Well I managed to spend 3 out of my four days off last weekend working on my FTA/ BUD setup.
Friday i hooked up and buried new cable from from my BUD to my receiver(s) in my front room. I had been using used cable that came with the BUD, but there was only enough to just barely reach my basement, so originally i put my analog c band receiver / BUD positioner down there and controlled it with a UHF remote. It worked, but it werent purty ; ) Now the receiver is where it belongs, in my entertainment center.
Saturday I installed my new to me c/ku corotor. I had some issues in getting the feedhorn to fit properly within the existing scalar ring, it was off about a 32th of an inch smaller in diameter. A few shims and a lot of playing around with a signal meter finally got me very close to the perfect focal point.
This feedhorn came with a lower noise c band lnb than what i was using, 20 degress versus 45 degrees on my old LNB. I immediately noticed that with signal levels the same (analog) the picture is MUCH clearer, without sparklies.
Monday i hooked up the KU side of my corotor and started playing around with my new toy. I have noticed a few kinda funny things in using my setup but all in all i am very pleased.
After peaking the dish for a analog cband signal i often have to "bump" the dish to get the best signal for cband dvb. And after I peak the dish for c band dvb, i then have to really "fine peak" it to get in KU signals. Part of this (i am sure) is because my old analog c band reciever/ positioner is not as accurate on dish position as i really need for KU. I hope a different postioner (v box II) will cure most of this problem.
After i "fine peak" for KU band what i am getting for KU SQ is very good, much, much better than my 30" dish. The 30" winegard has a standard .5 LNB on it and the BUD has a standard .7 LNB on it.
For example Peoples network (amc 4) hits 99% quality for KU on the BUD, versus ~47% on my 30" winegard.
The Tube on g10 jumped up to 50% quality versus ~ 37% on the winegard. G10 is kind of a bad example tho, because i still have some adjustments to do on my BUD polar mount and on the ends of the arc i dont get as strong a signal as i should. G10 is pretty low on the arc for me.
All in all i am very satisfied with my setup, i think another 60 months of playing around and i will have it perfect
Friday i hooked up and buried new cable from from my BUD to my receiver(s) in my front room. I had been using used cable that came with the BUD, but there was only enough to just barely reach my basement, so originally i put my analog c band receiver / BUD positioner down there and controlled it with a UHF remote. It worked, but it werent purty ; ) Now the receiver is where it belongs, in my entertainment center.
Saturday I installed my new to me c/ku corotor. I had some issues in getting the feedhorn to fit properly within the existing scalar ring, it was off about a 32th of an inch smaller in diameter. A few shims and a lot of playing around with a signal meter finally got me very close to the perfect focal point.
This feedhorn came with a lower noise c band lnb than what i was using, 20 degress versus 45 degrees on my old LNB. I immediately noticed that with signal levels the same (analog) the picture is MUCH clearer, without sparklies.
Monday i hooked up the KU side of my corotor and started playing around with my new toy. I have noticed a few kinda funny things in using my setup but all in all i am very pleased.
After peaking the dish for a analog cband signal i often have to "bump" the dish to get the best signal for cband dvb. And after I peak the dish for c band dvb, i then have to really "fine peak" it to get in KU signals. Part of this (i am sure) is because my old analog c band reciever/ positioner is not as accurate on dish position as i really need for KU. I hope a different postioner (v box II) will cure most of this problem.
After i "fine peak" for KU band what i am getting for KU SQ is very good, much, much better than my 30" dish. The 30" winegard has a standard .5 LNB on it and the BUD has a standard .7 LNB on it.
For example Peoples network (amc 4) hits 99% quality for KU on the BUD, versus ~47% on my 30" winegard.
The Tube on g10 jumped up to 50% quality versus ~ 37% on the winegard. G10 is kind of a bad example tho, because i still have some adjustments to do on my BUD polar mount and on the ends of the arc i dont get as strong a signal as i should. G10 is pretty low on the arc for me.
All in all i am very satisfied with my setup, i think another 60 months of playing around and i will have it perfect
