hello,

im new to this site, so a little intro on myself.....i am very experienced when it comes to the KU side of things.....

i have setup and aimed hundreds of dishes and also about 10-15 diseqc HH motors with 36-48 inch dishes on them......

this stuff is basically childs play to me now i have an excellent understanding of "the arc" and how to dial in and aim a motor perfectly using USALS.....

so enough about me.....lol.....

im looking to venture into the c-band side of the game, ive been doing alot of reading but still cant find alot of info on c-band motorized dishes.....do they still make c-band motors??

im thinking of purchasing a 6-8 foot solid fortec star dish.....would this be a good start? and can a motor be used on this dish? this dish is solid and i see alot of mesh c-band dishes so does that matter?

is setting up a c-band motor similar to a diesqc motor? i mean in the way it follows "the arc"?

any info or links are much appreciated, this is an awesome site.....

i was thinking of experimenting with c-band on my 1.2M motorized dish but from what i have been reading this is far too small.....

also is there alot of FTA c-band programming left out there? or is most of it encrypted now??

Hi Mikey, welcome.

Yes.

Eihter would be a good start, I would go for the biggest dish you can get away with (allowable space, HOA restrictions, wife.... ).

Lots of us have gotten unused dishes locally for little or nothing to start with.

For C-band, solid or mesh really doesn't make much difference, a good parabolic shape and proper aiming is much more important.

Yes.

Check out the FAQs and stickies at the top of the page. And you can search for specific terms, the amount of info here is incredible.

There are a lot of people here that have had some success with the smaller offset dishes, but if you can go with a BUD, do it.

Lots of FTA C-band left, well worth the effort IMO.

__________________
C-Band: 10' "Perfect 10" mesh, 8.5' Birdview solid, 7.5' Unimesh & 180 cm Fortec Star...C-Band LOS from 43W-139W
Ku-Band: 3ABN .9m/DMX521 LNBF/DG380...Fortec .9m/Tracker II/STAB HH90...7.25' Birdview "Spoon"/TrackerII/G-Box/70:1 BV H-H...Ku-Band LOS from 63W-129W
Receivers: Toshiba TRX-1820-->Coolsat 6000-->Diamond 9000HD HD/Quali-Tv Euro1080/AZBox Elite/CS 6000/Sonic Voom AC-3 decoder
OTA Digital: CM 4228 Ant./CM 7777 Preamp/Apex DT-250, Coship N9988T CECBs and Dish 811 for OTA Locals, Toshiba 46" Regza LCD
In Progress: (2) Birdview 8.5' (1 solid & 1 perf) w/Birdview H-H mounts...*BVOC Asst. Cook & Bottlewasher*

Understanding where the Clarke Arc is will definitely help you to visualize things. Determining the best location for your big dish is precisely the same as for a Ku dish.

You start with what type of mount there is on whatever dish you end up with,

You use the latitude/declination charts to determine how much your dish will have to tip up, It is usually around 5 degrees or so.

Finding the highest due south position can sometimes be an issue, depending on the dish. I use a big framing square on my Birdview

I like wireless headphones and "beep on scan" receivers to aim my dishes

What's on C-band:
- SatelliteGuys.US - TheList
- MPEG

Good info on setting up a BUD:
> far bottom of page for modified declination chart
- Footprints by Dish Size - Latitude Declination Chart - C/Ku-Band Satellite Listing
> general dish setup
- Footprints by Dish Size - Adjusting the Polar Mount for Prime Focus Antenna - C/Ku-Band Satellite Systems - Tuning, Tracking, Azimuth, Elevation, Declination Angles, F/D Ratio, Focal Distance, Inclinometer, LNB/Feedhorn Assembly, Actuator Assembly, C

Gold Sponsor sells Actuators (the BUD motor), and Positioner (motor controller)
- HH Motors STAB, DigiPower, Moteck, SatControl, Sadoun DisEqC

__________________
Mercury II. Visionsat IV-200 w/ 500gb Maxtor or 750gb WD.
BVOC: BirdView 8½' solid, GBox V3000.
BVCC: AMCI 8' perf & AJAK-180, Toshiba TRX-2000.