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Last reply · posted in C-BAND Satellite Discussion
After searching and reading different things here on satelliteguys, i decided to go down to the basement and measure my dish. It is currently in halves, so it is real easy for me to measure.

The diameter of my dish is 91 inches. The depth is 14 inches. I found and used a focal length forumula in this forum. I cam up with a focal length of 36.97 inches. Well, okay....Fine....

A co worker had this dish and gave it to me. I took some pics when i went to look at it the first time. I got a picture measuring the distance from the center of the dish to the feedhorn. It measured 32.750. I looked at the feedhorn and checked what the scaler was set on. It is set to 38.

The owner said they never had any issues and that they really liked having cband.

How can these measurement be different?

There is no way i can get 4 more inches from those struts. Surely i measure wrong, calculated wrong or something........

Can someone set me straight?

Pic attached
10 Replies · 3415 views
B
this might help you out...
S
I am using the right forumula and the math is correct. Its just that my answer is several inches away from the dish then where the feedhorn was originally installed years ago. Could the dish be warped? Yeah, i guess it could be. But by measuring it....It isnt.

I am not installing right now, and wont until march or april. I am just getting some things together at this point. I am stuck on this focal length though. I just dont understand why the original feedhorn is in a different location than what i calculated.:confused:

thanks
steve
SatelliteAV
I just dont understand why the original feedhorn is in a different location than what i calculated.:confused:

Just because the feedhorn is mounted in this position and previous owner was receiving C-Band signals doesn't mean that the system was optimized. Signals can be received even if the feedhorn is mounted off center, crooked, incorrect skew or with an incorrect focal distance. The system will have better performance when the mechanicals are properly set.

I wouldn't be too concerned about this discrepancy at this point. It will be obvious if the feedhorn adjustment increases the SQ during the peaking of the installation.
M
I know that this thread is a bit old but I thought of a possible answer to your question, the effective aperture size that you input for the calculation was likely incorrect. If you measured 91 inches but the actual effective aperture size according to the manufacturer is a little less such as maybe 87 inches it will then calculate properly. The full diameter of the dish may not always be effective due to certain formed edges, etc.

I use the following and with your posted measurements I came up with the same length which contradicts the physical F/D as you noted.

Parabolic Reflector Analysis
B.J.
I know that this thread is a bit old but I thought of a possible answer to your question, the effective aperture size that you input for the calculation was likely incorrect. If you measured 91 inches but the actual effective aperture size according to the manufacturer is a little less such as maybe 87 inches it will then calculate properly. The full diameter of the dish may not always be effective due to certain formed edges, etc.
.....
http://kb9mwr.dyndns.org/n9zia/parabolic.main.cgi

I see your point, and I agree that there are problems when taking measurements of dishes. But if you measure at a point inside the edges, then you need to also measure the depth of the dish consistent with where you measure the diameter. Ie the depth would be less too, so usually, it's not going to make much difference unless the edges are significantly different from where the surface would be. It's usually easier to measure the depth by sighting across the edges, even if the edges aren't part of the actual reflector surface, and if you do that, you sort of have to measure the diameter by estimating where the surface would be.
I can usually estimate the diameter at where the surface would be, but my biggest problem is measuring the depth. My dish has a flat circular plate at the center of the dish, ie the reflective surface doesn't continue at the center, so I also have to estimate where the surface would be when measuring the depth and when measuring the focal length.
But yes, you have to try to measure to both the diameter and depth either at the actual surface, or by estimating where the surface would be, and the likelihood of measurement errors causing the problems here are pretty high. However I still think that the biggest error is because the dish is in halves, that there is nothing holding the dish in it's proper shape, and it is probably sagging significantly. Tie the 2 halves together, and the measurements will be different, and I'm guessing the new measurements will fit the equations.
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.
554 Replies · 19738 views
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Scott Greczkowski
Just a heads up... I just patched our PHP to close the major PHP exploit announced this morning.

Now on PHP 8.4.27 (cli) (built: Oct 20 2026 00:00:00)
Don in CT
Just a heads up... I just patched our PHP to close the major PHP exploit announced this morning.

Now on PHP 8.4.27 (cli) (built: Oct 20 2026 00:00:00)
When I heard about this exploit I was wondering how quick you would be on it. :D
Scott Greczkowski
When I heard about this exploit I was wondering how quick you would be on it. :D
12 minutes after the patch was release I had it patched. :)
Foxbat
IMG_1560.webp
A.I. - Be careful what you wish for…
T
6:43p Central was dumped off the site, then when I got back on could not reply to post. Down for several minutes.
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Scott Greczkowski
6:43p Central was dumped off the site, then when I got back on could not reply to post. Down for several minutes.
Yeah... that was me...

I did another security update and it required me to reboot the server.

I also did a patch for something else and accidently put two ;'s in the config file so when the server rebooted it wouldn't restart a service because of the extra ; in the config file.

