dish material types

[wod]

currently redoing my system and just need to choose the dish

does the material the dish is made from make a lot of difference ?

as are alumium dishes better than steel, i know for weight they are but for signal gain ?

as gibertini or funke dish , which would be best ?

as a lot of you on here like different dishes some triax, some gibertini and some channelmaster

is there some guide on here to choosing dishes ?

thanks

wod

 

[Mickha]

Hi wod,
it depends on where you plan to install it, wall or ground based. Given your location, West Yorkshire, I'd go for the biggest Hi gain dish you can get away with, as the further North and West you are the bigger dish required to get a good signal.
If you intend to view feeds, like the cricket on Fox Sports 16E, I'd say you need a minimum of 1.2 - 1.5 Metre dish.
If you are mounting it on a wall then the biggest you're supposed to have is 1 Metre, but seeing as the council rarely check, unless your neighbour complains, you could get away with a Triax 1.1 M.
The brands you have mentioned are good quality, try to avoid cheap dishes, as this is a false economy, you can get more signal from a good quality 1 Metre dish than a cheap 1.5 Metre dish, that usually is that flimsy it gets damaged in transit or when you attempt to install it.
If you are wall mounting get good quality installation equipment, brackets and pole, which should stay up for years.
Please post back with more details of where you intend to mount the dish, what motor you are using, for maximum dish weight it can move, and which channels you expect to get.
Best wishes
Mickha

 

[wod]

well i'm abit short of cash at the minute so was going to just get the dish biggest i can afford, as i've already missed some matches on art sports to get me up and running and then buy a motor later as it will save me from upgrading the dish as i could just buy a cheap 80cm dish to get art then have the hassle of upgrading to something better later on.

so is it best to get the dish now as i can do without the motor

going to mount it on the back of wall see pic below

dont really want to go above 1metre dish as i wont get away with it.

saw the funke 1m dish as its free delivery on satellite superstore

is there much difference between the gibertini and funke dishes ?

 

[Mickha]

Hi wod,
if the sky dish is pointing the correct way, 28.2E, you should have no problem receiving ART on Hotbird with an 80cm dish, depending on how much you want to pay you can get a Gibertini 85cm, or Triax 80cm for around £35. If you have a clear line of sight you could even place it lower down so that you can manually move it to other satellites, if required.
If you look around people are practically throwing away old 80 - 90 cm dishes, since the advent of Sky. If you see one on a house, not being used, the occupants will probably give it you for the trouble of taking it down.
There used to be a few in my area, which have now ended up in the skip.
Always check the postage costs when buying a dish, also check if they come with a mount, LNB, brackets etc. as the price soon adds up.
You have just missed out on an offer from Lidl for an 80cm dish, LNB and accessories, at a very reasonable price, that could have done what you required, depending on the quality.
Search the internet if you're lucky you might find some special offers.
Best wishes
Mickha

 

[wod]

yes the sky dish is at 28e

yes i want to get art but then would like to try motorised to switch between different satellites

so was going to get the biggest dish 1m to use for a short time on hotbird then buy a motor which will only be about 2 month or so later

do you know of a cheap website to get t&k brackets ? are 12" stand off ones ok ?

 

[rolfw]

I would take the Gilbertini against the Funke any time, didn't like the build of the Funke, not in the same class.

 

[Mickha]

When I was searching for extra equipment, for a world cup set up at work, I found dastv.co.uk. they have a free phone number and don't mind answering any questions you have.
Worth checking out, but also view other sites to check prices.
Best wishes
Mickha

 

[wod]

right so will go for the gibertini dish

i just hope its not too heavy as will be installing on my own as it looks massive in the pictures

right another thing will my drill be up to the job of drilling the holes as its only a 700watt hammer drill

what do you lot use, them sds drills ?

also what length drill bit to drill through the wall ? and is it better to drill throught the brick or mortar to put the cable through ?

 

[wod]

right decided on the kit i'm going for and can any of you lot suggest where to mount the dish on the wall so that it doesn't block the minidish signal

i've drawn in paint where i was thinking of mounting it

will that work ? as i thought of using one of them L shaped mounts .

or have you got any other suggestions

thanks

wod

 

[phillpayne]

hi wod,
just sticking my nose in here, if the end result is a motorised dish, then if, as it looks like in the picture, the 28e dish is near enough as make no difference parrellel with the wall, thn that position is no good, as there is not much further to the east to attract you, and you will see nothing tother way.

but forgetting that, with a bigger dish, and assuming there is nothing obscuring the view, i would see nothing wrong with putting it below the other one, it would make things a lot easier with the fitting, and you might give a shadow to the other dish if you mount it on the red.

going back to a motorised setup, if this is the back of the house, then i would be temted to put the mounting around the corner, with a cranked pole, or good quality stand off brackets, cos that looks a long way, and have the dish clearing the roof to give you swinging room.

but thats my thoughts, those in the know might give you better advice

regards
phil

 

[rolfw]

I would put the big dish nearer the corner and in the middle of the wall for strength of mounting, good quality sleeve anchors and T&K mounts, probably 18", if you use a Moteck type motor. Your drill should be fine on brickwork.

Move the Sky dish over to the right.

 

[wod]

thanks for the reply its going to be a hassle as i dont realy want to move the sky dish as i'm not an expert at this and will be my first time of fitting a dish so i'm a little cautious

i've been thinking its just going to be fixed really as only want art sports as i dont think i'll really use a motor to make it worth while as the channels will all be pretty much not english, so can i get away with one of them L shaped mounts

what size drill bit to drill through a wall ?

edit just thinking about it if i did mount the dish above the sky one would it really block the signal that much ?

 

[rolfw]

Yes, it would block the signal completely.

Why mount it above, as long as you have line of sight, then lower down is easier to fix.

 

[wod]

well with these trees in the neighbours garden i might need to go above the roof ?

as i could mount it below the sky dish but not sure if it would clear the trees ? the sky dish is about 3 metres high and the trees where the dish points is about 15metres away i'm sure or more

thanks for the replies as they have been useful

 

[rolfw]

Can you put an arrow on the picture to show where 13 degrees is approximately? Looks like the trees are quite small.

 

[wod]

rolfw

the dish points between the trees where the red line is

today i got up as its a flat roof and stood next to the sky dish and it looks like it clears the trees as the signal is fine even when the trees move in the wind

i just need to be sure before i spend the cash as got a tm 1500ci doint nothing here

 

[rolfw]

That looks fine, just work on the 1 in 2 principle, that if your dish is four metres off the ground, at 15 metres away, the trees would need to be 12 metres high to interfere with the line of sight.

 

[wod]

so by what your saying i can mount the dish under the sky dish ? as in the pic ?

 

[rolfw]

I would certainly think so.

 

[wod]

thanks very much for your help, now to make sure the dish will fit there lol

also one thing if i was to move the sky dish up the wall would i need to realign it ?