Couldn't resist a new dish

[Captain Jack]

Well, saw this some weeks back on Friday Ad and was going to get it for Vipersan but was a bit far for him and he now has his new toy anyway.

Sooooo... After some deliberation, I decided to get it myself. The dish in question is the Gibertini 1.5m and was used to receive Sirius 2/3 here in Bristol. Thought you'd need a larger dish than that for those old sats. I am hoping that I will get a glimpse of SES-5 here as I haven't had a lock from that one yet...

Why did I get it? Well, I was going to wait until we moved next year to our own place and then get a 1.8m Channel Master or similar but this was near, cheap (£80) and now! The dish is in good condition and surprisingly light. A few glances at it made me think that it's slightly warped...but that was without the back plate. I put the plate on and it seems ok. Need to string it properly to see if anything is actually out of place.

Plans for it? Well, it would be an ideal replacement for the 1.2m Channel Master but need to fabricate a new bracket for to go on the 1224 motor with the declination control. Will be used for Ku and C.

Two problems... I need to see what satellites the dish will see 'fully'. Certainly my current dish has full illumination from around 10e and westwards but everything else to the east will only have partial one due to the house in the way. All the interesting sats are in the east for me and I get everything I need from the west. But hopefully will get more channels from Amos at 4w for XtraTv and some more C band stuff.

Second problem... I haven't told my SWMBO that I got it yet! She's bound to notice it at some point. Need to spray the dish in a dark colour so that it matches the fence and makes it more camouflaged.

Watch this space for progress!

 

[timo_w2s]

Second problem... I haven't told my SWMBO that I got it yet! She's bound to notice it at some point. Need to spray the dish in a dark colour so that it matches the fence and makes it more camouflaged.

Good luck with that. ;)

 

[Captain Jack]

Do you think the 1224 motor is man enough to drive this or am I better off using a Channel Master polar mount? The dish seems light enough...

 

[wod]

The motor should be fine with it as I think the cm 1.2 is probably heavier than the 1.5 with it being aluminum.

just the gibby backplate being the heaviest part if it's similar to the 1.2

 

[Captain Jack]

Thought as much wod. The original plate is in place as you see in the picture but the rest will be made up from steel.

 

[Channel Hopper]

wait until we moved next year to our own place and then get a 1.8m Channel Master or similar but this was near, cheap (£80) and now! The dish is in good condition and surprisingly light. A few glances at it made me think that it's slightly warped...but that was without the back plate. I put the plate on and it seems ok. Need to string it properly to see if anything is actually out of place.

Two problems... I need to see what satellites the dish will see 'fully'. Certainly my current dish has full illumination from around 10e and westwards but everything else to the east will only have partial one due to the house in the way. All the interesting sats are in the east for me and I get everything I need from the west. But hopefully will get more channels from Amos at 4w for XtraTv and some more C band stuff.

Second problem... I haven't told my SWMBO that I got it yet! She's bound to notice it at some point. Need to spray the dish in a dark colour so that it matches the fence and makes it more camouflaged.

£80 is a bargain

Getting rid of Problem 2 automatically gets rid of Problem 1 as you can then put it on the roof.

 

[Captain Jack]

Ha.. not the roof. Will be far too exposed to the neighbours. In the garden, only one neighbour has full view of the dish and he doesn't seem bothered.

 

[Archived-1]

Nice CJ, I would stop worrying about the neighbours and eye sores as you call them, get it put were it will work;)

 

[Vipersan]

..Just tell Mrs CJ that you _need_ a big dish and this would free up a smaller dish in case she invites friends round for dinner/tea/supper ..
Personally I think a 1.2 would make a wonderful centrepiece ..
Room for some fruit ..or fill it full of flowers for that special occasion.
Better still ..with Feb 14 coming up ...
Fill it with roses ...the chocolates are good too..

Seriously though ...nice one Alex ..
looking forward to seeing the gibby up n' running.
cheers
VS

...you really DO love your dishes I see ..
You even got it it's own mattress to sleep on..
Mine have to make do with a pole..

 

[Captain Jack]

Morning chaps.

I have a feedhorn designed for the Channel Master dishes. Am I correct to assume that it's almost the same, if not identical, to the one used by Gibertini? What's the best combination of LNBs for the Gibby 1.5m?

I could never match Black Ultra LNB without feedhorn performance with a feedhorn + converted Black Ultra LNB. Signals are at least 0.5dB lower... maybe it's different with the Gibby...

 

[pride21]

hi CJ I have a 1.5mtr gibby dish on a 1224 motor drives it with no problem.

 

[Captain Jack]

Pride, do you have any pictures of the back bracket between the dish and the motor? I am going to make my own for declination control but want to see what others have.

Also, any experiences with Ku feedhorns on that?

 

[pride21]

hi CJ the bracket on the back of the dish is an old channel master bracket drilled out to accommodate the gibby which fits on the 1224 but I am changing the top two brackets to what VS has done on his 1.5mtr dish.

 

[Captain Jack]

Got some spherical joints in the post today for declination movement...

 

[Captain Jack]

Hi guys,

A question on LNB positioning. As the Gibertini has a much more favourable arrangement for multi-LNB setup, I am wondering whether it's better to have the extra C-band LNB on the sided of the Ku-LNB at the centre or above it, like I have on the Channel Master? Obviously, I'll have declination control to switch LNBs but... which is better?

Cheers
CJ

 

[zorbua]

Hi CJ I have found out that on my 1.5 Gibby (believe it or not) it's better using a black ultra without a feed horn rather than using one.
Fact I had a Gibertini F/H with a black ultra Lnb on it and after exhaustive tests on most weak transponders came to the conclusion that I had better Snr without the F/H. Now I have placed this F/H on one of my 1.2 Dishes.

 

[Huevos]

Two C-band LNBs, one either side is best. My personal preference is polar mount, and I've got both.

 

[Captain Jack]

Thought so... and since I already have 2 C-band LNBs, it makes sense.

 

[Huevos]

Here's a picture of the plate.

 

[Captain Jack]

I won't be fitting Gibby's declination bracket, so it will be similar to my Channel Master's arrangement.

The dish centre will be moved down to and there will be no steel plates - just a couple of spherical joints for a hinge with the jack arm at the top of the motor.