Eduard's marvellous homemade 3m dish

[andrew....@googlemail.com]

Hi Eduard

 

Just watched your two great videos on your 3m dish – incredible piece of kit! Thanks for sharing.

 

Only thing is – I was very worried for you when you were putting it together – you looked quite precarious on the step-ladder and I was frightened you’d fall off, and when you were lifting the dish onto its mount, I was very concerned for your back!

 

….You can tell I am a medical doctor, can’t you?

 

Make sure you don’t get hurt – but, apart from that, please keep showing us all the brilliant stuff you are doing – you’re quite an inspiration.

 

Andy

[Marcus D. Leech]

Oh yeah, Andy?  Where were you when I fell from the top tier of a fully-loaded hay wagon with a bale in my hand?  Huh?  Huh?   :) :) :)    I came away largely
  unscathed but we later  (like 2 years) found that I had broken the facet bones in my lower back.

Also, Vihar Bogar (don't know whether they post on here) built themselves a 6m dish over the course of about a year, and they're getting really-nice results.
  Fairly sure that a big part of that work was "sketch" :)

I try to be sensible and kind to my back at the observatory these days.  I wear a lumbar support belt, and never try to lift anything beyond my capabilities as a 62yo.

We're putting up a small (2.5m) dish near the entrance to the observatory--partially as "decoration" -- the new owners of the facility are really keen on selling the
  "observatory" aspects of the place.   I'm letting the new owners (20 years younger than me) dig and pour the foundations for that dish :)

We're also putting up a 3m dish on another part of the property in the coming weeks.  We'll likely hire a commercial outfit to drill a foundation hole for us.  None of the
  "heroism and bravado" of my former youthful self.

[Eduard Mol]

Hi Andy, 

Thanks for the kind words!

Yes… I was also a bit concerned there on that ladder and was moving very carefully. It was quite stable though, maybe it looked more precarious in the video than it was in real life because of the camera angle. 

As to lifting the central piece, it is not terribly heavy but still very awkward to lift due to how. the center of mass is positioned. That’s why I also noted in that video that it is better to assemble and lift with two people (usually my dad helps out). 

If anything, that video shows the problems of having a modular 3 metre dish, even for a young guy like me it is already an unwieldy piece of equipment to set up. 

If I have to replace/ rebuild the dish at some point I would pick an a more compact/ lightweight design. Maybe an “umbrella” type dish that can be folded up but it is hard to keep a good parabolic surface shape with that. 

Or perhaps an interferometer type setup with 2 or more smaller lightweight 1.5- 2 metre sized dishes. 

Op do 16 okt 2025 om 18:30 schreef andrew.thornett via Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers <sara...@googlegroups.com>

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[andrew....@googlemail.com]

Yipes, Marcus! Sounds nasty.

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[andrew....@googlemail.com]

Don’t misunderstand me, Eduard – your 3m dish is amazing and truly inspirational…..now, do you think I can sneak one of those into our garden when my wife isn’t looking….perhaps if I spray-paint it green then she might not notice it when she looks out of the kitchen window.

 

Eduard, your parents are VERY supportive – hold onto them!!....and if you ever get married, show the girl the dish first before asking her to ensure she is the right sort of lass!!.....else your lovely dish might disappear one day when you are not looking.

 

Andy

 

From: sara...@googlegroups.com <sara...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Eduard Mol
Sent: 16 October 2025 19:39
To: sara...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [SARA] Eduard's marvellous homemade 3m dish

 

Hi Andy, 

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