Big Dish Problems

[Andrews12]

Thanks for the Help, The Dish Is Back in Service.

Will this dish be good for C_band , and does anyone use this same dish?
Will a Ku LNB work on this type of dish for test only to lock on any Ku-Sat?

I planed on using different dishes for C & Ku band's , so I have one big dish that I cannot lock onto anything. I measured the dish 10ft from rim to rim straight across keeping the tape measure straight , but with the concave shape it is likely 12ft.
I tried a 10750-Linear LNB on this dish yesterday and can't lock onto 123*W or any of the other nearby Sats 119*W to 123*W , I am only testing before I scrap the dish and get a 5ft or 6ft for C-band , already tried C-band with the BSC621-2 and got no lock , so Im trying the 10750-Linear LNB because I know its good , and
I need to know if these LNB's work on Prime Focus dishes ?? if that is what this dish is because it is not a offset dish.
Brass coloured label on the feedhorn shroud reads Made in Canada Andrew 170501 with a black lightning volt.

Here are some pics of the dish , if it helps.

 

[Kb Cool]

Is that a floor jack being used to set elevation?
And is your feed centered? From the pics it doesn't appear to be. Hard to tell though.

 

[Corrado]

The LNBF is nowhere near centered as pictured. I would get the proper LNBF setup and work with aligning the dish. Deep dishes such as that one require very accurate aiming.

Why scrap a good dish? Give it to someone that will put it to use.

 

[1ADAM12]

Looks like a commercial dish should be very good performer on both C and KU bands.

Your lnb looks good to go. It has a conical scalar on it and will only illuminate a portion of the dish.

My guess is that your dish is off the Clarke Belt and possibly you don't have the lnbf skewed properly.

If you concentrate on one satellite (say 119) you should be able to get it aligned properly.

Check Dish for plumb pole and correct dish angles. That is likely where you have gone wrong. Start out with skew set close to zero.

If the first picture is the way you have it now, then rotate the lnbf so that the cable is at the bottom. That will be a starting point.

 

[pcrider]

Will this dish be good for C_band , and does anyone use this same dish?
Will a Ku LNB work on this type of dish for test only to lock on any Ku-Sat?

**Test Only? I assume you mean Learning Only, and not test as in stealing signals.

I planed on using different dishes for C & Ku band's , so I have one big dish that I cannot lock onto anything. I measured the dish 10ft from rim to rim straight across keeping the tape measure straight , but with the concave shape it is likely 12ft.

**Dishes are measured straight across the rim you have a 10 foot dish. It can only focus a ten foot area of signal.

I tried a 10750-Linear LNB on this dish yesterday and can't lock onto 123*W or any of the other nearby Sats 119*W to 123*W , I am only testing before I scrap the dish and get a 5ft or 6ft for C-band , already tried C-band with the BSC621-2 and got no lock , so Im trying the 10750-Linear LNB because I know its good , and
I need to know if these LNB's work on Prime Focus dishes ?? if that is what this dish is because it is not a offset dish.

**Odd I keep wishing I had a decent 10 foot dish, my 8 foot dishes just don't quite get everything they could.

**Don't see any reason it wouldn't work. In your #1 pic you show the LNBF skewed to about 2:00 o'clock when the dish appears to be pointing straight south. With the dish pointed due south, (the highest point on your arc) the LNBF should be vertical. Straight up and down. Also it appears that your LNBF is not quite deep enough in the feed. The face of your LNBF should be about the same position as the face of your old cband feed. If it already is great. Get that much working and you might have a shot.

That being said its hard to say how flat the dish is looking at the pics. Can't really tell if its dented up all over as with hail damage either. What really matters is what kind of signal you get once you have the LNBF tweaked into place.

At the very least you'll learn something about feeds with your project.

Good luck.
PcRider
Brass coloured label on the feedhorn shroud reads Made in Canada Andrew 170501 with a black lightning volt.

 

[Andrews12]

Thanks for the Info , now I know it is 10ft not 12ft.
I am going to buy a brand new C-band only BSC621 today , because I want to enjoy receiving those C-band DVB-Ch's on 121*W and 103*W.
The dish is not dented or dinged, but the scaler that holds the LNBF is not properly flat.

My dial-up accelerator may have depreciated the picture quality of the good pics I had, I am going to turn it off before I upload again.

And no to stealing signals, not wanting that, just the many good DVB Ch's available.

 

[Andrews12]

Yes that is a WallMart floor jack being used to set elevation.
As I do not want to bother with the Clark Belt setup, I don't have the motor , the dish hunter I bought it from for $25.00 , must have kept it.
I hope it will still work for 103*W or 121*W C-band , just by manually pointing and alligning like the smaller dishes, thats why Im using the hydraulic floor jack.

 

[Andrews12]

Looks like a commercial dish should be very good performer on both C and KU bands.

Your lnb looks good to go. It has a conical scalar on it and will only illuminate a portion of the dish.

My guess is that your dish is off the Clarke Belt and possibly you don't have the lnbf skewed properly.

If you concentrate on one satellite (say 119) you should be able to get it aligned properly.

Check Dish for plumb pole and correct dish angles. That is likely where you have gone wrong. Start out with skew set close to zero.

If the first picture is the way you have it now, then rotate the lnbf so that the cable is at the bottom. That will be a starting point.

