Meet Rusty

[Bill_KY]

This is my C-band Dish at my other location..I think it is a 12 footer.

The only FTA I have ever received on this was Trinity Digital and a few other "Church Channel" stations on the Visionsat IV 200 PVR.

The rest were all encrypted, I never did receive any of the really good FTA stations and networks others here got on C-band.....I spent hours looking with pages printed out from Lyngsat and Kohl.

I tried for Pentagon Channel, the Virgin Island Channels, Channel 13 in Wyoming, Unemployment Channel, Nebraska TV, CW Detroit, CW Networks...even tried EWTN and Lesea...you name it.....nothing.


I'm not sure if is because the dish is in rusted condition or the coax maybe is as old as the dish. But the Trinity Digital comes in like 65% quality. So maybe my receiver needs a factory reset...or maybe the Dish needs a "heave ho"..lol.

(I do not have internet at that location, so I can't post questions here while I am trying to aim the dish. I am using the General Instrument Digicypher II analog receiver as the dish mover and the Visionat 200 IV as the receiver. )

Can I mount a KuBand Linear LNB onto this (how?) and use it for Ku Band instead of C-band? Is it worth the effort?



Thanks.

 

[turbosat]

Dish looks to be in good shape, if it worked in the past maybe all it needs is some tweaking. And maybe some new coax connectors (look at the ends and see if they look brown or rusted inside).
Could've taken a minor lightning hit and damaged the cable. If you're getting some channels off one satellite it sounds like you just need to re-align it to the arc. Check the mount for looseness or play, up and down or side to side. I would take a programmed fta rec, with some channels on the cband sats up there, and start working east and west from the satellite that it is picking up signals on, push up or pull down on the edge of the dish as you go from one satelite to the next-that'll tell you if you're tracking is off or not. Digital is more critical than analog and takes time and patience to receive properly.
You can buy a c/ku lnbf for it, check the sponsors sites. I believe there's even an adapter ring for your prime focus dish's lnb supports to hold it also. KU on a 12' would take good aiming also--a big dish 'sees' more precisely than say, a 6' or 8' dish so the tracking has to be right on the money.

 

[Bill_KY]

Thanks for the advice, I did notice how critical the tuning was with Trinity Digital.


With the Visionsat, as I start to get Quality signal the (first) level will start to turn blue and then the second level (the actual Quality) will turn blue with the level of Quality. On top It says Trinity Digital.

My question is when going after these other networks, like the Virgin Island channels, Pentagon Channel, Channel 13 in Wyoming, Unemployment Channel, Nebraska TV, CW Detroit, CW Networks.... is there a digital ID on Top (On the Visionsat) like Trinity Digital has?

Or on the Visionsat (with these networks I am trying for) is there is no ID (on top) and the level and Quality turn blue and that is it? Should I try a different receiver?

How important is skew on C-band digital?

Thanks

I am going to try different coax and see if that helps too. I'll try to take some more pictures when I get back up there.

 

[madmadworld]

My question is when going after these other networks, like the Virgin Island channels, Pentagon Channel, Channel 13 in Wyoming, Unemployment Channel, Nebraska TV, CW Detroit, CW Networks.... is there a digital ID on Top (On the Visionsat) like Trinity Digital has?

Or on the Visionsat (with these networks I am trying for) is there is no ID (on top) and the level and Quality turn blue and that is it? Should I try a different receiver?

i would think not.

use your General Instrument Digicypher II to check the dish itself.

try Galaxy 16 at 99.0°W old g-4
this has alot of channels and the General Instrument should get Shepherd's Chapel on channel 16 if it comes in ok then change the channel to a odd channel that is where most channels are on this sat.
make sure the Visionsat has the lnb setting stay right 5150 when you go off the trinty.
if you can get another person at the dish to listen if the servo motor filps when you channge from channel 16 to say channel 1 (any odd one).

good luck

 

[Corrado]

Not being familiar with the Visionsat...can it control servo type feedhorns? I know my Pansat 2700a can for example. I'm thinking you're only seeing one polarity with your setup unless it's controlled by the GI box you're using to move the dish.

You would probably be better off with a modern voltage controlled LNBF with C and Ku band capability.

 

[truckracer]

If the coax is old, I would change it just for insurance purposes with new weatherproof ends.
Make sure you use good RG6 coax. It does not have to quad shield but quad is superior if you have plenty of money to spend.

