Discovery Dish Project Update: Dish Manufacturing Progressing Well!



Kraken RF Inc. has released an update on their Discovery Dish Project
The Discovery Dish project is moving forward, and they’ve just received the first finished manufacturing samples of the petalized version of the dish! These dishes look great and perform even better. The prototype dishes used for testing were handmade and had a rough surface, which isn’t ideal for parabolic reflectors. With the smoother surface of the production dish, the maximum possible signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on a satellite like GOES has increased by around 0.5 dB to 1 dB.
Originally, they planned to anodize the dish petals to create a duller surface that wouldn’t reflect sunlight and protect the metal. However, after some testing, they’ve decided to go with powder coating instead. Powder coating provides a less shiny, more professional-looking finish that also reflects less sunlight.
They previously mentioned that the dish would weigh just under 1 kg. However, due to the petalization process and the addition of a few screws, the weight of the dish (not including mounting gear) is now about 1.15 kg. This is still very light and easy to handle.
There are still a few minor issues to address, but the dish is about to start mass production. Once that starts, it will take about 40 days to complete. Unfortunately, this means they’ll need to push back the delivery date by a couple of months again. Sea freight transport to the USA will also take about 2-3 weeks minimum.
Feed Manufacturing Progress
They’ve received the final test of the injection-molded enclosure for the Discovery Dish feed PCB. They’ve carefully chosen and tested various plastic mixes to ensure it’s highly UV resistant, has a high melting point (to avoid damage from focused heat by the dish), and is highly RF transparent to not affect reception.
All parts of the feed are now being mass manufactured and should be ready to ship to the USA in about 4-6 weeks.
S-Band Feed
In the last update, they mentioned they would soon be releasing an S-Band feed. This is still on track; they’re just waiting on confirmation of production for the SAW filters required before they release it for sale.
Discovery Dish Outdoor Metal Enclosure Progress
The Outdoor Metal Enclosure sets have arrived safely in the USA after a month-long sea freight journey. They’re awaiting final packaging before shipping to the Mouser warehouse. Please note that Crowd Supply won’t ship individual parts of your order separately. So, if you ordered the entire set including the dish, you’ll need to wait until the dish is ready to ship.
Antenna Rotator
They’ve decided to modify the design of the original antenna rotator prototype to make it more durable in high winds. This results in a larger and sturdier rotator, but the price will need to be a bit higher than originally anticipated. They’re still targeting an affordable price, similar to other options like the AntRunner.
A Bit About the Delays
Unfortunately, there will be at least a two-month delay before backers receive their products. The Discovery Dish required more custom manufacturing than initially anticipated, and not everything turned out perfect on the initial samples. Because of this, they had to work with manufacturers more than expected to resolve issues. The good news is that almost everything is now figured out, and they’re entering the final stages! They want to extend a big thank you to all backers for their patience.