Has anyone modified their Voom reflector/arm for DP?

[MNHTUG]

Has anyone modified their Voom reflector/arm for using newer (D-Shaped) DP lnb's? The reflector is much larger than the D500 that we're using now for 61.5. Tried shortening the arm today but I'm not sure I got it to the correct length. If anyone has a modified and working Voom setup using DP equipment, please measure your arm and let me know the correct length. I'll buy you a pizza for your trouble.

If I had a legacy lnb on hand today, I could have compared the two side by side and had better chance to get the cut right. Signal strength is lower than the D500 dish with single lnb so something's not quite right.

 

[r10fret]

I just did this recently for 61.5 with a voom 24". It worked great and improved the signal by 20 points, was simple took apart the single lnbf D shaped holder/yoke for a dish 500 used on a single sat. You can use the top and bottom to make the lines, lined up the end of the yoke with the end of the arm, took a sharpie and marked the screw whole and then marked the line to saw where the yoke has a molded lip line inside where a 500 arm would end as the new end of arm length to cut on the voom 24". at this point you could try to make the measurement with the piece you cut off.

 

[boba]

A 24" dish a dish 500 (20") and a dish 300 (18") all have different focal lengths. All that you may have needed to cut on your 24" dish was the top of the rectangular tube. The focal distance wether rectangular or "D" is the same. You probably can buy a 24" "D" tube dish for less than your frustration factor trying to modify the dish you already messed up.

 

[whatchel1]

correct

A 24" dish a dish 500 (20") and a dish 300 (18") all have different focal lengths. All that you may have needed to cut on your 24" dish was the top of the rectangular tube. The focal distance wether rectangular or "D" is the same. You probably can buy a 24" "D" tube dish for less than your frustration factor trying to modify the dish you already messed up.

This is correct. If the OP shortened the length of the arm he has now created a smaller dish. He should have asked the question before cutting.

 

[retiredTech]

I've used "Primestar" dishes by mounting a "E" lnb with zip ties.
works great. Just get the feed in the same postion(as the orginal) and just about any dush will work.

 

[retiredTech]

Any dish (not dush)

 

[r10fret]

So maybe it is not to late unless you cut it too short already, I went and measured mine, I had cut off 9cm or 3 1/2" of the arm in order to match the original end of arm length equal to the end of the D shapped yoke.

 

[MNHTUG]

r10fret --

Is it possible for you to measure the length of the arm? My arm is now 12-9/16 long. Looking at your photo, I made the mistake of making the first cut at the first rib versus all the way to the end. After two cut's, it looks like I may have cut off maybe 1/8-inch too much.

If you can measure yours, I'll weld material back on to the tube and make a third cut at the correct length.

The reflector I am using is 26-inches tall and 24-inches wide. Would this be called a 24-inch reflector or a 26-inch?

This reflector is huge compared to the D500 I'm using now. After a lot of tweaking, best the larger reflector can do is about "10" less than the D500. It seems like I can move the azimuth a great deal and not affect signal strength which has me thinking I'm too short or two long.

With the screw removed, I've pulled the LNB out a little on the throat of the tube but it decreases signal strength. That alone has me thinking the arm is still too long. If someone could measure the length of the arm for this reflector, before or after the mod, I could adjust mine accordingly.

 

[cditty]

I love dish mod threads. I pass an old primestar dish on my way to work every day at an abandoned house and think of getting it. Just don't know what I'd do with it.

Good luck with your efforts.

 

[whatchel1]

They work fine

I love dish mod threads. I pass an old primestar dish on my way to work every day at an abandoned house and think of getting it. Just don't know what I'd do with it.

Good luck with your efforts.

I've used a ps dish on E* and it is a fine .65 meter dish. You just have to buy an FTA type adapter for the neck to hold the LNBF in place after removing the old ps LNBF's. BTW you have to get the focal length & height measured before you remove the old units. Thought about playing w/ 2 feeds on the dish but was too much trouble to be worth the effort.

 

[r10fret]

r10fret --

Is it possible for you to measure the length of the arm? My arm is now 12-9/16 long.

You cut at 12 9/16 or (12.5625). My metal arm length ( including the part of the metal arm underneath the yoke) is 12 5/8" (12.625) or exactly 32cm long, the screw centered at 12 1/8" or 30.8 cm, yoke begins to cover arm at 11 3/4" or 29.9 cm.

If you already cut too short maybe you can still line up the bottom of the yoke with a 11 3/4" line on the arm and then make 2 new screw holes through the plastic yoke over the remaining section of metal arm to secure the yoke at the right length. The best thing to do now is probably enlongate the screw hole and push it forward more toward the edge of the arm.

 

[r10fret]

The other vairables could be whether we have the same yoke that was made by the same company, I got mine from dishdepot in FL several years ago and never used it till about a month ago when I wanted to put a Dishpro LNB on the Voom dish for testing, I could not stand the rain fade interuptions to the weak transponders on E3 anymore.

The Voom dish I originally got new in box about 5 years ago on ebay from someone advertising 24" or 28" dishes, at one point I used it from FL for the 148 satellite (until they deorbitted it) with its original directv shaped/type LNBF and a legacy 3900 receiver.

Before I moved the Voom dish to 61.5 and added the D shapped holder I had been using a 18" dish but over the last 2 years the signals from E3 have kept droping. On a 3900 meter scale my E3 transponders went from 75 to 99 and on a 301 meter scale my signals have gone from the 40s to the 60s with the voom dish. Using same 2 year old dishpro LNBF.

Maybe you should also try swapping or replacing the LNBF.

 

[MikeD-C05]

The differences in the meter scale is because DISH equalized all meters on all receivers to be the same, but they did not change the meter scale in the dish point screen. So anything above 50 strength is considered a great signal. So what used to be 1- 100 or 125 is now 25 - 75. Anything lower than 25 isn't guarantee to stay locked in rain . So just take any meter reading you get now and add 30 points to it and it would be similar to the old meter scale.

 

[r10fret]

For example, CONUS
TP 11 @ 110, the 3900 (through a DPA) shows signal strength 125, the 301 shows 94.
TP 4 @ 61.5 3900:98 301:66,
TP 30 @ 118 3900:92 301:62.

SPOTBEAM
TP 31 @ 110 301:98 3900:125 can't go any higher to real value, which would probably be a 130, whatever a "130" means?

Have never seen the new scale meter, like on a 301, go above 99 even though it can go to 125.