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AcWxRadar
Last reply · posted in Free To Air (FTA) Discussion
I wasn't feeling too well today, but I just had to start this project as my new 1.2 M dishes arrived early this morning. The delivery man called for specific instructions to get to my home, so after I provided that, he showed up within 20 minutes. Pretty good time as you almost have to speed to make it here in that time when you know where you are going!

Anyway, I just couldn't resist the temptation to set up this new dish to test it, regardless of my nasty bugger of a cold.

I took some pictures as I went along. I made a couple of mistakes in this process, but I found my errors in quick time and corrected them as I went along. So if you see something incorrect in my photos, there will probably be an explanation upcoming in one of my following posts.

The rest of this thread will be devoted to the installation of this dish. I have to stop with the photos now as it is growing too dark outside.

I still have some work in the alignment area to make this setup perfect, but I am quite close already. It won't take long to peak it to perfection, but that will have to wait for a day when I am feeling a little more up to par.

RADAR
51 Replies · 11154 views
DaveFormula
Gordy,

Thanks for the quick reply. I do have a subscription to Bell ExpressVu and Nimiq 4 @ 82W is the HD satellite, for the most part, as you mention. In October 2008 they replaced Nimiq 2 with Nimiq 4 that has a beam centered in Canada. Consequently if you are in the southern US, you will have difficulty. I had to place the LNB for sat 82W on the 2076 to get most of the channels back. However, rain fade is a problem.

I was going to switch to StarChoice when I was back in Québec last April, but decided to hold out for a while to see what happens. Especially since I have an investment in Bell equipment and Star Choice would require all new hardware. That is why I am considering the 120 cm dish and I was interested in your results before and after. Since I don't know what 6dB of gain would translate to in the % signal scale, I want to know if it will be worth the effort.

Do you know with your FTA stuff if for example you had a signal @ say 50% on the 76cm dish and then it jumped dramatically on the 120 cm dish.? Do you have any examples of that?

Thanks

Dave.
AcWxRadar
Gordy,

Thanks for the quick reply. I do have a subscription to Bell ExpressVu and Nimiq 4 @ 82W is the HD satellite, for the most part, as you mention. In October 2008 they replaced Nimiq 2 with Nimiq 4 that has a beam centered in Canada. Consequently if you are in the southern US, you will have difficulty. I had to place the LNB for sat 82W on the 2076 to get most of the channels back. However, rain fade is a problem.

I was going to switch to StarChoice when I was back in Québec last April, but decided to hold out for a while to see what happens. Especially since I have an investment in Bell equipment and Star Choice would require all new hardware. That is why I am considering the 120 cm dish and I was interested in your results before and after. Since I don't know what 6dB of gain would translate to in the % signal scale, I want to know if it will be worth the effort.

Do you know with your FTA stuff if for example you had a signal @ say 50% on the 76cm dish and then it jumped dramatically on the 120 cm dish.? Do you have any examples of that?

Thanks

Dave.

Dave,

I did not witness any dramatic changes in signal quality with the change from the 76 cm antenna to the 1.2 M antenna. The best results that I can cite were 5% to 8% quality improvement on most of the already strong signals. I am almost saturated on these satellites now - as they are showing 97-98% signal quality on my Coolsat 5K. I have never witnessed anything over 98% quality reading with this receiver, so I don't think that I can get any higher.

A good example might be a weaker signal, like what I had from 63.0W Estrela do Sul (Telstar 14).

With the 76 cm dish, I was barely holding 63-66% signal quality readings from this sat (63.0W), which is right above my dropout zone. With the 1.2 M dish, I am up to 69-70% quality. Here, it definitely made a difference, but it is not a dramatic improvement by any significance.

Because my equipment is not compatible with the Bell Express signals, I cannot judge what results you will obtain with the subscription equipment. This is something that you will have to ask of their technicians. I am sure that they can tell you a lot more, but I am uncertain and a bit skeptical about purchasing a subscription this far into the U.S. They may have legal parameters which prohibit this as the signal is crossing international lines. I don't know enough about this myself to tell you.

