Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old dish
is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
Thanks.
-- 
MCC

"MCC"  wrote in message 
news:dueqs7u3nf5n$.1gso7tw4pjtmx$.dlg@40tude.net...
> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
> The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old dish
> is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
> should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
> Thanks.
> MCC
>
>
You want something as bright and obtrusive as Silver?

I would have thought brick brown more appropriate

I'd use a non conductive cellulose car paint for durability
from a spray can, after masking off the LNB.

Steve Terry

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:04:51 +0100, Steve Terry wrote:

> "MCC"  wrote in message 
> news:dueqs7u3nf5n$.1gso7tw4pjtmx$.dlg@40tude.net...
>> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
>> The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old dish
>> is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
>> should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
>> Thanks.
>> MCC
>>
>>
> You want something as bright and obtrusive as Silver?
> 
> I would have thought brick brown more appropriate
> 
> I'd use a non conductive cellulose car paint for durability
> from a spray can, after masking off the LNB.

As the whole outside of the house is painted in 'Cornish Cream' I don't
think brick brown would look good :-)

Your recommendation of cellulose car paint is noted with thanks.
-- 
MCC

I'd have thought some enterprising paint company would have repackaged a low 
rf attenuation paint by now for this purpose!

Celulose is the best bet I think.

Brian

-- 
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
 graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email: briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


"Steve Terry"  wrote in message 
news:g9n1qo$vic$1@news.albasani.net...
>
> "MCC"  wrote in message 
> news:dueqs7u3nf5n$.1gso7tw4pjtmx$.dlg@40tude.net...
>> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
>> The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old 
>> dish
>> is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
>> should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
>> Thanks.
>> MCC
>>
>>
> You want something as bright and obtrusive as Silver?
>
> I would have thought brick brown more appropriate
>
> I'd use a non conductive cellulose car paint for durability
> from a spray can, after masking off the LNB.
>
> Steve Terry
>
>

MCC wrote:
> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
> The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old dish
> is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
> should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
> Thanks.

Yes, but I wouldn't recommend silver. A silver dish would reflect the 
sun's rays onto the LNB mounted at the focus. If the sun ever came out 
for long enough, this would be bad for the LNB!

Geoff

In article <g9n1qo$vic$1@news.albasani.net>, Steve Terry
 scribeth thus
>
>"MCC"  wrote in message 
>news:dueqs7u3nf5n$.1gso7tw4pjtmx$.dlg@40tude.net...
>> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
>> The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old dish
>> is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
>> should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
>> Thanks.
>> MCC
>>
>>
>You want something as bright and obtrusive as Silver?
>
>I would have thought brick brown more appropriate
>
>I'd use a non conductive cellulose car paint for durability
>from a spray can, after masking off the LNB.
>
>Steve Terry
>
>

We've got our two dishes up the corner of the garden both painted
Hammerite green and rather well they blend in too, and no difference in
performance:)..
-- 
Tony Sayer

In article <zq8kco0amhk4$.r7i65aox3y9m$.dlg@40tude.net>, MCC
 wrote:
> On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:04:51 +0100, Steve Terry wrote:

> > "MCC"  wrote in message
> > news:dueqs7u3nf5n$.1gso7tw4pjtmx$.dlg@40tude.net...
> >> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish? The outside of the house has
> >> just been painted and now the 7-year old dish is looking decidedly
> >> scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint should I use? Would
> >> aluminium paint (silver) be OK? Thanks. MCC
> >>
> >>
> > You want something as bright and obtrusive as Silver?
> > 
> > I would have thought brick brown more appropriate
> > 
> > I'd use a non conductive cellulose car paint for durability
> > from a spray can, after masking off the LNB.

> As the whole outside of the house is painted in 'Cornish Cream' I don't
> think brick brown would look good :-)

> Your recommendation of cellulose car paint is noted with thanks.

It is possible at some specialist car accessory shops to get spray paint
made to match an existing colour.  In the analogue days, I took a sample to
the Sandtex colour my house walls were painted and got spray paint to
match.  It made the dish a lot less obvious, pleasing SWMBO.

-- 
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

Geoff wrote:
> MCC wrote:
>> Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish?
>> The outside of the house has just been painted and now the 7-year old 
>> dish
>> is looking decidedly scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint
>> should I use? Would aluminium paint (silver) be OK?
>> Thanks.
> 
> Yes, but I wouldn't recommend silver. A silver dish would reflect the 
> sun's rays onto the LNB mounted at the focus. If the sun ever came out 
> for long enough, this would be bad for the LNB!
> 
> Geoff
No worries in the UK then!

