Solid 6' Vs. Mesh 8' BUD

[Vondertrenk]

Hi Guys
Is it true that solid 6 ft is as good as an 8 ft mesh dish?

I sort of remember reading it somewhere or maybe it is something that someone told me.

 

[primestar31]

Hi Guys
Is it true that solid 6 ft is as good as an 8 ft mesh dish?

I sort of remember reading it somewhere or maybe it is something that someone told me.

NO, that's NOT TRUE.

Do NOT bother installing a 6ft dish, unless maybe you might want to have it fixed on a particular satellite. I would suggest 99W. Even an 8ft dish will be iffy with the way they are going now with DVB-S2, 8psk, 16psk, 32psk, etc...

If you REALLY want to get into watching FTA, you really must install a minimum of a 10ft dish. This is said by a guy who's first dish was installed in 1984~, and I've had quite a few different ones since.

 

[Vondertrenk]

Thanks for the tip. I live in a relatively new neighborhood with not too much room for really big BUDs. I actually own a 6 ft and was thinking to move one step up, to 8 ft. I think my wife and neighbors will not complain if I do the move from 6 solid to 8 mesh. I dont think I can go that far as 10', including lack of room.

So to confirm, 8 mesh is way better than 6 solid, correct?

 

[primestar31]

So to confirm, 8 mesh is way better than 6 solid, correct?

Yes, an 8 foot dish will work very acceptably for about 90% of what's out there, IF installed carefully with attention to details, and making sure it's all adjusted well.

 

[Vondertrenk]

Thanks!!!!

 

[Comptech]

As Mike said, 10 foot minimum. Today's signals are tight and so are modulations. I was lucky to score a brand new 10 foot Unimesh a couple of years ago and it is perforated, not mesh. I can lock all 16apsk feeds, well almost all.. A 8 footer will get you a bunch, but a good 10 footer will get you a whole bunch more.

 

[Comptech]

Let me put it into scale. A 8 footer will get you ankle to knee deep in C-band A 10 footer will get you thigh high. A 12 footer that is a great dish will blow your head off.

 

[Comptech]

But I must admit, I gave my 12 foot unimesh away in favor of the 10 foot Unimesh perforated. I had both setup at the same time and the perforated worked better.

 

[TNGuy84]

Wouldn't "the bigger, the better" rule pretty much apply these days? I say that with the C-band repack coming up. I would think that to go as big as possible would help overcome any noise figures that will come up once 5G on C-band goes nationwide.

 

[Titanium]

Once all NA satellites are contained within 200mhz, expect both polarities of each satellite to be fully utilizing the same frequency range. Adjacent satellite interference combined with higher FEC rates will require large dishes with a narrow main lobe and an optimized feed.

Potential 5g interference can be mitigated with filters and dish placement, blocking terrestrial signal paths. An undersized reflector with a wide beam width, off-axis side lobes with a misaligned scalar or poor efficiency with feedhorn placement outside the convergence point will present the greatest challenges for reliable reception to a hobbyist as we experience the "repack".

 

[Cham]

A 6' solid if in good condition should work well for Ku reception...
Also painting a large dish to match the background can make it almost disappear (camo).

 

[Arion]

Also wind loading comes into play. All things being equal a solid dish requires a stronger mount with more concrete in the base and a stronger pole.

 

[Titanium]

Also wind loading comes into play. All things being equal a solid dish requires a stronger mount with more concrete in the base and a stronger pole.

At wind speeds of approximately 40-50mph and higher, the loading against a mesh dish surface will be the same as a solid reflector. Mesh was used to reduce reflector weight, cost and for the aesthetics of some bit of transparency.

 

[Captain Midnight]

Thanks for the tip. I live in a relatively new neighborhood with not too much room for really big BUDs. I actually own a 6 ft and was thinking to move one step up, to 8 ft. I think my wife and neighbors will not complain if I do the move from 6 solid to 8 mesh. I dont think I can go that far as 10', including lack of room.