Dish alignment and skew are very critical to digital reception. Servo motors go bad. they are a high wear item on c band systems and are cheap to replace. 20.00 or so on ebay.

make sure your feedhorn does not have wasps nests or any other insects living in it.

One thing to do is on a good weather day, take a small table and your GI receiver and fta receiver along with a tv out to the dish.

Hook everything up just like it was in the house.

tune something that you can get, gently push up and down on the dish and see if the signal meter gets better or worse.

There is a sticky thread on this site on how to align your dish with your true south satellite.

make sure the pole the dish is on is perfectly plumb. use a level around it and make sure its not leaning to one side. if it is - the dish will never track the arc in the sky properly.

 

[Bill_KY]

Thanks for the suggestions, I should have a update in a few days with some more pictures and hopefully some more stations to report from "Rusty".

 

[Bill_KY]

I saw it has been since September since I did a update on that C-band Dish at my other location.

I did manage to get some other networks in the last couple of months like, Outdoor Channel, JLTV, Nat Gal 1 (whatever that was), Glenbrook Test Loop (?), and more recently Sports Time Ohio (minus the audio) , TWV and settled on the Louisiana Channel for now at 48% Q. I think the arc is restricted in some way, probably the actuator is the culprit. Also the adjustment bolts are fairly rusted, (probably going to need a ton of WD40).


Unable to get anything on 107, 99, 97..etc. Though the 123 - 127 range seems fruitful.

I was up at the other location and realigned 103W Ku to 101W Ku and tinkered with the C-band Dish.

BTW, I didn't buy the C- Band dish or the General Instrument Digicypher II, it all came with the trailer.

This is one of those ongoing (whenever ) projects, if I got extra time kind of thing.

 

[turbosat]

With some work, you may have a good c=band setup someday. PB-Blaster on the rusty bolts, repair/replace actuator if needed. A good way to check the actuator, take a screwdriver and remove the 4 or 6 long screws that hold the cover on the motor-end of it, and see what it looks like inside. I had one that looked like it had been at the bottom of the river for awhile but still worked perfectly, haha. You can possibly have the dish working like new for less than 20dollars worth of new bolts. And new actuators aren't super expensive if you need one.

 

[1ADAM12]

Simple check of polarizer is to take the blue cover off of lnbf and set the receiver to scanning, then with a flashlight check the probe for 90 degree swings. If none take off the plastic cover and check the wireing. If still none , there are plenty of BSC621 C/Ku Lnbf not in use by members. Maybe you can buy one or get one donated to project.

With a voltage switched lnbf you can use the same receiver you use for Ku and dump the old C-band receiver.

 

[14karat]

Forget the WD-40 - since I first used PB Blaster, I never touch WD40 anymore.
I use PB to penetrate and chain lube for regular maintenance... and if I'm out of either and just need something quick, a mixture of brake fluid and used motor oil does wonders...
Everybody here has their methods of tuning, I guess... as for getting Ku, I started out just getting C peaked, then started on Ku.
My take, if your having trouble getting C band, you may as well forget Ku...
True enough, when you get Ku peaked, C will fall in place (unless we are discussing some versions of the 621 feedhorn!) but C is much more forgiving...
I wouldn't just throw up a BUD and immediately go for Ku without first hitting some C transponders...

 

[Cadsulfide]

Do you have space for multiple dishes? If so, get a modern C band lnb from SatelliteAV and make it a c band dish and set up a Ku system along side it. A 4' dish makes for a pretty good Ku band signal catcher.

 

[Bill_KY]

Latest Update 12/13/2009


Finally I was able to get out of the 125 - 129W range and through manually turning the dish by unloosing the four screws in the picture, and changing the elevation through the screw jack in the other picture. (After soaking the nuts and bolts in WD40).

I was able to get 113W. Still no 99W yet, but at least I am not stuck in the upper 120's anymore.

I need a inclinometer and a really good compass to manually align the dish to 99W. I saw Ace hardware sells them for $12, maybe I will pick one up.

And yes the actuator works, but cannot track the proper arc for some reason.

Skew does not work with the dish mover, so maybe that might be yet another reason why am getting all these problems. Hopefully the skew problem won't keep me from 99W if I adjust everything manually.

I didn't pay anything for the dish, dish mover or wiring, it came with the property. I haven't put any money into the dish except for a small can of WD-40.

As far as i can tell, this is a C-band only LNB.

More updates as i progress with the dish.