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phlatwound
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Free To Air (FTA) Discussion
Inspired by recent efforts by turbosat and mikelib I decided to see what I could get with a Dish 300 (18" x 20") oufitted with a WSI DMX521 linear LNBF on a SG2100 motor. Receiver was a Coolsat 6000.

First mounted the motor on the pole and installed the dish (with circ LNBF) on the motor. I moved the dish pivot point to another existing hole in the stock bracketry, but in hindsight I don't think that was necessary.

Set the motor latitude to 37, eyeball-aimed it to 93W (TS, true south) and swagged the 48 degree elevation with my dig angle finder.

Sent the dish to 110W using USALS, did a little az/el tweaking and quickly had circ signal, then did the same at 119W. I didn't find any circ east of my TS (Mpeg-4?) but didn't try too hard.

At that point I thought I was kinda on the arc so I motored back to TS @93W, took some location measurements off the circ LNBF and installed the DMX521.

Started looking for the Azteca mux on 93W and it took me quite a while. I truly learned the difference in aiming accuracy required for DBS vs. DVB on a tiny dish like this....2 different worlds.

Long story short, I finally got the Azteca mux locked and viewed and started going east and west, making very small az/el adjustments as I went.

I didn't write down my SQ readings, but off the top of my head can say I had no trouble viewing the NBC mux on 72W, ONN @ 74W, NYN @ 79W, Echo test @ 85W, lots of stuff on 97W, CGN, BVN, 3ABN (@ 93%-94%!) on 101W and Montana PBS on 125W. All of those were a minimum of 69%-70%, which is a solid pic on a CS6K, several were in the 87%-88% range.

It was a fun project and just goes to show what you can get with a tiny dish like this (heck, anybody can get stuff with one of those massive Dish 500s ;):D), with some tweaking.

I honestly did not play with the LNBF position much after the initial placement, but it is very close to where the factory location was, and aimed at the same spot on the dish, so I'm not sure how much more that would have given me.
15 Replies · 4727 views
mikelib
Congrats

Inspired by recent efforts by turbosat and mikelib I decided to see what I could get with a Dish 300 (18" x 20") outfitted with a WSI DMX521 linear LNBF on a SG2100 motor. Receiver was a Coolsat 6000.
Thank you, for the honorable mention. I motorized the 300 Dish this spring when I went down to visit my daughter in Charlotte, NC. I had to show my son-in-law the set up as he sells cable TV supplies. And I wanted to see if I could line up and get reception in another location.
I also took the 300 Dish down to Barnegat Bay and I locked in the one transponder on Atlantic Bird 2 at 8º W. I also locked in White Springs on 129º W that day using the (18x20 dish). The 300 Dish was also used for Galaxy 18 when all of the Equity stations were there.
I don't have a permanent FTA set up because of living in an HOA. So I ghetto move the motorized 90 cm in and out of the garage for FTA. When I'm working around the garage I drag out the 500 Dish and drop it on the ground so I can hear the stock market reports on the 72º mux.
It is amazing what you can receive on these little dishes and it is a lot of fun to play around with them.
Congrats and Happy Satellite DX-ing
Mike Lib
Anole
on many receivers:

Since the FEC has a lot to do with where the pixelization threshold is...
.... and since the receiver knows the FEC it's receiving...
... would it make sense to normalize the receive threshold so the various FECs are pretty much the same?
20, 30, or 40% would seem a reasonable target (not 60%).

Or maybe give the user an option between the above calibration mode and the traditional?
phlatwound
Thank you, for the honorable mention.....

You're welcome, Mike, I've enjoyed your projects. :)

Phlatwound, love the project! Should we coin the term "Micro LUD" Little Ugly Dish?

We spent quite a while working with the engineers on the metering for the IV-200. Initially the receiver was configured for what I refer to as a "FEEL GOOD METER" (the customer loves the receiver because the signal reading is "so much higher than another receiver, so it must be so much better)!

What I miss on most current receivers is the Signal Level meter that reacts like the Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra. I love Signal Level meters that actually display a rise and fall simialr to an analog meter as the dish passes over a satellite.

Thanks, Brian, and yes, Micro LUD is perfect for that contraption!

Kudos to you and the engineering crew on that VS IV-200 meter, I wish they all had that level of linearity, it really works well. :)
W
Phlatwound, love the project! Should we coin the term "Micro LUD" Little Ugly Dish?
:up

I like the term Brian :D
Jim S.
Being extremely bored, and having a spare Dish 300 taking up space, I decided to try it too (minus the motor.) I found that even though the Dish 300 is only a few inches taller than wide, I'm having trouble getting horizontal and vertical transponders to come in at the same position. I finally found a spot that seems to be a compromise, but the strength of either polarity isn't nearly as high as when I align for one of them specifically. I'm puzzled. Galaxy 19 is only one bird, they should all be coming from the same spot in the sky... I tried Galaxy 19 because it has the most constantly active transponders. No sense aiming at something that might not be there. On that note, however, I found something else. The strongest transponders on that satellite are listed as 12152 and 12177. While they are stronger than most of the others, I found that the ones that were really booming were 11836 and 11898. In fact, I had them giving a Q reading of over 60 at times when the other two were struggling to reach 30. Maybe nobody has taken a full set of readings since Galaxy 25 was replaced.
F
Over the last year I have received channels on G19 using a 76 cm dish and 0.3 noise level lnbf, and generally been very satisfied to pick up almost all channels on the bird. One trans. seems very weak - 12122 I believe, and another TP, cannot recall which one, sorry!, shows sig level and quality respectably high, where you would think "good picture, right?", and yet could not lock the channels there. I would go out to the dish and tweak skew and focal distance (I kept the lnbf fairly loose within the holder) and finally pick up that TP, only to lose the channels I had before on 12115! Perhaps my dish is not a high quality one. Howsomever, I congratulate you on succeeding so well in your project.
meStevo
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
Schedule drops tomorrow. Mandatory mini camps in June. Hall of Fame game August 6th.
110 Replies · 1596 views
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Y
Selfish Drake Maye holds back on giving the ball to Bills unlike Jags game, gets the win on the road.
Y
Selfish Drake Maye holds back on giving the ball to Bills unlike Jags game, gets the win on the road.
A big win for the Patriots, and they are now 3-2.

