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Originally Posted by elgemcdlf
Actually my recommendation comes from experience. Having owned both mesh and solid (spun alum not fiberglas) The solid dish performs way superior to a mesh dish. Especially for Ku. Can you do Ku on a mesh? Sure I am just like many are BUT if you are buying from scratch a new system that you want to use for both I still hold with a solid dish.
My last dish at a previous residence that was far away so the dish stayed was a 10' solid and I loved it. I have been marginally satisfied with my 8.5' mesh.
Sorry Bill just a die hard solid fan here. I simply have not found a mesh that compares. I am currently putting in another 8.5' mesh for dedicated circular C Band and most likely will convert the other mesh for just the same thing once I replace with a spun alum (one piece) solid dish. At that point the small Ku dish will most likely just fade away into the sunset  |
I wonder if you can suggest a place for a hobbiest like us to purchase a "good" solid 10' dish, and a motor/mount capable of moving it, and indicate the cost, including shipping charges? Ie, my point is that I don't argue that a "good" quality solid dish would be better, but I do argue that these are items that are most people would consider buying, mainly because the shipping costs for these things would exceed the total cost of a mesh dish. This is starting to sound like the guys over on SatForums telling everyone that the "need" 26' dishes and need spectrum analyzers and other expensive professional equipment to get reception.
Most big solid dishes that you see at residences are OLD C-band things that often don't work well for Ku. New big solid dishes will work quite well for Ku, however I just don't consider them to be practical for most hobbiests, because they are expensive,and expensive to ship. If you have a dealer nearby, where you can avoid the shipping charges, then perhaps this would be practical, but for most people this is a lot of effort and expense for little return.
However, as I said, my main complaint was with the suggestion that you "NEED" a solid dish . To get 99.9% of the things you'll see discussed here in this and other similar forums with consumer receivers, you do NOT need a solid 10' dish. An above average quality mesh dish will get virtually everything you'll see listed that you can get with a consumer receiver, although with the advent of some of the newer modulation techniques, higher quality dishes will probably be required, but at this point, none of the consumer receivers are capable of those modes anyway.
Yes, a professional quality solid dish is better, but I think it is not right to tell a beginner that he "NEEDS" such a dish. Just my opinion.