FTA With BUD & Pansat 2700

[fortyfives]

I just finished hooking up my new Pansat 2700A to my 8.5 ft Bud. I am using a Corrotor 2 feedhorn with an older California Amplifier Mini-mag LNB. I have the polarizer connected to the 3 terminals on the back of the Pansat, and I am using my old GI analog receiver to move the actuator. I have the pansat connected to a receiver that handles the AC3 audio for the channels that need it.

I am having a problem with G4 TV. on AMC 10 . It seems I'm getting a decent signal, but the quality fluctuates between 12 and 20 percent. I'm getting 75% on some of the other transponders on AMC 10. For some reason, this one comes in really weak. I'm in Tennessee, so this satellite is pretty low on the horizon here. I have adjusted the polarity and fine tuned the dish and it still does no good. Would getting a better LNB help ? I've also heard that removing the elbow on the feedhorn and mounting the LNB directly to the feedhorn will help with signal. Any suggestions?

 

[charper1]

What degree are your LNBs? AMC10 135w should be good to hit from TN.

I would go with a 15deg C and a .3db KU (pref high-stability models)

How are channels on other sats? Is the focal length perfect for your dish?

 

[fortyfives]

I'm not sure of the degree of the LNB. How would I tell ? It is a California Amplifier Mini-Mag and is probably about 10 years old. Seems to be a fairly common LNB, but since this was used with an analog system, I wasn't sure how it would work with a DVB system.

The channels on the other sats seem to come in fine, except for BBC as the signal comes in strong but drops off every now and then causing some pixellation.

 

[fortyfives]

I got the specs for the Cal-Amp Mini-mag. From the best I can figure, it's a 30 degree LNB with 65 db gain. From what I've read about it, the stability is horrible for this model. It worked great for analog (most channels got 100% signal) , but for DVB it seems to be so-so. I swapped it out with another one I had that was exactly the same make and model, but still no improvement. Would replacing it with a 17 or 15 degree LNB make much difference in signal?

 

[PSB]

Yes! A newer low noise LNBF should really help with DVB.

I use the ASC-421 C-Band LNBF, also comes as just an LNB. (ASC-211)

http://www.dmsiusa.com/c-band_lnbf.htm

http://www.dmsiusa.com/c-band_lnb.htm

 

[fortyfives]

I just ordered a California Amplifier Extended Professional II model 140105-1 17-degree LNB. Hopefully, this will stop the tiling I'm getting on some channels and bring G4 TV's signal to the point where it is stable. I'm hoping it gets here tomorrow. Has anyone on here used this particular LNB?

 

[fortyfives]

Got the New Cal -Amp LNB and replaced the old LNB. It helped alot with the "tiling" I was getting on certain channels, but did not help much at all with signal strength.

So, I got my tape measurer out and found that my feedhorn is exactly centered. The next thing I did was started adjusting the focal length slightly and checking the signal strength. It turns out it was way off. It worked fine for analog, but needed to be tweaked for digital. I ended up moving it about 3/4 of an inch inward to get the strongest signal. I went from 15 - 17 % quality on the "G4 TV" channel to 75% . Adjusting the focal point made all the difference in the world.

Now, my next purchase will be a C / KU feedhorn.