setting up for 148

[phlatwound]

Here's another variation that worked.

I put an old DirecTv LNBF (that the D* installer had replaced and left on the ground @ my Mom's house) on the 119 side of the Dish 500 Y-adapter, set the elevation for 20 degrees, adjusted the azimuth a bit, and boom, got green in the 94% range on the "Pointing a dish at 148W" banner.

I didn't measure it but it appears that the Dish 500 has quite a bit more offset angle than the JBU dish, the 500 is actually pointing slightly at the ground when the signal is locked, the JBU was still facing "above" the ground.

That LNBF is really not even attached, I had to take a hacksaw and saw out the holes where the screw typically goes through just to make it seat in the holder at all, the coax is really the only thing holding it in.

I'm looking for a Dish 300 now to put up on my tower, if I don't find one I may just screw/ziptie the rig I have pictured here and put it up.

 

[Mr Tony]

Is the center LNB in the last picture the one from Bell Express Vu? Got one just like it from Ebay and thought the seller made a mistake and sent a circular LNB because I did not know that BEV also use linear. Sat in the pile for a while until I read your message about your own BEV LNB.

in pic 2 the LNB on the left is indeed a Bell ExpressVu LINEAR from back in the day when they were Linear (I think they were on 118.7 at the time)


very rare and at the time I bought it because it was a dual...99% of the Bell LNB's that you'd run into are circular

 

[Mr Tony]

Bell Express Vu uses Circular, I think "Starchoice" uses / used Linear

Starchoice uses Linear for their setups at AnikF1 & F2
Bell is circular

 

[Mr Tony]

very cool pics phlatwood. The DBS slots are pretty easy to aim at

 

[phlatwound]

very cool pics phlatwood. The DBS slots are pretty easy to aim at

I couldn't believe how far off-azimuth or elevation I could go and still get good quality.

My dog watched me do this one, and it was so easy I think I'll have him do the next one.

 

[Mr Tony]

maybe he can move the dish for ya while you watch the quality meter

 

[eurosport]

Sure, it's scrambled, but it taught me that I could get to 148W (19.5 degrees elevation) and was a fun experiment.

It's 13 degrees elevation here...maybe if I put the dish waaay up the tower?

 

[phlatwound]

It's 13 degrees elevation here...maybe if I put the dish waaay up the tower?

I was able to get it from the ground here on my temp mount, but once the leaves come back there is no way I will have LOS from there.

I think I have a hole in the trees where I can put it on my tower, so it can be reached from the roof, but that's a project for another day.

 

[Tron]

When my motorized rig is looking at 148w, the dish seems to be pointed at my roof due to the offset. In fact, its looking just over the top of it... Very low elevation for me here in New Orleans as well, but it works. On 30w (Hispasat), the dish angle looks the same, only its pointed toward the far east My true south is 90.1w, so, doing the math, this makes perfect sense...

 

[Mr Tony]

my infamous 148/30 dish pic

Left dish is aimed at 148 and right dish is at 30W
(16 elevation and 9 elevation respectively)

 

[eurosport]

I think I'd be able to do Hispasat no problem at 23.3 elevation, but my real challenge -and I will try it- will be Telstar 12 at 15w....10.3 elevation, I think trees will be blocking it, though!

 

[1captain]

I think I'd be able to do Hispasat no problem at 23.3 elevation, but my real challenge -and I will try it- will be Telstar 12 at 15w....10.3 elevation, I think trees will be blocking it, though!

Hispasat is strong here in South Fl, it maxs out signal an Q both here, an Telstar-12 is also strong on most transponders the nbs stuff little week but still not bad.

A simple way to see if you have any blockage is with a angle finder with a small tube on the base of it. hold angle finder at 10 degrees elevation an look in to the tube an you will see if it is clear or what is the blocking it, an this should be done at the bottom of the dish.

 

[phlatwound]

my infamous 148/30 dish pic

Left dish is aimed at 148 and right dish is at 30W
(16 elevation and 9 elevation respectively)

That's a great picture, I remember that one.

It appears you have some skew on both of those dishes and it made me wonder:

Am I correct in thinking that when setting up a dish for circular signals, with a single LNB, that you don't have to skew the dish or the LNB?

And if you are setting up a dish for more than one circular sat, or a combo of circular and linear, that you do need to account for skew?

 

[Anole]

When you have multiple circular satellites on one dish, you skew the dish, ...
NOT to skew the LNBs, which don't need skewing, but...
to put the LNBs in the right place to receive the satellites.

Look at any dish with multiple LNBs on it.
The LNBs are in a line (actually a curve) so each one sees its satellite.
If they were linear, you'd also have to twist them in their mounts.
Not so with circular birds.

 

[Mr Tony]

Am I correct in thinking that when setting up a dish for circular signals, with a single LNB, that you don't have to skew the dish or the LNB?

And if you are setting up a dish for more than one circular sat, or a combo of circular and linear, that you do need to account for skew?

correct. Circular polarity doesnt care about skew if a single LNB. That is why you can have it upside down, left, right or down and it works fine

 

[phlatwound]

Thanks, Anole & Iceberg! I've never played with multiple LNBs before, but after looking at pics of the many projects here, and looking at the multiple LNB D* & E* dishes, it makes sense now.

 

[Tron]

In Iceberg's picture, the left dish (on 148w) is motorized, so it skews automatically. My motorized rig is looking at 119w right now, since I was unable to get the BUD up in time...

 

[phlatwound]

I didn't even notice the motor before, Tron, you are correct.

That was another thing I learned from this experiment, my DG-380 will do +/- 80 degreees from true south, I'm at 93 lat so it easily went to 148. My LOS to the east is even worse than to the west, there's no way for me to get much past 72 without elevating a dish.

Been gone and missed the launch but I have the 1000.2/Dish 811 combo for 119 in my office with analog CRT, and fixing to swing the BUD over to AMC7 right now for the HDTV.

 

[SatPhreak]

in pic 2 the LNB on the left is indeed a Bell ExpressVu LINEAR from back in the day when they were Linear (I think they were on 118.7 at the time)

They were sharing the Anik ku sat at 107.3 with Starchoice for their first year and a bit until Nimiq 1 was launched.

 

[SatPhreak]

Look at any dish with multiple LNBs on it.
The LNBs are in a line (actually a curve) so each one sees its satellite.
If they were linear, you'd also have to twist them in their mounts.
Not so with circular birds.

A multi lnb dish for linear doesn't need any extra skewing of the lnb if the dish itself skews it lines both birds up with the correct skew on each. Unless you tried pointing it at AMC 1, then you would need extra skew. Starchoice dishes are skewable dual linear lnbf dishes and they have no way to skew the lnb itself, only the dish.