Thread: In the US, No Sat 82 since Nimiq4, need advice

Hello everyone, once Nimiq4 went live, I lost all my 82. I tried for a bit to get it, then gave up. Now I am at it again.

I contributed to the footprint of Nimiq4 data, but I see some people very close geographically having it working. So I want to, and hopefully get my HD back.

Currently I have the standard (19in/45cm I think) that came with my system and it was used to get both 91 and 82 before.

Well I am fairly certain I need a bigger dish. If I need a 1m dish or larger, I will. I want to ask to verify, but is it possible to keep that smaller elliptical dish and point it directly at 91, and then get the new bigger dish and point it directly at 82, then combine their reception and send it into my receivers?

Also, does anyone have any good suggestions on where to buy a mega-dish?

And the dish, it probably wont be branded as bell/dish, so I need a Ku band dish correct?

you are so coreect, a larger dish will gain more signal and keep you safe from rain fade. I personally recommend
www.sadoun.com

and
www.kusat.com


for supplies & parts. just keep your existing bell/dish pro LNB and use it on your big dish. let's not forget
www.dishpointer.com


for precise azimuth/elevation angles.

And will any Ku band satellite work?

Or do I need a Ku band offset dish? Or something completely different?

Also here are two images of my setup incase I am explaining it wrong. I linked to the high res (3Mb) and included some thumbs.

As you can see, the installer used both a Bell LNB and a Dish LNB. So is the one that is not aimed at the centre (The dish one) the one that gets 82? So I would take just that one off, and put that in the centre of the new big dish and aim it directly at 82? Then aim the old dish directly at 91. Then how would I connect these two signals together? I currently have a SW44 (I think) below it as well if that matters. As you can tell I did not install this myself, I had a local installer do it. I am not mechanically inclined and something like this I think is worthy of a pro installation!

Also as a side, is there a recommended maximum size dish for wall mounting? The ground is clay and rock around it. I would rather not have to dig a hole for a post. I do have a window well to a basement room but it is slightly sloped, so could a stand be mounted to that then correctly positioned vertical? I would prefer wall mount though... Like if I got a 150cm dish or larger, would it just fall over if side mounted, or are there special humungo-brackets made just for them?

High Res Photo of Dish:
http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/T...at/BellSat.JPG

High Res Photo of LNBs:
http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/T...llSat/LNBs.jpg

Eureka! It is possible I suppose!

So the magic connector box I need seems to be a "Multi-Dish Switch". I do question the diagram though. Would it not make more sense to run the 2 dishes through a single multi-dish switch and then from there to each receiver then have a separate switch for each receiver? Or is this what that switch I currently have is already doing?

At least I see it is possible now though, so now I need some more understanding of the how and what I need.

I guess the biggest question right now would be the type of dish I need as I need a significant size increase.

Your SW44 is doing the same thing that the two SW21s are doing in that diagram except that the SW44 allows you to connect 2 more tuners (for a total of 4). The SW44 that you have is combining the signals from both LNBFs so if you had one LNBF to 91 on one dish, and another LNBF to 82 on another dish - just think of it as in your current setup - you pulled apart the two LNBFs that are together and installed each of them on it's own dish. So to answer your question, if you have a SW44 already, you don't need the two SW21s. You're really not doing anything to the connections on the switch. All you're doing is separating the LNBFs so that each has it's own dish. You may not have noticed it, but each LNBF you have has 2 wires coming out of it, so you have a total of 4 that are going to the SW44.

This diagram shows how your current setup up is. Just imagine the LNBFs separated. You have all you need - you just need a new dish for 82 to mount one of the LNBFs to.




Let me know how this goes as I have lost a few transponders over the last 3 weeks and I am wondering if getting a bigger dish would help (and thus having 2 dishes instead of the one). I am skeptical and that it won't help but I find it curious that I just lost them over the last month. I wonder if it's the LNBF I'm using or that 82 has shifted more north and me (in the NYC area) is now in the fringe. New LNBF or new dish, this is going to cost money but I want to be sure that it's not wasted if I just can't plain get the signal to those transponders anymore.

I mean, it's annoying to have TSN2 in HD and not TSN HD at all! I would rather not do StarChoice due to their multi-wire dual tuner solution and also that it seems their receivers don't support native HDMI with audio (though I could be wrong about that). On the on the other hand, it stinks paying $$$ for transponders you can't receive.

Edit - when I said that you need a new dish for 82 to mount one of the LNBFs to, I should have also said that you'd need to get a new LNBF as well for the 82 dish if it's going to be a 30+ inch dish, unless you could retrofit it somehow which is probably a headache that you don't need. LOL

buy yourself the fortec 100cm dish at sadoun and the sw-21 switch to combine 91/82 into your IRD. where do live exactly, are you in north dakota? 91W is left LNB while 82W is right LNB. i hope this helps.

Thanks guys, I think I get it now. I went out and had a look, and indeed there are 4 wires (2 each LNB) going into the SW44, then 3 going out 1 for each tuner just as it should be.

So all I need is a dish, and move over that LNB to the new one. So I need to find an offset Ku Dish.

I live in Colorado, right on the mountain. The thing is I contributed to that data for the Nimiq4 footprint, and I see people in Texas, US are getting signals, and I am not. Then there are people in Denver (about 100km north) getting good/ok reception on 30" dishes. So if I go huge, I should get into the good/ok or maybe great/good range.

Also what about this new 8phase modulation Bell is using? Does this mean the signal monitor is no longer accurate on the cheap receiver and I should only use the 9242 to check signals?

Thanks again for the help I really do appreciate it.

My Location:

Well I called my installer and he found a used 120cm dish in his stock that he'll give me for $100 including the bracket thing. Since there isnt any shipping, seems like that will save me more than half.

This better get me some signal!