A neat way to test lnbs!

[coinmaster32]

I was watching a video of how someone quick tests lnbs to make sure they are not dead. Had a rg cable running from a good lnb into a receiver, the good lnb on a dish aimed at a strong TP.

The rg cable has its outer conductor cut. the center conductor exposed. The test lnb is placed over the rg cable.

The rg cable's magnetic field transmits the signal from the good lnb into the probe of the test lnb.

 

[Jim S.]

That doesn't really make sense, because the LNB converts the signal from Ku-band to L-band before it sends it down the cable. Unless maybe the L-band signal is getting into the electronics of the second LNB, but that still doesn't verify that it's fully functional.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I found out that you can connect a cheap little squealy meter to an lnb and just holding it in your hand, not on a dish at all, point it in the sky in the general direction of a satellite and if it's good, the squealy meter will squeal. Move your hand in front of it a few time and the signal stops when you do. All you have to do is send power to the thing, I've used my birddog meter as a power supply just to run the squealy meter (since the birddog rarely works on FTA anyway).

I realize this is not really testing it to see if it will get tv but it tells you if it's dead or alive and you can quickly decide to toss it or test it further.

 

[Mikey11]

in my experience, generally speaking lnbs do not fail very often...the only time they really fail is if the cover breaks and water gets in...most people are very quick to blame the lnb when they have problems but the lnb is rarely ever the problem...in my 20+ years at this i think i have only encountered a faulty lnb one time...and that was a brand new lnb so it was obviously a manufacturers defect...

 

[Mr Tony]

I've only had 2 LNB's go out on me

one was the H side would go out if it got too cold out (0 or below)
one output shorted out

Other than that every LNB I've had has worked great

 

[AcWxRadar]

I've only had 2 LNB's go out on me

one was the H side would go out if it got too cold out (0 or below)
one output shorted out

Other than that every LNB I've had has worked great

I have only had one LNBF fail on me. Years ago, when I had a DN sub with a D500 dish (110/119), one polarity from one of the two sats would die when the temperature warmed up during the day. It eventually became a hard failure. I don't remember exactly as it has been so long ago, but I think it was the H on 110.

RADAR

 

[Wescopc]

Water kills them, and failed Lifetime Ultras often send out high voltage and kills them. The other thing that goes wrong is frequency drift, then the receiver won't lock without rescanning. Once in a while they will not pickup a paticular transponder. But on the whole they are reliable.
Bob

 

[AcWxRadar]

I found out that you can connect a cheap little squealy meter to an lnb and just holding it in your hand, not on a dish at all, point it in the sky in the general direction of a satellite and if it's good, the squealy meter will squeal. Move your hand in front of it a few time and the signal stops when you do. All you have to do is send power to the thing, I've used my birddog meter as a power supply just to run the squealy meter (since the birddog rarely works on FTA anyway).

I realize this is not really testing it to see if it will get tv but it tells you if it's dead or alive and you can quickly decide to toss it or test it further.

Dee_Ann,

That is probably the BEST QUICK method I have heard of or read of to test an LNBF! Really slick!

RADAR

 

[Stargazer]

That is how I have been testing the lnb's for years to see if they work, waving the hand over them and reading a higher signal meter reading. I realized this would work when the signal meter read a higher reading when it was towards the trees. That is one thing that sucks about meters, they read higher when going towards the trees.