Thread: No Way That Could Work! -The FTA Mad Scientist Thread-

Originally Posted by crackt

haha. this is awesome. i had a bet that i could pick up hot circ signals with a pie plate. you beat me.

I was also going to try a 9" pie plate, but this makes it pointless! 29% on a snuff can, though -that's awesome! I had to get back up off the floor after seeing that one!

OK men, since now we can say, “It’s been done” and since the pie pan I once did a long time ago with D* stuff back in the late 90s, we did the CD thing also back in the day of my Radio Broadcast Disc Jockey/Assistant Engineer days!

That Pie Pan thing really can be done! Much easier than what I done today with the snuff can lid or the CDR!

Our chief engineer got Bored all the time and we did silly stuff like this!

So what is the smallest you can go? The snuff lid is about all a want to try since it took about 2 hours of playing with that to get something!

You read the post and that was a time lapse version and I almost gave up on it! Not parabolic, small, very hard to try and a challenge! Got some transponders from 110 that had me thrown off!

I would say that you can’t go smaller than that, the circumference of that lid was about 2 ½ inches and it was a bear! I think the Invacom was the problem for I could not get a good aim around the eye & plastic itself! I am sure that the UPS guy today thought I lost my marbles!

That is what the thread is about now; let’s see if you can go smaller, bigger, weird shapes with DBS or DVB!! Weird LNB configurations, pole mounts you name it!

Now knowing that the lid & CDR size is impossible with KU, how small could you go below 18’ pizza size on linear birds? DBS is one thing but there is the real challenge with KU and I think that would generate some interesting results! I am the messenger here and will step aside and let you all have a go at that task! KU would be the one for the challenge! I don’t think I have it in me to try that, about lost my mind on the can lid today!

But it was great to get that signal on it and there was nobody around to show so you guys got the Premier Showing! It started to rain here about an hour after the first post and I had to quit!


Post it and pictures!

It's Alive!! It's Alive!!

K E V I N

Interesting stuff! I would not have believed the snuff lid thing though, lol. Those circ sats really do put out some power.

This thread really has me thinking... I haven't got a dish pointed at 119 at all. I bet that a small piece of sheet metal on the fence, with the LNB positioned correctly would work Just imagine a fence with LNBs sticking out of the side of it..

Although, I've got a stack of DBS dishes sitting behind my shed.. It would be easier to point an 18" dish at 119 for Nasa, but not as much fun. I wonder how creative people could get with the non-DBS satellites. The side of a steel building might be able to reflect enough signal to an LNB to tune into some of the satellites. This could be useful for places where the Home Owners Associations have put restrictions on dish sizes. Use the side of your 8ft shed as a reflector.. It just needs to be positioned right..

This thread I think is going to end up being a lot of fun!

Wow. This is the kind of stuff I have been wanting to do for a while, to see the smallest surface I could bonce a signal off of, but I didn't think it would relfect off of something flat like that. So I take it that it will not work as well with the Dish Network lnb's since they are not as sensitive on such small devices such as CDR's?

I remember seeing somewhere on the internet a large square cone used to pickup satellite signals. If I remember correctly, it was about four feet long and about a foot and a half square on the open end, narrowing down to the LNB opening. No dish, just the square cone.

Well if you're only using a snuff can lid and you can get some signal...........I always wondered if you had a powerful enough satellite, could you simply point your LNB backwards toward the satellite and pick something up that way.........or is the dish required to focus the scattered signals enough to make it usable?
Essentially what your dish is doing (and I'm no scientist) is gathering as much signal as possible and focusing it, in the proper phase on one small point (the probe of your LNB). If you were to enlarge the probe on your LNB would that also gather more signal or would it be too diffused to work?

Thinking even further into this as it applies to VHF theory, or at least my limited knowledge of it....... the length of your antenna is altered based on the frequency you are transmitting (or receiving I guess). 1/4 wave antennas (being 1/4 the length of a full wave) are a popular option for more compact setups while 1/2 or full wave antennas will get you more range.........would this hold true for satellite signals in the Ghz range? Given a precise length based on probably a multiple of the wavelength of the frequency you are trying to receive. In the Ghz range the length of one wave would be very short therefore making an antenna to receive multiples of that wavelength would be more practical and probably get you more signal gain..........could someone with perhaps some amateur radio or electronics engineering theory behind them chime in?

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Wow....So I take it that it will not work as well with the Dish Network lnb's since they are not as sensitive on such small devices such as CDR's?

I don't know, and that is the neat part!
I did show the neighbor guy down the road before it started to rain tonight! He thought that was something else! I have to give you guys a bit of confession; I did have to make the can a bit parabolic by bending a bit. The picture in post one was before I started and it was back away from the can to show perspective on how I had the lid set up. Frankly, after about two hours of messing with it I did not need to take a picture at that time, then it worked and I did not want to touch it!!

But I assure you this is not a joke, I have a witness! LOL!

After I posted this right before the rain when I was in here typing the post, it started to get cloudy and overcast here, when I went back to the set up and could not get the signal back on the old Skoal can! I would say that the clouds and overcast before the rain killed any hopes of trying to get it in better, I wanted a stable picture and quality but for the J Rig I had going, it just did not happen!

I will attempt to try again though, I still have everything marked where to try again with the same positions as before, if you have any ideas on how to improve the stuff I used in this experiment I would love to hear different things to try to see if it could be better.

The thing is it defies everything that is right to work!

starman345
posted a video on a homemade dish overseas the other day on one of the threads that I have seen before and one guy there had an interesting theory about freezing the LNB's to get performance out of them. I wonder if I could try that to see if I get an improvement on the snuff lid!

Here is that link: youtube.com/watch?v=Q0JFP7NFx3s


I am glad I did not give up, next time I will be thinking ahead with a camera, video and the laptop outside recording into my PVR software! Just was not thinking ahead too far and who really would have thought it would have worked to set up such things! I will post anything I do or try next time on my YouTube Channel! The name is the same as my Member name here!

youtube.com/user/FTABMan0

I am still amazed that it worked at all to tell you the truth! I am still waiting on some expert to chime in on the thread to explain how it did! The CDR was not bent or modified in anyway, it kind of makes you frustrated in a way on actually bouncing signal off something so small and sometimes we have trouble finding the darn things with KU dishes!

The rain here stopped me from trying anything else; I wanted to try numerous things to see if I could do it again. I have a candy can that is bigger than the CDR and bet that will be not a problem!

Things used here to hold everything in place is what I wanted to tell what I used for I forgot to post that part before, I was so excited! An old tripod with the Lowes conduit clamps held the Invacom in place to keep it from moving around. I used the old brick for the dish support and duct tape to hold the CDR where I wanted.

I wondered if there would be any difference in a DVD or a DVD-RW? The RW’s have a different coating on them, now it looks like I am going to have to try that next! Plates would be out for they are larger than the pie pan. I really don’t know what I will try next but you guys have a go at it. I can think of all types of things to try but I will sit out and give somebody else a try!

If you know something about focus points or a bit about how LNB’s work, I mean we all have an idea how they work but not really into how they actually work in depth give this thread a buzz in, I would like to hear the theory on how this far fetched thing jumped off today and worked!

The signal was really phenomenal in the Lid version and if you did not see it for yourself, you would have a real time not believing it, I really have a hard time myself but it did work!

Found a subject for Access America Sat-Talk show for Friday!

Mike or Ralf, love to hear what your thoughts are! Keep in mind it worked!

Mr. Iceberg or Mr. "LNB" Anole, your turn on theory, love to hear you men buzz in!

K E V I N