[AT] OT big satellite dishes

[Ken Knierim]

There were quite a number of those dishes that were made from fiberglass
with a metallized coating, and some were made from (I think) spun aluminum.
At one point (about 1980) my uncle got some plans to make a 12' one of them
using plywood with a tin foil coating on the reflector (needed larger dishes
further north and also helped signal to noise ratios). I helped him build
the framework for the ground mount and he used it successfully for several
years. With the standard polar mount (pivot axis aimed at Polaris, the north
star), about the only way a couple folks would be able to aim those dishes
at each other is if they were in a direct east-west line from each other. A
few feet off of this or any wrong adjustment would make it impossible, but
yes, it could be done under the "right" conditions. Kinda sounds like
geekdom "braggin' rights" to me. :)

I used a small one (18"?) a few years back to help my daughter make a solar
collector. I've wanted to get one of the 8' aluminum ones for a bigger (and
more viable) solar collector, but haven't had enough "round tuits" yet.

Ken in AZ


On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 7:02 AM, Mike Sloane <mikesloane at verizon.net> wrote:

> All of the BUDs (Big Ugly Dish) that I ever owned or saw were
> essentially a metal skeleton with wire mesh of some kind between the
> ribs. They were excellent radio reflectors but I don't think they would
> do much as sound collectors. The positioning is/was done by a linear
> motor arm that swings the dish through an arc that starts pretty near
> the horizon and ends up pointing pretty high. To arrange two BUDs so
> that they would be pointing at each other would require removing all of
> the critical alignment functions and moving them around until they were
> properly aligned.
>
> I guess it is certainly *possible* to do what you suggested, but the
> same thing could be accomplished just as easily by just hollering back
> and forth or using the telephone. :-)
>
> Mike
>
> On 2/12/2011 8:40 AM, charlie hill wrote:
> > I'm hoping someone can confirm something I remember reading from years
> past.
> >
> > If I remember right, back in the days of the big 8' and larger sat.
> dishes.
> > I read where farmers
> > who lived a mile or two apart but with line of sight between them would
> aim
> > their dishes at each other,
> > stand out in front of the dish and carry on voice conversations.  Did I
> > dream that or is it really possible?
> >
> > Charlie
> >
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