Building a Satellite Dish

In this tutorial you will learn how to make the dish part of a satellite antenna.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 3 feet by 3 feet piece of sheet aluminum or steel
• Sheet metal curver
• Grinder
• Grease Pencil
• 1 and a 1/2 feet of string
• Tape Measure
• Permanent Marker
• Metal Paint
• Tape
• Safety goggles
• Leather Gloves
• Sand paper
• Breathing mask

Making the dish

1. Take the measure and find the center of the piece of sheet metal. Using your marker mark the center. Tape your string at the center point and attach the grease pencil at the other end of the string. Now fully extend the grease pencil and string to 1 1/2 feet. And draw a circle on the sheet metal with the string tight. You should now have a circle with a diameter of 3 feet on your sheet metal.

2. With your grinder cut off the excess pieces of the circle and smooth the edges. Keep the masking tape at the center, but remove the string and grease pencil. This will allow you to know where your center is onthe dish for reference while curving it Now with your sheet metal bender/curver, bend the metal so that it is at a uniform of a 15 degree parabolic curve. It will take a little time but just keep at it.

3. After you have your curve in the metal, remove the tape from the center if you have not already done so. Take your paint and evenly coat the entire dish. This will help protect the metal from rusting.

4. After several coats of metal paint have been applied allow it to dry and set up overnight. The next morning, check the curve of the dish and also check for clumps in the paint. If there are clumps lightly sand them out. You now have a fresh satellite dish ready to be assmebled into a satellite antenna.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use gloves when handling metal and grinders.
• Wear your breathing mask when painting.
• Wear your goggles at all times for this project.
• Your dish should have between a 12-15 degree parabolic curve from the center.
• USE METAL PAINT SO IT DOES NOT PEEL
• The vapors from sheet metal and also from paint can be carcinogenic. Remember to always wear your breathing mask/apparatus, safety goggles, and gloves when handling the metal or paint. Metal fragments that come off from grinding can cause metal slivers in your eyes if you are not wearing your goggles.
• Remember always use your head and that SAFETY IS ALWAYS A MUST.

[vernk]

on 4/21/2009 not bad. and the applications for this are many. the most important for me might be wifi networking. nice write up