I decided to order a couple 36" dishes from Sadoun to replace the 30" ones that I had on the motor and the fixed one at G10. They arrived Wednesday and for 2 days I couldn’t put them up because it was raining.
Friday I finally got to work on them. When I pulled them out of the box, they looked MUCH bigger than the 30". I checked everything out and the only thing that was different was the paperwork said 80cm. No biggie but the brackets in the picture were different than the actual ones. Figured out how to line up the brackets and the holes (thanks to the pictures of the 100cm at Sadoun’s site) and went to installation.
I already had a 30" up, so I figured “take it down, slap the new one up and be all set, right?” Nope. The elevation was too low to clear my roof....strike 1.....figured “well, I’ll just use the arm and put it on the foot that is already there”....Nope. Holes don’t match up...strike 2...lets see what it looks like for the motorized. Put it at about the same height as the motorized and looked...won’t clear roof...strike 3. Unfortunately, I have my dishes on the backside of my roof, so the roof goes up in front of it. The only way I could make it work is with a longer pole. This isn’t the dishes problem, its mine
Saturday I did the test rig idea. Hooked it to the test rig (the mast bolted to 2x6 boards held with clamps). Was able to get SBS6 no problem. After 2 rain outs and 4 hours with nothing accomplished on Friday, this made the big man happy. Was able to get ONN and a couple feeds.
Sunday I decided to go all out and get G10 on it. Bolted the mast to the deck (next to the DirecPC dish) and mounted the dish. The elevation is a little off (couple degree), so my G10 elevation which is 30 on the Hotdish, is about a 28 on the Fortec. Also, it seems the angle looks lower on the Fortec. When I was messing around Saturday, I had it set on G3 (just like the DirecPC) and the Foretec looked like it was aiming in the house, where the DirecPC was going over the roof. This I had to get use to. Aimed it at G10 and was able to get it right away. Tweaked it and WOW! What a difference. I have listened to PSB say “get the biggest dish you can find.” Folks, this is true. Here are the numbers that I was able to get on the Pansat (which has the most spazzmatic meter on it). Here is a comparison between 4 setups aimed at G10
-30" motorized with the DMSI .5 Dual LNB
-30" motorized with the Fortec .4 Universal LNB
-36" Fortec with the DMSI .5 Dual LNB
-36" Fortec with the Fortec .4 Universal LNB
30 30 36 36
Transponder D U D U
11799 (main) 46 55 75 75
11719 (Tube) 35 47 60 61
11985 (CBS) 62 73 76 90
12114 (Fox) 83 99 90 99
So going from the 30 to the 36 I gained between 14-20 points, which is huge in my book. I decided to put the dual on this one, because I had 2 receivers to hook it too (maybe 3) and the difference between the 2 isn’t much (other than CBS Transponder)
I am very stoked to have the Tube come in with a GREAT signal. Well, after 3 days of working on it, I am truly happy to have this 36" dish (after telling Pete on Friday I was going to use this as a sled and go down the hill near my house because I couldn’t get it to work)
I will probably be putting the other one on a motor and mounting this on the deck too, which will get dishes off the roof and make it easier to clean in case of snow.
All and all, I am very happy I got the 36" dish from Sadoun. Now I can watch G10 without breakups and rain won’t screw the signal up as bad as it did with the 30" So if you have a 30 and was thinking of upgrading, I say “do it”. I haven’t motorized it yet, but that will come soon.
Friday I finally got to work on them. When I pulled them out of the box, they looked MUCH bigger than the 30". I checked everything out and the only thing that was different was the paperwork said 80cm. No biggie but the brackets in the picture were different than the actual ones. Figured out how to line up the brackets and the holes (thanks to the pictures of the 100cm at Sadoun’s site) and went to installation.
I already had a 30" up, so I figured “take it down, slap the new one up and be all set, right?” Nope. The elevation was too low to clear my roof....strike 1.....figured “well, I’ll just use the arm and put it on the foot that is already there”....Nope. Holes don’t match up...strike 2...lets see what it looks like for the motorized. Put it at about the same height as the motorized and looked...won’t clear roof...strike 3. Unfortunately, I have my dishes on the backside of my roof, so the roof goes up in front of it. The only way I could make it work is with a longer pole. This isn’t the dishes problem, its mine
Saturday I did the test rig idea. Hooked it to the test rig (the mast bolted to 2x6 boards held with clamps). Was able to get SBS6 no problem. After 2 rain outs and 4 hours with nothing accomplished on Friday, this made the big man happy. Was able to get ONN and a couple feeds.
Sunday I decided to go all out and get G10 on it. Bolted the mast to the deck (next to the DirecPC dish) and mounted the dish. The elevation is a little off (couple degree), so my G10 elevation which is 30 on the Hotdish, is about a 28 on the Fortec. Also, it seems the angle looks lower on the Fortec. When I was messing around Saturday, I had it set on G3 (just like the DirecPC) and the Foretec looked like it was aiming in the house, where the DirecPC was going over the roof. This I had to get use to. Aimed it at G10 and was able to get it right away. Tweaked it and WOW! What a difference. I have listened to PSB say “get the biggest dish you can find.” Folks, this is true. Here are the numbers that I was able to get on the Pansat (which has the most spazzmatic meter on it). Here is a comparison between 4 setups aimed at G10
-30" motorized with the DMSI .5 Dual LNB
-30" motorized with the Fortec .4 Universal LNB
-36" Fortec with the DMSI .5 Dual LNB
-36" Fortec with the Fortec .4 Universal LNB
30 30 36 36
Transponder D U D U
11799 (main) 46 55 75 75
11719 (Tube) 35 47 60 61
11985 (CBS) 62 73 76 90
12114 (Fox) 83 99 90 99
So going from the 30 to the 36 I gained between 14-20 points, which is huge in my book. I decided to put the dual on this one, because I had 2 receivers to hook it too (maybe 3) and the difference between the 2 isn’t much (other than CBS Transponder)
I am very stoked to have the Tube come in with a GREAT signal. Well, after 3 days of working on it, I am truly happy to have this 36" dish (after telling Pete on Friday I was going to use this as a sled and go down the hill near my house because I couldn’t get it to work)
I will probably be putting the other one on a motor and mounting this on the deck too, which will get dishes off the roof and make it easier to clean in case of snow.
All and all, I am very happy I got the 36" dish from Sadoun. Now I can watch G10 without breakups and rain won’t screw the signal up as bad as it did with the 30" So if you have a 30 and was thinking of upgrading, I say “do it”. I haven’t motorized it yet, but that will come soon.
