Smallest dish for C-band reception?

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transco

SatelliteGuys Family
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Feb 4, 2008
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Since I am physically unable to work on my 10' Orbitron which is 15' in the air, I was thinking of getting a smaller dish, pedistal mounting it, and using my SM-2200 as a receiver for experimenting withe LNB's, etc. What would you consider the minimum diameter dish (West Coast, S.F. Bay Area) that will pull in at least some C-band channels. Doesn't have to be great signal quality, just enough for testing. I remember that Radio Shack used to sell a 5' mesh. Perhaps there are still some of those around.
 
I think Iceberg does pretty good with a 6', but there are some who can't lock some DVB-S2 stuff with a 7 1/2'. So I guess it depends what your final goals are.
What is wrong with your 10'? Maybe someone here is close to you and could help.
Never hurts to ask.
 
I think Iceberg does pretty good with a 6', but there are some who can't lock some DVB-S2 stuff with a 7 1/2'. So I guess it depends what your final goals are.
What is wrong with your 10'? Maybe someone here is close to you and could help.
Never hurts to ask.

My friends are as old and decrepit as I am :) Any satellite work I have done is via a professional installer. In addition, I depend on the Orbitron as my main source of entertainment. At least for now it is working, though the Polarotor is on its last legs.

I see you have a BCS621 on your 10' dish. I've been thinking of going that way with the Orbitron. A lot cheaper than replacing even one Polarotor. How's it been working for you? How long did it take you to get it adjusted properly?
 
With the help of a web page, it took about 15 min, but I'm just standing on a ladder. I replaced a perfectly good CoRotorII and didn't miss a beat. Only reason I changed was I was removing the 4DTV from the system. Maybe someone in this forum is in SF that can help you.

My friends are as old and decrepit as I am :) Any satellite work I have done is via a professional installer. In addition, I depend on the Orbitron as my main source of entertainment. At least for now it is working, though the Polarotor is on its last legs.

I see you have a BCS621 on your 10' dish. I've been thinking of going that way with the Orbitron. A lot cheaper than replacing even one Polarotor. How's it been working for you? How long did it take you to get it adjusted properly?
 
Since I am physically unable to work on my 10' Orbitron which is 15' in the air, I was thinking of getting a smaller dish, pedistal mounting it, and using my SM-2200 as a receiver for experimenting withe LNB's, etc. What would you consider the minimum diameter dish (West Coast, S.F. Bay Area) that will pull in at least some C-band channels. Doesn't have to be great signal quality, just enough for testing. I remember that Radio Shack used to sell a 5' mesh. Perhaps there are still some of those around.

Try to get your hands on a solid "spun aluminum" 6 ft dish, and the hottest lnb you can find. They can really gather a good signal. I was using a 6 ft spun aluminum dish 23 years ago, with a hand-cranked polar mount, a 35 degree lnb, and it all worked pretty good for playing with. I wish I had kept it after we moved out of that house! I had a chart for how many turns I had to count when moving it from sat to sat! Of course, that long ago the sats were much weaker, so I would suppose it should work even better now.
 
something for everyone

My friends are as old and decrepit as I am :)
Do what I do. Find younger friends! ;)

I tell a kid I met 15 years ago, that with his wife, two kids, two cars, and a mortgage , he is just getting too old.
I threaten to find younger replacements, who can keep up with me. :)

... the Polarotor is on its last legs. I see you have a BCS621 on your 10' dish.
I've been thinking of going that way with the Orbitron.
A lot cheaper than replacing even one Polarotor. How's it been working for you?
How long did it take you to get it adjusted properly?
Replacing the skew motor on your existing LNB should be quick 'n easy, and the motors are cheap ($20..$30?)
When you are done, every thing continues to work just as it did.

You might tip-toe through this, the BUD section, where Linuxman has some lengthy and well written threads on using a GeoSatPro CK-1 dual band electrically controlled LNB on an 8' Birdview dish.
It is somewhat similar to the BSC-621.
And, from initial reports by Linuxman, I thought it was turning out to be head 'n shoulders better in usefulness.
While either is probably fine to experiment on C-band, there is still some concern getting these things working well on Ku.

Now, as for C-band fun at ground level, we have a couple of users with C-band LNBs grafted to 4' dishes.
QWERT1515 and Scott98 (?) may both be using the BSC621's... so far as I know.
They seem to be having a lot of fun wiith 'em , and if that appeals, you could , too.
But as Iceberg posted above, it looks like 6' is about the lower end for getting the bulk of programming.
And for some of those 7/8 FEC or otherwise difficult signals, 8' is looking to be a happy minimum.

I have a CK-1 dual-band, and an Eagle Aspen C-band LNBf, and am on the hunt for a 6' dish, myself.
 
