Galaxy 15, dish size?

[tonytm]

Well with EWTN finally completing their move to Galaxy 15 last week I was forced to repoint my dish, and my fears were confirmed. I can see only one transponder on that satellite, and it is not EWTN's.

Here's my dilemma - I have a 6' solid dish now; if I upgrade to an 8' mesh will I be able to get good reception or do I need to look for a 10'?

thanks!

 

[Magic Static]

The six footer should be enough. But the bigger the dish the more the signal can be gathered

 

[SatelliteAV]

Had difficulty tuning in EWTN's transponder on Galaxy 15 here on the west coast. While some transponders came in fine, this transponder required precise aiming and feedhorn placement.

The FD distance seemed abnormally sensitive and made me think that there could be adjacent satellite interference, but have not taken any time to research. A 6 foot dish will not reject signals from adjacent satellites as well as larger dishes do with their narrower reception patterns.

While the 6' dish may have enough gain, it may take patience to optimize in order to receive EWTN.

What receiver are you using! Did you blind scan or direct entry the transponder?

Have you performed a string test to verify the parabola shape is not warped?

I assume you are using a prime focus design dish and not an offset? Is the feedhorn perfectly centered and aligned to the dish center? I use a laser level to project a 90 degree beam from the feedhorn to project into the reflector to simplify the placement and centering.

 

[mikekohl]

There are now two EWTN digital transponders on 133 West (see Global Communications channel charts / C-band, linked from address below). Recent work with affiliates on the East Coast indicates that a considerably larger antenna is required. For an affiliate, I would suggest nothing less than a 3 meter/10 foot, and those wanting some measure of signal margin should consider a 3.8 meter/12 foot. EWTN's engineering folks are suggesting the latter.
Commercial suggestions include use of a TRUE FOCUS solid antenna made by Andersen Manufacturing.

 

[FaT Air]

There is adjacent, and strong TP's, on both adjacent satellites(131 & 135) 10Mhz from EWTN's SD TP. (same polarity) Desired 133W- 3790H, 131W&135W- 3780H. Think I'd look for a 10.

 

[tonytm]

Thanks all for the comments. My receiver is the Openbox S9. I tried both manual entry and blind search. I can kind-of see a hint of a signal on 3808 (42/10), but nowhere near strong enough to lock. On transponder 8 I get a strong signal (82/72) but of course all of the transmissions on that one are encrypted.

I spent some time moving the LNB around with no apparent improvement. The dish has blown over a few times so it may not be perfectly shaped anymore (it is ground mounted, not on a pole). There are no obstructions. It did work fine on 91W. Any idea what the difference in dB is between their previous transponder on 91W and the new ones on 133W? That would give me some idea of what size to go for.

My experience with my system has been that for weaker channels, even when I can bring them in, the viewing quality is going to be very poor (jerky, etc.). I will shop around for a larger dish -

 

[fencebldr]

I'm curious if you have had any progress receiving ewtn. I was perfect on gal 17 with solid 6 footer. Now put up 7.5 foot mesh winegard and can't get any decent signal from gal 15. I'll find larger dish but am not convinced that is my sole problem at the moment.

 

[T4Runner]

I'm curious if you have had any progress receiving ewtn. I was perfect on gal 17 with solid 6 footer. Now put up 7.5 foot mesh winegard and can't get any decent signal from gal 15. I'll find larger dish but am not convinced that is my sole problem at the moment.

I use a 7.5ft mesh and a Openbox S9 and 133W locks fine on the CNN TBS transponder (just for tuning. No channel). This sounds strange but I then go East 3 or 4 clicks and the TP for EWTN POPS in! 70% Q in California.

 

[mikekohl]

Not strange at all. In your situation, there is probably sufficient interference near EWTN's 133 West frequency from 135 West, that moving the dish slightly eastward is enough to overcome the interference. Also proves that 7.5 foot antennas are not usually 2-degree compliant. While it may work on 133 West with a perfectly centered east/west positioning on the Turner TP, that is likely because there is little or no competition on that frequency.
A secret that works for me is to look really hard for a better feedhorn or LNBF with an adjustable scalar---in my case I had a deep Orbitron antenna with a 0.3 f/d ratio, and when I got a device that was specifically peaked for deep dishes that have 0.3 f/d ratios, much of my sidelobe problems in other parts of the arc cleared up immediately.

 

[T4Runner]

I had not thought of matching (or attempting to match) the different type of LNBF with the dish F/D..

 

[richyrich]

Well with EWTN finally completing their move to Galaxy 15 last week I was forced to repoint my dish, and my fears were confirmed. I can see only one transponder on that satellite, and it is not EWTN's.

Here's my dilemma - I have a 6' solid dish now; if I upgrade to an 8' mesh will I be able to get good reception or do I need to look for a 10'?

thanks!

The bigger the better. In fact a 12 foot dishes beamwidth is beamwidth 1 - 2 degree's; means signal is so strong, it is almost better than 14' because it is so hard to point as the beamwidth of the dish lowers again, this time to 1 or less. It points so exactly, it has to be exact. But from a "space" perspective, 10 should be the design you are after, as many had 2 degree spacing in mind when wanting a C Band satellite signal.

And 2 degree spacing in C Band still is the FCC's allotment and use; so much bandwidth available, and still the satellites are the same working since the 60's (some), with "transponders" and "birds" and "symbol rates" to be programmed; on-screen tv guide since the 80's... yes, the bigger the better! However, they could hide C Band forever, if they filled every band it is with a signal made for 2 degree spacing, where same satellites are adjacent by 2 degrees but same is 4 degree's; all dishes must have a better than 2 degree beamwidth to work properly then goes to 10 foot dishes as the only way to receive their broadcast signal. On a 5 foot dish ; on a 4 foot dish ! any satellite that has adjacent satellite using same or near frequency wipe each others signal out! All the signal is there; but the mixer in the receiver cannot differentiate between the two signals well (or at all), but may choose one if you offset dish aim to lower signal; but one less sidelobe or another. I used to say my 7.5 had the ability to do 2 degree spacing. I do not say it anymore? Well, if u do not have the "space".

you'll have to have a 10 foot dish sooner!

 

[tonytm]

A quick followup:
Based on the advice here, I picked up an old 10' mesh and finally finished the installation yesterday.

It took many hours of pointing/adjusting/tweaking, but I now (as of midnight) have a very good signal from EWTN's transponders. Between the dish, rental truck, pole, concrete, repairs, tools, etc. I probably spent way too much (not to mention stressing over the neighbors' reactions) but the result is worth it. The neighbors will get used to it! Only a handful of them can see it anyway, and it is half-hidden by the fence. The wife was actually very supportive - having the 6 footer helped her to work up to it. She even helped install the new one!

Now what to do with that 6' solid? Mothball it? Give it away?

 

[tonytm]

One more thing to note: even with strong signals from every other TP on that satellite, EWTN was invisible until I got the LNB spacing, rotation, and pointing precisely adjusted.

 

[gabshere]

there are other satellites to point the 6 ft dish at if you want more and congrats on finding the channel