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Titanium
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in C-BAND Satellite Discussion
Would you please help me on a project by providing an exact measurement of the inside diameter of your C-band or combined C/KU feedhorn?

1. What Brand and Model?
2. What is the inside diameter measurement at the entrance?
3. What is the depth of the feedhorn before the dielectric guides or other mechanics (probe, waveguide, etc.)?
4. Is the inside diameter of the feedhorn tapered or consistent size diameter?
5. If tapered, what is the diameter measured at 2 inches back from the feedhorn entrance.
6. A photo of the feedhorn entrance would be great, but not necessary.

I am manufacturing a new laser alignment tool for installing and centering a feedhorn on a satellite dish. Want to make sure that it will be an exact fit on as many types and models of C and combined C/KU band feedhorns as possible. While I have about a dozen feedhorns and LNBFs, I know that there are many more that I do not have access to. This is where I need your help.

Installing a feedhorn or LNBF so it is aimed to the exact center of the dish is critical to the optimization of a satellite system. Some of us are fortunate to own alignment tools from the early years of BUD installation, while others have used torpedo laser levels to estimate this alignment. My goal for this project is to produce an inexpensive and robust alignment tool that we can carry around in our tool kit for those occasional feedhorn installs. Visualize a hockey puck shape with a lip and a precisely centered laser pointer.

Thanks for your assistance!
78 Replies · 21272 views
Titanium
Even with the changes in industrial 3D printing over the past few years, the product cost remains far too high to mass produce. The available consumer 3D nylon filament builds are too rigid. Unlike molded nylon, which has greater flexibility and a smooth finish, the printed parts stick and break easily.

If there is any interest for building one off units for personal use, we could release the .eprt or .ais files for 3D printing. Drop me a PM (Conversation) and we will work out the details.

I wish to publicly recognize the Project Designer, Fred Learning. As a fellow satellite hobbyist eager to find a better way to align scalars and feedhorns, he volunteered many, many hours on this project and shared his considerable knowledge of the design and production process. I know that we both were disappointed with the cost analysis and the failure to place the LFA into production.
thedishking
I would like to try to print these files. Seems like a good use of my 3d printer. Thank you so much!

Travis
Titanium
Will be sending the file over. Just need to be sure it is the final version. Will be a few days.

Looking forward to seeing photos of your finished product and a review!
wvman
Even with the changes in industrial 3D printing over the past few years, the product cost remains far too high to mass produce. The available consumer 3D nylon filament builds are too rigid. Unlike molded nylon, which has greater flexibility and a smooth finish, the printed parts stick and break easily.

If there is any interest for building one off units for personal use, we could release the .eprt or .ais files for 3D printing. Drop me a PM (Conversation) and we will work out the details.

I wish to publicly recognize the Project Designer, Fred Learning. As a fellow satellite hobbyist eager to find a better way to align scalars and feedhorns, he volunteered many, many hours on this project and shared his considerable knowledge of the design and production process. I know that we both were disappointed with the cost analysis and the failure to place the LFA into production.

Here's one I built a year or so ago. The main body is a plastic compound used for various applications. I cut it out on my lathe in about an hour. The Laser was purchased off EBay, and the hole in the plastic was cut .003 undersize for a snug fit. The hole in the edge has one 180 degrees opposite it in order to install a steel pin to use for alighing the feed to the polar axis of the dish.

