Dishes that dont look like dishes

Ulsterman 1690

Anyone tried one of these

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=220124&doy=22m6

Its some kind of flat dish that claims to be only 45cm yet perform as well as a 65cm dish

Might be handy for the "I paid X00,000 for an apartment and the council/residents group/managment company/local branch of the Hitler youth are trying to stop me having a dish" folks

If they dont know what it is theyre less likely to object

watty

It won't.

It may perform neary as well as a 45cm zone1 dish.

(But you knew that, Ultimately the area is what counts, though efficency is important, but less dish like systems tend to be less efficent.)

May be OK for Dublin/ South East.

Poor for non-2D channel in West, North, Mid West or South West in rain.

Maplin has 80cm ish nearly transparent one.

Big Tone

When BSB (not Sky) launched back in the early 90s they didn't use the traditional dish either, they called it a "Squariel" but the problem was you had to put them up next to your Sky dish which people didn't really bother with which is why they were about to go bust when Murdoch (no, not the one from the A Team!) bought them out.

watty

The UK government had insisted BSB use DMAC (similar to D2MAC) a hybrid system of Digital / Analogue giving higher quality than PAL, but using more satellite bandwidth and more expensive receivers with SCART only.

Sky used unlicensed (in UK) FM PAL which was cheaper and easier to encrypt.

It was never a level playing field and the hybrid Digital concept (BSB's government inflicted system) was doomed as not enough TVs had SCART RGB and not enough TVs good enough to see the difference in quality between Composite and RGB. Even today the majority of SCART satellite receivers are set to Composite, even though RGB is now possible on ALL satellite receivers and virtually all TVs.

No MAC system ever had decent encryption. DVB killed of the last MAC systems (scandinavia) very quickly as they had no compression, thus very expensive on Satellite space.

wil

the squarial still lives - actually rectangial if my eyes dont deceive ;-)
at least in alibabas cave
http://szapocom.en.alibaba.com/product/50231502/51237223/Antenna/Flat_Panel_Antenna.html

http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11368654/Flat_Satellite_Antenna.html

As for D2Mac is there any possible use today for a D2Mac decoder as I thought the last transmission ceased last year, just that a guy I know is looking for a remote for his decoder and I have no idea why, museum perhaps.

watty

No use for it D2MAC, unless it does ordinary Analogue FM PAL too. The "inferior" system outlives DMAC.

Anga exhibition was full of rectangular/square aerials, 3 Kinds:
1) Box with secondary reflector in lid to allow a very shallow dish and LNB at rear.
2) 64 approx mini horns and waveguides of metalized plastic to make a thin array with LNB on rear.
3) Printed circuit flat array with stripline combiners.

(1) is about twice depth, but lightest and higher gain and very cheap (< 35 Euro)

3) Is thinest, but expensive and low gain.