New to C-band, looking for 6' starter dish.

[Andrew K]

The picture above shows the type of dish that would be ideal for me. I like how it has the circular shaped base to set the dish on. I'm having a difficult time finding one of these. Does anyone know of a reputable supplier with a good price???

I would like a 6' dish to start me into C-band... something that won't be a hassle to setup. I saw the $69 special, but I read all the hassles people had putting these onto a pole, and I don't mind paying more to avoid the problems. I saw Iceberg had a dish like one of these that he manually moves and uses a couple sandbags. That would be a temporary solution for me until I can find something permanent.

 

[phlatwound]

Quite a drive but you can't beat the price!

http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/291098-Free-6-Fortec-Star-BUD-parts-Come-and-get-it

 

[primestar31]

View attachment 80577

The picture above shows the type of dish that would be ideal for me. I like how it has the circular shaped base to set the dish on. I'm having a difficult time finding one of these. Does anyone know of a reputable supplier with a good price???

I would like a 6' dish to start me into C-band... something that won't be a hassle to setup. I saw the $69 special, but I read all the hassles people had putting these onto a pole, and I don't mind paying more to avoid the problems. I saw Iceberg had a dish like one of these that he manually moves and uses a couple sandbags. That would be a temporary solution for me until I can find something permanent.

Here you go, best price going, and these are GREAT dishes! http://www.hypermegasat.com/VS-180TVRO.htm

Or here for one with a polar mount: http://sadoun.com/Sat/Order/Dishes/C_Band_satellite_dish.htm I just set one of these up myself, and it's not hard, and they are a great dish also! Mine came with a 3" mount to use on a slab or patio, but I put it on a pole.

 

[rapidawn]

Someone on ebay also sells a 6 panel 8 footer with the circular base if you're looking to go bigger.

www.ebay.com/itm/240CM-Digiwave-DIG...469?pt=US_Antennas_Dishes&hash=item3a75b7616d

Pricey. Anybody have experience with the digiwave dish?

 

[Andrew K]

Putting a C-band dish in my yard that has a clear view of the whole arc is impossible... I either get 40.5W-91W on one side of my house or 107.3W-139W on the other side of my house. Which is the better option? I imagine that if I play around, I could get 91W - 107.3W if I really try to locate exactly where the arc is and poke through the trees. But the problem is that I can't actually see the arc. Is there any one particular satellite that has the most channels ITC (like 97W for Ku)? Perhaps I'd be okay with a fixed dish if I could get a lot of channels.

 

[primestar31]

91W - 107.3W would be my pick, if that's all I had. I can only get 61W - 123W, and I still have issues with trees fluttering in the bottom edge of some signals. Makes it touchy to lock on some of the S2-8psk channels.

This is for seeing the arc: http://www.dishpointer.com/

http://www.dishpointer.com/2009/augmented-reality-satellite-finder/

If you have the right phone or tablet, get the "augmented reality finder" it's well worth the $20. There's also a support forum for it here.

 

[Andrew K]

I'm very familiar with dishpointer.com. I don't have a smart phone capable of that app. I am thinking of buying some sort of angle measuring device... one that will give me an idea of how high the satellites are above the horizon. Any suggestions?? Whenever I have the satellite elevation angle, it's hard to imagine how high above the horizon it really is. From my research, it looks like there's lots of foreign channels on 116.8W, 58W, and 55.5W with some English programming scattered elsewhere. I would like to watch CBC on 107.3, but I read somewhere that it's not expected to stay ITC for too long. So I don't have much expectations with that.

I don't suppose that setting up a C-band dish is too difficult. I will probably need a good signal finder. Any suggestions?

 

[Babadem]

I'm very familiar with dishpointer.com. I don't have a smart phone capable of that app. I am thinking of buying some sort of angle measuring device... one that will give me an idea of how high the satellites are above the horizon. Any suggestions?? Whenever I have the satellite elevation angle, it's hard to imagine how high above the horizon it really is. From my research, it looks like there's lots of foreign channels on 116.8W, 58W, and 55.5W with some English programming scattered elsewhere. I would like to watch CBC on 107.3, but I read somewhere that it's not expected to stay ITC for too long. So I don't have much expectations with that.

I don't suppose that setting up a C-band dish is too difficult. I will probably need a good signal finder. Any suggestions?

As for Signal finder try the SatHero-200. I just got one for $149.00+free shipping from Hypermegasat.com and I'm very happy with it.

 

[FaT Air]

Angle finder
place on a level surface with the arm set to the elevation. Rotate to 'look' along the satellites azimuth, sight along arm.

 

[johann12]

Angle finder
View attachment 80584place on a level surface with the arm set to the elevation. Rotate to 'look' along the satellites azimuth, sight along arm.

I have a LOT of trees around my house and some members would had said that it is impossible to get signals.
Here is what I done to make sure that I might get signals.

My son got a telescope.
I set the telescope 2 feet of the ground and I set a angle finder on top of it. I used dishpointer to get the data I needed like another member mentioned. I allowed 5 degrees to make up for errors; in other words if the elevation was stating 45 degrees I would set the telescope to 40 degrees etc. etc.
I then looked through the telescope to see if I had a clear sight. DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN, IT WILL MAKE YOU BLIND.
My first dish was a 7 1/2 foot dish, which was ok but not the better one duo size.
Per telescope I figured that I could get 72 to 103, but after setting up the dish I was able to get 72 to 107 and I will also get 113 in winter time when there is no leaves on the trees.
Last weekend I set up a 10 foot dish and a lot more channels popped up.
If you browse posts about 6 foot dishes you may find that most folks have problems with them and I think it is because of size.
A 8 or 10 foot dish would be a lot better to pick up weak signals if you have the space and no other restriction. I read on the internet that by increasing from a 7 foot dish to a 10 foot dish that the signal strength increases by 50%.
There are still dishes out there for free or for little money. Drive around or go on craigslist to find them.
My first dish was free and my 10 foot dish I got for $50.
Both dishes I set up with an cheap $10 signal meter. The problem with the cheap meter is that the meter will not tell you what satellite you are aiming at. What you have to do with the cheap meter is... aim at the satellite and do a blindscan with your receiver and compare the channels to the lyngsat listing to find out what satellite you are aiming at.
A more expensive meter will be able to peak your dish at the max and may tell you what satellite you are aiming at.