In article <g9o9hk$kqf$1@localhost.localdomain>,
   Geoff  wrote:
> MCC wrote:
> > Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish? The outside of the house has
> > just been painted and now the 7-year old dish is looking decidedly
> > scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint should I use? Would
> > aluminium paint (silver) be OK? Thanks.

> Yes, but I wouldn't recommend silver. A silver dish would reflect the 
> sun's rays onto the LNB mounted at the focus. I

but surely only if the dish was aimed at the sun - otherwise it wouldn't
have much in the way of directional properties.

-- 
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

In message , charles 
 writes
>In article <g9o9hk$kqf$1@localhost.localdomain>,
>   Geoff  wrote:
>> MCC wrote:
>> > Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish? The outside of the house has
>> > just been painted and now the 7-year old dish is looking decidedly
>> > scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint should I use? Would
>> > aluminium paint (silver) be OK? Thanks.
>
>> Yes, but I wouldn't recommend silver. A silver dish would reflect the
>> sun's rays onto the LNB mounted at the focus. I
>
>but surely only if the dish was aimed at the sun - otherwise it wouldn't
>have much in the way of directional properties.
>
Are there not two occasions per year when the sun is 'eclipsed' by the 
satellite, ie the dish, satellite and sun are in a straight line? If 
this does happen, the sun's heat (and RF noise) will be focussed 
directly on the LNB.
-- 
Ian

In article <cIvFJlHwl$vIFwwK@g3ohx.demon.co.uk>,
   Ian Jackson  wrote:
> In message , charles 
>  writes
> >In article <g9o9hk$kqf$1@localhost.localdomain>,
> >   Geoff  wrote:
> >> MCC wrote:
> >> > Can I paint the mesh part of my Sky dish? The outside of the house has
> >> > just been painted and now the 7-year old dish is looking decidedly
> >> > scruffy. Is it possible to paint it and what paint should I use? Would
> >> > aluminium paint (silver) be OK? Thanks.
> >
> >> Yes, but I wouldn't recommend silver. A silver dish would reflect the
> >> sun's rays onto the LNB mounted at the focus. I
> >
> >but surely only if the dish was aimed at the sun - otherwise it wouldn't
> >have much in the way of directional properties.
> >
> Are there not two occasions per year when the sun is 'eclipsed' by the 
> satellite, ie the dish, satellite and sun are in a straight line? If 
> this does happen, the sun's heat (and RF noise) will be focussed 
> directly on the LNB.


well, no.  If the sun is eclipsed by the satellite, no sun will fall on the
dish

-- 
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

charles wrote:
> 
> 
> well, no.  If the sun is eclipsed by the satellite, no sun will fall on the
> dish
> 

I never knew the satellites were so big!!

Terry

Terry Casey wrote:
> charles wrote:
>>
>>
>> well, no.  If the sun is eclipsed by the satellite, no sun will fall 
>> on the
>> dish
>>
> 
> I never knew the satellites were so big!!
> 
> Terry
Are you boasting Terry?

Ian Jackson wrote:

> Are there not two occasions per year when the sun is 'eclipsed' by the 
> satellite, ie the dish, satellite and sun are in a straight line? If 
> this does happen, the sun's heat (and RF noise) will be focussed 
> directly on the LNB.

I made a point of watching the signal quality bar graph on one of those 
occasions when (Oct 21sh at 11:20ish BST ?) the sun falls directly behind the 
Astra 28.2E satellites. Didn't so much as glitch. Heavy rain has a far more 
dramatic effect.

-- 
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

In message , Broadback 
 writes
>Terry Casey wrote:
>> charles wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> well, no.  If the sun is eclipsed by the satellite, no sun will fall 
>>>on the
>>> dish
>>>
>>  I never knew the satellites were so big!!
>>  Terry
>Are you boasting Terry?

OK then, it's a partial - a very partial - eclipse of the sun by the 
satellite! Somewhere in the dim memory banks, I seem to remember that 
the rise of noise level can knock out communications for a short period.
-- 
Ian

On Thu, 4 Sep 2008 19:56:42 +0100, Ian Jackson
 wrote:


>OK then, it's a partial - a very partial - eclipse of the sun by the 
>satellite! Somewhere in the dim memory banks, I seem to remember that 
>the rise of noise level can knock out communications for a short period.

Just to be extra pedantic, I guess a partial eclipse would mean the
satellite would only be grazing the edge of the sun. What we're
talking about here would be a transit.

