AMC4 received with 18" dish!

**carload** · 04-23-2005 12:49 PM

As mentioned in my recently bumped-up review ( http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=43206 (No NLCS in HD---only ED) ), I'm getting WVGN on my Pansat 2500 with a 30" dish and the Invacom. It's weak, and there are occasional days when it seems to have vanished, but most of the time it works fine.

I must stress, however, that WVGN is a real bear to point at. It's very easy to get everything else looking great on AMC 4 yet miss WVGN. I've had to resort to checking the signal strength on WVGN's transponder while tweaking the dish. Once I do that, I can get WVGN and everything else on that bird.

**ken2400** · 04-25-2005 02:19 PM

Just an update. I tried it again Friday night and it worked.

Also I received Gol off 119 on Sun. I was getting some other TP BUT need to check it out again to see which sat

**Iceberg** · 04-25-2005 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by ken2400

Just an update. I tried it again Friday night and it worked.

Also I received Gol off 119 on Sun. I was getting some other TP BUT need to check it out again to see which sat

Gol is on 110

**ken2400** · 04-25-2005 06:48 PM

Thanks for the correction Ice

Another update.

I was able to hit 121W. No big deal.
I also found something a little to the west with

SKL1 11708V 26,800
PAC1
Test

Some far east stuff?

Any idea what sat? I would say I did not move the dish more than 6 degs?

Than ks

Originally Posted by Iceberg

Gol is on 110

**TelStar-5** · 04-25-2005 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by ken2400

Last night after messing around with a 18" dish I was able to receive

3ABN, 3ABN lat, 3ABN radio and 76radio on 11811 V 5700

I also was able to scan the following transponders.

11922 H 500
11857 H 3617
11959 H 4000

But did not get any programing on them.
I hope to mess around with this more soon.

I got to say I love it . I love to see photos of modifations of dishes and set ups Great Job!

**PSB** · 04-25-2005 09:59 PM

Sounds like "Galaxy13/Horizons1" at 127w Ken2400

There is a channel there scanned in as....

SKL 1

DFreq:11720(H) SR:26.800 Msps

SkyLink TV

http://www.lyngsat.com/g13h1.html

**Iceberg** · 04-26-2005 08:39 AM

yep its H1

**GutBomb** · 04-26-2005 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Digital Rain

True But I find when I "play'' with the dishes. I hear from my wife - "what again?? why r U doing that again. etc etc. balh blah blah blah .

you and me both. women don't get it.

i get the same reaction every saturday when i watch soccer. like she expects me to watch one soccer game and then not watch soccer ever again

**ken2400** · 04-26-2005 09:14 AM

Thanks Pete and Ice.

Thats GREAT!

All the names match up.

I will have to try the analog receiver on it. I than want to pull back 4 degrees E and go for G10R. I dought I will get much BUT I hope to get something. Just hope my wife does not kill me with all the time I am spending on this.

Who da thought. First time on G13 bird and it with a 18"

I keep posting my findings.

Originally Posted by PSB

Sounds like "Galaxy13/Horizons1" at 127w Ken2400

There is a channel there scanned in as....

SKL 1

DFreq:11720(H) SR:26.800 Msps

SkyLink TV

http://www.lyngsat.com/g13h1.html

**sidha** · 04-26-2005 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by ken2400

Last night after messing around with a 18" dish I was able to receive

3ABN, 3ABN lat, 3ABN radio and 76radio on 11811 V 5700

I also was able to scan the following transponders.

11922 H 500
11857 H 3617
11959 H 4000

But did not get any programing on them.
I hope to mess around with this more soon.

I'm now using a 1 meter Primestar with original lnb under minor tree blockage with overcast skies. AMC-4 transponder 11820 H is really lit up. My Pansat 2500 quality reading is pegged at 99, probably higher than it can register. For comparison, People's Network at 11807 reads a solid 60.

BTW, the transponder information in your post doesn't match the published data or my results. Your lnb DRO is most likely off frequency. No big deal if you're doing a blind scan, but if you try to enter official transponder data from a list, you will be lost.

I've experimented with small 18" dishes before. Your test got me interested again, so I thought I'd drag it out in the cold wet night and generate some figures for comparison. Here's what I gathered from my test using a standard but slightly dinged DN single lnbf dish.

11820 H 3ABN quality level of 60% and People's Network (PN) at 11807 H is locked at 10%. Yes, PN is locked with no break-up and I can't believe it either. For some reason I was unable to get any quality reading for PN until I moved the dish slightly westward from the optimal position for 3ABN. However, this minor adjustment dropped my quality level for 3ABN by 10%. If I reposition the dish for a peak on 3ABN, the other PN transponder will not be detected at all. Possibly an interferring adjacent satellite/frequency. Obviously, 3ABN works great on the small dish at this location. For Dr Scott on IA6 11865 V the signal is locked at 10%, but the picture and sound are very poor. Testing by using a slightly larger DN 500 dish and the same single lnbf raises the quality about 5% making it possible to capture a much better picture with good audio, but it makes me long for a real Ku dish.

I used an orginal DTV lnbf, so I know the feed is properly matched to illuminate the dish size and made to fit the arm. I modified the internal DRO to lower the received frequency and converted the waveguide to allow linear polarization. Not a complicated process if you're familiar with the technology, but it's a chapter or two beyond this one.

It's always fun to try a different approach from another angle. Especially with all the discarded small dish equipment -- that isn't as specialized and limited as most people think. It's also possible to increase the gain a bit by adding additional metal cut from another 18" or 20" dish. I've already taken it that far, and now I think it's time to create a customized personal dish like no other.

-sidha