[NLRS] Parabolic Question

[Scott]

Hmmm....my first message appears to have been lost in cyberspace somewhere,
so here goes again...

I was wondering how the people that are using DSS dishes aim them,
particularly the elevation
setting.  Do you somehow use the marks on the original mounting plate?  It
looks like it would be
impossible to tell when you have it at zero degrees just by looking at the
dish.  At least on a parabolic fed
from the center, you can tell when the dish is level (horizontally).  I have
an extra DSS dish that I could use
for amateur work.  What bands will these dishes work well on?

Next question:  I have one of those little parabolics from SHF Microwave.
It is 12 inches in diameter,
with an f/d of 0.6, or 7.2".  The sheet that comes with the dish claims
gains of 15 dB at 2304, 17 dB
at 3.4 GHz, 23 dB at 5.7 GHz, 27 dB at 10.4 GHz and 33 dB at 24 GHz.  Do
these figures seem
believable for such a small dish?  I only planned to use it at 5.7 and 10
GHz.  How do these figures compare
to the DSS dish?  The small SHF Micro dish has the advantage of easier feed
as I plan to use PVC to
support a (separate) dipole for each band.  All I would need to do is swap
feeds to change bands.

Any comments will be greatly appreciated!

Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Building RV-4
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die!