transparent dishes?

[caveman_nige]

Are transparent dishes any good? I have heard various conflicting stories to date..

I was looking at a 85cm Satplus dish

[satsmo]

Shouldn't be a problem Nige, obviously with your location and obstructions taken into account.

But I had one and changed it a few years back as when the light hit it at certain times of the day it was actually more of an eye sore than a mesh or solid dish.

I changed it for a triax dish, which I got as a hand me down. I then painted it to match the outside of the house and it is actually a better solution in my opinion to the transparent dish from an aesthetical viewpoint. Performance wise even in bad weather is exactly the same.

[leez]

i installed one a 85 cm . for freesat which was over the top ..

good readings on my horizon meter .

pretty light ..

look cheap i think .

and not invisable .

but everyone to there own ..would much rather have a gibertini for performance and light weight.

[caveman_nige]

cheers mate, its not transparent more translucent, my bad.

you can see it here

http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/product_overview.asp?id=1953&catid=12&subcat=2

Will rub down and repray (to the colour of my house) another one I have coming for me though.. but have to do my sisters place as well and she wants it invisible

[leez]

yep the same one i installed for a customer .

easy to build up ..

comes with them horrible L bracket s i call them .

i think they would be fine in a back garden like on the picture .

but i did nt like the look on the gable end , i had to do because of line of sight ..

performance wise ..i dont really know because sky satellites are easy to pick up ..

humax was 100 strength and quality aswell ..

north east england ..

be a better test on 16 east i would imagine ..

[satsmo]

The link is the same one I had a few years back Nige, nice dish.

However I found the painted dish a better option as it blended into the house a lot better. You will never get it quite to the invisible stage as you said.

I have installed a few bigger dishes, (with clear LOS to all available sats), at the end of gardens behind sheds and that's about as invisible as I could get. Well for the person who owned the dish , for the neighbours on the other hand they were far from invisible

Joking apart we always asked the neighbours and stuck with regs from a planning perspective.

[caveman_nige]

Thanks lads

will stick with plan A for me then and will see how we look after a paint job on the dish.. need some cream coloured matt spray paint thats weather proof then, seems that will be hard to find..

[satsmo]

Matt car spray paint will do Nige. Halfords was where I got mine and does the job spot on.

[caveman_nige]

now theres an idea, will stop by the halfrauds near my office next week.. I hope its good in the salt air though as I live by the sea..

[satsmo]

It should be fine just coat it every second year, I would be more worried about the gulls sitting on it

[caveman_nige]

your not wrong there, but the pigeons are more of problem than the seagulls..

[.: JaCkPoT :.]

your not wrong there, but the pigeons are more of problem than the seagulls..

I think im in the same position as you. Plus all the manure they leave behind !

[dizzy]

My transparent dish gets a good signal, but reflects like a bastard in bright sunshine. Similarly they stop being transparent/translucent with rain, dew or frost. They do work, but only when the suns at just the right angle, at just the right time of year, with just the right weather conditions. This equates to about 15 hours a year. At these times its great just to sit back and appreciate your wise choice of dish and its lack of impact on the visual amenity of yourself and the neighbours.

A matt black dish would have looked better, until it starts rusting away of course .

[excollier]

Maybe you should try the Triax glass fibre dish for use near the sea..

[bilsat]

I installed a transparent dish on a bungalow and after about 18 months the cover on the LNB melted and this was repeated several times, in the end I replaced it with a standard dish and no more trouble! Most metal dishes have a matt finish, the clear ones reflect the full sun at the LNB.......