Can I modify my satellite dish (net-alike type)?

Question

Can I put something on the parabolic dish to fill the holes to make it becomes more efficient in reflecting waves?

Another question is, can I modify it by adding extra plate around the circle edge of the dish to make it larger to get more waves?

Answer 1

Pat , my guess is that you have a mesh C-band dish.
If you wish to use that dish for Ku - band then it helps if the holes are smaller than the width of a pencil , that is necessary for Ku reception.

Other than that , sounds like you have a C-band dish , I wish I knew what Satellite you were trying to get with it.

At one time I saw an article with pictures showing sheet metal being cut and riveted in place of the mesh panels , the person contributing was very handy and did a beautiful job , he also boasted that it performed excellent..

Adding the extra plate around the edge won't help , also know that if your dish was larger the distance to the feedhorn would also change.

If anything I want you to know that the mesh dish is excellent performing for c-band , if the signal you are trying to get is very weak than you would have to get a bigger dish.

Also if the feedhorn LNB and components are outdated it would help greatly to get low temp LNB which greatly reduces sparklies or bad reception.

I belong to a Satellite Forum called Satellite Guys U.S. , and if you look in the FTA section you will find great info on satellite dishes and can get help from experts.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/

good luck

Answer 2

The wave length of the signal should be longer than the holes so they make no difference but help the dish deal with wind.
If you are capable of making a curved plate in a parabola that extends the curve of the dish, then you might add to the signal at the antenna input, but if you can't then all your work will send most of the added reflections above or below the target.