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cpa4u

Last reply Oct 31, 2004 · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Dish installed last night, no grounding??

I had my dish installed last night. I found out today that the installer did NOT ground either the dish or the coax cables with ground blocks. He finished up after dark last night and it was slightly raining. So, I did not go out and look at the wiring very closing outside. The picture was good, so I thought everything was ok. Well, today I go out and look closer at it. The wires come off the LNB, down the wall and into the house. There are no ground wires for the dish and no ground blocks anywhere on the coax cables. Is there any other way to ground the coax? I came across an "in-line" coax surge protector on the net tonight. It appears it just screws into the line. I don't see that on my system either though. I'm going to be calling the company tomorrow to complain.

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Bruno

Oct 31, 2004

ShadowEKU i'm glad ur a expert in the making because you have a long way to go. You should spend more time reading and less time typing...

The best ground is the world is your local power company grounding system. If you power company does not mind you running a ground wire from the grounding block to their system you can not get any better place to ground your system. Most training on installing systems say to check out and install the system close to the incoming power so you can use their ground.

Most all systems today have a grounded plug..get ur meter out and see it the Satellite In F-81 fitting is grounded to the case of the receiver. Now would that not make it a drain point if it needed one. The shield of the coax connects to this fitting making the coax grounded.

I have been installing these since 1996 and i can count on my hands the number of LNB that i have had to replace because they were bad. Now if it was that big of deal on static ruining LNBs i would have been replacing some of them every week according to your idea.

The NEC requirement for grounding DSS systems is for human shocking hazard. I think if you was going to do it right it would take a #6 condutor to really do it right.

Mr. Simon .. Just what part of my post do you not agree with. I dont claim to be an expert (Drip under pressure) like some but I have read several others opinons in this same thread that seem to agree with me with most i said.

chaddux

Oct 31, 2004

I was always under the impression that if lightning strikes your house that you have a bigger problem other than your dish being fried...such as YOUR HOUSE BURNING TO THE GROUND. Do you honestly believe that a small copper wire running to the ground is going to prevent damage from a lightning strike containing thousands of joules of energy?

ShadowEKU

Oct 31, 2004

Bruno said:
ShadowEKU i'm glad ur a expert in the making because you have a long way to go. You should spend more time reading and less time typing...

The best ground is the world is your local power company grounding system. If you power company does not mind you running a ground wire from the grounding block to their system you can not get any better place to ground your system. Most training on installing systems say to check out and install the system close to the incoming power so you can use their ground.

Most all systems today have a grounded plug..get ur meter out and see it the Satellite In F-81 fitting is grounded to the case of the receiver. Now would that not make it a drain point if it needed one. The shield of the coax connects to this fitting making the coax grounded.

I have been installing these since 1996 and i can count on my hands the number of LNB that i have had to replace because they were bad. Now if it was that big of deal on static ruining LNBs i would have been replacing some of them every week according to your idea.

The NEC requirement for grounding DSS systems is for human shocking hazard. I think if you was going to do it right it would take a #6 condutor to really do it right.

Mr. Simon .. Just what part of my post do you not agree with. I dont claim to be an expert (Drip under pressure) like some but I have read several others opinons in this same thread that seem to agree with me with most i said.

Sir do you know anything about how static and general electricity works? you electrical discharge will follow the shortest point to ground. you ground the cables so that any static discharge drains into the ground ad not into your house. If you ground to the electrical companies system you are creating a longer point to ground and therefore neutralizing any static draining. yes it will protect you from normal surges in the system.. but it wont drain the static needed to prevent lightning. not mitigate it.

And since you skipped electricity 101 here is a quip from the NEC code

mitchflorida said:
Grounding is probably the source of the greatest confusion in the understanding of electrical power distribution in general, and in DBS systems in particular. According to the National Electric Code® (NEC®) the purpose of grounding is:

"To limit voltages due to lightning, line surges or unintentional contact with higher voltage lines...to stabilize voltages…(and) to provide a path in order to facilitate the operation of over-current devices".

Note that nowhere is there any mention of protecting equipment. The intent of the grounding provisions of the NEC® is to insure that electrical systems are as safe as possible to the humans that use them.

For our purposes, the most relevant of the three goals listed above is "To limit voltages due to lightning, line surges or unintentional contact with higher voltage lines". These three sources of over-voltage are, in a properly grounded system, provided with an alternative path around the electrical system of your home or workplace by intentionally connecting the system to the earth. In practice this only minimizes damage from such occurrences. The NEC® provides only minimal standards for lightning protection. If lightning is a common occurrence in your area additional provisions must be made to protect your property. We will discuss the subject of lightning protection later. For now, let's look at the places a DBS system can be grounded and what each step buys us in the way of protection from over-voltages.

The Downlead (Coaxial Cable)

The next place that a typical DBS system will be grounded is at the "grounding block" that lives somewhere along the coaxial cable run from the dish to the receiver. This ground point serves several purposes. The point of coaxial cable is to trap any electromagnetic interference in the outer "shield", preventing it from reaching the inner conductor. Grounding the shield serves to nullify the effects of stray signals by "grounding out", or reducing to a zero potential, the voltages which are picked up by the outer shield. This prevents much of that signal potential from reaching the inner wire core.

The second purpose of the grounding block is to dissipate static electricity. Your satellite sits outside where wind will create a static charge on the dish itself and the wire attached to it. This action is similar to the grammar school science experiment of rubbing a glass rod with a piece of silk. Electrons are "rubbed off" the silk and collect on the glass rod, creating an electrical charge. In the case of your dish, the dish is the glass rod, and the air is the silk. This charge will build up on the dish and the cable until it reaches a high enough potential that it is able to jump across an air space to ground. Unfortunately this will usually follow a path the leads through the electronics inside your receiver, or, more commonly, in the LNB on the dish. More LNBs have been lost to static discharge than any other cause. Most mysterious failures of LNBs after months or even years of operation can be attributed to static discharge. Grounding the coax serves to safely dissipate this static charge.

Lightning

The third reason to ground the coaxial cable is to prevent lightning from striking the dish. This is NOT to carry the voltage from a lightning strike safely to ground. In order to do that, the ground wire would have to be the width of a tree trunk to carry the millions of volts and thousands of amps contained in a lightning strike without melting to slag. Grounding the dish and the coaxial cable effectively turns the dish into a lightning rod. This requires separately grounding the dish itself, in addition to the coaxial cable.

Contrary to popular opinion, lightning rods are not designed to attract lightning, but rather to repel it. To understand this more clearly, let's take a look at what causes lightning and how lightning arrestors work.