Anything regarding this provider that I could tell you would be purely speculation and guess work on my part. I just do not know enough about it to help you much. Wish I could do better.

Hope that what I did present to you helps some. Good luck with this, Dave.

Gordy

AcWxRADAR
DaveFormula
Dave,

<snip>

A good example might be a weaker signal, like what I had from 63.0W Estrela do Sul (Telstar 14).

With the 76 cm dish, I was barely holding 63-66% signal quality readings from this sat (63.0W), which is right above my dropout zone. With the 1.2 M dish, I am up to 69-70% quality. Here, it definitely made a difference, but it is not a dramatic improvement by any significance.

<snip>
Hope that what I did present to you helps some. Good luck with this, Dave.

Gordy

AcWxRADAR

Thanks... that example is what I was looking for. So about 7%.

Best Regards,

Dave.
AcWxRadar
Just a comment regarding rain fade...

With my 76 cm Winegard dish, I could always tell when it was raining or when the storm was approaching from the south. This new 1.2 M GeoSatPro dish from SatelliteAV ignores most of this. It rained pretty heavily here this morning and the wind was blowing, too. I couldn't tell until I walked outside and got drenched running to my car in the driveway.

This was an excellent selling point for me. Almost every storm which blew through here would knock out my lower power signals completely and cause pixelation or tiling on the medium strength signals. It was a fairly heavy rain today and I did not notice it on my TV. I had to dial down to 63.0W (Estrela do Sul or Telstar 14) to witness any problems and it was not a bad situation there either. I detected a few glips and glitches during the rain, but it wasn't bad enough to knock out the channels completely or make them too annoying to watch. They held right in there.

RADAR
AcWxRadar
A comment on the RG11 cable...

I knew that I would have to roll out a long length of cable to relocate my dish antenna to a position in my yard where I could get 30.0W Hispasat 1C/1D. When it dries up outside, I will measure the whole length, but it is somewhere close to 200+ feet.

The RG11U cable was the easiest cable I have ever used. With the proper equipment to strip and crimp, this is an easy process!

CommScope RG11U cable
Ripley UDT Cablematic stripping tool
EX11 PPC compression connectors
CAT AS-EX compression tool

Don't be afraid of this RG11 cable and connectors, they assemble so easily and really benefit your signal over very long cable runs! It was easier to assemble this cable (attach the cable ends) than it was for the RG6U cable.

I was a little apprehensive at first, but I snipped, stripped and clicked the ends on just that fast!

SNIP - STRIP - CLICK - DONE! That fast guys! :)

Thought you would like to know about this, too. This is important for anyone who needs to locate their dish far away from their house to avoid trees or other obstacles.

I will have to rent a trenching tool and buy some 1" PVC tubing to encase the RG11 cable to make it easy to remove if ever necessary.

The RG11 cable really provides an excellent plus for long runs. Get your tools and end connectors from Sadoun (EX11 PPC)! Nice!

RADAR
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

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.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


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....
68508 Replies · 2671470 views
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EatMyVolts
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) -- Tex Williams
long_time_Dish
Don't Do Me Like That - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
H
I LIKE It LIKE THAT-The Dave Clark Five
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ClarkGable
Five O'Clock World - The Vogues
FTA4PA
All Around The World - Oasis
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
Anyone making their own breakfast sausage? I've recently been trying different recipes, found some I like, some I've modified...
36 Replies · 3543 views
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navychop
Bob Evans Sage.
R
Bob Evans Sage.
I will look, but I don't think I have seen it. Owen's breakfast sausage use to be favorite, but I can't find it anymore. Jimmy Dean's country mild is OK also when I can find it.
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dfergie
Swaggerty's isn't too bad, sausage prices are lower per lb than making my own from pork butts right now so I've been buying JC Potter or Owen lately.
(Swaggerty's at Sam's is pre cut, I usually partially freeze the rolls and cut with my slicer and vacuum seal on parchment paper)
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S
I will look, but I don't think I have seen it. Owen's breakfast sausage use to be favorite, but I can't find it anymore. Jimmy Dean's country mild is OK also when I can find it.
amazon maybe :what
S
I will look, but I don't think I have seen it. Owen's breakfast sausage use to be favorite, but I can't find it anymore. Jimmy Dean's country mild is OK also when I can find it.
owens on amazon is 54.99 for a 4 pk 16 oz a sausage. i feel that's kind of steep!!!
S
Swaggerty's isn't too bad, sausage prices are lower per lb than making my own from pork butts right now so I've been buying JC Potter or Owen lately.
(Swaggerty's at Sam's is pre cut, I usually partially freeze the rolls and cut with my slicer and vacuum seal on parchment paper)
id'e rather make my own vs store bought.
meStevo
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Continuing the Kilauea thread in the Pub here. Perhaps the Iceland one too next time there's remarkable activity.

