2 C-Band LNB's on a 6 foot dish

[Mr Tony]

Well what started as "could I get C-Band on my Primestar" turned into another project...and a successful one at that

My 6 foot dish right now is at G17/G11 but I kinda wanted some of the stuff on G16. So I tried my P* and didnt get very far (due to too many dishes blocking the view) so I said screw it and then saw the big dish and thought...hmmmm

Now I had done this before as shown here when I did 99/103 but could I get 91/99?

I took the LNB with scaler ring and put it up near the LNB...nothing....then moved it closer and BAM...the coveted networks.....I almost fell off the chair as I could never get them offset. Monkeyed around and got them around 50 quality just by holding the LNB there...World Harvest around 60, ABC HD 40 and a couple others near 60. If I took off the scaler ring nets were around 30 and ABC HD is gone. So I need the scaler ring on it

now how to fasten it. I had thought the Iceberg special (hoseclamps) but that didn't work. But as I was digging in the duffle bag for hose clamps I found a couple pieces of metal that had been used previously for the "get multiple KU LNB's on a dish" and then the wheels were turning.

removed the bolt from the scaler ring that was already there and put the bracket on there and fastened it to the 2nd LNB....stayed around 45-50. Found a different piece and put that on bottom and now it peaks at 60

Checked against my other 6 footer that is locked on G16 and its not bad...1st number is the fixed dish at G16 (the one that I wheel ouot of garage) and 2nd is the offset one

Nets 89 60
WHT 90 65
ABC HD 50 45
NBC Casp 45 0

so all and all I'm happy. and here are pics

 

[turbosat]

nice configgerin

I see the DMSI lnbf but what brand is the other one? Which one works best? Haven't yet bought a C-band lnbf but I like the idea of no polarity motor!

 

[Mr Tony]

the other one is the Eagle Aspen stacked LNB that Sadoun sells

that one allows me one cable to run 4 boxes off of by using a simple 4 way satellite splitter. The V are at LNB LO 5150 and the H are at 5750
Here is some info
http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-satellite-discussion/142224-b1sat-stacked-c-band-lnbf.html

and my "review"
http://www.satelliteguys.us/1480378-post10.html

 

[turbosat]

excellent

Ok, that's pretty neat. Time I looked into that, with more and more c-band digital channels I've found to watch.

 

[Mr Tony]

yeah its pretty nice. No need for 2 lines or a multiswitch. One line to a 4 way splitter

bad part is it doesn't work with 4DTV or analog boxes and some FTA boxes don't have the capability to have both on one setup

Fortec Classic does
Pansats do
Coolsat 8000, Visionsat & Fortec Merc II don't. Need 2 separate satellites. One with 5150 LO and one with 5750 LO

 

[Sadoun]

Iceberg

Mercury II works fine with the Eagle Aspen B1Sat LNBF.

Nice setup BTW. I give you ***** for your guts and experimentation.

 

[Anole]

why stop at two?

So, now with two C-band birds on one Fortec/Sadoun 6-foot dish . . .
. . . this frees up the one in the garage so you could put three C-band birds on line for weekend sports-fests! - :up

Of course, the obvious questions are:
- with two LNBs, one centered, and another to one side, what about the other side of center?
- how many LNBs to put on the garage dish...? -
- more stacked LNBs so you can easily distribute the signal to all the receivers?
- or is that too big a pain, and you really want the now-MIA dual-output C-bandito? -

Sounds like you've opened a whole new can of worms , there! -

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg

Mercury II works fine with the Eagle Aspen B1Sat LNBF.

what settings do I use? 5150 will only get V and 5750 (user defined) will only get H

Nice setup BTW. I give you ***** for your guts and experimentation.

thanks...it was just a wacky idea that worked....but then again alot of ideas that work here started out wacky

 

[Mr Tony]

