Is this a good deal from Sadoun?

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am looking at this motorized C/KU setup from Sadoun.

C-Band Satellite System

MC-1 FTA-Motorized CKU Choice Set

I currently have a 1.2 meter Fortec Dish which I got from Sadoun 2 or 3 years ago. This Dish was shipped in by truck because of its size. And unfortunately when I got the dish the center was flattened in as the trucking company put something on top of the box (when the box was clearly do not stack anything on top.)

I accepted the Dish because the outside of the box looked good. So anyways got the dish and jumped on the center for the dish to make it round again.

I never really good luck with this dish, it has a hard time picking up things which my older 1 meter dish had no issues picking up. But it did trac the arc nicely and got the channels I wanted it too.

I have wanted a C Band dish for awhile now, use to have one many years ago before there was Digital. While a 6 foot dish might not be best for me here in the Northeast, I just want it to tinker with, I am not looking to subscribe to anything. Since my current dish is 4 feet in size I am hoping my wife wont get upset about a Dish 2 feet bigger (there is no way she would let me have a 8 or 10 footer)

Anyways I saw this deal at Sadouns site and I am interested but one thing has me scared, its this line...

[FONT=Verdana, Arial] ALL DISH SALES ARE FINAL - No Returns No Refund

After getting my last dish I am nervous about getting another damaged Dish.

But now I have some questions about this setup.

1) I already have a Fortec Mercury II receiver, this one comes with a Fortec Dynamic receiver. Do I really need it?

2) Tell me about this GBOX unit, where does it go and how does it move the Dish? Do I need to run ribbon cable to the Dish? The Dish is going to be about 100 feet from the receiver, do I need 100 feet of ribbion cable too?

3) Anything else I should know about this package?

Thanks for your help. Looks like this could be a birthday gift to myself this year.
[/FONT]

 

[Anole]

Okay, I'll write up an answer:

1). that photo doesn't show the motor/mount that's offered.
Not that it's a problem. Just took a close look and wanted to clarify.

2). the included C/Ku LNBF seems to have a good reputation.
Especially on C-band.
Generally, alignment on Ku is like threading a needle.

3). the Gbox v3000 that Sadoun sells is the best I know.
I worked with Linuxman when he was reviewing it, and went out and bought one on the strength of what we learned.
It seems to count on both the contact closure and the contact break of the reed, counting two for every one of a regular Vbox.
Assuming your mechanics are tight, that should give you twice the positioning accuracy.
Probably not needed for C-band, but a nice bonus!

The Vboxes came in several flavors/models. As I recall, the last Vbox V (5) was a real piece of junk.
The Vbox III (3) was adequate.
But none operated like the Gbox.

4). do you need an extra receiver? I don't know. Do you?
If you want to rig up where you can watch on two receivers, then you might want to get dual output LNBs.
There are no dual band, dual output LNBFs short of the famed orthomode monster, at a serious price...
I can see using the new receiver on this dish for C-band, and your existing receiver on your Ku dish 'n motor.

5). 100 FEET of ribbon cable? Yes.
Or, the guys have found that lawn sprinkler control wire works well in parallel with the coax.
Some use Cat5 for servo and reed - I'm not liking it for the motor, not even if you use multiple wires, but that's open to discussion.

6). my numbers don't match your numbers

edit:
#7). the 6' dish comes in a smaller box, and doesn't seem to get bent up in shipping.
So, I wouldn't worry about the "all sales are final" clause.

#8). why in heck are you postin', when there is racin' to watch??

 

[tdti1]

Well if you must then get it, I would try to convince wifey for the 2.4 meter with polar mount from sat av.

 

[Mr Tony]

One thing on the C-Band dishes Scott is they are in pieces so you shouldn't have that issue with something being put on top of it. The pieces all fit within each other so its built really compact
also a lot cheaper to ship

and no yours wont be two colors

 

[Mr Tony]

1) I already have a Fortec Mercury II receiver, this one comes with a Fortec Dynamic receiver. Do I really need it?

keep as a backup

2) Tell me about this GBOX unit, where does it go and how does it move the Dish?

