Best C-band 6' Dish Setup

[zamar23]

Can you guys list a full set of recommended component models required to setup a motorized 1.8 m C-band BUD in a congested city conditions (including everything)?



Is it generally a good idea to transform it later to a C/Ku-band motorized reception set, and how it would change best components set selection and specs?

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[pendragon]

If I recall, you were previously considering a mini-BUD for roof mounting. If you need to put a 6' on the roof, you'll probably want something fairly light and easy to mount. Are high winds a problem?

Sadoun sells a 1.8m dish that might fit the bill. I put one on the roof with a HH motor that is no longer available, but I'm sure an actuator would work about as well with the included polar mount. It doesn't require a massive pole and I have been able to get a lot of stuff, including some high SR S2. As it is a solid and reasonably shallow, it works fine for both C and Ku. My dual ortho feed works quite well on this dish and that's where it ended up after testing first on my 3m perf and 2.3m mesh (not that it didn't work better on those, but the Ku improvement wasn't terribly significant). There are far less expensive C/Ku integrated feeds and those would probably be more cost effective.

[zamar23]

Pendragon

As always, I appreciate your reply. I'm looking at option to go with a C/Ku-band prime focus 6-footer instead of an offset 4-footer - too many folks suggest this path. It will probably be a stand mounted, and the stand fixed to a concrete floor or a wooden pad. I was looking at Fortec prime focus 6-ft dish at Sadoun's site, and can't seems to figure out, how many actuators it needs for a motorized setup? I assume, one is needed to rotate its mount, another to adjust in synch its elevation angle, and the 3-rd to skew the LNB - is that right? What actuator models would be the best? Or, a motor can be found that would perform all 3 movements similar to Ku-band dish polar mount setup - are you saying, that's what you did, and using what exact H-H Motor model? Is there an analog to it now? What device would then control movement in synch of all 3 rotors - it looks like required power should be too high for a sat receiver to handle?

Also, looking at
Chapparal CoRotor II Plus

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, it seems to be a good choice for that setup - is it? When you mentioned a Dual Ortho Feed, what model did you have in mind, and what exact LNB models to mount with that feed? Can it do both C and Ku band in both 2 Linear and 2 Circular? I wonder, will
DMX741 Quad Polar C/Ku LNBF


be a better choice, and can it be used in a motorized setup at all without a CoRotor? Should Skew angle be always the same for any C and Ku-band sats at the same orbital location?

That's amazing, no sponsor site gives as a sample a complete list of components required for a 1.8 m or similar BUD setup, and neither provides a schematics, full picture or drawing showing all of them connected.

[Iceberg]

an actuator is to C-Band motorized what a motor is to KU Band motorized

It changes the dish elevation, azimuth and skew as it moves across the arc.

[Anole]

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Six foot Fortec Star
prime focus dish

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, ready for an actuator (motor).
Geo-orbit site explains
how the mounts work


(see all four pages for the full story)
Actuator, or the
motor to move the dish


.

Motor controller


; connects between receiver and LNB, accepts commands, and moves the dish.
The GeoSat C-band-only
C2 LNBF


is on sale, it'll feed two receivers, or with a multiswitch it can feed more receivers.
I've not seen any of the dual-band LNBFs perform well enough on Ku to want to put one on a six-foot dish, but if you do, the
Ck-1


or
DMX741


are good choices.
Other accessories like cable, grounding blocks, or switches would be on an as-required basis.

Hopefully, other members will add whatever I forgot, or describe alternate approaches.
As you see, this kit uses voltage-controlled feedhorn, not the co-rotor style.
Also, I did not address the reception of circular on C-band nor DBS Ku band.
I'm of the opinion that you cannot get everything on one dish. -
edit: well sure as hell not on a six foot dish!

[pendragon]

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I was looking at Fortec prime focus 6-ft dish at Sadoun's site, and can't seems to figure out, how many actuators it needs for a motorized setup? I assume, one is needed to rotate its mount, another to adjust in synch its elevation angle, and the 3-rd to skew the LNB - is that right? What actuator models would be the best? Or, a motor can be found that would perform all 3 movements similar to Ku-band dish polar mount setup - are you saying, that's what you did, and using what exact H-H Motor model? Is there an analog to it now? What device would then control movement in synch of all 3 rotors - it looks like required power should be too high for a sat receiver to handle?

Iceberg covered this, but a dish rotating on a polar axis will automatically track the Clark belt meaning you only need one actuator or one HH motor to take care of elevation, azimuth and skew. Actually this isn't quite correct, but by employing a declination angle one can approximate this to, say, 0.01 degree or better and this is good enough.

Also, looking at
Chapparal CoRotor II Plus

Get rid of this ad below, as well as the link redirect by becoming a Supporting Pub Member

, it seems to be a good choice for that setup - is it? When you mentioned a Dual Ortho Feed, what model did you have in mind, and what exact LNB models to mount with that feed? Can it do both C and Ku band in both 2 Linear and 2 Circular? I wonder, will
DMX741 Quad Polar C/Ku LNBF


be a better choice, and can it be used in a motorized setup at all without a CoRotor? Should Skew angle be always the same for any C and Ku-band sats at the same orbital location?

Corotors were great feeds in their day, but most current receivers cannot drive their skew adjustment servo. You can work around this but it can be a pain. Furthermore corotors are subject to losses, particularly on Ku, because of their design.

There are a number of C/Ku integrated feeds, some mentioned already by Anole. I don't have any direct experience but a lot of people here swear by them. Anecdotally I have heard more than a fair share of Ku performance complaints. However this could be caused by factors unrelated to the actual feed and LNBs.

I seem to recall that at one time you wanted to get both your subscription services and FTA from the same dish. That may be tricky, but I may have a solution. Neither corotors nor integrated C/Ku feeds can provide both linear and circular Ku reception. Dual orthomode feeds can't in their normal configuration, but there is a variation on something I have done that will work. If you get a dual ortho, you'll be out at least $200 for the feed itself (ADL probably).

Then you have to buy LNBs. Normally that would be two C and two Ku, but here's where life gets interesting. You still need the two C LNBs, and they will cost anywhere from $20 apiece (probably marginal) to $100 apiece (probably overkill). I started with two of the latter on my dual ortho plus the usual two Ku LNBs.

It worked fine, but then I decided to go for a universal Ku LNB and there wasn't much available with the correct flange. So I did a simple modification to the feed and instead bolted on an Invacom QTH-031 quatro universal LNB for Ku instead of the separate Ku LNBs. It works great.

If you want both circular and linear Ku, you could instead mount an Invacom QPF-031 in the same manner. That would give you linear C, linear Ku and Circular Ku out of the same feed and dish. All with very high performance. I know I've promised a thread on how to do this in the past, but I do have this Frankenstein feed up and running so pictures shouldn't be hard to come by.

To be fair you could alternately sidecar a circular Ku LNBF next to your C-band scalar, whatever it is, or even mill out a hole for it. That would probably work fine because circular Ku satellites have a ton of power and the underscan and off-axis losses would be more than made up.