Currently there is precursory lava flowing into the crater, leading to the next episode that'll probably start within the next day.

You can see the pace of inflation / deflation here. It serves as the primary predictor for when the expect the eruptions, which coincide w/ inflation turning into significant deflation and last for several hours on average with significant fountaining.



View: https://youtu.be/Uecu2seh4b4


Wife and I like the AfarTV feeds, for the discussion along w/ them, though they're otherwise just mirrors of the official USGS feeds.


View: https://youtu.be/iws3rh5vLAQ
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meStevo
Some wild inflation and significant uptick in earthquake activity in the caldera. Magma intrusion, could lead to new fissure(s). Or not.

1790868854059.webp


Summary: A shallow intrusion of magma is occurring within the summit region near the existing eruption location in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Activity Summary: Earthquake activity has increased in the summit region of Kīlauea beneath Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the south caldera region. Ground deformation patterns recorded by summit tiltmeters suggest that magma is intruding beneath the ground in this area, in an east-west orientation, near the western or southern part of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

Increased earthquake activity began this afternoon, September 30, 2026, at approximately 2 p.m. HST, underneath Halemaʻumaʻu. Since then, about 40 earthquakes have been detected and activity is still on-going. The largest event, so far, a magnitude 3.4 earthquake, occurred at 9:52 p.m. HST, 1.4 km (0.9 miles) beneath the surface in the northeast part of Halemaʻumaʻu. Starting around 8 p.m. HST., summit tiltmeters began to show extremely rapid changes consistent with crack growth in an east-west orientation possible near the current vent area, suggesting that magma is intruding in this region.

Historically, east-west trending fissures have erupted in the southeastern part of Halemaʻumaʻu and extending through the Keanakākoʻi crater area all the way to Chain of Craters Road near Lua Manu. The last east-west fissure in this area erupted in September 2023 and extended from the middle of Halemaʻumaʻu to the eastern wall just beneath the Keanakākoʻi overlook. An event of this type is also possible under current conditions.

Currently, there are no signs of a change at the surface as the existing eruptive vent complex in Halemaʻumaʻu, including the north and south vents, continue to intermittently spatter with strong glow and flames; however, conditions could change quickly. It is possible that this event ends without reaching the surface or it produces a fissure eruption in a new location within the summit caldera region.
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meStevo

View: https://youtu.be/tv37YPVfHME


Gemini summary:

In this video from Shawn Willsey: Geology Explained, geology professor Shawn Willsey details rapid subsurface and surface changes at Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii:
  • Signs of a Magma Intrusion (Dike): Summit tiltmeters recorded an unprecedented, rapid inflation spike of around 45 microradians [04:00 Opens in a new window ], accompanied by a dramatic surge of over 100 shallow earthquakes within 24 hours (peaking at a magnitude 3.4) [01:44 Opens in a new window ]. The deformation indicates that magma is intruding in an east-west orientation beneath the southern caldera/Halemaʻumaʻu region [01:16 Opens in a new window ].

  • No Rift Zone Migration: Tilt and seismic data confirm magma is remaining confined to the summit area rather than traveling down the East Rift Zone [02:40 Opens in a new window ].

