Best dish for my roof

longstockings

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My Satellite Setup
Technomate 1500 CI+
80cm Polycarbnate Dish
0.3db Universal LNB
Moteck Digipower Motor
My Location
Totnes, Devon 50.4320N, 3.6690W
I installed my motorised system only to find that my dish would not be able to receive hispasat from it's location on side of the house.

Option 1
Put dish in back garden
Problem
2 big Rotweillers would eat it

Option 2
Put the dish on the front of the house
Problem
Girlfriend would do a John Bobbit on me (ouch)

Option 3
Move the dish to the roof

My setup included a 80cm polycarbonate dish but I have noticed that it does suffer in rain / high winds quite badly. South West is real stormy lately

The reason I went for this dish is because I wanted the installation to be as discreet as possible and didn't want to get into trouble for having a dish larger than 90cm.

But my roof is high up and no one is going to want to go up a ladder and measure my dish to see if I am breaking the rules.

My Question

What is the best dish up to 1.2m diameter that I can get

best = great signal strength / little maintenance / good value / not too ugly

It will have to be suitable for a diseqc 1.2 rotor so dish weight may be a factor

Thanks
 

Lancelot

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36v H to H 62E - 61.5W
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Hello again :)

The Triax TD110 (capture area 100cm) has a lot of good feedback
and deservedly so.

However - the same company make a 1.2M version of this antenna
since the demise of Channel Master (hoping to fill the gap I suppose)
This is supposed to be VERY good.

But I don't think you will see it for a couple of months until the dealer
stockrooms are clear of TD110s.

I have enquired @ Triax to confirm the existence of this beast and
the guy E-mailed me back asking where I was so he could find a distributor
near me(I never replied).

If you can get away with it this is probably the thing to have

anyone feel free to jump in here now !

Let us Know what you decide and how the fix goes
Good Luck


L
 

rolfw

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Technomate 5402 HD M2 Ci, DM7000s, Transparent 80cm Dish, Moteck SG2100 DiseqC motor, lots of legacy gear. Meters: Satlook Digital NIT, Promax HD Ranger+ spectrum analyser.
My Location
Berkshire
I wouldn't want to put a 1.2 metre dish on a roof mount, particularly if using a DiseqC motor, that sized dish would have an unacceptable wind loading. Where on the roof are you intending to mount it, pictures would be helpful.


PS. I do not know of a 1.2m dish wihich is not considered ugly, particulalry if it is stuck on the top of a house. ;)
 

longstockings

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Moteck Digipower Motor
My Location
Totnes, Devon 50.4320N, 3.6690W
I'm at work at the moment but as soon as I get home I'll dig the camera out
 

Lancelot

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South central
OK agree with the wind loading Rolf

But I've never seen an ugly 1.2mtr dish
One man's aesthetics is a another man's planning nightmare..:)


I'll shut up now :D
 

longstockings

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Technomate 1500 CI+
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Moteck Digipower Motor
My Location
Totnes, Devon 50.4320N, 3.6690W
My first attempt (old setup)

oldsat.jpg




A blatent copy (sort of) of RolfW's setup. It seemed to work for him


newsat.jpg




Unfortunately will bang into the wall if I try to move to Hispasat 30W
The house is actually cream and I have bought some cream hammerite paint to spray the mounts as they are a little ugly but so much easier compared to the previous wall bracket.

So it has to go higher so that it will clear the roof and I'll need a longer pole

This will be the new position


newpos.jpg



So thats about it

This is my labour of love

Project started late July
Expected finish is before xmas
 

EDW

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Dishes over 90cm require planning permission if attached to the fabric of the
property.

Get a muzzle for the dogs! There's no other way. Cable should be ducted and
buried deep to at least 450mm. Ducting is about 75p a linear mtr. Buried cables must
be marked up to warn contractors in the future, this includes low voltage. If you
really want to do it right, the correct colour for cable tv/fibre optic ducting is
green.

I am a world of trivia.
 

rolfw

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Berkshire
I would be more inclined to put the dish lower down the roof, it doesn't need to be at the apex and in fact would contravene planning regs up there, it should not be higher than the tallest part of the roof, excluding the chimney.
 

gameboy

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rolfw said:
I would be more inclined to put the dish lower down the roof.

Easier to get to on a ladder as well!

As your dish isn't that big I'd advise putting the pole brackets closer (depth wise) together.

A shorter pole should help you get the vertical quicker.

Can't see from the pics, are the f-connectors covered in waterproof tape?
 

DavidW

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I am just about to install a dish at my new house and am interested in RolfW's drawing. Planning regulations state that the dish must not be higher than the highest point of the roof but in your drawing the dish itself is still above the roof.

I have the same problem as Longstockings. In my case the arrow in his picture, if you look at my house, is pointing South. My house is semi-detached so the only way to get a South facing dish is to point it over the roof. ie. If it is on the West side I cannot receive the far eastern satellites and vice versa.

Checking the sun at and just after the recent equinox there is a clear view from the apex of my house to all satellites from 70° East to 70° West. This would be wonderful, at my last house I could get only 60° East to 45° West.

Does this mean that the only way I can get what I would like is to obtain planning permission or, if I interpret your drawing correctly, can I get away with the mount below the rooftop but the dish peeping over?

I do not have a problem with the other two bugbears of planning regulations: the dish will not exceed 90cm and it will be the only one.

I could, of course, try the old trick of chatting up the neighbours but it would just be my luck that a member of the local planning department happens to walk past my house on an off day.
 

rolfw

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My Location
Berkshire
Hi DavidW, the top of the dish must not be higher than the highest point of the roof, so as long as it is on the lower part of the slope, it can still be above, but not higher than the apex.
 

RedDevil_UK

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original quote by Longstockings..
The reason I went for this dish is because I wanted the installation to be as discreet as possible and didn't want to get into trouble for having a dish larger than 90cm.
thats like saying if i had a Bentley Turbo i would hide it in a garage so it size didnt offend the neighbours.....
go on be a devil, be the man that doesnt give a sh#t :)

my dish is on top or the porch at the front of the house, some neighbours have commented on it, just curious really.

they are lucky, i wanted a 1.8m dish but the guy at the shop talked me out of it :(
 

DavidW

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I'm sorry Rolf, but my geometry isn't quite as good as it should be.

You say the top of the dish must not be higher than the apex of the roof. So, as I understand it, if I mount the dish on the east side of the roof I will not be able to see the further western satellites and vice versa: west side, eastern satellites. If I mount the dish on the end of the house, which, as I said, is North facing, it will have to extend somewhat to be able to point to all satellites. As the satellites around 0° longtitude are fairly high, (my latitude is 51°), the dish will be able to see over the apex. As long as the arc is visable as the roof slopes East and West all should be OK, even down to the 4° elevations which can be seen from the apex.

As I said, my geometry isn't too hot but I hope my presumptions are correct.

My question is, how far can I extend a 90cm dish from the North wall to be able to point South? Also, what sort of mounts would I need? Would I have to have a light mesh dish instead of a solid one? Perhaps the real question is, is it actually possible? Of course, I could have one dish on the West wall and one on the East but then we are back to the planning problem: two dishes! And the East wall is the front of the house.

Please don't suggest that my solution is to move house.
 
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