And of course as I did it my step dad called me slowing me down in figuring it out.

That was a Scott mistake. Sorry about that.
navychop
OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!

Aww- nevermind.

;)
TheForce
Supporting Founder Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Phone & Tablet Zone
Apple Fall Hardware Event takes place today, September 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET. It marks the debut of new CEO John Ternus and the expected reveal of Apple's first foldable phone.
138 Replies · 1826 views
harshness
Gone are the days when Apple "perfects" what debuted years earlier on an Android phone.
comfortably_numb
Gone are the days when Apple "perfects" what debuted years earlier on an Android phone.

Or better yet, innovate something "completely revolutionary!"
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S
Or better yet, innovate something "completely revolutionary!"
when was the last time they innovated something:rolleyes:
Foxbat
when was the last time they innovated something:rolleyes:
I'd probably say when they came up with their M-series of processors with integrated memory. That allowed Apple to get away from the inefficient Intel CPUs that were limiting their notebook computers.
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Neutron
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Patrick Stewart died yesterday, October 28th at the age of 86. We lost yet another great actor. :(

7 Replies · 58 views
Foxbat
Rest in Peace…
Bobby
Rest in peace. Long live Jean Luc Picard…
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long_time_Dish
Rest in peace. Wow, so many good roles, but Jean Luc Picard will always be my favorite...
M
R.I.P.
BlackHitachi
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in Movie Talk
Since the Reds have there thread we should too!

Last watched Nine inch Nails
Next 3:10 to Yuma
5392 Replies · 511085 views
Y
1791758462355.webp


Simple, charming. Entire premise is quite silly but Cary Grant carries it across the line in good fashion.
T
Last: The Social Reckoning. Spoiler alert, they make Zuck look like a...
Foxbat
Since it was already "paid" for, I spent the two hours of my time watching the John Cena action movie on Apple TV, "Matchbox The Movie" even though the reviews were brutal. It was better than I expected, so I didn't feel like I had wasted an afternoon watching it. But it felt like another "Reacher"/"Neghley"/"Mission: Impossible"/"Fast & Furious" crash and blow stuff up with lots of automatic gunfire mixed in movie featuring covert CIA operatives.

I don't think we'll get a follow-up movie from this. I expect Mattel will have other toy lines to exploit.
Gary Toma
Staff member Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in DIRECTV Technical Resources Forum
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
2170 Replies · 945737 views
D
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
D
Weekly Analysis for 10/28/2026:
K
ElectionHQ mixes testing with BBC News, CNBC, CNN, FBN, FNC, MSNOW, NewsMax and NewsNation

Some more reshuffles

Updating the TMSIDs for KSBI and KQCW to use the cable feeds with Thunder games instead of the OTA feeds

An additional commercial PPV channel is now on 9530
coolman302003
Monday 11/2 is a full slate for NBA League Pass as all 30 teams are playing and 14 out of 15 total games are on NBALP. Only one national TV game on Peacock/NBCSN (Thunder @ Cavs).

DirecTV is even having to use several MLB EI channels (from 745-748) and a NHL CI (770) channel to fit all of them in the guide close together. 5 games at 7:30 ET, 3 games at 8 ET, 2 games at 8:30 ET, 1 game at 9 ET, 3 games at 10 ET. Luckily NHL CI is light on Monday (3 games on CI).

DirecTV is providing both broadcast feeds for all League Pass games except Hornets, Magic, Bucks & Raptors that night. These are all teams that have local broadcasts via a OTA channel which is on spotbeams and have streaming deals (DTC) that are not exclusive DAZN teams which DirecTV just signed a deal with (à la Spurs, Grizzlies, Cavs, Pacers & T'Wolves). Its also very common that we don't get Raptors broadcast very often from TSN or Sportsnet Ontario on League Pass.

11/2/26 (MON) EASTERN7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM10:00 PM
Peacock/NBCSNThunder @ Cavaliers
NBA League PassNonePistons (745) @ HornetsKings (755) @ Mavericks (756)Celtics (760) @ Rockets (761)Trail Blazers (764) @ Nuggets (765)Suns (769) @ Warriors (770)
Hawks (746) @ Pacers (747)Pelicans (757) @ Grizzlies (758)Jazz (762) @ Spurs (763)Raptors @ Clippers (766)
Nets (748) @ Knicks (751)Bucks @ T'Wolves (759)Heat (767) @ Lakers (768)
Wizards (752) @ Magic
Bulls (753) @ 76ers (754)
*No Hornets, Magic local broadcasts*No Bucks local broadcast*No Raptors local broadcast
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K
Only the Knicks, Nets, Wizards, Bulls, Celtics, Rockets, Lakers, Warriors, Avalanche, Sharks and Bruins feeds will be using remaps of 24/7 RSNs that night. The rest will be relying on the part time feeds, including the Nuggets, Blackhawks and Kings who will be on their alt/overflow channels, and MSG Western NY will be live on channel 635-1 to carry Buffalo area ads during the Knicks game.