  • Structural Pathways: Willsey notes that pre-existing faults and fractures expanded during the 2018 caldera collapse [08:32 Opens in a new window ]. Because these fracture zones remain unsealed, magma can move and mobilize toward the surface much faster than before [10:17 Opens in a new window ].

  • Potential Outcomes: The intrusion could stall underground without erupting, or it could feed a new east-west fissure eruption inside the summit caldera, similar to the September 2023 event [02:47 Opens in a new window ].

  • Shift to Dome Overflows: Webcam footage from overnight reveals repeated pulses of fluid lava overflowing the spatter cone at the North Vent [11:42 Opens in a new window ]. Occurring roughly every 20 to 50 minutes and lasting several minutes each [12:36 Opens in a new window ], these cyclic overflows suggest Kīlauea may be transitioning away from high-fountaining episodes toward regular surface overflows [14:54 Opens in a new window ].

Foxbat
​
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Foxbat
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TheRatPatrol
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Anyone else watch this show? Any guesses as to what was in the box Gibbs gave to Abby that was on her desk? It look liked it was glowing.

I also heard that someone was leaving the show at the end of this season. Any guesses as to who thats going to be?
2134 Replies · 214743 views
Jimbo

Howard ...
You don't like Tony, or Tony as the Director (he's only been there for 30 seconds now) or you don't like NCIS ?
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Howard Simmons
Howard ...
You don't like Tony, or Tony as the Director (he's only been there for 30 seconds now) or you don't like NCIS ?
Tony as the director.🙄
Jimbo
Tony as the director.🙄
Would you rather have LaRoche ???
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dfergie
I liked this episode and a toned down Tony...
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Howard Simmons
Would you rather have LaRoche ???
No. Bring in someone new.🤔 Tony is not serious enough for me. Parker is too close to the team and Tim is too young to take over IMO.
Jimbo
No. Bring in someone new.🤔 Tony is not serious enough for me. Parker is too close to the team and Tim is too young to take over IMO.
I don't think Tim and Tony are that far apart in Age ...

Remember what Tony said to Tim when they first got back together ...
Tony said: I am the New Tony, Tim .... (something to that effect)

Tony has changed, he's been running his Security Business ... I'm sure he has grown up.

Give it time ... your judging the New Tony from the old Tony.

It sounds like Tim won't be around the Team much longer either.
KAB
KAB
I wonder it they will show the teased meeting (in Origins) with Tony and Gibbs.
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Jimbo
I wonder it they will show the teased meeting (in Origins) with Tony and Gibbs.
I'm curious how they are going to implement Tony into Origins (If they do) ...
Tony was introduced to Gibbs and the team, on NCIS, which makes it the Mothership side of things, he worked in Baltimore prior to NCIS, NO mention when they met that anyone had known one another ...
Anony55
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
For quite a while now, people with a VIP211k have been losing their recordings on their activated external HDDs... even when there's nothing physically wrong with HDD. I believe this is an intentional and underhanded tactic that Dish is pulling in an attempt to force users away from the VIP211k.

They are obviously regretting that they ever let users have a "non-dvr" dvr in the first place. You would think they would be happy charging you a $40 one time fee... and then be happy letting the customer be the one responsible for HDD failures.

Dish clearly hates the 211k bitter-clingers. This recording deletion problem is intentional (IMO), and I think it is just one more tool that they are using. Hopper and a 2-year agreement... that's what they want you to have. Think about that... a 2-year agreement... with a company $30 Billion in debt (that's with a B). What happens when all that debt causes them to drop the channel that may have been your whole reason for having Dish in the first place? Guess who's stuck with a service that no longer suits their needs... for the remainder of the 2-year agreement.

On top of that, they don't want you to install it yourself. I purchased and installed all my equipment myself. That used to be common. Now, they lie to me and tell me that my dish must be updated to use a Hopper. Funny thing is... they don't even know what dish I have because they didn't install it, and I didn't tell them. If you ask what type of dish/LNBs the hopper needs... good luck getting an answer. All they know is that whatever you have needs to be upgraded by an installer.

