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New to dish antennas- Should I get a radome?

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KM6SLF
KM6SLF's picture
New to dish antennas- Should I get a radome?
Good morning,

I just configured a new Ubiquiti PBE-M5-620. It's my first dish antenna, and I don't know too much about how to optimize their performance aside from pointing them in the right direction. 
https://www.ui.com/airmax/powerbeam/

Do I need to get a radome for this?
https://store.ui.com/collections/operator-accessories/products/iso-beam-620

How much would it help? Are there any technical considerations I should be aware of? If anyone could give me a quick run down of the advantages, disadvantages and things to consider on the subject I'd very much appreciate it. 

My hope is to use this dish antenna in combination with an M5 Rocket on a 90 degree sector antenna to provide some coverage for North San Clemente. I have a couple locations scouted out, but would welcome input on this also.
K6CCC
K6CCC's picture
No radome needed.

No radome needed. Normally the only thing that a radome does for you is reduce the windload a little.  Also in severe iceload areas, you can put a heater inside the radome to prevent large amounts of ice from forming on the antenna.  I really doubt you will build up much ice in San Clemente!
One more thing, in really high RF congestion environments, the isolator part of that one will slightly reduce side lobe signals.
 

KF6RTA
KF6RTA's picture
Another reason for a radom is
Another reason for a radom is to keep birds from roosting on the feedhorn...

-Jonathan
K6CCC
K6CCC's picture
But the converse to that is
But the converse to that is birds storing stuff inside the radome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZkAP-CQlhA
 
KM6SLF
KM6SLF's picture
Laughed out loud when I saw
Laughed out loud when I saw it! LOL! Unreal. That's NUTS!
KM6SLF
KM6SLF's picture
Thanks so much for the
Thanks so much for the feedback, I'll hold off on it. In the term, I'm only going to be using it on a portable testing rig to see if there's a friendly rooftop nearby that might facilitate a connection to the mesh. I'm in a bit of a mesh desert here.

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