Thread: I Screwed Up Big Time!!!

I thought I would bite the bullet and break down and get a good lnb because I couldn't understand what was the best lnb to get. I got a dual feed chaparal feed horn and a norsat lnb. I thought the feed horn meant dual feed as in would take the horizontal and vertical simultaneously and feed the lnb. Wroooooong!!!!! I get them both in and see that the feed horn apparently has to be equipped with 2 lnbs. Unbelievable. I can't win for losing. Now I either have to send the feed horn back or get another expensive lnb. What is the advantage of this type of feed horn? Oh yeah I would also have to combine the signal too into one cable.

The main advantage is that you don't need a servo to control the poloarity. This means you can use a multi switch to connect the feedhorn to your FTA receiver.

Basically to get it into one cable you use a multi switch to connect to both LNBs and then use the receiver out to connect to your receiver. It is recommended that you use a power inserter when you do this set up as the vertical LNB will receive 13v instead of the recommended 18v.

Also if you want a voltage controlled LNBF our sponsers have them available. I'm using the Geosat Pro C2 and am very happy with it.

I have the Geosat Pro C2 and thought I could get more signal by getting a better lnb, norsat had good reviews, I should have just let it alone, I don't understand why you would buy 2 expensive norsats one for each polarity, and then a voltage regulator and a combiner. I guess less is more.

From what I've read on the forum, if you have a smaller dish it can help having better quality LNBs. I only have a 10' so I can't attest to how expensive LNBs compare to voltage controlled LNBs on smaller dishes.

I have a 10' foot dish also, I will just have to stick with my geosat and send the other back. Thanks for your help.

Originally Posted by mick d

I thought I would bite the bullet and break down and get a good lnb because I couldn't understand what was the best lnb to get. I got a dual feed chaparal feed horn and a norsat lnb. I thought the feed horn meant dual feed as in would take the horizontal and vertical simultaneously and feed the lnb. Wroooooong!!!!! I get them both in and see that the feed horn apparently has to be equipped with 2 lnbs. Unbelievable. I can't win for losing. Now I either have to send the feed horn back or get another expensive lnb. What is the advantage of this type of feed horn? Oh yeah I would also have to combine the signal too into one cable.

One type is a dual feed for C and Ku or it could be a dual C feed (needs a C band LNB for vertical and horizontal polarization) or it could be a dual Ku feed. All would require separate coax cables. A dual C/Ku feed will have 2 different size waveguide mounts (the smaller for Ku) while the dual C and dual Ku will have same size waveguide mounts for the horizontal and vertical polarizations - of course, the dual C band would have larger waveguide flanges than the dual Ku feed. The C/Ku feed allows you to receive both satellite bands with one antenna and the receiver selects which band while the C/C and Ku/Ku feeds allow faster switching between polarizations. If you need a feed for just C or Ku, you'll need to return the feed that you purchased and get a single feed for either C or Ku. The vendor might charge a restocking fee for returns and you'll have to pay the shipping charges to return it.

Just to add to the above, back to the original question of WHY, most people who have used the feedhorn you have will say that the quality is superior. I don't use that kind of dual feedhorn, I have a Chaparral Co-rotor, which is one of the C/Ku mentioned above. I got that because I wanted both C and Ku, and I also wanted to be able to adjust the polarity skew. However apparently whenever you block part of the C-band throat with a Ku throat, you lose a bit of signal, so the people who are trying to get every ounce of signal like the dual C-band feeds. Another issue with the Co-rotor is that you need a receiver capable of adjusting the polarotor to the desired polarity.
I know that the LNBs are very expensive, but even the cheapest of the Norsat or Cal-Amp LNBs have better specs than any of those voltage switched LNBFs. Basically, it's just a tradeoff of quality vs convenience. Best quality is the dual-C or dual Ku, most convenient is the voltage switched lnbf, and the Co-rotor style C/Ku is kind of a tradeoff between the two.

I'd keep the dual (H+V) feed horn and buy a second lnb.
I've been thinking I will do that when I get to NM.

You actually bought the best performing feedhorn. If you can spare the cash, get another lnb and use a multiswitch. Those zinwell 2 x 4 or even 4 x 4 (you don't really need a 4x4 but they are cheap on ebay). It will perform like an lnb with less signal loss.