What can I get with a linear LNB on a 22" dish?

[hwm]

Quite a bit, actually, and there are plenty of old Dish500s to be scrounged very cheap or free.

My testing indicates that any Ku band linear signal with an EIRP of 48 or above can be tuned in reliably with this setup. Incidentally, that agrees with the recommended dish sizes for different EIRPs at Lyngsat maps.

In the real world that means here in Rural North Central Idaho, I get the following results with a Coosat 6000 and six feet of RG-6. The LNB is a cheap .3 rated "ROC" brand from eBay.

Weather was moderate overcast cloud cover.

The EIRP figures are from Lyngsat maps.

Galaxy 28 @ 89w EIRP 48/49. ABC Newsnow tp 11953V s/r19549 - 70% Q
Note: I am using this setup through a SW21, a CHIETA 4x1 DISEQC switch, and 125 feet of RG-6 to get ABC NEWSNOW on our primary FTA satellite TV setup. Quality varies from 50% to 95% on CNX Mini, depending on time of day and weather conditions.

Galaxy 19 @ 97w EIRP 48. Most transponders are 63- 69% Q. Peaked dish on AlJazeera TP 12152H s/r 20000

AMC4 @ 101w EIRP 50. All FTA channels watchable. 65- 70% Q.

AMC21 @ 125W EIRP 47 Could not lock any transponder. Caught flickers of signal, that's all.

I used a cheap LNB holder from eBay and extended the LNB arm on the dish with a piece of aluminum screwed in place. Steel or even wood would work here, and the universal mount LNB holder made it a simple project. I have another Dish500 that I converted to single linear using welded steel for a new LNB holder bracket, but that was not so simple.

Close up of LNB mount.

Simple wood jig to position new LNB. Build it to fit right between the old twin circular LNBs, then align the new one with it. I used a pencil to index it to the dish. Pencil marks are not visible in this photo.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Fun project!

The actual EIRP for a satellite in your region will vary widely from the maps. EIRP maps are providing the projected signal strength for a fully saturated transponder of either horizontal or vertical polarity within the given footprint. Transponders that are operated as a SCPC or at less than full saturation will not perform at the projected EIRP level.

Maps are a great resource to estimate if a signal is available, but the actual link budget established with the uplinker determines the signal strength.

 

[Ironsides]

How well does

How well does it work with a light to heavy rain? That's a neat idea for your jig and I like the idea of re-using those dishes for something fun!

I had the idea to use a couple of mine for Solar Power and that actually works pretty danged good for brewing up some coffee or tea! Even Made some soup! I would suggest though you not leave it pointed at anything while you run to the store...ummm that could create a boil over! HAHA! Seriously though they do work pretty well just to toy around with.

 

[Bill_KY]

I like to see these experiments with small dishes. Try CCTV on 95 W.

 

[hwm]

CCTV comes in fine. ABC NEWSNOW usable in light rain

CCTV on Galaxy3C is usable with this dish at my location. I did not write down the signal Q figure, so I did not include it in the original post.

ABC NEWSNOW on Galaxy 28 is quite strong here, and the signal has remained usable through moderate rain on our main FTA TV setup. This channel has high quality programming, but they do rerun each story many times.

I just tried the sats I was interested in. The EIRP at your location will vary from mine for any sat. But if lyngsat maps shows 48 or more EIRP at your location, it's worth a try.

I started this project to set up a low-cost FTA sat TV outfit for our youngest son and his family. I have extra receivers, cable, LNBs, switches and so on, but was short a "big" Ku dish.

Here are a couple of pictures of the welded steel LNB mount I fabricated for an earlier Dish500 to single linear LNB conversion. Yeah, I know, it's way stronger than it needs to be.

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