This weekend I put up my 31" Alphastar dish. I was trying to point it at Telestart 6 at 93 degrees West. A couple of times when I did a blind scan, I actually got some signals from the 91 degree Nimiq bird. I had a single 100ft long cable going from my receiver to the LNB, no Diseqc switches involved at all, and is surprised the heck out of me to see some of the ExpressVu channel names pop up on the display while doing the blind scan. Not anywhere near all of the channels just 10 or 12 of them. I didn't think that a Linear LNB was capable of pulling in circularly polarized channels, or is this Alphastar LNB that I've got on the dish capable of pulling in both types of signals?
Receiving Circular Polarized signals on a Linear LNB?
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Wow.. OK. I didn't realize that. That could come in handy when I get my motor in the next couple of weeks. My true south is 82 degrees. I can see if I can find the Nimiq satellite to set the angle on my dish while installing the motor.
Do you, or anybody reading this thread, know if the Alphastar LNB is of decent quality? I looked at the LNB and I didn' see any signal to noise ratios of any sort printed on them. I am pulling in a signal quality in the 60's on the University channel on IA6. I figured that with a 31" dish I would be getting a higher quality.. I haven't played with the skew a whole lot though, it might need to be adjusted. It seemed to be at the correct angle or pretty darn close. If it isn't a decent quality LNB, I might grab one of my old ExpressVu Standard LNBs or look at buying a better quality universal.
Do you, or anybody reading this thread, know if the Alphastar LNB is of decent quality? I looked at the LNB and I didn' see any signal to noise ratios of any sort printed on them. I am pulling in a signal quality in the 60's on the University channel on IA6. I figured that with a 31" dish I would be getting a higher quality.. I haven't played with the skew a whole lot though, it might need to be adjusted. It seemed to be at the correct angle or pretty darn close. If it isn't a decent quality LNB, I might grab one of my old ExpressVu Standard LNBs or look at buying a better quality universal.
Remember if you use a Linear for circular or vice versa the transponder freq. will be WAY off, so its best just to blind scan them in, if you have a Circular polarized satellite for True south it may be an idea to use a Circular LNB to find it, then switch to a linear to fine tune.
I do have an old DirecTV circular LNB that I could put on to the dish just long enough to find true south. It really surprised me that I could find circular signals on a linear LNB. I had done a blind scan and came up with a bunch of Canadian HD channels, so I made the assumption that I was on one of the Anik satellites, because I was using linear.. Turns out that I was probably pointed at Nimiq @ 82.. To save some grief, I'll use the circular LNB to lock in on 82, then switch it back out for the linear to set up the motor. Thanks for the help. I thought that I was going nuts, or had a wierd LNB.
There's not a whole lot of stuff from the DBS birds that would make it worth the effort of trying to tune in 2 LNBs and figure out how to get the dish to move to the right birds. I've got an 18" reflector pointed at 119 to get the Nasa channel and the music. I'll leave that one there. That's the only DBS bird that I think has much on it worthwhile, right? Other than that, I'll use the linear LNB for the rest of the sky.
A DBS LNBF tied to the side would also not accomplish your goal of finding the True South satellite, as the dish would have to be several degrees off of center for each DBS satellite.
My plan is to temporarily replace the linear LNB with the circular LNB to find true South, then go back to the Linear 
My plan is to temporarily replace the linear LNB with the circular LNB to find true South, then go back to the Linear
that will work just fine
Also, when you blind scanned, how many DBS transpnoders did you get? On my Pansat, it scans from 950-1600 IF frequency, which is 11700-12350 so I do get the first 9 or so DBS transpnoders when I'm near it
What kind of signal are you getting on IA6 with
CBS Newsfeed
TV Azteca
Macy's "test" screen?
All of these should be around 75 or so...Doc Scott fluxuates greatly
I don't recall how many DBS channels I got. I think I stopped the blind scan because I figured that the receiver had gone bananas..
I just checked those channels.
CBS newsfeed = 45%
TVAzteca 7 = 75%
TVAxteca 13 = 75%
Macys = 75%
University Net = 30% (seems pretty low)
It was really cold out yesterday, so I put the 31" dish on to a mast that was already mounted on my shed. The mast was for an 18" dish. The 31" dish sure catches a lot more wind than the 18" model did. I am going to be putting up the mast that came with the Alphastar dish on one of the upcoming weekends because it has a much larger footprint to mount to the shed - it will be a lot sturdier. It will have to be good and strong to hold the motor and the dish. Or should I be looking at planting a pole in the ground?
I just checked those channels.
CBS newsfeed = 45%
TVAzteca 7 = 75%
TVAxteca 13 = 75%
Macys = 75%
University Net = 30% (seems pretty low)
It was really cold out yesterday, so I put the 31" dish on to a mast that was already mounted on my shed. The mast was for an 18" dish. The 31" dish sure catches a lot more wind than the 18" model did. I am going to be putting up the mast that came with the Alphastar dish on one of the upcoming weekends because it has a much larger footprint to mount to the shed - it will be a lot sturdier. It will have to be good and strong to hold the motor and the dish. Or should I be looking at planting a pole in the ground?
Line of sight isn't much of an issue, and won't be for probably 10 to 15 years at least. Our neighbourhood is part of the urban sprawl and is built in what used to be a field, so there isn't much in the way for big trees here. My storage shed is very well built and is very sturdy, so I might see about mounting the dish to the roof of the shed and see how it makes out for wind etc. If it becomes an issue, I'll plant a pole in the ground. Our long term plan is to move probably within 5 years, so I'm doing my best to not deface the house or yard too much for my satellite hobby
mine is roof mounted because of LOS (its on the backside of my roof so to get the most of the arc it has to be on the roof)
I was inspired by this thread to try it for the hell of it. I got a few channels on 119 that show up crypted but no NASA. So, that i'll have to tweak somehow. Good thread. Hell, if I can get NASA with my linear, i won't have to by a quad polar.
I believe NASA is up in the DBS only frequency range, hence the inability of a linear LNBF to pick it up.
I tried it on a friend's BUD with a C/KU Corotor II setup. Again, a few all-scrambled transponders, no NASA.
I tried it on a friend's BUD with a C/KU Corotor II setup. Again, a few all-scrambled transponders, no NASA.
I've scanned 118.7 (AMC16) with my Invacom quad, linear settings, and picked up 68 scrambled channels at about 20% quality. That "bastard" bird, circular polarity, in the 11700-12200 freq range, is a strange one indeed. It would not lock with my Fortec NA, but the BUZZ receiver ( sensitive tuner) brought them in fine on a blindscan.
"Never say never" might be the motto.
"Never say never" might be the motto.
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