The earth is an enormous sponge for electrons. This is caused by ionization of materials deep within the mantle (as their electrons are stripped off and become either involved in other nuclear reactions or attached to other materials, iron and silicon in the core become positively charged). So the earth can be thought of as holding an extremely large positive charge. This is why grounding works – the negatively charged electrons flow into the earth in a futile attempt to balance the charge. A lightning strike consists of such a discharge of opposite charges of electrical energy. A negative charge or build-up occurs in the bottom part of the cloud closest to earth (caused by the same wind action that causes the static charge on your satellite dish) and a positive charge of energy accumulates directly underneath in the ground. Separating these two opposite charges is the non-conducting dry air belt separating cloud and earth. As the two opposite charges continue to build up and the dry air belt becomes moist, lightning starts down toward earth. At the same time the positive ground charge is attracted upward, leading to the "pop-science" statement that lightning strikes go up (not really true, the discharge or dissipation of a lightning strike travels up, but the lightning itself travels down).

One of the interesting things about lightning is that each "leg" of a bolt of lightning (i.e. the straight portions of the lightning) is always 150 feet long. As the negatively charged leader stroke from the cloud continues toward earth, the positive ground charge travels up (through the lightning rod system if there is one). When the negative leader stroke is about 150 feet above the top of a protected building, the positive ground charge starts upward to meet and neutralize the downward leader stroke. When they meet, 150 feet above the ground or the lightning rod system, the two opposite charges are neutralized, emptying the negative charges from the cloud and dissipating the ground charge. This all occurs in about one five thousandths of a second. Without a lightning rod system, the lightning will discharge through whatever happens to be in the way of the ground, whether that is your house, your satellite dish, or you!

So the effectiveness of a lightning rod system depends upon its ability to deliver a large positive charge over the entire area to be protected. This is not possible with only one lightning rod (or your satellite dish). Grounding your dish structure alone (without a properly designed and installed lightning rod system) is worse than not grounding it at all. It will result in the ENTIRE lightning strike being dissipated through the dish, which is guaranteed to fry your LNB. Ideally, you should have a lightning rod mounted every 20 feet along the highest edge of your roof. Chimneys wider than 4 feet require 2 rods, less than 4 feet can be protected with only one rod. The rods should be connected to each other starting at the highest point on the roof and working in a constantly downhill manner. Anything that protrudes from the roof must be connected to the lightning rod system. This includes antennas (including the dish), any cupolas, weathervanes, or roof ridge vents (if metal) and the plumbing vent pipes (if metal). This wire should be connected to at least two ground rods, as widely separated as possible, preferably at diagonally opposite corners, if the perimeter, or distance around the house, is 250 feet or less. If the building perimeter is between 250 feet and 350 feet, then three ground rods are required. If between 350 feet and 450 feet, then four ground rods, etc. Lightning protection systems should be applied to metal covered buildings (like sheds) in a like manner as on buildings without metal coverings. Cables must be kept free of sharp turns and "U" or "V" pockets and the cable should maintain a horizontal or downward course at all times. The lightning protection system must be bonded to the household entrance panel ground as well, to prevent grounding potential differences from developing.

Unified Ground

Whenever installing a new ground rod, it must be connected to all other ground rods connected to the residence or other building in question. Failure to do this can enable your lamp, air conditioner, satellite receiver and bathtub to all be at various potentials when referenced to each other. In other words, keeping everything at one potential prevents you from being able to touch two devices at the same time and getting shocked. Another issue that this practice avoids in ground loops. In these situations, two grounds are employed without interconnection, and they thus have a potential difference between them. If two pieces of equipment, each attached to one of these grounds, are interconnected, some portion of the line current will flow from the "higher" ground to the lower, through the interconnecting cable. Having worked in the sound reinforcement area for many years, I can tell you that ground loops can be fun to deal with. This can wreak havoc on an amplifier (or performer holding a microphone) if they are assumed to be at the same potential. At a minimum, they can introduce annoying hum (a 60Hz signal) into analog audio and video signals.

In the case of DBS systems, this issue of bonding the satellite downlead's ground to the household ground is an area of great discussion. Some people feel that any ground on the coax is better than none (for the shielding and static prevention reasons discussed above). However, using an independent ground for the satellite coaxial cable is, in fact, very dangerous. Consider the following scenario…

Your satellite is connected to a 120-volt circuit, probably protected by at least a 15 amp breaker but with no current limiting device on the neutral or ground leads. The power transformer in the receiver power supply will have its center tap attached to neutral and the receiver cabinet will be connected to ground, which as we have seen, are tied together at the service panel. If the ground used for the coaxial cable, which is also connected to the receiver cabinet, is a better ground (lower potential) than the one used for the electrical service, then the entire house's current will, at least partially, flow back through the receiver's electrical service ground lead. From there, current will flow to the receiver cabinet, through the coaxial cable's shield, to the grounding block and then to ground. How much current flows depends on the ground potential difference. In any event, besides the effect such a current flow will have on the transformer and voltage regulator in the power supply, the potential danger to anyone touching the receiver is extremely serious. For this reason, ALL local building codes as well as the NEC® require that all grounds be bonded together. Do not fool around here. It can save your life.

Surge Protection

So far, everything we have covered has been to protect life and limb (and home) from the dangers of short circuits, over-voltages and lightning. This is the only concern of building codes. They consider any and all electronic equipment to be expendable, so long as it is destroyed in a manner that does not present a danger of shock or fire. To protect your equipment requires steps to be taken that go far beyond the building code or the NEC®. We now move beyond grounding per se, and into power conditioning and surge protection.

The greatest threat to electronic equipment during a thunderstorm does not come from a direct lightning strike. After all, in most parts of the country, a direct hit on your satellite dish is a pretty rare occurrence. Most equipment is, in fact, damaged by voltage surges far below that caused by a lightning strike. These surges are induced in the various cables entering the home by a "near miss". When a bolt of lightning strikes the ground it carries enormous amounts of power. This blast of electricity causes an electromagnetic pulse that will induce a current in any wire that is within the magnetic field. This current can reach hundreds or thousands of volts, with substantial amperage. When it reaches electronic circuits designed for tiny voltage and miniscule amperages, these circuits are quite rapidly destroyed. These surges can be separated into two classes. The first is spikes caused by electric motors' starting capacitors or similar load related spikes, which are generally of moderate voltage but longer duration (several tenths of a second). The other is a very high voltage surge, caused by lightning or other discharges, which is of very short duration (a few thousandths of a second).