So to confirm, 8 mesh is way better than 6 solid, correct?

8ft is still good for now, especially if you live in the main footprint of the satellite beam. Use satbeams.com for seeing the footprint maps. I live in north central Arkansas. My 7.5ft locks all full time FTA C band channels. But my 10ft is great for live feeds using lower power levels.

 

[Captain Midnight]

Once all NA satellites are contained within 200mhz, expect both polarities of each satellite to be fully utilizing the same frequency range. Adjacent satellite interference combined with higher FEC rates will require large dishes with a narrow main lobe and an optimized feed.

Potential 5g interference can be mitigated with filters and dish placement, blocking terrestrial signal paths. An undersized reflector with a wide beam width, off-axis side lobes with a misaligned scalar or poor efficiency with feedhorn placement outside the convergence point will present the greatest challenges for reliable reception to a hobbyist as we experience the "repack".

That is my main concern for us with 10ft dishes . And I don't see any 12 footers... that would be my limit for size. Would likely need a pole extension to span the arc.

 

[Houston Rockets]

I have to say Not Say Fast... 6ft solid will perform as well as an 8ft mesh it all depends on which 6ft solid it is, who made it ?and what is your LNB setup.. You going have to get some high end LNB setup.

 

[JFOK]

Vondertrenk,

I currently have an 8 foot solid purchased from Tek 2000. I find I can receive all 8spk feeds as long as trees aren’t blocking my line of vision and they are fta. I live in New England.
I have found 16 and 32spk feeds, but when I go to scan them to my stb (Edision mio) they disappear and aren’t “found.” A larger dish would remedy this.
As others have said, 10-12 feet is the way to go if it’s possible, but an 8 footer will do if not.

John

 

[Vondertrenk]

Once all NA satellites are contained within 200mhz, expect both polarities of each satellite to be fully utilizing the same frequency range. Adjacent satellite interference combined with higher FEC rates will require large dishes with a narrow main lobe and an optimized feed.

Potential 5g interference can be mitigated with filters and dish placement, blocking terrestrial signal paths. An undersized reflector with a wide beam width, off-axis side lobes with a misaligned scalar or poor efficiency with feedhorn placement outside the convergence point will present the greatest challenges for reliable reception to a hobbyist as we experience the "repack".

That brings another good question; my old ( and excellent) C1 PLL failed and now is receiving only H channels, not V. I checked Titanium's web and only found the C1 "lite" and the C1W. My understanding is that none of them come with a filter for G, even though the C1 used to be built with one. Is this correct and, if so, where I can buy a filter to add it to the Titanium C1W-PLL? I already placed an order for one C1W.

 

[Captain Midnight]

That brings another good question; my old ( and excellent) C1 PLL failed and now is receiving only H channels, not V. I checked Titanium's web and only found the C1 "lite" and the C1W. My understanding is that none of them come with a filter for G, even though the C1 used to be built with one. Is this correct and, if so, where I can buy a filter to add it to the Titanium C1W-PLL? I already placed an order for one C1W.

I suspect the filter has to be soldered in the LNBF before the signal is downconverted to L-Band.

 

[Titanium]

The bandpass filter is a pin cushion design and etched on the PCB to attenuate the input prior to the down conversion. It cannot be added to a wideband LNBF. BTW...there are still a few C1PLL LNBFs in stock on Amazon.

Two new LNBF filtered models will be available in late October with a tighter band pass filter of 3.820 - 4.200GHz. These will address the pending "5G" adjacent frequency interference. Of course these filtered LNBFs will also reject / attenuate RADAR, Wide Area WiFi, etc. The Titanium Satellite C138 model is a single port output with 3820 - 4200MHz BPF. The C238 is a dual port output with 3820 - 4200MHz BPF. The products will be officially announced as soon as they are landed in the shop and available for sale.