Browns lose a close one with... The Jets. That is a classic Browns loss (granted, any loss is a classic one it seems). 49'ers, Vikings, and Chiefs remain undefeated. The AFC north have a three way tie at 3-2 for second place. :eek:
osu1991
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M
Hopefully nowhere near a microphone.
Y
Hopefully nowhere near a microphone.
After having experienced Gus Ferguson trying to call soccer games, I'm uncertain why NFL football analysts get hate. Even the "worst" of them are pretty good.
meStevo
Jalen Hurts out indefinitely as they treat and monitor a superficial blood clot in his leg.


View: https://x.com/RapSheet/status/2111074303185989663?s=20
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
· posted in TV Shows
I had quit watching this show years ago because I ended up more annoyed than entertained. Well......I'm STILL more annoyed than entertained. I DO find it interesting to see how things work behind the scenes at many businesses. What annoys me is how utterly out of touch CEOs are with the companies they run. At the end of almost every episode the head of the company is amazed at how hard the employees have to work and many times have to work around impossible guidelines set forth from headquarters.

I found this one interesting because the new CEO had big plans for this company, Muscle Maker Grill, and it looked like the stores were all pretty busy. Recent history hasn't been good to this company however. I bet the covid lockdowns were the real killer.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIhZm0qkz0o
0 Replies · 2 views
T
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
I thought I would come here and find lots of complaints about the update to the dish anywhere mobile app, but am not seeing any. It used to look just like the desktop webpage. Now you can no longer filter by sports channels or movie channels. Plus that they made it look like a big button telephone and you see fewer channels in the screen which requires more scrolling. Yes I realize you can look at sports then select which sport you want to look at, I just liked being able to see all sporting events in the guide with all other channels being filtered out. Am I alone in the wilderness on this?
1 Replies · 16 views
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Juan
Not alot of dish customers any more
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....
68500 Replies · 2670773 views
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ClarkGable
White Wedding - Billy Idol
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M
White Christmas - Elvis Presley
dishstaller
Dirty White Boy - Foreigner
Bobby
Tickle Me (Dirty, Dirty Feeling) - Elvis Presley
dishstaller
Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson
osu1991
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
1 Replies · 47 views
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Howard Simmons

Another Tulsa King spin off.🙄
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.
165 Replies · 7362 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
Former member 208119
Class action.
a hopper 3 with 6 firesticks and or if you wanna spend even more money apple tv's
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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.
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Former member 209992
Last reply · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
529 Replies · 18009 views
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Scott Greczkowski
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. :D
Foxbat
Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. :D
WTF… …What the Foxbat!😱
S
zipping right along here
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S
WTF… …What the Foxbat!😱
wow what a kick in the balls!!! the wife blames you when things don't work now scott's blaming you :biggrin
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Foxbat
wow what a kick in the balls!!! the wife blames you when things don't work now scott's blaming you :biggrin
I know. Here's what Scott has in store for me if I get out of line:
IMG_1990.webp
IMG_1989.webp
S
I know. Here's what Scott has in store for me if I get out of line:
OMG to freaking funny :biggrin
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comfortably_numb
I know. Here's what Scott has in store for me if I get out of line:

Not likely since that place closed down.
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?
2131 Replies · 214668 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.
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
159 Replies · 3334 views
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meStevo
Oh weird, it was I think a 20 minute version of this.


View: https://youtu.be/nFM3BlYQJT4
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Foxbat
Weird F1 weekend is already over with a Saturday race.
dfergie
Tried to watch the truck race but the stage c**p is why I don't watch NASCAR anymore…
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Today is the anniversary of Dan Wheldon's passing at Las Vegas in a dreadful crash that luckily didn't take more drivers' lives. I vaguely remember the crash, but I more strongly remember Paul Tracy trying to keep it together as he left the Medical Center knowing that Dan most likely wasn't going to.

The safety in these vehicles is beyond incomprehensible, especially relative to what it was 60 years ago, when dying wasn't unexpected. But it is still very dangerous. I always scoff at the prayer invocations, but never scoff at the risks these drivers take and the emergency workers out there who might need to pull short of a miracle to save a driver's life.
Tried to watch the truck race but the stage c**p is why I don't watch NASCAR anymore…
HBO Max has the live in car streaming without commercials, which provides an interesting take, but you are driving blind, knowing only what the team is telling the driver about what is happening on the track. The stages definitely ruin the NASCAR set up.