Distance measured

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O'Doyle

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Dec 13, 2014
157
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Ridgeland, South Carolina
So I have gotten around to measuring the distance from where I would like to set my dish to my apartment. The worst case is 450ft. If I adjust the route a bit it will be closer to around 250ft. Would RG-11 work at these distances ok???
 
Your gonna have a lot of voltage drop under load at that length.
 
My favorite word Fiber!!!
 
Also, where I want to set the dish, it will have a good view due east and southeast, I have not looked yet but are there decent sats in the east worth watching?
 
Just as an example, I ran 420' this past summer down to my parents house next door for OTA from my antenna and on the center connection there was 13 ohms resistance, on the outer shielding was 6 ohms, measuring from one end to the other on the 500 ' roll before I ran it all out through the pipe, RG6 quad shielded, direct burial, decent cable, cheap cable probably is worse.

It worked fine for the OTA TV, but that 13 ohms could make a big difference trying to power an LNB and motor. I'd try to shorten the distance, if possible.
 
Just as an example, I ran 420' this past summer down to my parents house next door for OTA from my antenna and on the center connection there was 13 ohms resistance, on the outer shielding was 6 ohms, measuring from one end to the other on the 500 ' roll before I ran it all out through the pipe, RG6 quad shielded, direct burial, decent cable, cheap cable probably is worse.

It worked fine for the OTA TV, but that 13 ohms could make a big difference trying to power an LNB and motor. I'd try to shorten the distance, if possible.


Yeah, I feel I might need to.....I have one or two other spots possibly to set the dish without getting myself in hot water. As for the actuator power cable, does that have to be a certain gauge cable??, the one I took off the dish was a flat ribbon cable for the C/KU power and to power the actuator, didn't figure I would use it so I discarded it.
 
Yeah, I feel I might need to.....I have one or two other spots possibly to set the dish without getting myself in hot water. As for the actuator power cable, does that have to be a certain gauge cable??, the one I took off the dish was a flat ribbon cable for the C/KU power and to power the actuator, didn't figure I would use it so I discarded it.

Yes, the actuator cable does have to be heavy enough to carry the current, I don't know what gauge it should actually be, maybe someone else who knows for sure will help out and comment on that. My 9' dish came with a roll of new wire that sounds like what you threw out, I used that, it has two coax and three wires for a servo, three for the motor/actuator. The motor wires on mine are pretty thick, that run is 50'. I have the same type wire on my 12' dish as on the 9', that run is 120'. The actuator/motor wires measure .12'', whatever gauge that is I don't know. The signal and ground wires are half that.

This dish is the 10' CM in your signature?

Also, where I want to set the dish, it will have a good view due east and southeast, I have not looked yet but are there decent sats in the east worth watching?

Probably the best would be to look and see what's on different sats and see if there's anything you like. Lyngsat has lists:

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

The site I use the most and find easiest to understand is Sathint:

http://sathint.com/america

Here in CT I can get down to about 55W and then I'm into trees, if it weren't for trees, I could probably get down to about 30W. Going the other way, 127W is my furthest receivable sat. I'd think in South Carolina it'd be about the same for you, about 30W to 129W, depending on the terrain, trees,etc. You'll want to get the dish set in a place where it can see as much of the arc as possible if you can, almost all sats have at least one or two channels worth getting. Look on Sathint, Lyngsat, etc, and get an idea of what's up there, also keep in mind that channels come and go, even if nothing's on a sat today, that doesn't mean there won't be tomorrow!
 
Yes, the actuator cable does have to be heavy enough to carry the current, I don't know what gauge it should actually be, maybe someone else who knows for sure will help out and comment on that. My 9' dish came with a roll of new wire that sounds like what you threw out, I used that, it has two coax and three wires for a servo, three for the motor/actuator. The motor wires on mine are pretty thick, that run is 50'. I have the same type wire on my 12' dish as on the 9', that run is 120'. The actuator/motor wires measure .12'', whatever gauge that is I don't know. The signal and ground wires are half that.

This dish is the 10' CM in your signature?



Probably the best would be to look and see what's on different sats and see if there's anything you like. Lyngsat has lists:

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

The site I use the most and find easiest to understand is Sathint:

http://sathint.com/america

Here in CT I can get down to about 55W and then I'm into trees, if it weren't for trees, I could probably get down to about 30W. Going the other way, 127W is my furthest receivable sat. I'd think in South Carolina it'd be about the same for you, about 30W to 129W, depending on the terrain, trees,etc. You'll want to get the dish set in a place where it can see as much of the arc as possible if you can, almost all sats have at least one or two channels worth getting. Look on Sathint, Lyngsat, etc, and get an idea of what's up there, also keep in mind that channels come and go, even if nothing's on a sat today, that doesn't mean there won't be tomorrow!


yes the 10ft. channel master is what I am looking to set up, that roll of cable you mentioned is exactly what was on the dish before. I downloaded the dishpointer app for my phone and it gives a really good picture of what sats are in a certain area for aiming your dish better. thanks for the info!
 
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