Review of WSI 7630 75cm Ku dish.

[hwm]

This is a review and test of the WSI 7630 75cm Ku dish, comparing it to the Winegard DS-2076 76cm Ku dish.
The WSI measures 75cm x 81cm. The Winegard measures 76cm x 83cm.

Packaging: Very good. Sturdy double-wall cardboard box with form-fitting styrofoam insert.

Instructions: Fair. Exploded view drawing with parts list and brief captions. The Winegard instructions are similar, and no better.

Fasteners: The metric fasteners are all hardened and well plated. Six expanding bolts are included to fasten the mount brackets to your house or other flat surface.

Quality/Durability: All parts are nicely finished and high quality. The edges are smooth and safe to handle. The J-pole mount bracket is lighter than the Winegard, and you will need to use the two extra support arms that are included. The WSI dish is lighter, thinner, and noticeably more flexible than the Winegard.

The plastic LNB holder is a very tight fit on the steel arm where it mounts. I forced it on instead of using a small grinder to open it up a bit, and it cracked in the cold winter temperature. I was able to repair it with a metal strap.

I measured the edge of the dish with a dial caliper and got these readings for dish metal thickness including any plating and finish: WSI .035 inch. Winegard .050 inch.

Both should last a long time in the weather, but the Winegard dish is sturdier and in my opinion will survive higher winds than the WSI.

Adjustment ease and accuracy: The WSI assembly instructions call for small plastic washers to be used under the steel washers where adjustment bolts slide in slotted holes. They are much too slippery, and the dish will not hold adjustment if they are used. The elevation scale was off by several degrees on the example tested. The Winegard elevation scale is accurate.

Performance: Using the same JSC321 standard Ku .2 rated LNBF on both dishes and carefully peaking the signal, the WSI consistently gave 3 points higher signal quality on all transponders when tested on SES1 @ 101w using a Coolsat 6000 and ten feet of RG-6 cable. As one example, the WSI gave 75% Q on 12060H while the Winegard was only able to squeeze out 72%. The WSI dish felt like it had a tighter focus when fine tuning the position.

Conclusion: If you can live with the thinner metal of the dish and mount, omit the slippery plastic washers, and get past the inaccurate elevation scale, the 75cm WSI 7630 Ku dish will deliver significantly higher signal quality than the slightly larger Winegard 76cm dish. But if you have high winds where you live, better spend a little more and get the Winegard.

 

[Anole]

Very good review.
I feel well informed after reading and looking at your nice pictures.

One thing I'd like to know, is the width (and height) of each dish.
However, this is not urgent ; do wait and I'm sure there will be more questions from others.

 

[Bob2011]

Great Job! Looking at both dishes do you have a gut feel for why the WSI may perform better?

 

[hwm]

Very good review.
I feel well informed after reading and looking at your nice pictures.

One thing I'd like to know, is the width (and height) of each dish.
However, this is not urgent ; do wait and I'm sure there will be more questions from others.

I have added this info to the review. Thanks.

Looking at both dishes do you have a gut feel for why the WSI may perform better?

The WSI dish felt like it has a tighter focus. I have added this info to the review. Thanks for the question.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Good job!

From what I see the Winegard mounting plate assembly looks to be much larger and better constructed compared to the WSI. Also, I noticed that the LNB plastic bracket seems to be cracked. Did this occur during assembly?

After reading your review and looking at the pictures I would buy the Wingard. Spend a little more money and get a higher quality product.

 

[hwm]

From what I see the Winegard mounting plate assembly looks to be much larger and better constructed compared to the WSI. Also, I noticed that the LNB plastic bracket seems to be cracked. Did this occur during assembly?

It was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit the day I assembled and tested it, and I forced the tight fitting plastic LNB holder over the steel arm instead taking the time to grind a little plastic away for a better fit. Yeah, I used a hammer, but it was a plastic hammer.