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I never got what I feel like satisfactory results on KU band with my BSC-621 on my 10' sami.
My corotor II blows it away hands down. Save your money and get your servo motor replaced. You won't regret keeping the corotor.

6 foot works pretty well for most things. You will run into some feeds that won't lock with a 6 footer. the 6 footer due to its smaller size, will receive adjacent satellite interference for neighboring satellites causing interference to some digital feeds.

I have a 7.5' dish that seems to work well for most everything. It even locks Hbo on G1 very well.
 
I never got what I feel like satisfactory results on KU band with my BSC-621 on my 10' sami.
My corotor II blows it away hands down. Save your money and get your servo motor replaced. You won't regret keeping the corotor.

I checked and Chapparral lists the replacement servo motor at $28.00. I can see that the installer has been charging way too much for it. From now on, I'll buy my own. It's so darn frustrating not being able to service the dish myself any more. I've been using the same Corotor II and Orbitron dish for 20 or so years now and they've served me well. I've worn out a couple jacks and several servo motors, but other than that, no problems.

For messing around on Ku band, I've been using a modified DirectPC dish with one LP and one dual feed CP LNBF's on a H-H mount. I've set up switching so my DVB receiver can get signals from that or from the C/Ku feeds on my big dish. Interestingly, there isn't a heck of a lot of difference in the Ku band signals from the two dishes.

The reason for getting a second, smaller C-band dish mounted close to the ground is simply to have something to play with. The Orbitron supplies the family's entertainment, so best not to mess with it. One of this forum's sponsors, Sadoun Sales, sells a 6', fixed ground mount dish for $170 (about $249 delivered). Since there is no azimuth adjustment, it really would be a one satellite dish. A few years ago people would pay you to dissemble and dispose of their C-band gear. I'm afraid those days are gone. I posted a want-ad on Craigslist, but not a single hit.
 
Iceberg uses one of those solid 6 footers from Sadoun's. He gets good results from it.
I thought about buying one once with the polar mount.

Primestar dishes are super for KU. I have never had one but always seen on this board where everyone has great results with them.

I think the ground mounted 6 footer would be your best bet. Something down low you can handle.
 
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I think the ground mounted 6 footer would be your best bet. Something down low you can handle.
Are you talking about the 'stationary' dish. It would save me having to plant a mast like I would have to with the polar mount and the height would be ideal. Any ideas on how to position it (azimuth)? Since it is 55 lbs I guess it wouldn't be too hard to set it on a flat surface (existing cement pad for example) and rocking it into position.
 
The stationary dish has a small ring on the bottom, it has three legs that goe up with thumb wheels for adjustment (I am pretty sure).

I would go with the polar mount and a motor/actuator. Mounted down low on the ground on a pole. Something you can reach easily standing in front of the dish and lnbf/lnb.

If you have a patio or carport area that faces the southern sky you could set it up in an area like that. A small table and an outlet with your tv and receiver.
 
Try to get your hands on a solid "spun aluminum" 6 ft dish, and the hottest lnb you can find. They can really gather a good signal.

What would you consider being a "hot" lnb? I am curious to know if I could peak out any better than the BSC621 I have now.

To chime in on this thread.....4foot is the smallest IMO. You really get very little room to play with at this size (wind and rain can cause a difference). Nevertheless, I'm really happy with it. I would really like to go with a 6 footer...but don't think that I will get the approval :(

I would still like to see a 6 foot offset in play and compare to the prime focus.
 
Does the Sadoun 6' stationary dish come with struts for attaching a scaler ring to the dish?
 
What would you consider being a "hot" lnb? I am curious to know if I could peak out any better than the BSC621 I have now.

To chime in on this thread.....4foot is the smallest IMO. You really get very little room to play with at this size (wind and rain can cause a difference). Nevertheless, I'm really happy with it. I would really like to go with a 6 footer...but don't think that I will get the approval :(

I would still like to see a 6 foot offset in play and compare to the prime focus.

A BSC621 is pretty good for both analog and digital. Don't even bother with a 4 ft dish for c-band. If you spend the time to dig the hole, do all the installation, just go 6ft right away. It's better for cutting down adjacent satellite interference. A bigger dish, is also better for more signal than a lower noise, higher gain lnb.
 
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Are you talking about the 'stationary' dish. It would save me having to plant a mast like I would have to with the polar mount and the height would be ideal. Any ideas on how to position it (azimuth)? Since it is 55 lbs I guess it wouldn't be too hard to set it on a flat surface (existing cement pad for example) and rocking it into position.

works great on a flat surface. But you have to put some weight on it. See this post
http://www.satelliteguys.us/1322933-post28.html

its a few pics of my 6 footer that is on a table (need that to clear the roof). I have 140 pounds of sand on it. The other dish I pull out in front of the garage. That has 70 pounds on it
 
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