norsat 3220

[misterpaul]

Hi,
I was wondering if you guys could point me to a site that carried these lnbs. I'm putting together a c-band setup and the friend who's giving me his 12' dish suggested I should buy one of these lnbs. I found one site carrying them
http://www.futurevisionsat.com/about.html but since they are a bit pricey I'd like to see if I can maybe get a better deal elsewhere.

Also, what other lnbs would you guys suggest?

On another note, I can't really afford a new receiver, so I'd also appreciate it if you could point me to a place that sells simple dish positioners which will also allow me to adjust the polarizer. As I understand it, FTA will work with my current Viewsat Extreme, except that I wont be able to change the polarizer (which is why I need a dish mover). I'm very new at this, and this stuff can be a bit confusing even after doing a lot of reading.

Thanks for all the help

paul

 

[Shawn95GT]

That's probably as good a price as you are going to find as that is a very high end LNB.

A cheaper alternative that many of us have is the Norsat 8115.

If you are going to all this trouble / expense, you should look into a 4DTV and slave the FTA box to it. If you don't want to just on the 4DTV, any old analog receiver will work to run the actuator / polarizer. The problem you'll run into is that the satelite lists are WAY outdated and you'll have to make up you own cross reference between what it calls the satellite and what you actually want.

 

[tdti1]

Yes that lnb is great, though for 99.9% of video feeds you will be watching you will be well off with the Norsat 8215 for C-band and if you have a dual band feed the Ku-band 4206a will be a good choice, if you want better the 8115 and 4106a are both super lnb's, over kill for 4dtv and a number one choice for most every feed you will be viewing.

I would get a 4dtv (dsr 922) and slave the Viewsat like so:
http://www.dmsiusa.com/add_a_receiver.htm
Good luck!

 

[misterpaul]

Thank you for all the replies. I plan on purchasing a c/ku/dbs feedhorn to go with the lnb and I'll also be getting a ku lnb from the same friend.

The reciever is out of the question at this moment, I just can't afford it and for now I'll just have to go with a simple positioner (haven't figured out where to get one from yet).

Could anyone possibly explain the difference between the 3220 model and 8115 in plain english. I noticed 3220 is about 100 dollars more.

Thanks,
paul

 

[Shawn95GT]

Could anyone possibly explain the difference between the 3220 model and 8115 in plain english. I noticed 3220 is about 100 dollars more.

Thanks,
paul

The big difference is the frequency stability and noise floor. The frequency stability is desirable for digital channels.

The 8115's is rated at 150 kHz stable vs the 3220 which is rated at 10kHz stable. Both of these stability figures are a HUGE improvement over a regular LNB which is usually between 1 and 1.5 MHz (1,000 khz - 1500 kHz).

The noise floor figure is kind of like the sensativity of the LNB. I think of it like a squelch contol on a 2-way radio. With that size dish the 20 degree vs 15 degree isn't a big deal. The lower noise temperature figure is generally 'better' but there are always exceptions.

Either of these are excellent LNBs.

 

[Stefan]

Could anyone possibly explain the difference between the 3220 model and 8115 in plain english. I noticed 3220 is about 100 dollars more.

The main difference is in the LO. The 3220 uses a circuit called a PLL which is much more stable and able to produce a much more stable and precise frequency. Notice the difference in the LO stability rating of the 2 LNBs (+- 10khz for the 3220 versus +-150khz for the 8115). Having said that the 8115 is a great LNB and is probably more than adaquate for a home TVRO system as it should be able to lock 99.999999999% of everything you'll want to lock (assuming your dish is large enough and well aligned of course). The PLL lnb is probably mainly used for commercial installation that need to be able to lock low symbol rate data signals which is where high stability is generally more important or signals that may use 8psk or 16Qam modulation.

 

[misterpaul]

Thanks again for all the replies. I went ahead and purchased the 3220. Looking on ebay I came across a few c band recievers but I can't find too much info on them. Any idea if any/all of the following would be able to adjust the polarizer:
- General Instruments Super 350i
- Uniden President PS600 XL
- G.I. 650i
- DSR 905
- DSR 920
- Chaparral Monterey 55
- Star*trak Eight

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Shawn95GT]

probably all of them .

The 905 is a 4DTV side car - you'd add that to an existing analog receiver. Not sure if it'll work stand alone.

The DSR-920 is a stand-alone 4DTV. There is some stuff it won't tune but plenty of people still use them. They are generally cheaper than a DSR-922 (current model).

The G.I. 650i is a nice analog receiver.

I've never worked with the Chaparral receiver but I'm sure it'd work fine.

Any of the above would work fine. If I had to choose from that list I wouldn't think twice about the DSR-920.

You might check you local thrift stores. I bought my first analog receiver there and I got my 2nd one off of freecycle. The 922 I'm using right now was bought for $7.99 at a thrift store!

 

[Stefan]

I believe the 905 will indeed control a polarizer. It will not however control a motor. Generally it's used as a slave to some other analog receiver and that reciever would be used to move the dish. However, you could probably use the 905 alone as long as you had some other way to move the dish, like maybe a Vbox II combined with a DVB reciever. The 905 will not do analog by itself. So, if you're interested in analog youd need a separate analog receiver to go along with it.

The 920 is a combined analog and DCII reciever. So, it can function as a standalnone reciever and can move the dish. However, it's an old receiver that was replaced by the newer 922 with the difference being there are some symbol rates the 922 (and 905) can do that the 920 cannot. So, if you get a 920 there might be some signals you won't be able to get. Another thing to consider is that all DCII reciever have an internal battery that backs up the memory that stores the receivers unit ID number. If and when that battery goes dead the reciever is basically dead and useless. The 920s being older are probably more likely to be approaching the end of the life of their batteries.

If it were me I'd go with the 905 and just pickup some cheap used analog receiver to go along with it. This combination is probably cheaper than a 922 and would not be limited as the 920 is. Also the 905s are newer and perhaps less likely to have a battery that's about to die.