The NHL Network alternate will be live on channel 215-1 with Red Wings @ Panthers for those blacked out of Golden Knights @ Bruins on the main feed.

The Thunder @ Cavaliers game will be on one of Peacock Game Pass channels that night for commercial customers, they'll also have the back to back U-Conn Women's and Men's Basketball. One of the part time feeds will also be in use for WWE Raw via Joe Hand promotions.
M
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Over the past few weeks, I have had problems connecting to streaming services (Netflix, HBO et al). When I go to the TV's native Channels, I have no problem. The Dish internet troubleshooter shows I have a good internet connection. I'm wondering whether it's an issue with my internet provider or a problem with the Dish software on the Hopper Plus. Anyone else seeing this?
3 Replies · 144 views
Almighty1
Over the past few weeks, I have had problems connecting to streaming services (Netflix, HBO et al). When I go to the TV's native Channels, I have no problem. The Dish internet troubleshooter shows I have a good internet connection. I'm wondering whether it's an issue with my internet provider or a problem with the Dish software on the Hopper Plus. Anyone else seeing this?
I have a DISH Hopper 3 (Software H713) with Hopper Plus (Software P15403). I have not tried streaming services but I primarily watch TVB Jadeworld international package which is only available by streaming and when I have an issue, I usually have to go to a non-streaming satellite channel first before the streaming channels will work again. What software versions do you have and what is the error message if any are showing on your screen? or is that Dish downloading logo just stuck and never finishes?
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M
I have a DISH Hopper 3 (Software H713) with Hopper Plus (Software P15403). I have not tried streaming services but I primarily watch TVB Jadeworld international package which is only available by streaming and when I have an issue, I usually have to go to a non-streaming satellite channel first before the streaming channels will work again. What software versions do you have and what is the error message if any are showing on your screen? or is that Dish downloading logo just stuck and never finishes?
I'm on H713 on the Hopper and P15403 on the Hopper Plus. It shows internet connection issues and doesn't finish loading the various services. I see the "loading circle going around. Sometimes I get a message saying that the service is having trouble loading my content and to check the internet connection.
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Almighty1
I'm on H713 on the Hopper and P15403 on the Hopper Plus. It shows internet connection issues and doesn't finish loading the various services. I see the "loading circle going around. Sometimes I get a message saying that the service is having trouble loading my content and to check the internet connection.
Did it ever work correctly before? Hard to say what the problem is. Usually for streaming, it will show the Dish logo with lines sweeping down to show downloading, never seen the circle issue. Did you try a manual reboot, red button reset, power cord unplug/replug to see if it makes a difference.
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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....
68662 Replies · 2680424 views
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RaiderPower
Take It Easy On Me - Little River Band
long_time_Dish
Take It Easy - The Eagles
sdfntx
Take It as It Comes - Steve Winwood
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long_time_Dish
Take The Money and Run - Steve Miller Band
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EatMyVolts
Run Joe -- Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
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meStevo
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Starting a thread klang !

After an amazing first 2 seasons and an 8 episode 3rd season still coming this year, season 4 has now been greenlit.

Keri Russell Wow GIF by NETFLIX
11 Replies · 988 views
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KAB
KAB
Not in a hurry to watch it this time.
K
Finished season 3 last night. Still one of my favorite shows.

Anyone else wonder if there might be something else going on with Callum? Seems to me he has too much access to Russian intelligence.
meStevo
One episode into season 4 that dropped today...

Jon Stewart Popcorn GIF
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meStevo
Renewed for season 5.
K
Finished 4 last night. Great stuff.

They do like to end each season with a Bang!
Bobby
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
This is a thread that will keep you apprised of 4K events that will be showing on Dish channel 540. Keep looking here for information.

As of today, 9-27-17, there are no scheduled events posted for the next 2 weeks. That is subject to change on a daily basis.
769 Replies · 168240 views
Bobby
MLB, Rays at Brewers, Saturday 10-24, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Rays, Monday 10-26, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Rays, Tuesday 10-27, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Bobby
CFB, Florida vs Georgia, Saturday 10-31, 12:30PM PDT, Channel 148-03.
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Bobby
CFB, Wisconsin at Iowa, Saturday 10-31, 9AM PDT, Channel 148-01.
CFB, Arizona St at BYU, Saturday 10-31, 12:30PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
5 Replies · 84 views
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dishstaller
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
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dfergie
I loved it when Rodney was on the Tonight Show...
Foxbat
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
Thanks, I wasn't sure if you had the wrong Subject or the wrong YouTube link.
osu1991
Was a Don Rickles fan. I've dvr'd most of his appearances on Carson from the antenna tv replays.