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The important number in your picture is EcbN0 (4.7 dB for G1 in this case). Nothing else matters. For the data rates/redundancy Shaw is using on G1, this needs to be at an absolute minimum, 5.5 dB. Ideally a 1.8m dish will increase that number by 3.5 dB to 8.2 dB, which would be fine. The...

The Canadian coverage claims to show every event live, although some of that is streamed. Probably all their feeds on FTA birds are encrypted, but if you subscribed to Shaw or Bell, it would all be there. The kids were up at 3:30 am watching the opening ceremony.

I have two 8.5' solid Birdviews and my experience on C-band is different from Titanium's. The Birdview factory scalar does not end up mounting at the right distance, at least when used with modern feeds, for both orthos and servos. You will get an improvement by removing the hexapod legs and...

I have three T90s and used them all for about 8 years to cover the entire North American arc. For most people they appear to be a little tricky to setup, but I had no problems at all. In fact I found it trivial when adding additional LNBFs. The LNBF holders are designed for 4 degree spacing, but...

An ideal parabolic reflector can only bring all of an incoming signal to a single focus point if the source is on axis. In the case of multi-satellite reception, any off-axis source will suffer from coma distortion, which will spread the 'focus' away from the apparent, off-axis reflection. One...

I've done this sort of thing for years on C-band. It works best on high f/D dishes, such as 0.4, and the ideal arrangement is to offset both feeds from center by the same amount. Assuming both of these are implemented, the loss on each feed is very small, typically less than 0.25 dB with...

Actually the particular LNB you have has a very low phase noise, better than most PLL LNBs. Good PLLs have a better long term frequency stability, but that only helps find low SR signals because the apparent reception frequency wanders less than with a DRO. But that will not help you lock tough...

Since it's going to be summer in Denver tomorrow, I'm hoping to get Birdview #2 installed. I also modified this one to use a rotary encoder, like Birdview #1, but with better water shielding. The depth of the 'new' Birdview is a little less than the old one, and the scalar was set about 1 cm...

I would read the whole thread that KE4EST linked. A few of us are quite discerning and have gone to the trouble of properly aligning a T90. Two of us made some very detailed measurements, and over about the center 20-25 degrees they will outperform a 90 cm offset. A have three T90s, and they...

On the surface these appear valid points. However a parabola is quite flat near its center. Since Birdview #2 is on the ground, I took a 12" ruler and placed it across the center of the dish. Now the center 2" of a Birdview is open and normally filled with a plastic hole plug, so I had to...

Hank - that seems to be the case - even I had jumped on the 'rods too short' train when I put up Birdview #1. But there are still several twists left in this story. To determine where the focal point really is, one needs to know both the distance from the center of the dish to the feed's...

While waiting for the steel yard to fabricate a pole extension for Birdview #2 (same as described for #1), I've been working on improving the feed support system on #1, because both Birdviews will become dedicated Ku dishes. Previously #1 had a centered Ku-band feed and an offset C-band feed. I...

Thanks for the tip - once I have both Birdviews up I'll get a tube of polyurethane sealant and take care of both.

I'm resurrecting this ancient thread because of a couple of developments. The first is I've acquired another Birdview, and this motivated me to improve a few minor issues dating to my original install. The second was the failure of the rotary encoder in my first Birdview. Naturally I don't want...

Hamed - I'm sorry I'm late to the party, but I see you have been well taken care of. I put up three T90 dishes many years ago and still use them all the time. While I also have motorized dishes, the toroids cannot be beat for instant and multiple access. I only used normal width LNBFs on my...

This was an old listing where RimaNTSS and Magic Static identified the real peach - an Ajak H180 horizon to horizon motor. By the time I saw this the dish was already taken, but the motor was being given away for free. I picked it up yesterday after a harrowing two hour drive in a crazy...

Thanks to everyone who liked my work. phlatwound - I wish I could try the 9.5' solid Birdview, but my personal city ordinance would either cost me taking down two dishes mounted on my roof or replacing one of the two bigger C-band dishes on the ground. For the moment, neither sounds attractive...

This is an old thread containing a few ideas I never got around to implementing. One of them was to see how well a Birdview can work on C and Ku-bands without the stock scalar and a dual orthomode feed. You can now take that one off the list. While some of you may have endured blizzards earlier...

Looks like they have algorithmic issues with the software signal processing. I can't read the scales accurately, but the spacing of the nulls looks suspiciously like the maximum sampled bandwidth of these sticks. Perhaps they didn't take the anti-aliasing filter into account, or worse...

The argument for PLL LNBs is their frequency stability, or in the loftiest examples, an ability to lock to an external reference. In reality this normally has little meaning for FTA. The argument against PLL LNBs is they typically have poorer phase noise specs within a given price range. This...

You may be seeing the effect of interference from a transponder on an adjacent bird (like 123 or 127W) with overlapping bandwidth in the same polarization that is only turned on during the day. Smaller dishes, even 1.2 m on Ku, are more vulnerable because of their wider beamwidth, and 8PSK...

I had a 1.8 m petal prime-focus for a few years. It was dreadfully flimsy, but it was a decent performer on Ku with the same dual ortho feed I now use on the 2.6 m Birdview (sorry I had those dimensions previously as 2.4 m). Even taking the 2 dB loss caused by the dual ortho, on average the 1.8...

I did use an ADF-120 feed, but it was slightly modified to provide a wider range of adjustment of its f/D. I've tried a few quatro LNBs on this, but I've been happiest with an Invacom QTF-031 (universal Ku). I've made several mods to my dual ortho over the years; I documented most of these in...

I have a 2.4 m solid Birdview prime-focus with a modified dual ortho feed. Once I had the pole up, the mounting and alignment only took a few hours, and I haven't touched anything since. While there are compromises in the feed, on Ku this beats my 1.8 m offset, and wipes the floor with any of my...

I have been using three T-90s for the past five years or so. They receive all of the North American Ku birds, and all DVB-S2 signals just fine, and replaced a couple of 1.2 m offset dishes on motors. I'd much rather set up a toroid than a motorized Ku dish - it takes me much less time and is far...