Finally... Penta 85!

Captain Jack

Captain Jack

Retired human
My Satellite Setup
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My Location
North Somerset
After weeks of planning and preparation, I have finally managed to install my Penta 85. Or rather, managed to find someone to do it. Marius5t of this forum has done a great job of putting the dish up, which took a lot of hard work and hurdles. The set up is besically 24" T&K brackets, a very long pole (9' I think), Digiquest motor and the Penta 85 dish.

The arc receivable is between 53E and 30W. We tried 45W but didn't manage, due to trees in the way. Either way, I am receiving more in London on this Penta 85 than I did in Somerset on my 1.2m Gibby. Location, location...

Here are some pics...

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Now need to figure out this complicated AzBox (should have bought a DM800HD).
 

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Very nice indeed - thanks for the pics.

Understandably prominent and somewhat exposed to winds, but it seems to be sturdy enough to withstand the rigours of UK weather.
 
Nice dish and arc range :)

Couple of small points. Watch those cables that exit the motor. Need to be cable tied back and possibly the ends of the U clamps cut off to prevent damage to the cables.

Can't help noticing the top T bracket fitted upside down and bottom K fixing into a mortar joint. Looks a tidy rig.
 
Yes , i put the T first , not 1 second i thought it was the other way until i had to do K . Yes , i know , amateurish . Due to the height and a shorter pole ( Captain Jack's ) initially , i had to put the K where it is and i couldn't find a brick for the bottom bolt . Even with my carefull measurements the pole was still too short as the lnb would hit the roof tiles . The pole that is there now had to be fit , the lnb is still very close to the tiles but fully turnable now . Another problem we encountered was the motor , after i fit it on the pole i noticed that on the extremities of the arc i was loosing signal and found a major play in the motor shaft , not the usual tiny , left and right but an up and down movement . This was cured by lifting the elevation on the motor , didn't work initially but managed to get it right in the end . I know it's not perfect vissualy but i hope performance will overcome that . Thank you Captain Jack .
 
Al I can say is, well done mate! Up at that height,you did well.
 
Good job, makes all the weeks of preperation and planning worthwhile :)
 
It looks really good m8. I'm no expert, but I do know in strong winds the lnb tends to wobble about even on a really rigid bracket, you might need to keep an eye out on positions where the clearance from the roof is tight in bad weather.

You have done really well, there is no way I could reach those dizzy hights. Thankfully, the front of my house is south facing.
 
Great job there Captain Jack. Great pics. :)
 
Congratulations, you did well at that height.

Are you related to Spiderman? :eek:

I don't know how you managed to get up that high. You must have one big ladder. Scaffolding would take some doing.

I plan on a similar mount with a Penta 85, which I purchased the white one before changing my mind and deciding to put it on the roof :( So I will need to find some smooth hammerite in a suitably fetching colour as I don't want to shock the pigeons. :cool:

My house isn't 3 stories though so I shouldn't have too many problems with access. I just hope the clumbsies are not with me on the day. :p
 
Welp, after only 6 months, I had to take the dish down as we are moving to a house. Annoyingly, it's a mid terrace house and the side of it is facing south. So the most I can do is everything from the east to around 1 deg west. But at least I won't have to climb dizzying heights!

Borrowed a ladder from HSS and took the dish down. But it was quite hard as the steel pole is rather heavy. I won't be doing that in a hurry soon.

Still, kudos to marius for achieving this feat though, as I don't know how he did it at such a height.
 
What a shame!

Best of luck with your new house.
 
You maybe able to get a rear TK mount installation done, depends on line of sight. Look forward to the pictures anyhow, best of luck :)
 
satelliteman said:
You maybe able to get a rear TK mount installation done, depends on line of sight.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not. The top part of the building is timber construction, no way to get the dish mounted on there.
 
satelliteman said:
Garden mount?
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Possible but the house is on the hill, which makes the garden lower than the ground floor of the house. Not sure if my garden is long enough to clear the house. Worse still, I have rather tall evergreens growing towards the west which would probably cover most of the western sats :(

Of course, the above is due to a site survey with an iPhone and dishpointer app :)
 
The Penta 85 looks such a beautiful dish, and I think it would be the perfect companion to my last year's Christmas present to myself, a Technomate 2600 motor. I nearly ordered one last summer, but couldn't resist the 80cm dish on offer at our local LIDL for 15 euros. Anyway, High Definition, who seemed to have loads of them on a certain auction site at the time, are now only advertising the 65cm version, so where can I get one now? I'm in Spain.
 
Dear Penta fans,

I was one of yours, but, pls, allow me a little tip since I got a Penta 85 in the past.

If I remember well I placed some foto's on our Forum: it is a great dish BUT with a Gibertini 104 cm everything became better and more stable.:)

It is not true that a Penta 85 gain is like a 100cm and surely the place where I live in The Netherlands is more windy than yours :):):)
Not to mention a larger range: 53°E - 58°W in USALS :):):)
 
Nice set up and i hope you get it set ok on your new house.
goodluck
 
Captain Jack said:
Possible but the house is on the hill, which makes the garden lower than the ground floor of the house. Not sure if my garden is long enough to clear the house. Worse still, I have rather tall evergreens growing towards the west which would probably cover most of the western sats :(

Of course, the above is due to a site survey with an iPhone and dishpointer app :)
Click to expand...

If you have a chimney you could put up an ISS mesh dish of 60cm or 80cm (actually nearer 76cm) using a couple of chimney straps and a bit of 2" pole. An Orbital Platinum is an alternative small dish, oval shaped but uses normal LNBs. An Inverto Black Ultra LNB would give a decent performance from these small and lightweight dishes. I wouldn't put a Penta 68 let alone a 85 on a chimney!
 
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