Do these big dishes need to use the Clarke Belt set-up just to be able to lock onto 121`W or 103*W for DVB C-band channels ?

 

[1ADAM12]

Do these big dishes need to use the Clarke Belt set-up just to be able to lock onto 121`W or 103*W for DVB C-band channels ?

The Clarke Belt is the arc in the sky that all DVB satellites are spread out in.

You should try aligning the KU lnbf and dish elevation for practice. Then when you get your BSC621 you will be better able to get it working.

Many members like to use a strong transponder to do initial set up. 119 is good for ku and nasa is a strong signal there.

For C band Sports Time Ohio on 121 is a strong TP.

 

[Andrews12]

Thanks for the Help, The Dish Is Back in Service.

The Clarke Belt is the arc in the sky that all DVB satellites are spread out in.

You should try aligning the KU lnbf and dish elevation for practice. Then when you get your BSC621 you will be better able to get it working.

Many members like to use a strong transponder to do initial set up. 119 is good for ku and nasa is a strong signal there.

For C band Sports Time Ohio on 121 is a strong TP.

Thanks for the helpfull information: I got C_Band working for the very first time , the Andrew dish is back in service
I gave up with the Focus 10750-Ku-band LNB , got nothing likely because its not designed for the dish.
So I put the C-band LNBF BSC621-2 back on and adjusted it while watching the green strength bar on a portable DVD player screen , I got the best signal I could on the green bar by pushing the unit in as far as it would go and turning it upside down with the switch box pointed up 80%-strength, then I tried aiming the dish for C-band DVB TV on 123*W Transponder-24 - 4176-H/20000/3/4 (Jewish Life TV) , and I finally got the Red quality bar to come up , so I scaned and the channel worked, now I knew the dish & LNBF worked , so I aimed for 121*W-C_band with transponder info from Lingsat for DVB, and slightly lifted the dish with the car jack first then slowly moved the dish to the left and got a lock with the Red quality bar , I made adjustments to the dish and the LNBF till I got the best quality I could. Now the LNBF has the block facing straight down , and with it pulled back out a little, now the front sticking out past the scalar ring close to 1/4-inch I got the highest quality signal for yesterday night Wed-Aug-19 at 8pm.
Here are results of Quality (signal lock) with a CW-800 receiver.
Transponder Red-Bar-Quality
3707-H/5632-3/4 =71% -Sports Time Ohio
3719-H/3000-7/8 =71%
3724-H/3002-3/4 =65% -Sportsman Channel
3777-H/1860-7/8 =0%
3780-V/29270/7/8 =0%
3877-H/4444/3/4 =24% to 99% jumps up & down
3900-V/27684/3/4 =0%
3940-V/29270/7/8 =0%
4051-V/13333/3/4 =38%
4100-V/29270/3/4 =0%
4134-H/3300/3/4 =57%
4140-V/25325/3/4 =46%
4160-H/824/Auto =0% -CTV24
4160-H/19510/3/4 =0% Trying to get Free-CTV24

Now Im trying for 103*W after marking dish settings for 121*W

I found out both BSC621 & BSC621-2 are both dual band , I want C_band only .
--I would like to know if the Gospell GCF-D12T LNBF (with C_band only) will perform better with more signal quality than the one Im using ?

 

[turbosat]

Thats pretty good work, finding those sats with a floor jack, lol. Hard to tell from the picture, but there should be a way to brace the dish with a flat piece of steel, with holes drilled in the right place, and attached to the points where a linear actuator would normally go. They used to make hand-cranks for c-band dishes, I still have one thats 20+yrs old-crank it to where you want it and leave it.
A nice Andrew dish should prob be getting 100% signal and quality on most everything on c-band-have you tried the string test on the dish to see how accurate the parts fit together?
(stretch strings vertically and horizontally across the face of the dish, to see if they meet in the middle).

edit: At some point you might want to find yourself a good dish motor, aka linear actuator to move between satellites. Might even find a used one someplace. There's a lot of c-band signals to see, and a good used analog c-band receiver usually has motor-control built-in, to move your dish for the fta box.

 

[1ADAM12]

Those lnbf are pretty easy to tune but not the best inexpensive C band lnbf.

I like the BSC-421 and the Panorama which sells for 90 pounds in UK??? or $18 on Ebay. The Panorama has a smaller throat size then 65 mm so for you, I suggest the BSC-421.

Your levels are still too low and your dish elevation and azimuth need some work. With that dish your SQ should be a green bar in the 80's for most TP's

Suggest you go to Sadoun site and look at the detail drawings of the polar mounts on their C band dishes. This may help you to figure out how to improve your dish mount.

That is a great dish, you are fortunate to have it. When you get it set up properly it will give you a wealth of entertainment. If you can find a one meter dish that would be a good choice for KU.

 

[Anole]

enough screwing around:

Now that you have proven you can get signal, and the dish & LNBF are working (as well as your receiver tuning), I think it's time to get serious. - :up

Ditch the jack, align the dish/mount properly, and put a motor on it.
That way, as you move from one bird to the next, the dish will track correctly, and even maintain skew automatically.
For reference material, I suggest the Geo-Orbit web site. - It's a real wealth of info.

That's a hell of a nice dish, and anything less would be disrespectful to it! -