. Comparable to my CM 3.0m PF. I believe yours is a Prodelin Model 1305 antenna. they are very common in North America. I have a copy of the spec sheet for it but can't seem to find the assembly manual. Maybe CH has one. Strange that it has no declination adjustment. My 3.0m CM has the declination done by the length of steel plates in between the back frame and the dish itself. Maybe yours has a similar arrangement?

hi- beavs2112 -
Thanks for you reply and info sheet ..
I think mine may be from an earlier series .... the support ribs look a little different - and mine has the button hook type l.n.b support -- certainly there is no declination adjustment on this mount and it has been built with approx 5 degrees of declination added -- i will take some pics at some point to show the mount in more detail.
it is certainly a very heavy duty, but very basic construction

 

[aceb]

Really look forward to seeing your C band results Nelson, is that in the same spot you tried before to get 68.5E?

 

[nelson_b]

Really look forward to seeing your C band results Nelson, is that in the same spot you tried before to get 68.5E?

Hi - aceb -
No its not the same spot i,m afraid. i have only 40 east to 40.5 west with this
when i got a result from 68.5 it was with a 1.8 Alcoa prime focus and i set it up temporary on a flat trailer and tried from 2 locations -- did toy with the idea of doing that with this one but the size and weight involved and potential wind loading -- not to mention the amount of work to adapt my trailer for such a task with an unknown dish .... i dropped the idea.
but if the results of testing are good enough -- who knows - l.o.l.
i certainly would like to point it at 68.5 and other sats in that region -- will try and post some results before long i,v been using 1 west to setup the l.n.b. and plate etc and have not gained any transponders there but have a much improved signal over the 1.8 c.m. dish , on the BBC t.p. and the AFN one

 

[archive10]

[...] a 1.8 Alcoa prime focus and i set it up temporary on a flat trailer and tried from 2 locations -- did toy with the idea of doing that with this one but the size and weight involved and potential wind loading -- not to mention the amount of work to adapt my trailer for such a task with an unknown dish ...

Not to mention what would happen if the trailer cut loose from it's moorings...
Just consider a 3 meter dish on wheels in an autumn gale... all sorts of images springs to mind...



And bear in mind, that the sails on these babies are at maximum only HALF the area of the 10 foot Prodelin...

 

[pride21]

very nice dish nelson I would love a dish like that just see what you can pick up very envious I must say,after a couple of months use are you taking it apart after all that hard work,it would be shame.at least you will enjoy.

 

[Vipersan]

About time you went public with this beast buddy ..
You know I fell in love with the beast when I first saw the photos a while back ..
Luvin it ..
Shes beautiful...


..sorry guys I was sworn to secrecy

 

[nelson_b]

very nice dish nelson I would love a dish like that just see what you can pick up very envious I must say,after a couple of months use are you taking it apart after all that hard work,it would be shame.at least you will enjoy.

Hi Pride
It wasn,t a planned purchase - very much spur of the moment - and has been sitting here in pieces for just over a year, till a month or so back. ... i didn,t know what brand of dish it was when i bought it and was pleased to find it was a Prodelin -- it very old though and lets say, the petals are not quite perfect anymore, so it performance will be reduced i guess ...... i,m unsure what i will do with it long term but it can,t stay on the yard too long, it,s making it very difficult to get a vehicle into the garage/workshop - and getting my towing caravan in and out now is a work of art - although it is hiding the large dish from public view to a degree - but not as much as i,d hoped and that,s another reason why it cant stay where it is here too long...... i,v got some spare time this afternoon/evening so hope to have a play

 

[pride21]

hi nelson it will be interesting to see what you will pick up with this dish,also be interesting to see what gain it has against your 1.8cm dish.

 

[Vipersan]

Deleted one of your last posts Pride ...
looks like the dual posting is back.
rgds
VS

 

[pride21]

thanks VS I was sure I posted the first post but it did not show so I redid the post again.