A Prime star, A Offset Scaler Ring, And a Cband LNBF

[goaliebob99]

Sounds like a Joke, But its not.. What is the chance that a prime star with an offset Scaler ring on a cband LNBF will work? I picked up an oval primestar from Dodge today, Glad to meet him BTW, Got home after picking up some Chipotle for my wife and I for dinner. I took apart the LNBF and cleaned it out. Looks like at one time there was a nice wasp nest up in there. Pulled it apart and one of them little buggers actually survived the winter up in there. Got it all cleaned out and ready to go.

Now, if I put the dish on a motor like im planning to do, and use an offset scaler ring do you think it would work? What if i put the dish on its side so the longest part of the dish is up and down. Let me know what you guys think I need to do to pull this off. Keep in mind that I have no room for Cband and this dish is about as big as I can go becuse I live in an apartment. As soon as I go and buy a house, (within the next few years) This primestar will be converted into a motorized ku band setup.

 

[Mr Tony]

What is the chance that a prime star with an offset Scaler ring on a cband LNBF will work?

sure it will work. I've used the regular rings on my 621/Primestar combo and got some of the strong stuff. 121W has a few strong things.

What if i put the dish on its side so the longest part of the dish is up and down.

don't. Leave it on its oblong side

Honestly whats the worst thing that can happen? It doesn't work?

 

[goaliebob99]

Sweet.. I think I just have flip the back plate to adapt to the motor. I will have to find the thread where someone did this. I cant wait to get my first cband signal.

 

[Mr Tony]

Bob
What motor are you using?

As for pics for the C-Band, well this was a quick jerry rig job a week or so ago and the signals are from the Pansat 1500 which is jumpy

 

[badhat]

I hate to jump peoples threads... but don't want to start another. Iceberg: is that the bsc621 and did you just screw the scalar ring to the front of the p* lnb holder? I know... such an obvious answer because you take great pictures.. but I just wanted to make sure before I order one. With June coming I am getting more and more of those dishes. I'm gonna have a 75e dish farm after a while.

 

[goaliebob99]

Ice im going to be using a satracer 3, model
SM3D22

If I need to get a stronger motor I might do so.. How did you align the Cband LNB. There is an arrow on the bottom of my LNBF im assuming thats the center point for skew. Im going for a all in one solution, KU/C if possible.

 

[glen4cindy]

Bob
What motor are you using?

As for pics for the C-Band, well this was a quick jerry rig job a week or so ago and the signals are from the Pansat 1500 which is jumpy

Maybe this is my answer to getting some C-band in my HOA. I live right next door to the president of the association, and while he is a nice person, he is outspoken about people's yards, so I doubt I will get a pass for a Big Useful Dish. Now, if my pool pump and heater were not where they are I might be able to mostly hide the dish with my shed.

I have a source for a primestar dish, so all I would need is this nice white LNBF. Does it come with the scalar ring?

 

[Mr Tony]

is that the bsc621 and did you just screw the scalar ring to the front of the p* lnb holder?

yes. I marked where the scaler ring would match up perfectly and drilled a hole through so the bottom of the scaler ring sits on the groove of the Primestar LNB holder.

Should have had a better pic

 

[badhat]

Thanks Iceberg as usual you the man. I was tempted to try it a little while ago... now I am definitely going to try it. Thanks again. By the way... no the picture was great... got my blood pressure up... was just curious on the mounting options.

 

[truckracer]

HOA would hate me (if we had one) Two big monsters in the back yard ....beautifully landscaped of course.

 

[Mr Tony]

I was tempted to try it a little while ago... now I am definitely going to try it.

you should have tried it

What I did since the dish is fixed is aim to a KU sat with the KU LNB, then swap out for the C-Band and go from there. The elevation is a little off but allowed me for more time tweaking and less time trying to get near the signal

 

[Anole]

a few extra details

Ice im going to be using a satracer 3, model
SM3D22

If I need to get a stronger motor I might do so.. How did you align the Cband LNB. There is an arrow on the bottom of my LNBF im assuming thats the center point for skew. Im going for a all in one solution, KU/C if possible.

Is that SM3D22, the motor with the built-in diseqc switch?
I thought that was pretty cool and wanted one.
Only thing I noticed is that it doesn't have as much travel as other motors.
Verify that it will be sufficient for your needs.

Lot of threads, especially in the BUD section, where folks have trouble getting the Ku side of the BSC-621 to perform.
Linuxman has reported good results with the GeoSat CK-1 from SatAV, on both bands.
So, when I chose which to buy, I had to go with the CK-1.
Those tests are on BUDs , not 3-foot dishes, so don't expect much.

Here's a comment on the skew for both BSC-621 and GeoSat CK-1 LNBs.

Looking at Iceberg's picture above, the BSC-621 larger neck diameter puts the center of the LNB higher than the stock LNB, on that Primestar.
Because the LNB is higher, the dish will look lower, so you need to raise the dish's aim a little bit to compensate.
Once you know how many degrees, you should be able to use that same offset for locating any satellite.

While I suspect a conical scaler will improve performance on any offset dish, I don't think it's going to be the magic bullet.
Really sounds like your dish (84e?) is pretty small for much more than a little C-band taste.
You're seen the several guys here using 120's (4') dishes?
As for Ku, I'll be looking forward to hearing how that works out. - :up

 

[gnuorder]

yes. I marked where the scaler ring would match up perfectly and drilled a hole through so the bottom of the scaler ring sits on the groove of the Primestar LNB holder.

How did you attach it? Did you drill a hole in the groove and use self tapping bolts or does the ring line up with the old bolt holes? I thought of bending a strip of metal in a U to fit the diameter of a KU LBN with the plastic shell removed but the 621 diameter is too wide for that.

 

[Mr Tony]

I used one of the screws that comes with the LNB. There are 3 screws that screw right into the scaler rings and attach to the C-Band dish arms. I just used one of those

 

[goaliebob99]

Anole, thanks that's going to help when I go to get this up. That answers alot of questions.

 

[bloomdog]

The dish looks like a 36" eliptical (I have one too)--can you really get C-Band on such a small dish??? If the amnswer is "yes", then I know how I am spending my SUnday!!

 

[Mr Tony]

bloomdog
The P* is 40x30 and yes you can get some of the strong stuff

 

[bloomdog]

I'm on it first thing in the morning. Can you recommend some strong birds & channels for me to aim for? Thanks.

 

[Mr Tony]

99W World Harvest TV (4000 H 26400)
121W...STO & HITN are very strong (as shown above)

 

[Gray1]

OK I am so confused. Somebody straighten me out. Your receiveing C-band through a C-band LNB with a primestar dish. Is it C-Band analog or digital? I thought the FTA receivers only received KU. Am I wrong on that?

Thats really neat Iceberg.

Thanks for explaining

Allen