| Author |
Message |
    
Billd3
New member
Username: Billd3
Post Number: 7
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 7:16 pm: | 
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Anyone ever try using an 8 1/2 foot metal satellite dish as an antenna. I'm wondering
1. If it can be done.
2. If it can is it cost prohibitive
3. If it can does it work well
Thanks,
Bill |
Tech291
Moderator
Username: Tech291
Post Number: 336
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 9:24 pm: |
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Billd3,
an 8.5' dish is designed for "C" and possibly"Ku"band microwave.to answer all 3 of your questions,yes and no.
the dish itself is only a reflector.It collects the signal,concentrates and focuses it into a feed assembly.The feed selects the polarity and passes the signal to the antenna inside which is usually part of a lo-noise-amplifier.then the signal is "down downconverted"to an easier to manage frequency,commonly 950 to 1450 mhz.then it is pased along to the reciever which processes the signal into what you see on your tv.
answer to #1,yes it can be done depending on the frequencies your thinking about(vhf and higher)
answer to #2,possibly not.it could be interesting to experiment with the idea if your on the VERY fringe area of a vhf or uhf repeater or wifi system.
answer to #3,hams have been using surplus parabolic reflectors for eme or moonbounce since its inception.
After all that,I imagine your thinking more in line with using it for 11meter.In that case no would be the answer to all 3 of your questions.
TECH291
CEF#291
KC8ZPJ |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3371
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 10:10 pm: |
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A 8 foot dish works well on 440 or 1296 mhz but for CB it would have to be HUNDERDS of feet across. |
Kid_vicious
Advanced Member
Username: Kid_vicious
Post Number: 982
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 10:39 pm: |
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i seem to remember a story about someone doing moonbounce on 11 meters.
it could have been just that; a story, though.
matt |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3372
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 5:41 am: |
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Moonbounce CAN be done on even 20 meters just how do you turn a antenna THAT big! |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3375
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 7:47 am: |
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My kinda guy! 6 METER EME !
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Welcome_to_6m_EME.htm |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 8867
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 8:16 am: |
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WOW 
The 1st Sargant said:
DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!
Lon
Tech808
CEF808
N9OSN |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3376
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 8:29 am: |
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Your wife must have talked to mine! |
Chad
Advanced Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 624
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 9:00 am: |
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Yeah that would not fly here either. Like the lawnmower engine powered blender that almost got completed (gotta do something when the mower deck breaks) and the 6' tall tesla coil, she put the kie-bash on that when the 25KVA pole pig showed up  Oh well.....
Chad |
Billd3
New member
Username: Billd3
Post Number: 8
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 6:27 pm: |
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Thanks to all of you for responding. The reason for my question is I had a junk dish lying out back. I replaced it with a 10'. The Wifi possibility may have peaked my interest a little. I may look into that. I knew that 11 meters was probably an improbability, but wasn't sure about the Ham bands.
Again thanks.
Bill
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Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3379
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 7:10 pm: |
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bill get your license and go on 1296 moonbounce! |
Wildrat
Advanced Member
Username: Wildrat
Post Number: 598
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 7:45 pm: |
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I use moon bounce once every couple of years when contacting the Rat home world. The signal actually bounces off the moon then to Pluto where it leaves this star system on it's way home. The reason why only once a year is because it is only once a year that the moon and Pluto are in proper alignment. I use a very small wave length with a lot of power behind it to get there. In fact if you were to be in it's path when I am transmitting or receiving you would have a nice little hole thru ya. I am unable to say what freq. I use as some here on this forum would try to listen in. So anyway with the proper equipment anything is possible.
Wildrat
CEF674
EGCCC
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Kid_vicious
Advanced Member
Username: Kid_vicious
Post Number: 987
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Friday, January 06, 2006 - 12:08 am: |
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chad, a 6 foot tesla coil?
what were you going to do with it?
plans of world domination?
starting your own mad scientists' lab?
i think that is really cool.
tesla was THE MAN!
and we all know that HE invented radio before Marconi,
matt |
Chad
Advanced Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 630
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, January 06, 2006 - 9:24 am: |
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I really love high voltage. So I do a lot of HV stuff in my free time. I had a tube based coil running on 811's. I donated it to my old high school because their science program, well, is not so good. Tesla's projects make kids WANT to learn IMHO. After that I built a larger spark gap model, that baby would really hum! The 6 footer was getting there till the wife saw the pole pig strapped in the back of the truck. ePay to the rescue, it was then gone, everything, handwound coils, electronics, and all 
Google up "big tesla coil" enjoy!
As for briggs-stratton blender, it was aborted after she saw the blades going on. I think it was one of my safer inventions as the blade assembly had 2 stages of SS protecting the blades from fly-away
I just blew up a garage door opener (all gears) so now I have all the T-steel from the chain track and a motor. Remember that hovercraft you could build from the back of boy's life and popular science? I want one
Another BAD idea as a child..... Remember the Jet engine you could build up from a kit in the back of Popular Mechanics? Well I had a bicycle, and I wanted to build one. Mom stopped that one If it weren't for women I'd probably be dead oe maimed!
Fortunately wife ver2.0 is way cooler but still does not want to be a widow (again) I ran the tesla coil idea by her (have a 2 acre pasture now), guess what the answer was? Hint: it starts with "N" and rhymes with "snow"
Chad |