The most common method of dealing with both types of anomaly is through commercial surge protection equipment employing metal oxide varistors or MOVs. MOVs are solid state devices that have virtually infinite resistance at one voltage, but gradually decreasing resistance at higher voltages. In very inexpensive devices there will be a single MOV connected between the hot and neutral leads. This is effective against the first category of spike, since it is caused by a sudden increase in the load on the circuit and shows up as a higher voltage on the hot lead. However, in the case of a lightning strike, the surge will occur on both the hot and the neutral (because the neutral, in addition to being connected to ground in the service panel, is also connected to the center tap of the power utility transformer out on the utility pole). In this case, MOVs are required between ground and hot, as well as between neutral and ground. MOVs employed in this manner are very effective at clamping incoming voltages to a few hundred volts. Since almost all electronics is powered by low voltage (5 to 12 volts) DC, even a 300 volt surge, after passing through a transformer and rectifier, will be reduced to 15 to 30 volts, usually within the range of control of a solid state voltage regulator.

This induced voltage effect is also likely to occur on any cable entering the home from outside. The next most likely source of such a surge is the phone line, since it, like the power service line, is strung over a large area. Here, however, the "normal" voltage is much less than the electrical service (around 40 volts), and input transformers and voltage regulators are not as widely used, so a 300 volt surge is far more dangerous to the connected equipment. MOVs, by themselves, do not provide sufficient protection. More complex, and more costly, circuits that employ other kinds of varistors along with triacs and other solid state components are required.

The final, and most delicate, point of attack is the coaxial cable. Typically the maximum voltage sent to the LNB will around 18 volts. The signal returned to the receiver will be no more than one volt or typically less. Here, MOVs are least effective. Even when designed with a low clamping voltage, their response time may still allow a damaging voltage to pass through to the receiver. Even if effective, they are usually installed at the receiver end of the cable. The surge, however, is induced somewhere in the middle of the cable run, and so is dangerous to the LNB as well. While a coaxial surge protector may protect the receiver, it will not do anything for the LNB.

The single most important thing to understand about MOVs is that they can be used only once. In the process of shunting a large surge away from your equipment, they are destroyed. The gradually deteriorate in the presence of smaller surges. Unfortunately, most inexpensive surge protection equipment has no indication that the protection for which it was purchased is no longer being provided. When purchasing a surge protector make sure that it has an indicator light that verifies protection is being provided (although this will almost always ONLY monitor the AC circuit protection). The presence of an indicator light is also a good marker that the unit was built with some care and probably includes three MOVs on the AC circuit. Of course, the three MOV design requires that the unit be plugged into a properly grounded outlet. A good electrical ground is essential to almost all surge protection systems.

And for the record i spent plenty of time reading. I visited this board and 2 others for roughly 9 months to get the ups and downs and everythign else... before i even chose to have sat installed... and now im working with friends to start our own installation business. I read somewhere you were an installer. if so i feel a great deal of pity on your customers simply because you are subjecting them to dangers.

SimpleSimon

Oct 31, 2004

First, what Shadow said.

Second:

chaddux said:
I was always under the impression that if lightning strikes your house that you have a bigger problem other than your dish being fried...such as YOUR HOUSE BURNING TO THE GROUND. Do you honestly believe that a small copper wire running to the ground is going to prevent damage from a lightning strike containing thousands of joules of energy?

You're right - the idea is to minimize the chance of a strike, and failing that to "encourage" the strike to stay outside. You will ALWAYS get a surge, which is why surge suppressors are important. The idea is to minimize it - directing as much of the many, many thousands of joules away so that the 2-3000 joule suppressor has a chance to protect you.

BTW, I saw some 300 joule so-called "protectors" in Safeway the other day. Ridiculous.

Finally, Bruno: As I said, no being able to connect to the "power company" ground is crazy. Phone companies do it, cable companies do it, and (good) satellite installers do it. Thinking that avoiding the extra connections needed for grounding is better than proper protection is also crazy.

Scott Greczkowski

Oct 31, 2004

Folks there are NATIONAL grounding standards for a reason, if you choose to ignore them and your house burns down thats up to you, but don't come crying to us.

If you are unsure of the grounding codes please contact a qualified, licensed electrician.

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Gary Toma

Staff member Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge

Last reply 18 minutes ago · posted in DIRECTV Technical Resources Forum

DIRECTV Transponder Map ~ Data 10/21/2026

The TPN Map Excel Presents all DIRECTV Channels:

National (50-States or wide/NAT+PR beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)

Additional tabs provide:

OTA the (Over-The-Air) Database
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders

Domestic Satellites
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8

Understanding the TPN Map

Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions

DIRECTV_TPN_Map_261021.xlsx 1,876 KB

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dtv757

Monday at 7:33 AM

For those dazn nba channels are they sat only or sat & streaming

KyL416

Monday at 1:50 PM

Both, and they just made it official with a multiyear deal that also includes TV Everywhere authentication for the DAZN app, and commercial distribution.

DIRECTV, the premier provider of digital television entertainment in the United States, and DAZN, the world's leading sports entertainment platform, today announced a new multi-year distribution agreement for local telecasts of Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, and San Antonio Spurs games for DIRECTV streaming, satellite, and U-verse customers in each team's respective NBA-designated home territories.

These DAZN telecasts will be available to DIRECTV customers who subscribe to the Choice or higher packages and to U-verse TV customers who subscribe to the U200 or higher package. Each of DAZN's team services provides live pregame, postgame, and in-game coverage for the respective team.

In the coming weeks, customers who receive access to these teams via DIRECTV will also be able to login to the DAZN platform at no additional cost using their DIRECTV login credentials.

This agreement also provides distribution rights to each of the five NBA teams to all of DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS' thousands of sports bars, restaurants, fitness clubs, and other commercial venues located within each team's respective region.

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doctor J

Today at 7:25 AM

DirecTV Satellite Transponder Updates for Oct 28 2026

Comparison of Transponder Data for Oct 28 2026 vs Oct 21 2026:

No changes in system tables for any transponder tuning parameters.

Changes to the use of defined transponders:

1 Transponder cleared of all Streams::
Net 15 TID 12 Beam NAT is a National Transponder on D12@103ca, TPN 13

2 Previously unused Transponders with current APG records::
Net 0 TID 28 Beam NAT + PR is a National Transponder on D16@101, TPN 29
Net 10 TID 126 Beam NAT is a National Transponder on D11@99cb, TPN 3

Stream (PID) counts:

LIVE Streams	National		Spot Beams
	Count	Change	Count	Change
4K	4
HD	264		1449
SD mpeg4	144	-1	194
SD mpeg2	434	1
RB
Audio	89
Push	26
Slate	19		1

TEST Streams	National		Spot Beams
	Count	Change	Count	Change
4K
HD			1
SD mpeg4
SD mpeg2
RB
Engr Work	38

The PID count Excel workbook provides much more count detail.

