Adopted an Abused BUD

[easily confused]

Well folks, I don't know if this is salvageable or not but here are some pics of a 10' aluminum dish I picked up today. Somebody had just thrown it on a pile of scrap so I rescued her. One significant bend along the bottom edge but no other visible damage. No LNBF or struts to mount it but what can I expect for free in a scrap pile. Do any of you see any reason why this dish can not be brought back into service?

[Costactc]

With alot of tlc EC I could see it back up. It wont be easy to get that damaged area flush with the other part of the dish. I have arms from another 10' bud, not sure they're the right length but you can have them if you like.
Take a drive outside Cornwall, many buds not in use.

[risk]

o man, i would say you are lucky, im here tryin to 'buy' a 6-8' solid dish from anyone and cant find any. . .i would live with that. . .

[StanW]

... just come and visit us - they all over the country side , like mushrooms . Most for the taking.

Costa - I know where there is a solid 12 footer ( actually looks bigger than that)- I'm sure the guy would be more than happy to let you have it . Want to speak to the wife ?

[Costactc]

12' solid, oh I'd definitely be interested.

[StanW]

I'll ask - not sure how you'd transport something like that . Would have to be standing up or slanted .

[burnsy]

just have Scotty beam it over either that or tell Pugsy you'll fill it with beer when he gets it to your place

[StanW]

Fill it with beer ? Why you can make an above ground swimming pool with it .

[Costactc]

Stan I have access to 11 trucks, I'm sure the 16', 18' or 24' can accomodate it. Hey Risk, did you say your looking for a 6' solid. If I get my hands on a 12' you can have my 6'.

[risk]

Stan I have access to 11 trucks, I'm sure the 16', 18' or 24' can accomodate it. Hey Risk, did you say your looking for a 6' solid. If I get my hands on a 12' you can have my 6'.

would love that lol lol. . .beam that over too ;)

[Costactc]

I would really like to beam it over to you but that baby came encassed in a wood package- took 3 men to lift it into a truck. Not quite sure how I would get it to you, transport would be ludicrous.

[easily confused]

With alot of tlc EC I could see it back up. It wont be easy to get that damaged area flush with the other part of the dish. I have arms from another 10' bud, not sure they're the right length but you can have them if you like.
Take a drive outside Cornwall, many buds not in use.

Well, I am going to invest in a rubber hammer before I try anything. Gave the edge a pull, by hand and I think that the bent edge will pull out and then it will be a case of putting the surface back down. The upward bent is not as severe as the pics make it look but it will still be fun. One other small bend in the inner area but it is very mild and the rubber hammer should take care of that easily enough

[Costactc]

Remember I have another 10' in my basement without a polar mount, anything you need EC just holler.

[StanW]

I know where there is a polar mount for the taking - sitting on a 4' pole :D Why - you wouldn't even need your step ladder Costa .lol

[easily confused]

Remember I have another 10' in my basement without a polar mount, anything you need EC just holler.

I have a 10 footer for the taking about 3 miles from here that has 3 badly damaged panels and one of the LNBF struts has rusted off. I may still take it and try to rejuvenate it in which case I may be calling you. I am hoping to stop on my way home tomorrow and look into another solid dish. It is about 500 yards back from the road and still looks bloody huge. I thought they were using it until the other day when I spotted a *choice dish on the back corner of the house. I have 3 other BUDs to pick up (2 six footers and one 10 footer) but I don't want to take them until I have the poles planted and I can't do that until we have the crops in. Hopefully I will get started within the next 2 weeks

[TurboPirate]

Well folks, I don't know if this is salvageable or not but here are some pics of a 10' aluminum dish I picked up today. Somebody had just thrown it on a pile of scrap so I rescued her. One significant bend along the bottom edge but no other visible damage. No LNBF or struts to mount it but what can I expect for free in a scrap pile. Do any of you see any reason why this dish can not be brought back into service?

One thing, It CAN be done, a rubber hammer and wood and the damage can be fix, like costa said, not easy but not impossible. I seeing worst and are UP and running................................patience is the key.

[TurboPirate]

If you wanted to get the inside/face of the dish really smooth maybe go talk to some auto body shops and see if they have any 'body spoons' that you can borrow or rent.

As TurboPirate mentioned a piece of wood with a curve cut in it can work but a curved body spoon held against the skin on the face of the dish while you hit the dish from behind with a rubber mallet to nock out the dents can really do the job on smoothing out most of the dents that can rob some of the signal as bad dents may misdirect some of the reflected signal in directions away from the LNB.

Exactly what I wanted to say, but English is not my first language, but you said exactly what it was on my mind, thanks Bow....................

[Bowhunters]

If you wanted to get the inside/face of the dish really smooth maybe go talk to some auto body shops and see if they have any 'body spoons' that you can borrow or rent.

As TurboPirate mentioned a piece of wood with a curve cut in it can work but a curved body spoon held against the skin on the face of the dish while you hit the dish from behind with a rubber mallet to nock out the dents can really do the job on smoothing out most of the dents that can rob some of the signal as bad dents may misdirect some of the reflected signal in directions away from the LNB.

[easily confused]

Ok folks, I have another question about this dish. I have managed to get a lot of the bend out of the dish and I think the dents have been hammered out to the point where they should not be a problem. What I am faced with, though, is this. If I measure from center to edge of dish, I get 54 1/2" all around except where the bend was. At that location, I am getting 53 1/4". How serious an impact will this likely have on reception?

[wildman25]

I would "gently" put a ratchet strap on the longer axis and pull it back a little- you'll need to pull a little more than it takes because it'll spring back a little. It may not make much difference in signal but it'd have to be a little better if fixed. I rolled my solid around back and found I had the same problem after- then pulled back into shape lol'ol

One thing I don't understand, why the importance for solid? I have 3 mesh of different sizes along with the 10 foot solid, and I never noticed any signal difference between them- and I converted all but 2 to linear. I did however have issues with wind on the solid. It was planted almost 4 foot into the ground and still turned enough in the wind I had to re-adjust- but not recently because it was my 123w sat. Since then, the mesh has been my main, am I missing something with the solid? I would suggest (since I have planted this way since) putting a bolt into the planted pipe when you concrete to prevent spinning- wish I had :)

[easily confused]

No particular reason for a solid dish other than the fact that I saw it lying, on the ground, in someones yard and stopped to ask if it was ok to take it. They said go ahead. It was when I went to put it on my trailer that I noticed the abuse the poor thing had taken. If I can't get it to work, then maybe it will become a solar water heater but I would like to see if I can make it work just for the fun of it

[Bowhunters]

I agree with Wildman to use a 'ratchet strap' or 'come along' ratchet type device with straps or rope across the face of the widest portion of the dish and slowly work it until you get it close to being even. A circle instead of an oval.

A foot might not be a killer though but it could make getting a good setting for the LNB on its focal point more difficult and on a BUD that focal point is very important.

I would shoot for getting it down under 6" out of round if you can get it down to that and then take your measurements and use the fomula for the focal point and see if you LNB will adjust in the bracket to reach that distance.

It would probably be best to use the average measurement (wide reading vs shorter reading) across the dish face and then use the average for the focal point calculations.

Then have someone watch the tv with the signal strength readings and fine tune the LNB by hand to get the highest reading.