So, now with two C-band birds on one Fortec/Sadoun 6-foot dish . . .
. . . this frees up the one in the garage so you could put three C-band birds on line for weekend sports-fests! - :up

yep. Mainly it allows me to pump the nets to the other receivers in the house as only the main room and bedroom have availability of the nets from OTA (living room via the TV and bedroom has a DTVPal) but now I can use the other dish for whatever suits my fancy. Also 3 of the receivers in use only had 3 ports on the diseqc switch filled so we had to fill the 4th

Of course, the obvious questions are:
- with two LNBs, one centered, and another to one side, what about the other side of center?

well using the theory of 8 degrees off (91 to 99) that would be 83. On C-Band you go from 72 to 87 until there is something C-Band so that probably isnt feasible. Also I luck out as my True South is 93 so 91 & 99 are almost same elevation. So Someone on the coasts may have harder time fastening it and figuring out elevation

- how many LNBs to put on the garage dish...? -

one. Just the 621

- more stacked LNBs so you can easily distribute the signal to all the receivers?

nah...the 2nd C-Band since temporary has a line that runs into the house and gets hooked up to a box as need be. Since alot of C-Band is AC-3 I need the HD box so I either use the Coolsat 8000 or the Q. Plus the 99 LNB I'll just split the line and put DC blocks on it. Only the Q would utilize the V side. The other boxes in the house being SD only would use it for H only. This idea was mainly used for the nets

- or is that too big a pain, and you really want the now-MIA dual-output C-bandito? -

The dual C-Band I have is wacky. Something blew in it. One port works great and gets H fine. If you flip to V it dies. The other port works but only if there is power from the 1st port. If you have 2 receivers powering it then you can get both polarities...hard to explain but basically if one box is on it can get H but not V but if both boxes are on then both get both ports. Something happened when the dish fell off the table a few times

 

[linuxman]

Very nice experiment!

Great pictures too!

Glad the Primestar worked out well for you too.

EDIT: Went back and re-read, and saw where the Primestar didn't work out for you.

But glad the 6 footer did what you wanted.

 

[Mr Tony]

yeah the Primestar wouldnt work. The only spot I could put it would give me between 87 (before the Starchoice dish on the roof blocks the view) and 97 to maybe 99 before the C-Band dish blocked the view

That is the drawback of a 38 true south elevation...cant have anything blocking it nearby. Or I need a flat roof instead

 

[linuxman]

That is the drawback of a 38 true south elevation...cant have anything blocking it nearby. Or I need a flat roof instead.

You need a big flat roof!

 

[Mr Tony]

yes I do

 

[rv1pop]

That is the drawback of a 38 true south elevation...cant have anything blocking it nearby. Or I need a flat roof instead

Why not 72 feet of wall + 16 feet high facing south -- or 18 acres of sloping land without buildings or trees?

(Oh yeah, I forgot, no commercial AC power either - NUTZ!)

AND no tropical storms or huricanes, but 30 MPH winds with gusts around 45-50 and "bursts" of over 100MPH --Oh well.

 

[Corrado]

Excellent work, Ice

I love that type of mounting hardware, you can quickly fabricate anything.

This project is particularly interesting to me. Do you think this would work with my 6' offset Prodelin?

I was curious if I could do this and was thinking about it 2 weeks ago. Now I have the time and motivation to try it.

 

[Anole]

Just as soon as I get my hands on a 6' Prodelin, I planned to put a brace of Ku LNBs across its snout.
I gotta think it would have two advantages:
- ability to get birds 2° apart (well, pretty #%^& close, anyhow)
- at least decent signal levels pretty far from center (where it should blow up the LNBs )

For C-band, that long focal length should let you get two C-band birds closer together than Iceberg can on his prime focus Fortec 6'er.
So, sure. Give it a shot. We need more test info on that dish anyway!

 

[Mr Tony]

Excellent work, Ice

thanks

I love that type of mounting hardware, you can quickly fabricate anything.

I had to laugh when it worked because all I did was dig in the duffel bag and found them

This project is particularly interesting to me. Do you think this would work with my 6' offset Prodelin?

I was curious if I could do this and was thinking about it 2 weeks ago. Now I have the time and motivation to try it.

try it. The worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work, right??

Just take a 2nd LNB with scaler ring and try 8 degrees off.