Anyone ever used this dish? Viking Satcom 6' Prime Focus

[TheHamNerd]

Has anyone ever used this dish? Has anyone used it for dual band C/KU? Has anyone used it for KU only? I am sure it is almost too small for C-band, or at least it would be a challenge for C-band as 10' would be better. I am more curious how well it works on the KU band, and what LNB would be a good match for this beast. Just curious if it is worth looking at. It looks like a multi-panel dish, and not a smooth surface, or a solid whole dish.

 

[77TA]

It might help to posts some pics. In general a 6ft dish is no where near as good as a 10ft for c band but it can still pull in quite a few channels. I use a 6ft sadoun prime focus dish with a combo c/ku ns741 lnbf. If you check out the c band section of “The List” http://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist/ anything added in April of this year between 58W and 125W was scanned in using my dish. For ku band it tends to get a little better reception than my 90cm but usually not as good as my 1 meter.

A 6ft is a compromise for most people. Until recently it was all you could get for c band that was new and shipped to your door and it was also about the largest dish a lot of married guys could get and stay that way.

 

[primestar31]

It's the same dish as the Sadoun 6ft prime focus one, except it doesn't come with the polar mount. Hypermegasat has been selling it for over a year, for around $119 plus shipping.
It's good enough for a 6 footer, as long as you spend some time and bolt it together very carefully. If you buy one, you'll wonder why you didn't wait a bit longer for a 10 footer though.

http://www.hypermegasat.com/VS-180TVRO.htm

 

[77TA]

Having a fixed Az/El Mount instead of a polar mount would limit you to one satellite, but at that price it would be a nice dish to set on 99W for the cw, nbc, fox, abc, livewell, metv, the lesea channels and all the syndication feeds. There are also some decent wildfeeds there from time to time especially if you like boxing.

 

[mc6809e]

Has Sadoun changed the design of their 6ft dish? I've had mine for several years but their web site still shows the same SD180PM pictures and specs.

To me, the Viking dish looks more like a Fortec 6ft dish than a Sadoun dish. The Sadoun's specs say it's 0.8mm galvanized steel but the Fortec's specs didn't list the metal thickness. My Sadoun is heavier than my Fortec with 6 bolts holding the panels together instead of the 5 bolts in the Fortec panels. Both dishes mount on 3" OD poles instead of the 3½" OD pole listed for the Viking. Both my Sadoun and Fortec have the scalar support arms bolted to the edge of the dish instead of the front of the panels. The Viking dish specs say it's 0.6mm steel so it should be lighter than the Sadoun. From the picture of the back of the Viking dish it looks like the panels are also bolted together like the Fortec.

While I can't comment on the actual construction quality of the Viking dish, I can say the Sadoun is a much better dish than the Fortec and I wish I had spent the extra money on another Sadoun instead of the Fortec I bought. The Fortec was cheaper and it is just that, cheaper.

Ernie

 

[Titanium]

The best thing that I could say about the Fortec Star dishes were that they were plentiful!

 

[Arion]

Sadoun hasn't had those 6' dishes in stock for over a year now but he doesn't take down the item from his website or say that it's unavailable. Last summer I placed an order for one, my credit card was charged and then I get an email from him three days later saying that all he has left is panel segments and a few odds and ends. He refunded my money but why leave something on the website that your out of and don't expect anymore coming in?

 

[TheHamNerd]

Sorry...the link for this dish is here: http://www.vikingsatcom.com/product.php?id=30

After reading several reviews on other site...I do not think this is the way to go. I think I would rather have a solid dish without all the panels. Besides it looks kind of flimsy and have seen mods for making it more rigid by making a ring out of 1/2" EMT conduit along the rim.....no thanks. I don't want to have to mod a new dish....it kind of defeats the purpose. Modifying an old dish, or used is different.

 

[jaco]

. . . at that price it would be a nice dish to set on 99W for the cw, nbc, fox, abc, livewell, metv, the lesea channels and . . .

I ran into your reply while researching C band dishes. I have had a Ku band dish for many years now. What drew me to C band was the possibility of getting network programming on SES 2 (87W). Now that you mentioned Galaxy 16 (99W), that opens up another option. <Anybody here miss Galaxy 10R?>

Anyways, satbeams.com gives me EIRP levels of 42 - 43 dBW at my location in W.Va. for both SES 2 and Galaxy 16. This corresponds to a dish diameter of 110cm. My question is why wouldn't 180cm or even 150cm be enough dish when 110cm is recommended? When I search for answers, the consensus among posters is that 6ft isn't enough and that if I don't get a 10ft dish I'll regret it later.

Thanks in advance.

J

 

[Titanium]

A 6' dish may have enough gain to receive many of the transponders on these satellites, but these footprint maps are showing you the minimum size recommended for receiving a full transponder at 100% power under perfect conditions. Footprint maps do not take into consideration the signal attenuation during weather, the partial use of a transponder, the FEC/Symbol Rate and reduced power for cost savings. The biggest issue that is overlooked is that a smaller dish is not 2 degree compliant and adjacent satellite signals will not be rejected and cause interference.

Yes, smaller dishes often can receive channels in perfect conditions, but there is no margin for error. There will be channels that cannot be received.

 

[77TA]

From practical experience using a 6ft dish for over 1 ½ years I can say that at my location I rarely have problems receiving all the regular channels on 99W but do occasionally have trouble with some of the wildfeeds. Anyone who wants a dedicated dish for 99W c band would be well served with a 6ft dish. As for 87W there are mixed results. Many times I have good results, other times not. I believe I could get consistently good results with an 8ft at my location, but know others struggle to get them with one at their location.
I would not expect anyone to get consistent reliable service on 87W with a 6ft.

 

[tekjunkie02]

I'm a cheapskate with a limited number of friends and contacts.
So, I got one of the Sadoun 6 footers, but I put it up for C-band only... I also put up a cheap WSI 90-95cm dish for Ku.
I did it that way hoping that having dedicated dishes would give me a little better performance than trying to get both bands on one dish.
They both keep me plenty busy..lol But, they get me more TV than I can watch, and the "entertainment" of this hobby and these forums.
There's always something to watch, maybe not exactly what I hoped for, but hey... $0.00/month