Newly updated tables of Streams on each transponder are available in the DataDigesters TPN Grids

More details of changes in individual channels will follow in the Weekly Analysis
and Gary Toma's Domestic TPN Map Excel files
A few remaps
Weekly Analysis soon
Enjoy
DataDigesters

doctor J

Today at 7:26 AM

Weekly Analysis for 10/28/2026:

Weekly_Analysis_261028.xlsx 16 KB

KyL416

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Some more reshuffles

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An additional commercial PPV channel is now on 9530

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Booredatwork.com

37 minutes ago · posted in BooredAtWork.COM

Amazon Echo Show 16: Now this is it!

Time for another AWESOME video from BoredAtWork!

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Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

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Song Name Game Part 3!

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So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

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Another example:

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Get it?

An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 3:02 AM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

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JSheridan

Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:01 AM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

All DMA's now Western Arc

I know HipKat said that they were working on conversions but we got the official news yesterday right from Dish that starting next month all DMA's will be on the western arc, and all customers will be assigned to that. That's gonna mean a lot of customers around here aren't gonna get Dish unless there are exceptions. Too many mountains and trees.

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Strega

Friday at 10:01 PM

Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

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Jimbo

Friday at 11:17 PM

Strega said:
Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

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Mister B

Saturday at 7:35 AM

Jimbo said:
Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

I watch mostly SD channels (H&I, Start and ION, etc.). There are plenty of advertisers, this time of the year it is mostly Medicare Advantage plans, auto extended warranties and the occasional walk-in-tub. They know who is watching.

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slow_poke_pete

Monday at 10:40 AM

Mister B said:
I watch mostly SD channels (H&I, Start and ION, etc.). There are plenty of advertisers, this time of the year it is mostly Medicare Advantage plans, auto extended warranties and the occasional walk-in-tub. They know who is watching.

can't forget the little blue m&m's

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charlesrshell

Monday at 11:23 AM

slow_poke_pete said:
can't forget the little blue m&m's

That's what my wife calls my Viagra!!

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telstar_1

Monday at 8:12 PM

Why didn't Charlie end up launching starlink

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slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 2:09 AM

charlesrshell said:
That's what my wife calls my Viagra!!

My gf is 29 years younger than me :shh

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Almighty1

Yesterday at 4:04 PM

telstar_1 said:
Why didn't Charlie end up launching starlink

He does not have the resources aka $$$ compared to Elon Musk as in reality, Elon can eat Charlie for lunch or even mop the floor with Charlie if he wanted to.

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slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 4:58 PM

ment to 20 yrs dam phone

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BradleyD

Yesterday at 11:57 PM

Dish should use both satellite and internet like they do now for all channels. Use either or or both.... like now but subscribers could choose something like internet only, or sat only, or both.

Reactions: charlesrshell

slow_poke_pete

Today at 1:01 AM

BradleyD said:
Dish should use both satellite and internet like they do now for all channels. Use either or or both.... like now but subscribers could choose something like internet only, or sat only, or both.

They have sling tv wich sucks ass it needs a major upgrade

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TvMind

Last reply Yesterday at 10:02 PM · posted in C-BAND Satellite Discussion

SES 1 101° W Horizontal "Issues" a.k.a "I want my M(e)TV"

Howdy folks long time no write.

Issue(s): Horizontal transponders (esp. Weigel mux) breakup/mosaic/sputtering audio, JTV less so (but received perfectly up until a month or so ago.
Vertical is fine (Daystar). Up until recently couldn't even get any signal on Weigel Mux but JTV was perfect.

What I did to improve things: A slight westward move improved reception but only slightly (approx 72 on the micro HD, sorry no dB to post). I removed the 3-way C-Band splitter and used a 2-way to get a 1-2 db signal gain ( the power port goes to the Startrak - the micro HD doesn't have enough juice ! (1st clue) even after swapping the switching power supply it came with with a heftier linear 12 V supply (less RFI too !).
I have had issues with the uHD before signal breaking up that a reboot would clear up (clue #2 = dying tuner?) - FYI, I reinforced the IF input and removed all flux from the pcb completely with a Flux Removal Pen (MG Chemicals Cat No. 4140-P) which definitely makes a huge difference.

I went outside and pushed and pulled reflector slightly and no improvement. Pole (actually tower in yard - the neighbours love me..NOT) is plumb, checked with carpenters level. Dish was last peaked in 2017 or so, after overhauling 24" Von Weise, new Acme, fresh grease, etc. Focal length, f/d ratio etc meticulously adjusted. One panel has a tear so planning to repair that this weekend when my cousin comes over ( to help me out (old guy here) forecast calls for sunshine.

What has changed: My utility company has installed new high tension line poles (one smack dab in the middle of 101°W target! But they put it in last year and reception (of JTV (HOR) at least) was fine, BUT when they came out to transfer the wires over this year from the old (sawed in half) pole that's about when the troubles started (coincidence?), but again Daystar (VER) was fine. I always had this pole in the light of sight of 101° before with no issues. (fyi my zenith sat 74° is unobstucted, but can't test)

In the meantime Weigel mux is trying to break in MOSTLY in LATE at night (less cell usage?) (audio not video except for a frame here or there) so don't know what has changed with this mux which suddenly "woke up". I have never had to fuss with dish moves on this satellite ( the slightest move +/- motor clicks loses lock, wheres normally on C-band I can go significantly wider east or west and still have a strong signal ( have these gone "spot beam" or narrower somehow and what is the slight difference in Az listed on Lyngsat to 100.9° affect things ( isn't that the declination i.e. requiring a tweak of declination?).

Long story short (too late, ha), if I had another DVB-S2 box to try and / or a newer more stable PLL lnb ( I have been meaning to upgrade many a time but never got arround to it) I could determine if it's my antiquated receiving equipment, or my dish/feed alignment ( doubtful as it tracks everything from 55 °W to 133 ° W nicely.) or the dreaded 5G! (BUT only on HOR and not VER?).
I read another post where the OP (with his smaller 7.5 footer) played around with the illumination to peak desired transponder and reduce qrm on interfering/ stronger xpndrs (even on 103° W). So will play with that too - and cut away the RG-6 a and pull up a fresh section with new PPC and coax Seal. Open the throat cap see if any cobwebs are there and check servo operation (also changed in last maintence 10 years ago).

