My New Dish Farm

[iBoston]

On my 8 ft fortec i bolted a 3 in space im pretty sure it was from inside scaler to scaler measurement...useing just random metal stock drilld..and bolted to scaler..that gives me 99w and 91 west with great reception on both

Awesome. I will give it a try. That would be terrific. That would make Titanium happy, if i get it working, ill have to buy another C2W-PLL

 

[iBoston]

Well, i changed paths for the moment. I took down my 1.2m USAL dish that was on my deck and moved the mount to the storage container, and plopped the 1.2m back on it (with out USALS motor) , and fixed aligned it for 87w. Went from 7db on PBS to 11db on PBS. I was in the middle of wiring it when an electrical storm was approaching, so all i got was 1 RG6 wired up and wired it to the Horizontal line of the multi-switch and got the heck out of there.

Kinda funny - at the moment, I'm getting the horizontal channels off the new 1.2m, and the vertical channels off the 90cm dish still pointed at 87w. - I'm tired of loosing LPB. On the 90cm in the mornings i would get the channel, and as the day passed by, the signal would get weaker and weaker and i would loose it. Not to mention if there was any sign of weather.

I think i am done with USALS. I took the time to re-scan the entire arc for KU and I have a fixed dish at every bird that i am even remotely interested in. The USALS would just have too much play and would allow the dish to shimmy around. I was constantly adjusting it.

At this point, I'm not sure where I am going to point the 90cm

Maybe 113w for Reuters or 99w for radio channels.

 

[iBoston]

Update :

I had one 1.2m pointing at 103w/97w.
I had a 90cm pointing at 87w/95w.

I had previously hooked up a 2nd 1.2m for 87w. So, today, i moved the 90cm that was still pointed at 87w and pointed it at 97w. This yielded me a stronger signal for 97w as before it was a side lobe. And the side lobe that was pointed to 97w was shifted to 95w.

The result is i have stronger signals all around. 87w on dedicated 1.2m.. 97w on dedicated 90cm 103w on dedicated 1.2m and 95w is a side lnbf on my 1.2m. Every channel is rock solid!

IBoston's Satellite Network :

30w - 90cm KU
87w - 120cm KU
95w - 120cm side lnbf KU
97w - 90cm KU
101w - 8 foot Cband
103w - 120cm KU
118w - 90cm side lnbf KU
121w - 90cm KU
125w - 90cm side lnbf KU

Ps - I also exchanged my dual GeoSatPro on 103w for a Quad lnbf. I hooked in a 3rd coax line to a spare satellite receiver that will be in a shed. Everything is tested working, and tuned to my favorite radio station which ill be broadcasting FM so i can listen to it anywhere on the farm. Just waiting for my FM transmitter. Will be perfect during the summer when I'm mowing and during the Winter when I'm blowing.

 

[iBoston]

I am happy camper... I got the FM transmitter.. Hooked it up to the STB and transmit it on FM. I receive it perfectly on the entire farm. I did a bit of a test, and the reach seems to be about 1 mile in every direction except west which you loose 1/2 mile because its over a hill. I wanted to make sure i wasn't broadcasting too far, and i picked a frequency that was unused with a wide berth on both sides of the spectrum. I hate commercials and i hate talking. I just want to hear music!

Ill take some pictures of the setup. Its in our shed. I need to make an enclosure for it for the winter so it won't get too cold. Ill close it during the winter, and open it up during the summer.

 

[iBoston]

Regarding the FM Transmitter setup :
I just finished the box and setup a switch so i can turn it on/off.

 

[TRG]

Which radio station do you listen to? I love having WCPE classical on AMC-1 @ 103° West. I also rebroadcast on a FM transmitter so I can listen on a portable radio outside by the BBQ grill.

 

[iBoston]

Which radio station do you listen to? I love having WCPE classical on AMC-1 @ 103° West. I also rebroadcast on a FM transmitter so I can listen on a portable radio outside by the BBQ grill.

Being this isn't the appropriate thread, i didn't want to specify, but its a classical channel too.

 

[Cham]

What antenna are you using for your Fm transmitter? Just curious, I built a j-pole for around 100MHz but not on the air yet. It should be about 3dB gain, with about 1.5dB feedline/connector loss. Hope to have it up about 30ft. Helpful info to know what antenna gain/power/height required for 3-4 mile approximate range.
Have application for provisional low power license, waiting for some info from the spectrum managment people up here... (May not need a license)

 

[iBoston]

What antenna are you using for your Fm transmitter? Just curious, I built a j-pole for around 100MHz but not on the air yet. It should be about 3dB gain, with about 1.5dB feedline/connector loss. Hope to have it up about 30ft. Helpful info to know what antenna gain/power/height required for 3-4 mile approximate range.
Have application for provisional low power license, waiting for some info from the spectrum management people up here... (May not need a license)

Its a dinky telescope antenna that is about 3 feet long. It extends a straight shot out behind the unit sitting almost horizontal tucked under the rafters. I know i could adjust it for better range, BUT, i don't want any better range than what i already got. My corner property line is 3/4 mile away. I can receive the signal there perfectly, so all is great!

