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  1. I

    Can I use this old Directv dish along with a C Band dish for anything?

    If you consider a DirecTV dish meets spec for Ku reception from high power direct to home satellites in a frequency range where 9 degrees between satellites is normal, it will not be adequate for 2 degree Ku spacing and it barely meets specs if at all for 2 degree Ka spacing. Other than using it...
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    removal of 10ft satellite in my backyard.

    One word, Sawzall. You can cut the pipe off at ground level, cut the frame in key places and fold it up the petals if they are thin sheet metal or mesh. Or offer it on Craig's List for free if they remove it.
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    waterproofing an LNB connection

    Whenever I had a say in purchasing connectors I always went with T&B Snap-N-Seal. DirecTV had an "official" brand of connector but I preferred T&B universal types (red version) that would work with single or quad shield and they had internal O rings. I experimented with Stuff brand dielectric...
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    waterproofing an LNB connection

    Scotch 33+ is very flexible and as you spool it off the roll you can use a finger to stretch it and transition from the connector up the wall of the LNB housing slightly. You could also prep the LNB with a very small fillet of sealant at the connector/housing junction and let that cure before...
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    waterproofing an LNB connection

    I'll throw in my 40+ year experience with two way radio and satellite and it all depends on where you live and how long you want the connector to be waterproof. In So Cal I was responsible for installing and maintaining dozens of antennas and probably 100+ LNBs at a DirecTV uplink center. Since...
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    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    Thanks, I'm aware of this and I appreciate details which point out the reasons why a particular combination of DVB-S2 transponder can't be received on an 18" dish vs an older DVB format with lower bit rates, etc. BTW, I was at the AFN uplink center at March AFB last year helping with the...
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    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    I think the problem here is making the general statement "That was 12 years ago, when everything was modulated as DVB-S. Now, (almost) everything is DVB-S2 or higher. This requires a larger dish." That by itself has nothing to do with bit rates increasing by 2 or 3X and even with the...
  8. I

    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    Now that I think about it, I was involved in the very first testing DirecTV did using DVB-S2 many years ago and I set up the uplink test transponder on G3C Ku for them to downlink in Las Vegas for a demo.
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    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    With the same modulation (QPSK), data rate and FEC its absolutely true. I can't even count all the on air tests I've performed for DirecTV and other major broadcasters unlinking and downlinking signals and measuring performance of the two standards. May I ask how many times you have done actual...
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    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    A better LNB won't do much good if adjacent satellites at 2deg spacing are causing interference because the beamwidth of an 18in dish is not good enough for 2deg spacing.
  11. I

    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    Why would DVB-S2 require a larger dish? With the same modulation and FEC, DVB-S2 provides better performance and receivers will lock at a lower C/N.
  12. I

    Old round DirecTV dish -- salvagable for FTA use?

    I don't think its worth bothering with. The 18" dish was designed for 9 degree DBS Ku satellite spacing with very high power satellites. FTA is 2 degree spacing and lower power satellites. If you can find an LNBF that magically lands on the focal point you might get some transponders here and...
  13. I

    Can you guys ID this Dish ?

    In the link the dish under test is a prime focus and the laser would be mounted exactly 90degrees to the sliding thing that runs across the face of the dish. With reflective tape or the recommended plastic ruler, the laser will converge in roughly the same spot as you move it across the face of...
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    Can you guys ID this Dish ?

    A friend of mine has an article on measuring the accuracy of a dish but you should be able to use a similar setup for finding the focal point. Start with his basic setup but instead of having the laser pointer perpendicular to the sliding bracket shown in the article, make it able to rotate to...
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    Can you guys ID this Dish ?

    Is the OP in the US or another country?
  16. I

    replacing reed sensor with hall sensor

    As a coincidence I recently replaced my house ground rod and it went through a slab but there was a little clearance around the rod like they drilled the slab and put the rod in after. I have a meter that measures ground rod resistance and my 50 yr old ground rod was around 15 ohms where the...
  17. I

    Could Quantum Physics Allow Smaller FTA Dishes?

    They way I read the article its all about light wave and nothing to do with dishes or satellite communications.
  18. I

    Circularly Polarizing C1PLL LNBF

    If there is no circular pol beacon then you can try nulling out transponders on the opposite polarity, but its less accurate. Usually transponders overlap in frequency between polarities so you can set the analyzer to see two transponders on the desired pol and one in the middle of the opposite...
  19. I

    Circularly Polarizing C1PLL LNBF

    With a spectrum analyzer you can get it perfect. Look up the beacon frequencies for the 22W satellite and tune to one, they should be frequency specific per polarity. Once the dielectric card is inserted as mentioned above, change polarities so you can see one of the beacons and choose the...
  20. I

    Looking for a piece of mounting hardware

    Ebay has lots of those parts and they will usually come with a U bolt. I've bought many of them for cheap over the years. Search on "mast clamp" or "mast U bolt", etc.
  21. I

    Circular lnb for fta

    As mentioned the circular LNB is in the wrong frequency range of 12.2 to 12.7GHz and you probably want 11.7 to 12.2GHz for FTA. Inside the DTV feed throat is a metal stepped septum, which delays one component of the signal to put it in phase with the other so the simple dipole in the LNB can...
  22. I

    Directv Slimline for FTA

    Yes on all this plus a dish like a Slimline with the LNB parked perfectly H and V with respect to the reflector, and skewing the entire dish for cross pol will give you better adjacent satellite rejection compared to the same dish being perfectly horizontal and vertical with respect to the...
  23. I

    Check out this dish

    You can make up for size with quantity. Here is a picture on the way to a job I did at Intelsat Mountainside Teleport in Hagerstown, MD. They have a couple of big dishes to play with and this is only a small portion of the site.
  24. I

    10 foot offset c band dish question

    C-band is not as critical as what I have worked on, but an offset dish is still very difficult to work with finding the focal point and angle. You will never know if you have it right unless you have a perfect working sample to compare with.
  25. I

    10 foot offset c band dish question

    If this was a prime focus dish its not that bad to calculate the F/D ratio and fabricate spars to hold the feed with some adjustment range for focus. If its an offset dish, I know one person that was actually successful in getting a feed in the exact right spot and he was an expert and it took a...
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