reviving old thread about hd channels south of the border

HoTat2 said:

But this won't help with the main issue of simply not sufficient signal strength for the Ka band signals at your location which is by design of course since it is intended for CONUS service.

You're trying to receive the unintended spillover into Mexico which tapers away much faster at Ka band wavelengths than at Ku. So unless you are very close to the US/Mex. border, it's going to be very difficult and hit or miss for the various 99, 103 xpndrs at best.

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DirecTV also has an advantage with controlling where the Ka signals go. At Ka frequencies antennas with directional patterns are easier to make (smaller) than at Ku frequencies. Highly directional antennas have a main lobe and then smaller side lobes. The spill over you may see might be from a side lobe where the gain and signal strength are way down; the only way to counter that is to get as large of a dish as you can to gather whatever signal is available. Also, depending on the type of dish you have it may not be entirely reflective at Ka wavelengths. A mesh dish designed for C-band may be partially transparent to Ku band. A mesh dish designed for Ku could be partially transparent to Ka band. A solid metal dish will not have that problem.

Are your dishes prime focus or offset? If your dish fd radio does not match what the LNBF is designed for you are not using the full surface area of the dish.

The slimline LNB is designed as a compromise for the azimuth difference between the aim point for 99, 101, and 103 within the continental US. The azimuth difference between 99 and 103 will be different in Main or Seattle from in southern Texas. HI and AK have different azimuth differences from the continental US. The HI/AK dish LNB may or may not match the azimuth differences for your location.

The AK/HI LNBF is made for a 1.2m dish. When the AK/HI lnb is put on the dish directv expects it to be installed on the eyes for 99, 101, and 103 line up with where signals will focus after being reflected by the dish.

With some measurements, math, trial and error, and assorted hardware it would be possible to set it up so a dish could be dedicated to an orbital slot. So on one dish the 99 eye would be put at the focus point of the dish for single slot reception of 99. So on another dish the 103 eye would be put at the focus point of the dish for single slot reception of 103. (It sounds like you have 101 covered). If ka high and low converged to the same point then just combine all the LNB’s as discussed above. If not, use 2 dishes and 2 LNBF’s per slot.

To get the best signal, a ka lnb with the correct LO’s for directv, but matching the feed and fd ratio of your dish would be needed. The AK/HI LNBF is an off the shelf component that may be close enough. In the description above, the LNBF would not be centered on the dish rather the eye (feed horn) for one of the ka LNB’s would be centered on the dish.

All my posts in this thread are based on an academic interest in using up to 5 big dishes for optimal reception of directv. The topic starter is solely responsible for complying with the terms of their direct tv service agreement, applicable US and foreign laws. If any damage, physical, financial, or other happens from acting on anything mentioned by me in this thread the topic starter is solely responsible.

The spacing is different. On the SL3 LNBF the spacing makes it appear like one feed horn is shared for all 3 positions. On the AK/HI LNBF, the 3 separate feed horns are clearly visible.
AK and HI locals are carried on spot beams specific to AK and HI (99S). The AK/HI LNBF will grab whatever spot beams are available wherever it is installed, then the receiver will check if it is authorized to use signals available on the received spot beams.


Are you using a dish to get 119? There are some audio channels there. It is a DBS bird so the signal should be better.

prop said:

understood.i would like to know what the difference is in the lnb from the normal 48 state lnb.is the spacing of the three heads on the al/haw lnb a little wider or is it tuned differently?is it meant to pick up al/haw locals?

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No, basically since the AK/HI dish has a larger diameter (1.2m) for increased gain, the focal length needs to be longer to maintain the same F/D ratio of course.

This however means that for a multisat LNBF the focal points are going to have a greater divergence while traveling the longer path of the increased focal length from the reflector. Therefore the 99 and 103W feedhorns need to have greater spacing from either side of the 101W feedhorn as a result.

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prop, are you getting any signals on 99ca - D14 (Ka-hi)?