In Search of T-5

[Sharks]

Hey all,

I have been having a bear of a time searching for T-5. After a week of climbing on my roof every night and trying and trying, I finally found it. It was so hard because it is extremely sensitive to the slightest variation in az, elev, and skew. there was such a tight window, signal quality on the highest transponder would go from 70 down to zero with less than a few degrees of motion!

Anyway, after doubting its existence for a while, I finally found it. Only prob is that many of the channels are on transponders just below 50% quality and cant lock into signal. Any ideas?

Do signal amplifyers work? I just dont want to mess with the sat/lnb orientation because it has taken me weeks to find it and a few hours to tune it.

Would appreciate any help getting a better signal

 

[Dishpointer]

What size is your dish and what lnb are you using? If you had a bigger dish and a good lnb that has a low noise figure you would get better results. A 33" or even a 1m dish with a good lnb would get you killer results if it was peaked and had no obstructions.

 

[Wholeshoe]

You show get them all if you have a 30" dish. You just need to fine tune it it with very tiny movements of the dish.

Wholeshoe

 

[ken2400]

There is an old saying, garbage in garbage out. Signal amps help you get the signal from the dish to the receiver, over 100' of cable.

So if you start with a big enough dish, low noise LNB(F) (.5 or less), and RU6 cable most of the time you do not need them. As for the tight window welcome to digital KU. It can be a bear at times. A in-line signal meter (SF-95) can help.

Good luck finding other sats.

Hey all,

I have been having a bear of a time searching for T-5. After a week of climbing on my roof every night and trying and trying, I finally found it. It was so hard because it is extremely sensitive to the slightest variation in az, elev, and skew. there was such a tight window, signal quality on the highest transponder would go from 70 down to zero with less than a few degrees of motion!

Anyway, after doubting its existence for a while, I finally found it. Only prob is that many of the channels are on transponders just below 50% quality and cant lock into signal. Any ideas?

Do signal amplifiers work? I just don't want to mess with the sat/lnb orientation because it has taken me weeks to find it and a few hours to tune it.

Would appreciate any help getting a better signal

 

[Bob Rock]

That's right very tight window to align dish to satellite

Yes I agree That it is a very tight window to align the dish to satellite if it is 2 or 3 millimeters off in elevation of azimuth no signal just the way it is with minimal dish size .....

 

[Mr Tony]

What type of receiver?

There are a few transponders on IA5 that are low period, unless you have a big ol dish.

12177 V transponder seems to be the highest on a 30” dish…around 70 on the Pansat

 

[snathanb]

To echo what has already been said:

Tuning for FTA is very, very, different than aiming for dishnet or directv... it is entirely normal that the very slightest movement can change you from 70% to 0%

Also.. an amp will do you no good, at all.

Once you get T5 (or IA5) locked, that's quite a satellite. I think the last time I scanned it, I pulled in 162 stations between TV and Radio. Unfortnuately, as far as I am concerned, there isn't anything on it worthwhile for me to watch.

Bummer since I pull it in better than any others.... maybe I'll have to subscribe to that new adult channel on there.

 

[timmy1376]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I had NO trouble getting IA5 or Telstar 5, whatever you want to call it. I just got it setting my dish on the ground. A 30 in. with a .5 lnb here.

I am not trying to make light of the fact that you are having so much trouble, just telling my experiece with telstar 5. 60 -70 quality here.

 

[Mr Tony]

Timmy
If I'm not miostaken, IA5 is pretty close to your true south, isn't it?

Mine is IA6 so it is easier for us than say someone on the coasts

 

[Sharks]

Hey all,

thanks for all the responses. Just to clarify about my hardware:

Dish: 76cm
Receiver: Pansat 5000HC
LNB: Coolsat Universal 2
Cable: Dont know if RU6 but looks high qual and only runs about 25'
Diseqc: Pansat 4x1
Location: Open skies with no obstruction (great views of the stars)

Iceberg, the best sig I am getting I think is from 12177 and its only at 60-70 qual. The rest which include the channels I want are between 40-50. I am pretty confident that locn is really tuned with all the time I put and diligence I put into optimizin signal but I am not a pro.

My biggest take home msg is LNB sensitivity. I dont know if if the Coolsat Universal 2 LNB I have is "low noise". Any comments? Will check into this?

With the add'l info, any other suggestions?

Thanks all

 

[Mr Tony]

Those numbers sound about right

The Coolsat LNB might be a .5 or .4...does it say noise level on the box or unit?

 

[Wholeshoe]

Is your dish possibly warped or something making the sweet spot smaller?

Wholeshoe

 

[Sharks]

LNB: So Iceberg, I take it you think its prob low noise or anything better?

Dish: Wholeshoe, Dish brand new out of box, looks good (better than my other dishes)...

I am determined to peg T-5.

 

[Mr Tony]

a .3 is the best Ive seen...

with a 76cm dish, that may be the best you get...larger dish would help