Sat. 110 and 119 in Cancun, Mexico

[TexasSat]

Hi Guys,

I live in Texas and I am a Dish Network subscriber. I get channels from Sat 110 and 119. I also have a summer house in Cancun, Mexico and when I go down there I take one of my receivers with me and hook it up to a 1.10 m dish with one LNB, and I get some of the channels (I believe the ones from 119). Since I have a spare dual LNB like the one in the Dish 500, I was thinking to take it with me down there, and replace the individual LNB with the dual LNB. Since I am a newbie I talked to the guy that helped me to install the dish in Cancun. The guy told me that I will not be able to get both SATs with one dish, but that I will have to get another Dish to install the other LNB (after saying so, he was trying to sell me one big Dish), and combine both signals using a switch (he also tried to sell me one switch for 50 dollars, when I know that I can get a good one for as little as 5 dollars). All and all, I think this guy is trying to screw me, so I wonder if somebody can tell me whether I can get both signals with only one dish with a dual LNB in Cancun, and if so, let me know how should I tweak the orientation of the dish.

 

[boba]

You probably don't have a dual LNB(thanks for spelling it correctly) I expect you have a TWIN LNB. Technically you can mount it but the time and money would probably be better sprnt on a second dish anf a free standing switch. And don't even think about HD signals in Mexico.

 

[ahuevos]

Hi Guys,

I live in Texas and I am a Dish Network subscriber. I get channels from Sat 110 and 119. I also have a summer house in Cancun, Mexico and when I go down there I take one of my receivers with me and hook it up to a 1.10 m dish with one LNB, and I get some of the channels (I believe the ones from 119). Since I have a spare dual LNB like the one in the Dish 500, I was thinking to take it with me down there, and replace the individual LNB with the dual LNB. Since I am a newbie I talked to the guy that helped me to install the dish in Cancun. The guy told me that I will not be able to get both SATs with one dish, but that I will have to get another Dish to install the other LNB (after saying so, he was trying to sell me one big Dish), and combine both signals using a switch (he also tried to sell me one switch for 50 dollars, when I know that I can get a good one for as little as 5 dollars). All and all, I think this guy is trying to screw me, so I wonder if somebody can tell me whether I can get both signals with only one dish with a dual LNB in Cancun, and if so, let me know how should I tweak the orientation of the dish.

Yes you do need two dishes, but 110 needs a big one. I think its not worth the $$$ if you're only gonna use it for a couple of days.

 

[TexasSat]

Boba, AHuevos thank for your answers. Boba, as I mentioned in my post, I am a newbie. Could you explain to me what is the difference between a dual and a twin LNB? However, after reading your answer, I google the terms, and I believe I have a twin LNB.

AHuevos: I use the dish for more than two days, I stay there sometimes for weeks, so I guess, it will be a good investment. The question still is: Why can I not use only one dish and twin LNB as I do with my Dish 500 in Texas? I guess there should be an orientation that should provide a good compromise between good strengh for both signals.

 

[vegassatellite]

You can't use a twin on anything larger than a dish 500. The reason is the focal depth is concentrated further out on larger dishes. Notice how your LNB on your 1.8m dish is much further away from the reflector of the 500 dish? Well, 110 and 119 are nine degrees apart so a Twin has both LNBs perfectly spaced for the focal depth of a 500 dish. To better understand this, take a long piece of paper and a protractor and draw you a line and then a second line that radiates away from the first line at 9 degrees. See how as each line extends away from the center point that the width between them increases? That means a second LNB would have to be positioned much further to the side of the LNB you have on there now.

 

[TexasSat]

Vegassatellite, your answer makes a lot of sense. I understood the basic idea of the twin LNB, but thought that somehow the changes in curvature of the dish and focal depth will made the configuration of the twin LNB's dish independent. So, I guess, the best and only solution is to get another dish and combine both signals, no?

 

[vegassatellite]

Well, if you can figure out where to put the other LNB, you can probably fabricate a sidecar mount for the second LNB. However, from what some others around there are saying, the new 110 bird has such a tight beam around the USA that a SETI dish won't pick it up if you're too far South.

 

[nelson61]

Hi Guys,

The guy told me that I will not be able to get both SATs with one dish, but that I will have to get another Dish to install the other LNB (after saying so, he was trying to sell me one big Dish), and combine both signals using a switch (he also tried to sell me one switch for 50 dollars, when I know that I can get a good one for as little as 5 dollars). All and all, I think this guy is trying to screw me, so I wonder if somebody can tell me whether I can get both signals with only one dish with a dual LNB in Cancun, and if so, let me know how should I tweak the orientation of the dish.

He sounds reasonable to me. You have two choices. Buy a second dish and put your second lnb on it or buy a big enough dish that you can wing mount your second lnb on it. Either case requires a decent quality multiswitch. His switch price sounds cheap for a good switch. Don't forget that the cost of importing is about 30%, so that $50 switch would cost you $38 in the US.