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Dual Parabolic Dishes on Equatorial mount (and their descendants)

Step 6Old stuff

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2 comments

May 28, 2011. 1:02 PMbloodybob says:

I know that what you're trying to accomplish is well over my head, but wouldn't a satellite dish work? When I go to the local junk yard they are plentiful. I have often dreamed of putting them to use, and again I am probably way off base so just take my comments with a grain of salt. Hope you get your design off the ground, I love what you are doing.

Cheers, William

May 28, 2011. 9:58 PMgaiatechnician (author) says:

Hi, William, I think a satellite dish will work IF you can counterweight its center of gravity. I just work on this idea when time permits so unfortunately it goes really slow. And I am not great at making the stuff I dream up so worse again.
The long term object is to have something that slowly rotates to follow the sun, and have the receiver ALWAYS in the one place. So you still probably have to lop off a chunk of the dish, or slices through it to attach it to the equatorial mount because it would get in the way at some parts of the seasons.
My project stalled last September. (My backyard gets little light in winter). And this spring in Victoria has been the coldest wettest since the 1940's. I took it apart and rebuilt part of it recently but now that the sun has showed up, I am insanely busy at work.
Finished at 7.40 today, 9.40 last night and about 8.40 the previous night. (That's burnout schedule for stonemasons!) Anyway, thanks for the comment. Glad someone is still checking the stuff out. Maybe one of you will make it a reality.