Dish Antenna

[TexScan780D]

Are these antennas worth for monitoring.

 

[doctordialtone]

Are these antennas worth for monitoring.

They are totally the wrong wavelength.

You'd be better off with just about any other antenna.

 

[vagrant]

Using different parts one could repurpose it for monitoring different satellite frequencies to some degree. The overall dish size and distance from the dish to the focus point are critical. Much depends on the frequency and intended use. Still, there are many parts one could use for non satellite stuff.

 

[spacellamaman]

i like to monitor the local birds that splash around in mine. gold finches,purple finches, cardinals, chickadees etc. i have far better luck hearing them too.

 

[MUTNAV]

There are some FTA (Free To Air) satellites that you might be able to monitor with the right receiver.

Try FTAList - free Ku-band satellite channel list some of the English language channels don't look to bad (PBSkids etc...), you might be able to discover something new also.

You might also get some news from a local viewpoint (esp.. if you can speak a foreign language).

Thanks
Joel

 

[ko6jw_2]

There have been plans in QST for making slot antennas for 2 meters from old Dish or Direct antennas. Never tried it. Suspect that they would be too narrow for scanning use. Check out John Portune W6NBC on Google search. He has a Kindle book on slot antennas. He's local to my area and I've met him at hamfests etc. and he is for real.

 

[MUTNAV]

It would probably be helpful if you mentioned what you want to monitor.
This probably should have been the first thing asked.

Thanks
Joel

 

[TexScan780D]

There are some FTA (Free To Air) satellites that you might be able to monitor with the right receiver.

Try FTAList - free Ku-band satellite channel list some of the English language channels don't look to bad (PBSkids etc...), you might be able to discover something new also.

I looked at the list, but not many channels for English. I read several articels in The Monitoring Times sometime ago about FTA and then seem to be more FTA channels for English.

 

[TexScan780D]

It would probably be helpful if you mentioned what you want to monitor.
This probably should have been the first thing asked.

Thanks
Joel

What are the options to monitor?

 

[MUTNAV]

What are the options to monitor?

No idea, maybe INMARSAT or the satellites that repeat SPOT messages?
With an Az-El mount, maybe some LEO sats?

or you could paint it a reflective color, track SOL and heat some water for tea
Thanks
Joel

 

[iMONITOR]

 

[spacellamaman]

It would probably be helpful if you mentioned what you want to monitor.
This probably should have been the first thing asked.

Thanks
Joel

the Good Stuff...Obviously! *rolls eyes*

View attachment 91471

well now theres the reason your antenna is sticky

for some reason all i can hear in my head now is Aerosmith.....

"and she told me to Wok this Way...Talk this wayyy...Wok this Wayyyy"

 

[TexScan780D]

There are some FTA (Free To Air) satellites that you might be able to monitor with the right receiver.

Try FTAList - free Ku-band satellite channel list some of the English language channels don't look to bad (PBSkids etc...), you might be able to discover something new also.

You might also get some news from a local viewpoint (esp.. if you can speak a foreign language).

Thanks
Joel

Joel, Take a look at this list FTA TV List.

Free TV from United States - LyngSat

 

[TexScan780D]

Okay, lets try Amature Radio Sats, Military Sats, ISS.
I have seen some antenna designs on here.

 

[prcguy]

A DirecTV or Dish brand dish reflector is fairly small and would not have much gain below about the 2.4GHz range. It would be useless for anything in the VHF/UHF range as they are designed for 12GHz.

Okay, lets try Amature Radio Sats, Military Sats, ISS.
I have seen some antenna designs on here.

 

[TexScan780D]

A DirecTV or Dish brand dish reflector is fairly small and would not have much gain below about the 2.4GHz range. It would be useless for anything in the VHF/UHF range as they are designed for 12GHz.

it's still in the alley and I don't think I will drag it into the back.

 

[spacellamaman]

it's still in the alley and I don't think I will drag it into the back.

said the man before he was tormented by the spirit of john audubon

 

[prcguy]

If its a Dish brand dish it belongs in the alley. A DirecTV dish starting with the Ka/Ku AU9 model then with the Slimline, you have a nifty pointing device that can get the dish boresighted very accurately on a satellite or other radio source if you use the dish for terrestrial applications. Dish never adopted this technology and they can't be pointed as accurately as a modern DirecTV dish.

Its still useless for VHF/UHF scanner use but if you convert one for WiFi or microwave hamster stuff the extra pointing knobs on the DirecTV dish will come in handy.

 

[ind224]

Useless for VHF UHF? If he mounts a rubber duck at the focal point it should be good for directional but heavier more wind loading and more difficult to aim as a yagi cut for resonance. Yes, the LNB's pictured are not "terrestrialy" friendly for anything but if the dish itself reflects Ku and Ka it will certainly work for VHF and UHF. A easy test try NOAA.

 

[prcguy]

Still fairly useless for VHF/UHF. If you put a full size UHF dipole in front of a DirecTV Slimline dish it would simply be a 2 element Yagi with a large cumbersome reflector. You might get 6dBi or 3.86dBd gain at UHF at the most. And you would not be putting that at the focal point, it would be closer to 1/4 wavelength out as there is no useable "focal point" at UHF or VHF. The reflector is not even big enough to use as a reflector on VHF or NOAA weather freqs, so that would be a waste of time. Stick a UHF rubber duck in front of one and you would sort of have a 2 element Yagi but with reduced gain over a dipole feed, so basically useless.

For Ku and Ka band its a completely different story where the LNB feed horns illuminate the reflector and are designed to be about 10dB down at the edges of the dish to avoid too much spillover. There is an actual focal point where a good amount of the parabolic shape focuses into the feed horn and if my memory is still intact the gain at Ku band (12.2 to 12.7GHz) is around 34dBi. I forget what the Ka band gain is but I have it somewhere.

The DirecTV Slimline dish is also designed to see 5 orbital slots spanning about 20 degrees apart so the dish is a modified parabola to make all that work. None of this is any good for use at VHF/UHF and if anything it would further degrade use at VHF/UHF.

Useless for VHF UHF? If he mounts a rubber duck at the focal point it should be good for directional but heavier more wind loading and more difficult to aim as a yagi cut for resonance. Yes, the LNB's pictured are not "terrestrialy" friendly for anything but if the dish itself reflects Ku and Ka it will certainly work for VHF and UHF. A easy test try NOAA.