 

[Cham]

Interesting! So your antenna is hidden inside at or below grade and you still get that kind of range? What power is your transmitter (dBm/watts)? Also if your antenna is located close to metal objects you might get power reflection (SWR) back to your transmitter finals... not a good thing for longevity, unless it's very low power.

 

[iBoston]

I moved my Cband from 101w to 91w.

I did some more tinkering and I have successfully added a second LNBF to my Cband Dish. I also moved 95w from my 103w antenna to my 87w antenna.

I have my eye on another 8' Cband dish. (shhhh, don't tell the wife)

 

[danristheman]

Just tell her she is getting older and needs glasses make her see double. Hehe.

 

[iBoston]

Okay, well, because of Rumble and Horror, i added a dual lnbf so i could pick up Vertical feeds on 97w. But, that meant i had to add an additional 5x4 multi switch because before i was sharing the horizontal side with 118w. So, now i got Horizontal and Vertical feeds on 97w, which then left me with a free available h/v line on the multi switch 22khz ON. So, i added a side lobe to my 103w to fetch 99w. This gives me a news channel i've been missing.

Being fixed on KU now for about 5 months, I've missed being able to turn to some satellites. But, then i remember how often i had to go out and fine tune it. 83w is the only other KU that i kinda wish i could grab. I might add 3rd side lobe to my 87w/95w dish. Man - I love this hobby.

 

[iBoston]

I just bought a 3rd Venture Maxiball Actuator. - I think i am going to put in another dish this summer. But, i have lots of time to think about it.

It seems to be a normal routine to brush the snow off my 3 Cband dishes and 5 KU dishes with my Plastic Rake as part of my outdoor daily chores.

 

[Martyn]

Do you have a handy diagram of how you've wired all this up?

I'm about to embark on a similar project, moving a 90cm USALS dish (and probably running it on Diseqc) plus a fixed 1.2m and smaller 80cm torodial dish that I hope to mount a few LNBs on. Plus there's a fixed C-band dish and a motorized one. And I want to feed two receivers, although not necessarily everything to each one.

I've started sketching things out, but it's sure great to see how other people are doing it.

 

[iBoston]

I used to have a diagram when things were simple. Maybe ill put another together.

In a very short synopsis, I have 4 satellite receivers, and they are all setup the exact same. They have a Diseqc 1.0 switch in the house. That determines whether it goes to the 12' Cband, 10' Cband or the nest of Dishes. Port three goes to the nest of dishes . For the four STB's, 4 lengths of RG6 run to the storage container to a 4 diseqc 1.1 switches. The utilized diseqc 1.1 ports run to individual multiswitches.

Each STB is setup exactly the same Diseqc port wise so that the settings for the satellites are the same. Between the Diseqc 1 the Diseqc 1.1 and the Multi Switch 22khz , I can then access any of the 10 FIXED LNBFS on the storage container, and the 10' and 12' Cband dishes closer to the house.

I am currently using 5 of 8 available ports on the diseqc 1.1 switches.

 

[Cham]

iBoston are you finding the diseqc 1.1 switches to be reliable? I am thinking of exchanging 3 diseqc 1 (4 port) switches for three diseqc 1.1 (8 port) switches so I can add more antennae. I have one more C-band and 1 more Ku dish to add to the dish farm here, but lacking ports for them.
It will have to wait a while though, -30 temps here not good weather for "dish farming" today.

 

[iBoston]

iBoston are you finding the diseqc 1.1 switches to be reliable? I am thinking of exchanging 3 diseqc 1 (4 port) switches for three diseqc 1.1 (8 port) switches so I can add more antennae. I have one more C-band and 1 more Ku dish to add to the dish farm here, but lacking ports for them.
It will have to wait a while though, -30 temps here not good weather for "dish farming" today.

I would say my mulit switches and diseqc 1.1 switches are not treated nicely. They are currently outside unprotected in -2 degree actual temperature, and buried under snow. This is the second winter, and thus far no problems with the Multi Switches or the Diseqc 1.1 switches. I bought a bulk of 10 of them, so i have spares ready to swap out should there be any problems. I have thrown 5 different types of receivers at them, and none of them have any issues with the switching.

 

[Cham]

Tnx for the info andf your experiences. I'll order a couple more 8 port diseqc switches and I already have a spare Zinwell 4X8 ready to go. -18 this am still too cold to work with feedline etc, and I still have to move the one dish into place. Maybe we'll get a heat wave early in the new year and I can get some work done!

 

[Martyn]

How do you handle the 13/18V from each receiver or is that not a problem?

If, say, I have receiver one on a vertical channel on satellite A and I switch receiver 2 the same satellite, what happens? If it's vertical, do both receivers see vertical? If it's horizonal, does the LNB switch and receiver one ends up looking at a horizontal signal? I'm concerned about overloading things if all these receivers are sending LNB voltage down the cables, although I guess it's all in parallel so it shouldn't be a huge problem.