Critique from a retired RF engineer fixed my dish alignment completely

I was tweaking my 10 foot mesh dish for weeks trying to pull in NASA TV from the GOES satellites. A guy named Frank on the local ham radio net said my focal point was off by almost 2 inches. He told me to measure from the center of the dish to the LNB holder with a tape measure instead of guessing. Turns out I had the scalar ring mounted way too high because I watched a YouTube video from some guy in Texas. I redid the whole setup last Saturday with his method and instantly locked onto 3 channels I had never seen before. Made me realize I was overcomplicating things with fancy online calculators. Has anyone else had a random neighbor or old timer give them advice that actually worked better than the guides online?

3 comments

3 Comments

gibson.morgan24d ago

Did that scalar ring end up being a Chaparral or a knockoff brand?

lunah1224d agoMost Upvoted

honestly I'm gonna push back on that a little, I think the knockoff ones hold up just as good if not better in some cases. I had a no-name brand one that lasted me three seasons before the coating started peeling, and my buddy's Chaparral started chipping after one winter. the price difference is just too hard to ignore when they're basically doing the same job.

karenb9719d ago

Look, I get what you're saying but let's be REAL here. Is a snowboard really THAT big of a deal that we need to argue about knockoffs lasting three seasons? My boards have all been name brands and yeah they chip but that's just snowboards doing snowboard things. I've seen plenty of people ride beat up gear just fine. Maybe we're all overthinking this whole durability thing when most of us are just looking for a decent ride on the weekend. Life's too short to stress about peeling coatings, honestly.