Satellite Dish FUBAR :(

Altreab

Hello all
Seems the recent lousy weather finally killed my satellite dish Still after 12+ years of service i guess i cant complain
So what i want to know is what should i replace it with? Im living on the west coast towards Clifden so constant rain wind and sea water hitting it i have 2 main questions

1) What size is the minimun i should go for? Its for SKY. I dont think the standard 65cm ones would be big enough.

2)Are the galvinised disks better than the mesh ones to justify the price differance?

3) How much should i expect to pay for installation?

Thanks to all in advance.

Gerry Wicklow

http://www.satellite.ie/
http://satworld.ie/
http://www.tvtrade.ie/
http://www.satellitetv.ie/shop/

Compton

Altreab wrote: »

Hello all
Seems the recent lousy weather finally killed my satellite dish Still after 12+ years of service i guess i cant complain
So what i want to know is what should i replace it with? Im living on the west coast towards Clifden so constant rain wind and sea water hitting it i have 2 main questions

1) What size is the minimun i should go for? Its for SKY. I dont think the standard 65cm ones would be big enough.
Sky dish should be fine.. what size dish is up there now?

2)Are the galvinised disks better than the mesh ones to justify the price differance?
by disks to you mean dish? if so, the sky dishes are fine. If you want a rust proof dish go for aluminium with aluminium wall bracket.

3) How much should i expect to pay for installation?
Depends, just installation should be around 80-100 euro I'd imagine.

Thanks to all in advance.[/QUOTE

Altreab

shblob wrote: »

Altreab wrote: »

Hello all
Seems the recent lousy weather finally killed my satellite dish Still after 12+ years of service i guess i cant complain
So what i want to know is what should i replace it with? Im living on the west coast towards Clifden so constant rain wind and sea water hitting it i have 2 main questions

1) What size is the minimun i should go for? Its for SKY. I dont think the standard 65cm ones would be big enough.
Sky dish should be fine.. what size dish is up there now?

2)Are the galvinised disks better than the mesh ones to justify the price differance?
by disks to you mean dish? if so, the sky dishes are fine. If you want a rust proof dish go for aluminium with aluminium wall bracket.

3) How much should i expect to pay for installation?
Depends, just installation should be around 80-100 euro I'd imagine.

Thanks to all in advance.[/QUOTE

Yes Double checked size and its a 60cm dish. Checked with others in the area and they found that the SKY mesh dish fall apart in this area within 2-3 years. and dont seem to give as good a picture as solid dish they had previously.

When checked today the old dish has seen far better times Dish actually has holes in it Seems the winter storms finally killed it.
So it has been replaced today. Sadly the Pace Sky Digibox also seems to have given up the ghost as well Can i replace it with either another sky box OR a Sky+ box without changing my subscription to SKY? There seems to be lots available on Adverts.ie and Donedeal at the moment.
Again thanks in Advance.

Randyleprechaun

You can change to any box that you get yourself, ordinary or +.

You may need to ring sky to get them to pair your card with the box though.

They'll ask you for model no or serial number, can't remember. You'll find the info in one of the service menus anyway. They'll guide you to it when your on to them

ShaneOC

Altreab wrote: »

shblob wrote: »

Can i replace it with either another sky box OR a Sky+ box without changing my subscription to SKY?

Yes but if you are changing to a Sky+ box you will need a quad LNB for the end of the dish and a second cable run from the dish to the box (to allow you to record one channel while watching another).

Randyleprechaun

Good point ShaneOC...how did I forget to mention that!!!!!

Altreab

Randyleprechaun wrote: »

Good point ShaneOC...how did I forget to mention that!!!!!

Thanks Shane and Randy Will remember that if i get a sky+ ..Thankfully getting a free Sky Box from a friend Gotta love Xmas at times

Nothingbetter2d

Altreab wrote: »

Hello all
Seems the recent lousy weather finally killed my satellite dish Still after 12+ years of service i guess i cant complain
So what i want to know is what should i replace it with? Im living on the west coast towards Clifden so constant rain wind and sea water hitting it i have 2 main questions

1) What size is the minimun i should go for? Its for SKY. I dont think the standard 65cm ones would be big enough.

2)Are the galvinised disks better than the mesh ones to justify the price differance?

3) How much should i expect to pay for installation?

Thanks to all in advance.

galvanised ones are better in coastal areas as they have better resistance to the salty air. if its for SKY then get a new sky dish. cancel your sub then create a new sky hd+ account in your spouse's name... then keeping your old box for a second room you get a new free dish + a new HD+ box + you get to watch freesat in another room

Liameter

A galvanic coating won't last long in salty conditions. Go for either a Channel Master (Sheet Moulded Plastic) or Triax (fibreglass) similar to this: http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/seaside_dish.htm

There's certain to be a supplier in Ireland.

Rippy

Liameter wrote: »

A galvanic coating won't last long in salty conditions. Go for either a Channel Master (Sheet Moulded Plastic) or Triax (fibreglass) similar to this: http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/seaside_dish.htm

There's certain to be a supplier in Ireland.

Experience tells me otherwise on this. I have been putting some Triax TD series dishes in some very wild coastal locations for the last 12 years. To the best of my knowledge, none have needed replacement.
I have replaced a fibreglass dish where the glass -fibre had cracked and the internal mesh reinforcement had corroded.
I think it was pretty old though.

PressTheButton

Corroded LNB feed arm (Waterford City, 19.12.2011):

Liameter

Rippy wrote: »

I have replaced a fibreglass dish where the glass -fibre had cracked and the internal mesh reinforcement had corroded.
I think it was pretty old though.

Yes, it's important to paint ALL dishes. Fibreglass tends to be susceptible to the effects of ultraviolet, which will make the resin crack. (The same applies to coaxial cable, by the way.) Paint goes a long way towards protecting everything and can also help to blend the system into the background, with appropriate choice of colours.

BTW the internal mesh is not "reinforcement". It is the actual dish itself!

byte

PressTheButton wrote: »

Corroded LNB feed arm (Waterford City, 19.12.2011):

That corroded arm issue was very common on the EL dishes from 3-5 years ago. The arms were pretty poor. The reflector tends to rust pretty quickly on those also. There are some original Triax minidishes still going (as long as wind never shifts them off kilter as nuts would all be siezed now).

I'd assume the new Mk4 3-sided arms are meant to be stronger...

Liameter

Seized nuts can cause a lot of pain. (I mean if the spanner slips.)

MK4 arms are meant to be cheaper, not stronger. A closed tube will always be stronger than an open channel.

byte

Liameter wrote: »

MK4 arms are meant to be cheaper, not stronger. A closed tube will always be stronger than an open channel.

Aye, true. However, I think that the new Mk4 arms seem like they'll last longer than the aforementioned closed tubes of the EL dishes - they really were very thin, compared to how thick the 3 sided Mk4 arms are IMO.

I assume the open channel also makes it a smidge easier to hide a cluster of cables for quad and octo LNB's.