Finally, this will probably be the last chance I get to play with the BUD from the looks of it (providers leaving, auctioning off rest of spectrum imminent above 4.0 Ghz, and to keep the peace with neighbours so it would be nice to have that mux back for the long, cold and dark winters to comfort this old man before I call it quits and buy a VHF/UHF/FM Yagi and get MeTV, H&I from my Vermont local stations (checked at a friends today and they come in nicely - except ABC) .
Only one guy in town (Montreal) I may be able to get a receiver or PLL lnb from to try (RPS Sat) so hopefully with elimnate that as a possible culprit. Be nice to pick up a cheap or used PLL lnb to try w/o 5G BPF (money is tight )

Like others I couldn't care less about "tv" (well maybe just a liitle or a lot) it's the challenge that excites me , I can get MeTV other ways OTA (no pirate crap).

So what do you guys (and gals) think ?. p.s. I don't have a spectrum analyzer and there are def/ cell towers nearby (half a Km or so away).
Oh and time permitting will hammer out dings too and wire damaged mesh on one section for an extra dB or two. Hesitate to touch Declination, Elevation and pole mount but will play around with those a little too... Why is this mux for finicky suddenly ?(8psk, 5/6 fec, beamwidthetc.. man wish they went back to VER I think everthing would be fine! For the engineers out here does 5G QRM affect one poliarization (HOR) more than another (VER)? I understand the strong interference swamps out the input mixer/local oscilator in the hapless old C-band lnb (I think it at time affect KU too esp. LPB on 101°W KU - incidentally thos were weak or "gone' but are back almost at the time MeTV improved..hmm Terrestrial interference?

Any thoughts or suggestions ( cheap or free solutions please) greatly appreciated. Cheers.

p.p.s. Micro HD can't display Decades and Toons but records them fine so I can watch on another box/media player (Ali chip set issue). Another reason to upgrade.

Anybody interested in a nice C/KU system free ? (for next Spring/Summer 2027)

[Sami 10' mesh, Corotor II+, Eagle Aspen (very old) C-band lnb, Norsat Ku lnb, Channel Master C/Ku (H/V) switch, Startrak 400 Analog receiver w/ motor control, Geosat uHD DVD-S2, CW600S for Mpeg-2]

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arlo

Oct 20, 2026

To me it looks like all of the intelligent things to diagnose the problem 'on the cheap' are being done.
I have my own thoughts of lnbf's using an external filter between the feed and coax. It would be cool to see what Brian could add.
Do his units have the filter before the actual LNA chip in the circuit? In other words, signal is focused at the lnbf throat. The probes for h & v polarity send the signal to.......filtering......then to the lna IC......
Or probes, lna, then filtering. Makes sense to trap the bad stuff before amplification to me.

On the cheap sometimes leaves questions. Enosat and El Bandido both use dvb-s pci cards and TBS USB receivers.
With those, and software. Signal analysis becomes sort of easy. Or tapping into your coax with a dc pass splitter, decoupling capacitor, and using a spectrum analyzer. Tuning across the LO band. Finding signal spikes. Digging deep.

Still making my decision on a (most probably) TBS PCIe tuner card. But I have tapped into my coax with my ancient but quite impressive HP spectrum analyzer and tinysa.
I don't have 5G interference so far that I know of. But have my suspects because I'm only able to snag signal from 131W in the winter when the leaves drop. But out of curiosity do scan it in the fall. And seem to be getting a signal that 'shouldn't' be there and a scan shows no channels. Far as I got.

An idea pops up to rig up an LNBF on a stick. Along with the tinysa and power supply and do some rogue signal searches. War Driving, of sorts. But. I wouldn't think that a chinabox, firmware based receiver would be of much help.
From what I see scanning across the frequency band. 5G cell transmission is always on and is very wide spectrum.
Whether anyone is actually using talking, texting, watching stupid human tricks on YouTube Makes no difference. The RF is there. So why would a C Band setup come and go? And what if you dumped the corotor and went modern voltage controlled polarity?

Another thought. Since you've learned the optimal position to place the scalar to illuminate out to the dish rim. And peaked the feed. There's most of a roll of aluminum flashing out in my garage that would most definitely wrap around my dish perimeter. That and a bag of large binder clips from the office supply. wally world. Ideas?

brownsfan1

Thursday at 8:23 PM

arlo said:
To me it looks like all of the intelligent things to diagnose the problem 'on the cheap' are being done.
I have my own thoughts of lnbf's using an external filter between the feed and coax. It would be cool to see what Brian could add.
Do his units have the filter before the actual LNA chip in the circuit? In other words, signal is focused at the lnbf throat. The probes for h & v polarity send the signal to.......filtering......then to the lna IC......
Or probes, lna, then filtering. Makes sense to trap the bad stuff before amplification to me.

On the cheap sometimes leaves questions. Enosat and El Bandido both use dvb-s pci cards and TBS USB receivers.
With those, and software. Signal analysis becomes sort of easy. Or tapping into your coax with a dc pass splitter, decoupling capacitor, and using a spectrum analyzer. Tuning across the LO band. Finding signal spikes. Digging deep.

Still making my decision on a (most probably) TBS PCIe tuner card. But I have tapped into my coax with my ancient but quite impressive HP spectrum analyzer and tinysa.
I don't have 5G interference so far that I know of. But have my suspects because I'm only able to snag signal from 131W in the winter when the leaves drop. But out of curiosity do scan it in the fall. And seem to be getting a signal that 'shouldn't' be there and a scan shows no channels. Far as I got.

An idea pops up to rig up an LNBF on a stick. Along with the tinysa and power supply and do some rogue signal searches. War Driving, of sorts. But. I wouldn't think that a chinabox, firmware based receiver would be of much help.
From what I see scanning across the frequency band. 5G cell transmission is always on and is very wide spectrum.
Whether anyone is actually using talking, texting, watching stupid human tricks on YouTube Makes no difference. The RF is there. So why would a C Band setup come and go? And what if you dumped the corotor and went modern voltage controlled polarity?

Another thought. Since you've learned the optimal position to place the scalar to illuminate out to the dish rim. And peaked the feed. There's most of a roll of aluminum flashing out in my garage that would most definitely wrap around my dish perimeter. That and a bag of large binder clips from the office supply. wally world. Ideas?