 

[billyboy_1]

It was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit the day I assembled and tested it, and I forced the tight fitting plastic LNB holder over the steel arm instead taking the time to grind a little plastic away for a better fit. Yeah, I used a hammer, but it was a plastic hammer.

Whats the price comparison ?

 

[hwm]

Whats the price comparison ?

The Winegard is about ten dollars more at this gold sponsor's website: Satellite Dishes | 90cm 75cm 80cm satellite dishes - 30-inch dish 36-inch Free To Air dish & 33-inch dish FTA Dish 36" dish 30" 75cm

Shipping will be slightly more for the Winegard, because it is heavier.

 

[Mr Tony]

WS7630 30" dish

Had a chance to try out the WS7630 dish from Galaxy Marketing. It came very well packed. Opened it up and separated the parts. Assembly is pretty easy to do as its only a few parts. The dish is very light which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on location of the dish and your location. I didnt like the fact that there were no extra bolts or nuts as I always seem to lose one. The mast comes with braces which normally should be used. The location where I was going to put the dish posed a problem. The mast has a hole in the side of it for the braces to attach to. But the way I needed to put the mast this wouldn't work. So I just tightened the bolts on the mast a little tighter.

Set the dish near my true south to try out. I decided to try this as a fixed dish setup. Set it up for 97W and locked the 3ABN mux right away. Peaked the dish and got very good results. I tested out the transponders on 97W and logged all the channels. I have another 30" dish that is hooked up to the motor and wanted to see if the results were better, worse or the same. A couple transponders were stronger on the WSI dish versus my Winegard dish. Most of the rest were the same. I moved over to 101W and locked the History (well at the time it was the still frame) and Bio. Signals were very good on it. Maxed out the meter. I tried a few other satellites (83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 95, 97, 101, 103) and the dish performed very well. It really did good on the NBC feeds on 103 but that may also have to do with the LNB being skewed right (as its well known the skew on 103 KU is off by 26 degrees). This would work great as a fixed dish setup for 103W

This past week I decided to install it at my buddy's house. He really wanted RTV & TuffTV and is now at a place where he can put a dish up. That gets me to the elevation bracket. It can be confusing to figure out. There are 2 holes on the top of the bracket. If you put it in the one spot, the markings are way off. If you put it on the other hole, the dish bracket bumps into the dish when you go under 33-34 degrees. While this may not be an issue for most folks, the northern states will have an issue if they want it on a dish with lower elevation. So for him, I put it on the 1st hole. Since I've aimed dishes for years I know about the elevation for true south and went off of that. We got the transponder in at a 70 or so on the Pansat 2500 so he's happy. He's got the older shows to watch.

All and all this is a nice dish. Its lightweight so its easy to carry up the ladder or easy for one person to mount it. We've had some pretty strong winds here and the dish works just fine despite it being lightweight. Signals are just as good as they were the day it was installed. The braces, while not needed are nice to have. I wish there was a collar to bolt it too instead of the dish directly as you are limited if you have the mast mounted at a weird angle.
The elevation scale can have some issues if you're brand new to free to air but otherwise the WSI7630 is a great dish to have. I know my buddy is happy

 

[hwm]

The elevation scale being off so far, while no sweat for Iceberg, and merely a speed bump for me, would be very confusing and frustrating for someone just starting out in this hobby.

My question for WSI: Will this problem be corrected in the future production runs of this excellent performing dish?

 

[Mr Tony]

one of the bolts does work pretty well but then there is another issue

If you put it in the one spot, the markings are way off. If you put it on the other hole, the dish bracket bumps into the dish when you go under 33-34 degrees.

 

[hwm]

The WSI does have a tighter focus.

Recently I've been having some trouble with interference from another nearby transponder on 101w, 12060H during late afternoon and evening hours using a Winegard 76cm dish. The signal quality is strong when it locks in, but the receiver repeatedly loses its lock. Tested with three different STBs, same result.

Even when the Winegard can't get any usable signal on this transponder, the WSI 7630 will get it without difficulty.