New install - need some pointers

I

il cacciatore

Member
My Satellite Setup
Zone 2 mini dish
My Location
Scotland
Hi people

Nice forum here. Some useful info! Maybe you can give me a few pointers. :)

I live in Scotland and wish to view the Hotbird satellites. I've been searching for a 80cm dish that is suitably rust protected but am not having much luck. With the weather we get here, the dish I'm looking for needs to be galvanised or made of materials that are non ferrous. After much searching, I can't seem to find a dish that satisfies all the criterea, namely;

  • 80cm diameter
  • All parts galvanised or non ferrous materials ie Aluminium
  • Of a suitable quality to provide a good gain
  • Available in antracite or black
  • Less than £100
All the dishes I've came across either are not galvanised or have a reflector made of galvanised steel/ aluminium but the feed arm/ EL/AZ mount made of steel that will eventually rust.

Can anyone recommend a suitable dish? :confused:
 
Orbital 80cm Al, maybe? The AZ/El mount is plastic normally on Orbital dishes.
 
Orbital is quite a good idea, yes.

But although the bracket is plastic (and, nevertheless, sturdy), I found that the top edge of mine started to show de-lamination of the protective coating very soon indeed.

That said, it's been up several years now and the deterioration hasn't got markedly worse.

For your budget, you could get one and replace it after a few years if it did get really bad.

And you'll find that even quite sorry looking dishes tend to remain functionally efficient anyway.
 
Fracarro Penta 85, Aluminium face, galvanised back plate, azel bracket and arm, should resist the weather.
 
Hey

Thanks for the help. I'm swaying to the Fracarro. Am I right that the 'grey' one is dark grey and white is light grey with those.

I just want a dish that will last for a long time and the Fracarro just might.

Cheers
 
Depends where in Scotland you are - Im in the Borders and I'll use any tatty old dish I can get my hands on. My oldest dish is at least 15 years old (second hand from my parents place down near Stafford - its been here nearly 10 years) None of them are looking particularly sorry yet. Theres a bit of rust on most of the dishes but so what - it doesnt affect their performance to any great extent and when they do eventualkly rust through I'll either buy a 30 quid replacement of scavenge another one.

If you are by the sea and get lots of salt spray then an aluminium dish is the way to go.
 
Hey AnalogueSat. I just like the idea of a dish that will last 'forever' tbh. Anyway, steel dishes oxide stain whatever they are mounted on when they start to rust thats next to impossible to remove.

Thanks
 
If it stains just blow some black car paint over it :D

A rust stain adds character anyway

Another way to go might be a fibreglass dish if you want indestructable
 
il cacciatore said:
Thanks for the help. I'm swaying to the Fracarro. Am I right that the 'grey' one is dark grey and white is light grey with those.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's correct :)
 
Hmmm, having difficulty finding one... plus, I live in Edinburgh and the odd shape may attract unwanted attention from the man....
 
Analoguesat said:
If you are by the sea and get lots of salt spray then an aluminium dish is the way to go.
Click to expand...
Sorry AS, must disagree with you there. Aluminium is affected VERY badly by salt spray and will corrode to a shapeless lump in a short time. TV aerials frequently fall to pieces there.

A steel dish, well coated, is best for the seaside.
 
il cacciatore said:
Hmmm, having difficulty finding one... plus, I live in Edinburgh and the odd shape may attract unwanted attention from the man....
Click to expand...

Posts 2 & 3 still relevant: You aren't going to escape corrosion completely, so live with it. Performance won't degrade much and if the visual impact really offends you, just treat or replace. Orbitals are not expensive.
 
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