Where and what to buy for good C-band LNB' S?

[. Raine]

I did a real clumsy thing today, which I should've known better and waited...but didn't. Been sick as a dog the last few days but today I actually was feeling somewhat better and decided to get outside in the fresh air and adjust the skew and FP point on my C-band dish which I knew was a little off and had been wanting to fix for quite a while now.

Well, I got out there and one of the allen screws holding the feed into the ring was rounded out from whomever had the feed before me, so I pulled the feed off the mount, slipped on the ladder and dropped the darn feed down onto the ledge to one side of my dish, broke both LNB's. [it's a dual ortho feed]

Both LNB's had something rattling inside them and when I pulled the covers off they're definitely broken, tried them anyway and only 16 or so for signal. I drilled and tapped the rounded out screw on the ring and mounted a spare LNB I have on the V side, adjusted the FP and skew and it's working much better than before, but now I need to buy at least one LNB, thinking I'll probably buy a matched pair and save the one I have mounted on there now for a spare in case I do something stupid like this again.

What are good LNB's and where is a good place to buy them from? The ones that were on there were Norsats.

 

[primestar31]

Here's the cheapest place to buy Norsats, if you want new ones: http://www.satcomresources.com/products/C-Band-DRO-LNBs

My dual-ortho has 8115's and works well. I have a couple of these below for spares, and they actually work pretty well, and the price can't be beat:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12035862475...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_2066wt_1178

 

[. Raine]

Here's the cheapest place to buy Norsats, if you want new ones: http://www.satcomresources.com/products/C-Band-DRO-LNBs

My dual-ortho has 8115's and works well. I have a couple of these below for spares, and they actually work pretty well, and the price can't be beat:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12035862475...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_2066wt_1178

Thanks for the links, Primestar31. I'm gonna order a pair of 8115's from that first link, 180 for a pair isn't bad. I liked the Norsats that were on my feed and they were at least ten years old, probably new ones will work even better. I may order a pair of those from the second link too, for spares, definitely can't beat that price! Thanks again!

 

[primestar31]

I know a guy on another site that replaced his 8115's for Norsat 3120 pll's ($180 each!) and said they are MUCH better. That's a bit pricey for me, but I'm just itching to try it sometime...

 

[. Raine]

I know a guy on another site that replaced his 8115's for Norsat 3120 pll's ($180 each!) and said they are MUCH better. That's a bit pricey for me, but I'm just itching to try it sometime...

That is tempting....the PLL on my Ku dish works much better than the standard LNB it replaced. Did he specify how it was better, picture quality, more stations, stronger signal, etc?

 

[primestar31]

"I am getting a good 10% more signal quality, and the RTV mux on 87w is solid and watchable now."

 

[Magic Static]

Before you move to Norsat PLLs you might read this thread http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/308572-PLL-LNBs-and-power-consumption

 

[. Raine]

Thanks for the tip, never occurred to me that they'd draw more current! Will keep that in mind if I go for the PLL'S. I have some supplies exactly like the one you used, those are nice and versatile units. Got a bunch of laptop supplies like Primestar suggested too. Probably will tap into my small solar setup on our horse shed and not have to worry about current at all, if I do it. That setup you did looks real nice, Magic Static! Did you notice a big improvement using the PLL's?

 

[Magic Static]

No I can't say there was a big improvement with the PLLs over the CBand DROs. The KU band PLLs were a bit better than the DROs I was using But overall there was hardly any benefit to running the PLLs vs the DROs on my Bullseye II.

 

[. Raine]

No I can't say there was a big improvement with the PLLs over the CBand DROs. The KU band PLLs were a bit better than the DROs I was using But overall there was hardly any benefit to running the PLLs vs the DROs on my Bullseye II.

Darn, I was hoping to hear different. I'll probably not bother with the PLL's right now. I actually ordered the two cheap LNB"S that Primestar31 gave me the link for and they're working better than the old Norsats that were on there. Although, I did adjust the FP and skew when I broke the Norsats, so maybe they aren't.

Was looking again at the two Norsats that I broke and it actually looks like I may be able to fix them, what broke was a ceramic ring with a plastic screw through the center. The plastic screw broke, not the ring. I have a bin of plastic screws around somewhere, gonna try to find it and try fixing them. If I can get my camera to focus on the part well enough I'll post some pictures.

 

[waylew]

Darn, I was hoping to hear different. I'll probably not bother with the PLL's right now. I actually ordered the two cheap LNB"S that Primestar31 gave me the link for and they're working better than the old Norsats that were on there. Although, I did adjust the FP and skew when I broke the Norsats, so maybe they aren't.

Was looking again at the two Norsats that I broke and it actually looks like I may be able to fix them, what broke was a ceramic ring with a plastic screw through the center. The plastic screw broke, not the ring. I have a bin of plastic screws around somewhere, gonna try to find it and try fixing them. If I can get my camera to focus on the part well enough I'll post some pictures.

I have a pair of those "el cheepo" lnb's on my Pclipse/ortho,they work great,they're cheap(and so am I !) and they're stable.They've been out there 3? years now and haven't drifted and the frequency offset is way better than their spec (1mhz),about .250 at worst.Norsats may be nice but like I said I'm cheap,poor too.

 

[primestar31]

The first LNA (old school, needed a coax jumper to a block converter) I ever bought was in 1983~ from an ad in the back of Radio Electronics magazine. I paid around $135 US for it back then, when I was making $5 an hour for pay (over 3 days pay!). It was a Cal-amp 35 degree unit (I still have it). Adjusted for inflation, that equals $317 US today. Those $12.90 cheapies are incredible for the money, now I only have to work 1/2hr to buy one.

How's that for value?

 

[RT-Cat]

The first LNA (old school, needed a coax jumper to a block converter) I ever bought was in 1983~ from an ad in the back of Radio Electronics magazine. I paid around $135 US for it back then, when I was making $5 an hour for pay (over 3 days pay!). It was a Cal-amp 35 degree unit (I still have it). Adjusted for inflation, that equals $317 US today. Those $12.90 cheapies are incredible for the money, now I only have to work 1/2hr to buy one.

How's that for value?

Ah, those were the days. Mine was a complete installation by a dealer at that time so I don't know what it would have cost. Had fun in '84 with digging that BIG hole and setting the pole. I really want to remember(think)that old Cal-amp was 100 degree unit. Being a "pack rat" it just may be here somewhere in storage with the old Houston tracker. With a garage attic and two good size pole barns, I have plenty of places it could be hiding somewhere.
Yes, those cheapies can work very well for what they cost.
.
RT

 

[. Raine]

The first LNA (old school, needed a coax jumper to a block converter) I ever bought was in 1983~ from an ad in the back of Radio Electronics magazine. I paid around $135 US for it back then, when I was making $5 an hour for pay (over 3 days pay!). It was a Cal-amp 35 degree unit (I still have it). Adjusted for inflation, that equals $317 US today. Those $12.90 cheapies are incredible for the money, now I only have to work 1/2hr to buy one.

How's that for value?

1983! Yeah, back then I couldn't afford any satellite stuff, wanted it, just couldn't afford it though! I was making $4.75 an hr. back then, repairing hearing aids. It is amazing when you think of the differences in prices back then and now.