I did some more investigating and found I got the MeTV mux in the early hours, until about 6am then the pixelating starts. Gets worse until around 8am its totally gone. I suspect my local cell tower is ramping up traffic as the morning goes on. My Titanium feed does a super job and most everything is clear that wasn't before but this mux is aggravating! I seem to just be over the signal threshold to work until the 5G total overwhelms my system. I'm using an old 9 foot spun aluminum dish and was wondering if I went to a 12 ft dish this would solve the problem? I know bigger is better in most satellite dish related signal problems. If this is true I will be searching for a bigger dish. I like your idea of flashing put around the dish perimeter. I have some I need to dig out and try before I start ripping out my dish. Anybody have any ideas if the bigger dish would do better? Any help would be appreciated!

SDA_FL_USA

Thursday at 9:13 PM

brownsfan1 said:
I did some more investigating and found I got the MeTV mux in the early hours, until about 6am then the pixelating starts. Gets worse until around 8am its totally gone. I suspect my local cell tower is ramping up traffic as the morning goes on. My Titanium feed does a super job and most everything is clear that wasn't before but this mux is aggravating! I seem to just be over the signal threshold to work until the 5G total overwhelms my system. I'm using an old 9 foot spun aluminum dish and was wondering if I went to a 12 ft dish this would solve the problem? I know bigger is better in most satellite dish related signal problems. If this is true I will be searching for a bigger dish. I like your idea of flashing put around the dish perimeter. I have some I need to dig out and try before I start ripping out my dish. Anybody have any ideas if the bigger dish would do better? Any help would be appreciated!

8 1/2 Foot mesh here with the c140 lnbf and a verizon 5g tower nearby. Got no issue with the Metv transponder. Are you sure you have the lnbf setup correct? When I set my c140 up I noticed it was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch pushed in closer to the dish, sticking out of the scaler ring than my old lnbf was. Thought I may have trouble with that but my signal readings are higher than they had ever been.

brownsfan1

Friday at 9:06 AM

SDA_FL_USA said:
8 1/2 Foot mesh here with the c140 lnbf and a verizon 5g tower nearby. Got no issue with the Metv transponder. Are you sure you have the lnbf setup correct? When I set my c140 up I noticed it was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch pushed in closer to the dish, sticking out of the scaler ring than my old lnbf was. Thought I may have trouble with that but my signal readings are higher than they had ever been.

Thanks for the info. I'll do a detailed feed alignment this weekend. I have to be on a ladder to tweak this 101w satellite with the MeTV mux. Luckily I've got a V8 Finder so I'll put that to use. Funny, I got the MeTV mux fine this Friday morning. Jewelry TV was completely garbled though. I'm wondering if I'm having 2 degree spacing problems more than the cell tower affecting me. Seems strange some days I'm fine and others MeTV is completely destroyed. In the old days I could just move the dish to 99w and see what's there adjacent to MeTV. Maybe if I optimize my feed I can eliminate my problem either way. I have a 9 foot spun aluminum dish that may not have the best two degree isolation. Some of these were crudely made with a poor parabolic shape. I'll keep you posted and thanks to all for the advice!

arlo

Friday at 12:02 PM

Just some rambling here. Be safe on that ladder.
Took me about 20 seconds looking at a YouTube video showing the V8 Finder in use. A spectrum analyzer display.
Well, Cool! And it can power an lnbf stand alone. More cooler.
Well there's your 5g interference wonderment solution. IF you had a spare C band lnbf. Put it on a stick and go "wardriving". If 5g towers are blowing out signals strong enough to cause interference in your dish. Well.....
And off-axis, not in the same direction as the dish is pointed? Don't exactly know.

Take a drive around and look at towers with microwave dishes bolted to them. You'll see that a large share of them do have a perimeter shield. Further diving into the likes of Andrews show shields as an optional add-on to do just what you think they should do. Block adjacent interference. Probably a good idea when multiple units are on the same, or adjacent towers. Ya' think?

Some not-so-many years ago when I dove into this whole dish antenna thing. I replaced the c/ku band corotor feed with a Titanium C2-W. Being a good boy. Assuming that the original scalar was in the proper position from day one back in the 80's. I followed instructions and stuck the unit in the hole and bolted it down at the stamped marking as per instructions. I got my first signal finally with the Zgemma H7. I was thinking "that's it?". Signal sucked.
Then I looked at how the corotor feed was located looking at the bolt marks on the tube.
It was like focusing a telescope or camera. In the end. I was getting pretty good signals. That was in the dead of winter. And I hate the cold.

A buttonhook feed support. Give a margin of adjustability versus perimeter arm scalar supports.
And a lot of reading and experimenting showed that although the scalar was probably where it should be. Isn't anymore. The focal length / fd ratio calculations probably are right. If you have a perfect parabolic dish.
Mine ain't. And its old. Most probably not a perfect parabola since it was. As well as the polar mount. Fabricated locally.
I spoke to the old guy who installed all of them here back in the heyday. Started installing Prodelin dishes.
Everyone was watching HBO and Playboy. At 3-5 grand a pop.
He told me that him and his sons made a concrete form. Finished with a plaster top coat. And started spraying resin and chopped fiberglass. Then a metal flame sprayer like is used to build up crankshafts and stuff. Finished with several more layers of 'glass. The rest. Polar mount, cast iron pole mount. Contracted locally.
That's the story. I took that old beast and if you've seen Pootie Tang. I juvenated it and then rejuvenated it.

I think that one thing to remember is that in an lnbf. All of the satellite signal amping is done in the low noise amplifier section. What signal is blown out to the coax is done in the intermediate frequency amplifier section.
So what comes in the waveguide is what it is.
I've used several receivers. Different Enigma2 images on the same receiver show different signal levels. It's a software thing. Signal calibration and display. Don't forget that. One image might not give a signal lock on a weak transponder. Fire up another? Look at the TNAP images. An option to display signal below lock.
The only real way to tell the absolute signal level you get in the house is to use a certified spectrum analyzer/service monitor.

BTW. I'm on MeTV right now. Book 'em Danno. Purposefully aimed off-axis just above the threshold of pixelation.
Only thing I see is that the sun came and the sun went. That's where I saw break up for a half hour or so.

brownsfan1

Yesterday at 9:02 PM

arlo said:
Just some rambling here. Be safe on that ladder.
Took me about 20 seconds looking at a YouTube video showing the V8 Finder in use. A spectrum analyzer display.
Well, Cool! And it can power an lnbf stand alone. More cooler.
Well there's your 5g interference wonderment solution. IF you had a spare C band lnbf. Put it on a stick and go "wardriving". If 5g towers are blowing out signals strong enough to cause interference in your dish. Well.....
And off-axis, not in the same direction as the dish is pointed? Don't exactly know.