I dimly recall that an increase in noise is expected during a transit,
not because of heating of the LNB, but because the sun radiates some
noise itself. I think the effect is small on small dishes though
because the poor focus takes in a lot of cold sky even when the sun is
in the field of view. It gets worse as dish sizes increase, with the
potential for the sun to more completely fill the field of view.

Cheers,

Colin.

On Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:19:41 +0100, charles 
wrote:

>> Are there not two occasions per year when the sun is 'eclipsed' by the 
>> satellite, ie the dish, satellite and sun are in a straight line? If 
>> this does happen, the sun's heat (and RF noise) will be focussed 
>> directly on the LNB.
> 
> well, no.  If the sun is eclipsed by the satellite, no sun will fall on the
> dish

Well, yes. It is, quite obviously, only a partial eclipse. Depending on the
beamwidth of your dish, this sun-out happens for a few minutes on a few days
twice a year. No damage seems to be caused from any heating effect. If it
were, everybody would be replacing their LNBs all the time, but they're not.

In article , Colin Stamp wrote:
> >OK then, it's a partial - a very partial - eclipse of the sun by the 
> >satellite! Somewhere in the dim memory banks, I seem to remember that 
> >the rise of noise level can knock out communications for a short period.
> 
> Just to be extra pedantic, I guess a partial eclipse would mean the
> satellite would only be grazing the edge of the sun. What we're
> talking about here would be a transit.

Unless you want to be even more pedantic and call it an annular eclipse?

The satellite wouldn't transit the sun anyway, because it's stationary in 
the sky. The sun would move behind it, so I'm not sure what that ought to 
be called.....

It's late. I need sleep.

Rod.
-- 
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from 
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

The message 
from Roderick Stewart 
contains these words:

> In article , Colin Stamp wrote:
> > >OK then, it's a partial - a very partial - eclipse of the sun by the 
> > >satellite! Somewhere in the dim memory banks, I seem to remember that 
> > >the rise of noise level can knock out communications for a short period.
> > 
> > Just to be extra pedantic, I guess a partial eclipse would mean the
> > satellite would only be grazing the edge of the sun. What we're
> > talking about here would be a transit.

> Unless you want to be even more pedantic and call it an annular eclipse?

> The satellite wouldn't transit the sun anyway, because it's stationary in 
> the sky. The sun would move behind it, so I'm not sure what that ought to 
> be called.....

> It's late. I need sleep.

 I guess you must! :-) The satellite is only 'stationary' wrt earth
(well, it 'wobbles' a little bit). It's not called "Geosynchronous
Orbit" for nothing.

 Those satellites are most definitely moving, so they do indeed appear
to 'transit the sun'. It's not exactly the same sort of transit as the
Mercury or Venus ones, more related to our Moon's special case of
transit called an eclipse (full or partial) on account it can totally
obscure the whole disc of the Sun.

 However, regardless of which body a Sun transiting satellite orbits,
whenever it appears to cross the Sun's disc from our earthbound point of
view, that's a transit, that is. :-)

-- 
Regards, John.

 Please remove the "ohggcyht" before replying.
The address has been munged to reject Spam-bots.

Thanks for all the replies, folks.
Matt non-conductive cellulose paint in a suitable colour it will be.
I just love the way the thread wandered from paint to eclipses :-)
Back to lurk mode.
--
MCC

In article , Johnny B Good wrote:
> However, regardless of which body a Sun transiting satellite orbits,
> whenever it appears to cross the Sun's disc from our earthbound point of
> view, that's a transit, that is. :-)

Well, yes, but... "from our earthbound point of view" as you put it, the 
satellite appears to stay still while the sun appears to move behind it, which 
doesn't seem quite the same thing. That's what I was thinking about (though I 
was thinking about it late at night).

Rod.
-- 
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from 
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

"Ian Jackson"  wrote in message 
news:cIvFJlHwl$vIFwwK@g3ohx.demon.co.uk...

: Are there not two occasions per year when the sun is 'eclipsed' by the
: satellite, ie the dish, satellite and sun are in a straight line? If
: this does happen, the sun's heat (and RF noise) will be focussed
: directly on the LNB.

be cloudy and raining on those two days, no worry

"Low Life #3"  wrote in message 
news:g9rmrh$784$00$1@news.t-online.com...
>
> "Ian Jackson"  wrote in message
> news:cIvFJlHwl$vIFwwK@g3ohx.demon.co.uk...
>
> : Are there not two occasions per year when the sun is 'eclipsed' by the
> : satellite, ie the dish, satellite and sun are in a straight line? If
> : this does happen, the sun's heat (and RF noise) will be focussed
> : directly on the LNB.
>
> be cloudy and raining on those two days, no worry
>
>
and the other 363 days as well

Steve Terry