It is quite apparent to me that they care much more about staying in their box, than they do working with the customer. That's too bad, because it hasn't always been that way. It's like they are totally unaware of the current business environment that they are trying to compete in.

I have been a customer since 2010. I will be cancelling my service before the next period. Yeah, I know, my $1,200 a year won't make a difference to them. It just seems like they have forgotten who needs who, especially when you consider the competition in today's streaming world. But hey, they will have succeed in forcing me off the 211k.
168 Replies · 7531 views
Nebugeater
Got a 211k that works fine, and I no longer need it if someone wants to throw me a few bucks and pay shipping. Not tied to my account as of last week. Used with a tailgater and got a wally
T
Got a 211k that works fine, and I no longer need it if someone wants to throw me a few bucks and pay shipping. Not tied to my account as of last week. Used with a tailgater and got a wally
Is the 211k still available? If so, I'm interested.
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Nebugeater
Is the 211k still available? If so, I'm interested.


Actually, it is. A couple of people PMed me when I posted this, and when I asked for an address, they never responded. Then I just sort of let it go. Send me a PM to continue the discussion
Anony55
Well, after nine months of being on pause, I finally figured out that I was wasting $5 a month. So I cancelled. For the first time since 2010, I no longer have a Dish account.

I do have to say that I did appreciate the account pause option. That just gives a person some time to see what the fallout of cancelling will be... without having to go all the way over the cliff first.

Since I never once had an "oh shoot, I need Dish Network for..." moment, the decision was a lot easier.

Funny enough, when I called to cancel (for real, not playing the pricing game), all of a sudden, they were offering me deals that I was told before that I couldn't get without changing out my VIP211k. Now, I could have had those specials with them just sending me a new card for the receiver. LOL!

Of course, my mind was already made up because of having not missed the service while on pause. That, and the fact that I bet the 211k still kills recordings.

All in all, I'm glad that I had Dish for all those years. I just outgrew the need, and they pressed the issue by deleting recordings. I would have eventually went this route without the deleted recordings issue. But, for sure, that did hasten the outcome.

I'll still pop in at this site from time to time. Believe it or not, I still have a C/Ku BUD that I intend on playing with again if life ever slows down.
dishstaller
Actually, it is. A couple of people PMed me when I posted this, and when I asked for an address, they never responded. Then I just sort of let it go. Send me a PM to continue the discussion
Unless things have changed at Dish, which is entirely possible, they won't activate the 211, even as a replacement. I gave one to a customer a while back....which when I turned it off I made sure to tell the CSR I wanted it freed up so another customer could use it, I was assured it was.....and when they called to swap out there's they were told it couldn't be done. Now like I said, things MIGHT HAVE CHANGED.
Anony55
Unless things have changed at Dish, which is entirely possible, they won't activate the 211, even as a replacement. I gave one to a customer a while back....which when I turned it off I made sure to tell the CSR I wanted it freed up so another customer could use it, I was assured it was.....and when they called to swap out there's they were told it couldn't be done. Now like I said, things MIGHT HAVE CHANGED.
It hasn't changed. When I cancelled my service the other day, they told me I didn't need to return the receiver (which I already knew because I purchased it).

But in addition to that, the young man told me not to sell it, but to take it to a recycling place. The reason he gave for the advice was because 211Ks can no longer be activated.

So as far as the VIP211k goes... once grandpa dies, he's dead.
T
They tell you to trash it and not to sell simply because they're phasing them out, not particularly because someone might be "confused" into buying it and not be able to activate. They tell people that in every case where they're not acting to get a box back, either from a replacement or service cancel.
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Corrado
Although my VIP211K hasn't been subscribed or connected to a dish in probably 5 years since canceling service, my 1 TB HDD full of programming still works fine.

Upon occasion I power it up to watch something I recorded as far back as 2010. The last time I had it going in September it even let me rescan the local OTA channels which I think it refused at some earlier time. I will use it until the day it fails but this topic makes me think some software download is responsible for current subscribers.
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