The G-Box unit allows you to move an actuator with a DVB receiver. The old analog units/4DTV's have the power and connections to move the actuator. The DVB boxes dont have that luxury

you wire the GBox between the LNB and the receiver just like a KU motor...but you also need the ribbon cable

receiver----g box coax-----------------------LNB
--------------g box ribbon wire-------------actuator

The G-Box stores motor spots in Diseqc 1.2 (no USALS)

 

[Techfizzle]

lets see here, you dont need a $79 g-box when a $30 dollar receiver off ebay will steer the bud, and get you analog

the dish itself can be had for $179 at cyberestore.com or you can get one for FREE most of the time, and a 6 foot dish is useless for the serious fta'er

you can do more with a $80 coolsat 600 fta receiver then that fortec pos

a chappral co-rotor can be had for less then $50 and put some good norsat made in USA


acuator is about $40 off ebay

12 foot RCA cable and 50 foot of rg-6 is about $15 at any store ($50 value)??

so if you take your time and look on ebay and freecycle, you can have a serious sytem for about $250

i would not mess with a 6 footer

 

[goaliebob99]

Techfizzle,

You have to remember that there is the wife factor that is probably involved here . We all cant have big 12 foot buds

 

[Techfizzle]

yeah i see what you mean i live in a area where you can scratch where it itches and not spread your arms and hit you neighbor in the face

but i would just buy the 6 footer from sadoun for around $220 shipped, grab a used 6000 off ebay, a diseq switch, a 922 and call it a day!

 

[Pismire]

Nice to see most everyone is an expert now.

 

[Techfizzle]

Nice to see most everyone is an expert now.

i know what you mean, i know everything and still dont know anything

 

[Pismire]

a chappral co-rotor can be had for less then $50 i would not trust a intergrated c/ku lnb and put some good norsat made in USA lnbs on there not that junk made in CHINA geosat garbage

I diisagree heavily here... I replaced my norsat with a Geosat Pro C2 and gained quite a few more bars on the quality meter and I don't have to be concerned about what polarity I am on or a polarotar going out. Also it is not not nice to "dis" the gold sponsors. Geosat Pro C2 has my vote for a good quality LNBF.

 

[Techfizzle]

noobies


gaining a signal bar does not make it a better lnb

it can do with dirt in your connector, bad cables, etc

what makes a good lnb, a good lnb, is not drifting, and holding a signal

 

[pendragon]

i would not mess with a 6 footer

I wouldn't want to live without my 10' (or my 7.5'), but I also have the 6' Fortec and it does a surprisingly good job. Yes, there are a few high rate signals it struggles with and a handful of case where its wide beamwidth cannot separate interfering transponders on adjacent orbital positions, but these are the exceptions rather than the rule. If it was all I had I would be still very happy.

 

[Anole]

Well, back to the real world, I did think of one more thing about having two "identical" receivers.
If you intend to use them in different rooms, then having two alike is quite the wise idea.
You can make up sat lists to load 'em both, nothing new to learn, etc.

But, if you wanted to use one receiver on each dish, and have 'em both in the living room...
... there are lots of dual-monitor and split-screen reasons to do so...
You might be better off with two receivers using different remotes.

Of my four (seven?) receivers, I have two alike.
Two which are my favorite... and I can't run them in the same room.
I'd kill for a selectable IR address, but you don't much find that in FTA boxes.

See also the AZbox, in our FTA Equipment Review section.

 

[tvropro]

Techfizzle,

You have to remember that there is the wife factor that is probably involved here . We all cant have big 12 foot buds

No wife factor = the sky is the limit

 

[Eva Greczkowski]

Why is it when a birthday rolls around, people seem to get they can get what they are told they cannot have? The dish you have in the front yard already is the largest one you are going to get. If you can figure out how to get it in the back yard, maybe you can have a bigger one.

Happy Birthday Dear! I love you. @party

PS his birthday is not today, it is on the 30th.

 

[eurosport]

I diisagree heavily here... I replaced my norsat with a Geosat Pro C2 and gained quite a few more bars on the quality meter and I don't have to be concerned about what polarity I am on or a polarotar going out. Also it is not not nice to "dis" the gold sponsors. Geosat Pro C2 has my vote for a good quality LNBF.

I'll agree with Pismire on this one. My Geosat Pro's, both the C-2 and the CK-1 are excellent performers! -And no polarrotors that are often troublesome.

 

[eurosport]

noobies


gaining a signal bar does not make it a better lnb

If you read his post, he said QUALITY not signal. And why the comment: "noobies" ? -you seem to really like stirring it up in here lately....

 

[eurosport]

Nice to see most everyone is an expert now.

Almost....LOL

 

[tdti1]

I diisagree heavily here... I replaced my norsat with a Geosat Pro C2 and gained quite a few more bars on the quality meter and I don't have to be concerned about what polarity I am on or a polarotar going out. Also it is not not nice to "dis" the gold sponsors. Geosat Pro C2 has my vote for a good quality LNBF.

Low cost lnb/lnbf's may have more gain, the stability is what really counts, so a knock off lnb can get you lets say 55 quality on a weak feed, a commercial lnb from Norsat or Cal amp may give you 48 or 50 but this is a stable signal, also lower cost lnb's I have tried can't even lock some raw feeds I pull in with my Norsats.