Take a drive around and look at towers with microwave dishes bolted to them. You'll see that a large share of them do have a perimeter shield. Further diving into the likes of Andrews show shields as an optional add-on to do just what you think they should do. Block adjacent interference. Probably a good idea when multiple units are on the same, or adjacent towers. Ya' think?

Some not-so-many years ago when I dove into this whole dish antenna thing. I replaced the c/ku band corotor feed with a Titanium C2-W. Being a good boy. Assuming that the original scalar was in the proper position from day one back in the 80's. I followed instructions and stuck the unit in the hole and bolted it down at the stamped marking as per instructions. I got my first signal finally with the Zgemma H7. I was thinking "that's it?". Signal sucked.
Then I looked at how the corotor feed was located looking at the bolt marks on the tube.
It was like focusing a telescope or camera. In the end. I was getting pretty good signals. That was in the dead of winter. And I hate the cold.

A buttonhook feed support. Give a margin of adjustability versus perimeter arm scalar supports.
And a lot of reading and experimenting showed that although the scalar was probably where it should be. Isn't anymore. The focal length / fd ratio calculations probably are right. If you have a perfect parabolic dish.
Mine ain't. And its old. Most probably not a perfect parabola since it was. As well as the polar mount. Fabricated locally.
I spoke to the old guy who installed all of them here back in the heyday. Started installing Prodelin dishes.
Everyone was watching HBO and Playboy. At 3-5 grand a pop.
He told me that him and his sons made a concrete form. Finished with a plaster top coat. And started spraying resin and chopped fiberglass. Then a metal flame sprayer like is used to build up crankshafts and stuff. Finished with several more layers of 'glass. The rest. Polar mount, cast iron pole mount. Contracted locally.
That's the story. I took that old beast and if you've seen Pootie Tang. I juvenated it and then rejuvenated it.

I think that one thing to remember is that in an lnbf. All of the satellite signal amping is done in the low noise amplifier section. What signal is blown out to the coax is done in the intermediate frequency amplifier section.
So what comes in the waveguide is what it is.
I've used several receivers. Different Enigma2 images on the same receiver show different signal levels. It's a software thing. Signal calibration and display. Don't forget that. One image might not give a signal lock on a weak transponder. Fire up another? Look at the TNAP images. An option to display signal below lock.
The only real way to tell the absolute signal level you get in the house is to use a certified spectrum analyzer/service monitor.

BTW. I'm on MeTV right now. Book 'em Danno. Purposefully aimed off-axis just above the threshold of pixelation.
Only thing I see is that the sun came and the sun went. That's where I saw break up for a half hour or so.

Well summing it up in one word...success! I spent about 2 hours tweaking the feed. Found I was almost 2 inches too far from the actual focal length. Plus adjusting the skew just a hair made a big difference. I measured 3 points around the dish from the edge to the outside of the scalar ring. One side measured 51 inches and the other 53, Adjusting the button hook feed I was able to get it 52 inches all the way around the dish perimeter to the scalar. I had my doubts this would fix anything but when I turned on the satellite finder I had all the channels in the MeTV mux coming in clear! No more fading away different times of the day and night. Plus the Jewelry channels are all solid also. I'm just wondering...did this just give me more signal to overcome the interference or did properly aligning the feed effectively "blocked out" the 5G interference? Sort of wondering about sidelobes in the old parabolic antenna manuals of the 80s. Just happy to have things working correctly now. Thanks to all who helped especially to Arlo who spent a lot of time commenting to me. Best regards!

Reactions: Keith Brannen, SDA_FL_USA, arlo and 1 other person

primestar31

Yesterday at 9:07 PM

brownsfan1 said:
Well summing it up in one word...success! I spent about 2 hours tweaking the feed. Found I was almost 2 inches too far from the actual focal length. Plus adjusting the skew just a hair made a big difference. I measured 3 points around the dish from the edge to the outside of the scalar ring. One side measured 51 inches and the other 53, Adjusting the button hook feed I was able to get it 52 inches all the way around the dish perimeter to the scalar. I had my doubts this would fix anything but when I turned on the satellite finder I had all the channels in the MeTV mux coming in clear! No more fading away different times of the day and night. Plus the Jewelry channels are all solid also. I'm just wondering...did this just give me more signal to overcome the interference or did properly aligning the feed effectively "blocked out" the 5G interference? Sort of wondering about sidelobes in the old parabolic antenna manuals of the 80s. Just happy to have things working correctly now. Thanks to all who helped especially to Arlo who spent a lot of time commenting to me. Best regards!

Do NOT mess with it anymore just "trying to get it a tiny bit better" than you just got it... I've been through that HELL more times then I'd want to admit.

Reactions: Keith Brannen, cyberham and SDA_FL_USA

arlo

Yesterday at 10:02 PM

Very cool there Brown's. My intentions are good. Sometimes tact....not so much.
I'm glad you could read through the nebula of gunk.
If I can dig through my pictures directory you might pick-up a few things I've done to and made to get as perfect alignment as possible. Your journey shows how a bit of common sense and experimentation while using known guides as a starting point (at least). The phone book just isn't full of big dish service providers like way way back.

To help. A true parabola will converge all incident rays. Light, RF. At one single point. You kind of answered your question. Two inches too close/far from the convergence point (focus) degrades signal strength. If you ever get a chance to examine a telescope. The eyepiece is on a rack. You can adjust the position of the eyepiece distance from the objective. Depending on the eyepiece. The sharpest focus is only at one finely adjusted distance.
Make sense?
And for a telescope made with mirrors. The ultimate eyepiece aim. Imagining a tiny spot right in the center of the glass lens. Will be aimed exactly at the center of the mirror. A small mirror, prism, adjustment screws assists in attaining that perfect place where a star way way back in time shows as a perfect spot. Not an ellipse, etc.
Yeah.

Who knows about the 5g thing? Did your tweaks optimize where the receiver finally got enough usable DVB signal to lock onto them and reject 5g? The crowded room full of drunks thing?

Edit:
Yeah that tiny little bit can drive you nuts.The best and only way is to find a weak transponder on a sat that doesn't "swamp" signal levels. With a matching opposite polarity having close to the same signal level.
There will be a lot of tweaking with an extended arm and......thick cotton gloves. Your body, extremities, close to the lnbf will effect signals. Then just when you think you got it. In your case. Climb down the ladder and get out of the way to see what becomes.
I got obsessed and was out there in 10 degree winter on a step ladder on clear nights.
Tweaking elevation, azimuth, declination. Unbolted actuator gearbox and vice grips. Trying to get the best of the best tracking. Adding those porch rail stainless steel turnbuckles and catv messenger wire from the rim to the scalar to bring 'er back into kilter did wonders. Don't be me. Watch MeTV!

