Thread: Getting Started with FTA

Hello, all!

After spending a number of years investigating FTA, I finally more or less dove into it. I took some pictures and wrote up my experience on my website:
Free-to-Air Satellite Done Dirt Cheap - RabbitEars Blog

So now that I have it up and running, I want to fine-tune it to some extent since I've got a lot of transponders that are not decoding anything even though they're showing signal strength. I moved the LNB around enough to get Al Jazeera up to 66-67% on my receiver, with 65% being needed for a clean decode. A lot of the weaker transponders are sitting at 60-62%, below decoding. I'm thinking that the problem is no longer the location of the LNB, now that I've fine-tuned that, and that the dish itself needs to be tweaked.

Any opinions on this? If it's the dish itself, then I'll probably just leave it and do without the other channels, but if my LNB placement can be further adjusted, I'll definitely do that.

Thanks, all.

- Trip

Once you get a studier mount and tweak the aim of the dish, you should be able to get most of the channels on that satellite.
For a temporary fix, I guess it isn't bad! But you really need a stable, vertical pole to mount the dish on, that won't slide or tilt in the wind. Dishes that come with their own feedhorn usually work best with that feedhorn, as it keeps the exact focal distance for optimal signal,but using a simple little lnbf like you have there will work too.

I looked at the feedhorn that came with it and couldn't figure out how I would attach that to an LNB. Is there some trick to it? Because I can put it back on if there's a way to do that.

- Trip

I saw your LNB mount. Iceberg would be proud!

A linear LNB should be able to be mounted on the original feed horn and will provide a superior signal compared to the after market generic LNBF. The LNBF that you have attached is designed to receive signals from a rounded and less oblong shaped dish, but you should receive signals just fine if it is placed in the exact position as the original feed horn.

It does not appear that the LNBF rotation (Skew) is properly set for Virginia to receive the linear polarized signals. This might be just the angle that the photograph was taken, but this is very critical to optimize the Signal Quality. The Skew setting for your LNBF (or complete dish / LNBF) on the east coast for Galaxy 19 should be approximately positive 20 degrees ( counter clockwise if viewed while standing in front of the dish looking into the reflector). The Signal Quality reading may also be maximized by sliding the LNBF towards or way from the reflector.

On the back of the dish are some bolts that allow it to rotate with numbers showing the degrees of skew. Dishpointer.com said it should be 22 degrees, so I set it at that value according to the back of the dish at least. Of course, those numbers assume the dish is on a plumb pole... maybe I'll add some more skew when time permits.

Or do you mean the LNB itself should be rotated? I can do that too.

- Trip

Originally Posted by tripinva

On the back of the dish are some bolts that allow it to rotate with numbers showing the degrees of skew. Dishpointer.com said it should be 22 degrees, so I set it at that value according to the back of the dish at least. Of course, those numbers assume the dish is on a plumb pole... maybe I'll add some more skew when time permits.

Or do you mean the LNB itself should be rotated? I can do that too.

- Trip

In your case, the rotating dish mount will provide the appropriate skew, but fine-tuning this setting will peak your quality. Also try sliding the LNBF in or away from the reflector to place the feed horn in the optimal position.

Is the new LNBF set at the same height as the original feed horn? Is it aimed at the same point in the reflector? As you can see, the dish is an offset design, so if the LNBF is not placed in the "Sweet Spot" or focal point of the reflector design, signals will not be optimally reflected into your new LNBF.

Originally Posted by SatelliteAV

In your case, the rotating dish mount will provide the appropriate skew, but fine-tuning this setting will peak your quality. Also try sliding the LNBF in or away from the reflector to place the feed horn in the optimal position.

Okay, I will play with the skew when I have a chance. I already tried moving it closer and further and I've just about peaked it. I've seen solid 67% with flashes of 68%. Right now it's bouncing between 66% and 67% since I went out to put some electrical tape on the coax connection to prevent it from getting wet in tomorrow's rain.

Is the new LNBF set at the same height as the original feed horn? Is it aimed at the same point in the reflector? As you can see, the dish is an offset design, so if the LNBF is not placed in the "Sweet Spot" or focal point of the reflector design, signals will not be optimally reflected into your new LNBF.

I think it's ever so slightly higher than the feedhorn was, given that the arm was made to hold the feedhorn and I'm resting the LNB on top of that piece. As for how it's pointing, I think it's similar, though now that you mention it, I'm not sure. I have it resting with as much of it touching the piece on the end of the arm as possible, so I would hope that it's at least close.

- Trip

Trip, Keep at it and you'll get it. There's a lot of stuff to see on 97w. Also a bunch of radio channels. On a side note I thought I recognized the name Trip from the Cincinnati AVS forum. I'm a longtime lurker there..only posted a few times over the years though. Welcome to the wonderful world of FTA....Blind