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MartyDe

Last reply Yesterday at 9:47 PM · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

ATSC 3 converter boxes

Interesting article about the work being done to develope an ATSC 3 converter box. Yes it does mention affordable.

Pearl TV Issues Progress Report on Low-Cost 3.0 Converters in Advance of NAB Show New York

Group has secured lower pricing from key tech players to make less costly boxes available

www.tvtechnology.com

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navychop

Oct 20, 2026

DEATH TO NEXGEN!

Reactions: primestar31, RaVo68, gms49ers and 1 other person

primestar31

Oct 21, 2026

navychop said:
DEATH TO NEXGEN!

It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.

Reactions: slow_poke_pete, FTA4PA and navychop

Mister B

Thursday at 7:43 AM

What bothers me is the total waste of broadcasting spectrum in this very crowded market. It has been almost three years now since KFOX converted their broadcast tower to ATSC 3.0 and moved all of their channels to other towers causing noticeable degradation of the picture quality.
I have a Sony TV with 3.0 capabilities but still use the 1.0 version of locals due to the fact that one or all of the 3.0 channels are often missing or unwatchable. In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.
The only thing that could motivate me to be interested in 3.0 would be if all of the minor networks (diginets) could be in at least 720P rather than blurry ultra-compressed 480i.
Three years is long enough to waste one of the few available RF frequencies in the area for this trial.
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

navychop

Thursday at 4:31 PM

Mister B said:
In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.

They might notice the hand going into their pocket for their wallet.

Reactions: FTA4PA

navychop

Thursday at 4:31 PM

Mister B said:
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

QFT. Of course, my preference involves a curb and some kicking.

Reactions: FTA4PA

slow_poke_pete

Yesterday at 5:37 PM

primestar31 said:
It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.

WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET PART OF IT. NO ONE WANTS A BOX CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET EITHER.

navychop

Yesterday at 9:47 PM

Cough, cough. COVID vaccine implants.

:oldlaugh

Reactions: HIFI

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dishstaller

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Yesterday at 9:45 PM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Might want to watch this before you buy a new vehicle battery

Love this guy's channel. Looks like Walmart has thrown in the towel when it comes to conventional car batteries.

I bought a new AGM battery from Walmart about a year ago, it is already needing replacing. I thought about just buying a regular battery but from what I've read, that might not be a smart move. Might check my Forscan program and see if I can change the battery type from AGM.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awe7kY5nvdU

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harshness

Sunday at 11:33 AM

When you need a battery, you need a battery.

If you can wait, new technologies are on the not-too-distant horizon.

You're probably doing something wrong if you're only getting a year out of an AGM battery. Heat and infrequent charging both significantly reduce lifetime.

dishstaller

Sunday at 12:53 PM

harshness said:
You're probably doing something wrong if you're only getting a year out of an AGM battery. Heat and infrequent charging both significantly reduce lifetime.

Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.

The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.

Jimbo

Sunday at 1:01 PM

dishstaller said:
Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.

The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.

And the Walmart ones mostly had very little warranty.

My last AGM (using now) I got from O Rielly's, its the Super Start ... I got the Platnium, they had several to choose from.

harshness

Monday at 9:17 AM

Jimbo said:
And the Walmart ones mostly had very little warranty.

The days of the 84-month warranty appear long gone, regardless of brand or where you acquired it. Warranties tend to be shorter, with much greater dependence on quick prorating.

The big problem for lead-acid batteries (whether flooded or AGM) is that the US no longer produces lead (the last smelter closed in 2013) and must import it.

Recycling covers a good chunk of the need (~70%), but it isn't free.

EarDemon

Monday at 11:32 PM

I've always got regular OEM Ford Motorcraft batteries from the dealership and have never really had an issue. On my old Lincoln Aviator (the SUV from the early 00s, not the CUV of today), I had some phantom drain and went though a few batteries, but that was an anomaly and with the standard warranty I got free replacements. Taking the Aviator out of the picture, I've bought two batteries in my 24 years of driving. One battery replacement in my Mountaineer, one in my Navigator. But I probably would have had another one had I kept it around longer. Didn't have the Bronco long enough, and so far still on the factory battery for my Expedition.

I run more than the average bear. Dash cam, two radar detectors (yes, I'm aware that can be problematic when using simultaneously), laser jammers and a police scanner. I'm in Buffalo, 90 degree summers and 0 degree winters. Once in a while in the dead of winter I'll get an alert from the Ford app saying remote features have been disabled to conserve battery, but it starts right up.

dishstaller

Monday at 11:41 PM

EarDemon said:
I run more than the average bear. Dash cam, two radar detectors (yes, I'm aware that can be problematic when using simultaneously), laser jammers and a police scanner.

Reactions: EarDemon and navychop

primestar31

Yesterday at 9:13 PM

EarDemon said:
I've always got regular OEM Ford Motorcraft batteries from the dealership and have never really had an issue. On my old Lincoln Aviator (the SUV from the early 00s, not the CUV of today), I had some phantom drain and went though a few batteries, but that was an anomaly and with the standard warranty I got free replacements. Taking the Aviator out of the picture, I've bought two batteries in my 24 years of driving. One battery replacement in my Mountaineer, one in my Navigator. But I probably would have had another one had I kept it around longer. Didn't have the Bronco long enough, and so far still on the factory battery for my Expedition.

I run more than the average bear. Dash cam, two radar detectors (yes, I'm aware that can be problematic when using simultaneously), laser jammers and a police scanner. I'm in Buffalo, 90 degree summers and 0 degree winters. Once in a while in the dead of winter I'll get an alert from the Ford app saying remote features have been disabled to conserve battery, but it starts right up.

But do you have a license plate mounted on your car? lol

EarDemon

Yesterday at 9:45 PM

Yes, but with smokey covers. I realize they are not a countermeasure for photos or photo radar, but it helps obscure from the average persons eyeballs. Plus with the way licensee plates peel around here, it keeps them protected from the elements.

When I went to a countermeasure meetup over the summer, one of the guys who's planning on doing a cannonball had a plate flipper. While I play fast and loose (pun intended) with these idiotic traffic laws, a plate flipper is something I wouldn't dare use. Although having one in the front to flip to no license plate when traveling though states that don't require one is tempting. Am I really going to get pulled over in Kentucky for having no front NY license plate? This way it cuts down on reflective surfaces and might be helpful with laser avoidance and gives the jammers a better chance to react especially on a larger vehicle. Although LEO is typically trained to hit headlights with their LIDAR.

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