I'd reccomend using a little less powerful laser. This one is 500mw green laser, which is a bit much for this application. (too much reflected light) I stuck a piece of duct tape over the hole in the center of the dish to keep it from shining through the hole. It works quite well. It is cut to fit the throat of the Titanium LNBF, which is all I use, but use in bigger throat application can be accomplished by wrapping a little nylon tape around the inner lip on the device. Cost me about 1 hour labor and $6 bucks for the laser.
Greg Mueller
For a number of years, as a side business (hobby) I made a gadget called an Align-O-Tron. It was a device for technicians for aligning lamphouses on movie projectors. (back when they still used film in theaters.) I only sold a few hundred of them (one tech can do many theaters) but some of them wound up in some pretty prestigious theaters and users loved them. Maybe you can get some ideas from my old webpage.
Align-O-Tron
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....
68494 Replies · 2670300 views
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Bobby
Kiss - The Art Of Noise
long_time_Dish
Beautiful Noise - Neil Diamond
sdfntx
White Noise - Jessie Baylin
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dishstaller
White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
long_time_Dish
White Sun - The Doobie Brothers
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Hard getting used to the new younger Gibbs, Mark Harmons son had the right look but I understand he didn't want the role.
Still I'm enjoying, pretty good job with Franks.
65 Replies · 4193 views
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dfergie
Really good one with OG Gibbs bookending it...
R
Really good one with OG Gibbs bookending it...
Will the OG Gibbs be on NCIS or will Tony be on NCIS Origins?
dfergie
Tony was there at the end of the episode with Gibbs.
R
Tony was there at the end of the episode with Gibbs.
I saw Gibbs walk into the door, but I did not see Tony.
Jimbo
Tony was there at the end of the episode with Gibbs.
Tony was Not in this episode ... you may remember Gibbs walking into the office and those around Welcomed him home, Voices only.

If you also watch the Mothership, Tony has been in that one ...
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
Wasn't exactly sure where to post this. Just had a customer come in inquiring about internet. He has HughesNet and had heard good things about mine. He asked if we provided email addresses and it kinda caught me off guard. I said he should be able to keep whatever email he had been using....my sister in law is still using a BellSouth email addy and they haven't been around here for many years. He said he had gotten a letter from HughesNet stating that they had until Nov 16th to save, move, forward, whatever, their Hughesnet emails because they would lose them after that date.

I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.

Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
7 Replies · 110 views
Foxbat
Doing a Google of the HughesNet Email notice, it seems that HughesNet has been trying to eliminate hosting emails since 2019. And with HughesNet filing Chapter 11 back in August, it would be a smart move to switch to a more stable Email provider. Even AT&T farmed out their Email to Yahoo! years ago.

SpaceX's Starlink and the Cellular 5G Home Internet solutions have pretty much relegated HughesNet and its high latency, low bandwidth Internet service to History. If Earth had shorter days, maybe a Geostationary Internet Solution might have stood a fighting chance…
navychop
If Earth had shorter days,

Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?

🙄
Foxbat
Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?

🙄
Still the same number of years, just more Sunsets…😉
K
Even AT&T farmed out their Email to Yahoo! years ago.

I still have one of those although I've been trying to wean myself off it.
JSheridan
Among my many email accounts I still have a .netscape.net which AOL assimilated a while back.
EarDemon
Yep, I got the notification a few days ago. I'm not totally surprised.

Never used the address for anything, so no big loss to me.
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
9 Replies · 926 views
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K
Probably starting season 3 tonight. :D
meStevo
Finished it this evening. General impressions with no story spoilers, but will spoil it anyways as it just came out today.

Not quite as impactful of a finale as past seasons I thought, we'll see how far down the rabbit hole things go as the latest plot twists and turns unravel. Thought this season had a full episode or two too much rom-com style disagreements, but it was more or less paid off later. Ultimately didn't enjoy that being more of a throughline in the stories this season compared to what I remember of the priors.

My least favorite of the 3 seasons, but still very good. Really wonder how far they'll go with things, hard to see a nuclear attack or something ever actually happening. They just had a better story to tell and more meaningful beats in the prior season.
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
Bobby
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
This thread is a place to discuss the 4K events that appear on channel 540. We are getting, at this point, one college football game a week. Let's hope there is more coming.
1930 Replies · 298814 views
jsmit86
Regarding the no sound bug when watching 4K HDR events or DVR recordings with Dolby set to ON:
I got rolled back to H708 last night after getting an email from the support team. It fixed the bug.

The email indicated that they believed they found the issue, and if the fix works, they would roll it out via an update in the coming weeks.

So... we should see that bug exterminated in the near future.
long_time_Dish
148-04 says the NASCAR race on at noon on Sunday. Be interesting to see if it is.
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Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Dodgers, Thursday 10-15, 6PM PDT, Channel 148-02.
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Foxbat
MLB, Brewers at Dodgers, Thursday 10-15, 6PM PDT, Channel 148-02.
CFB, Notre Dame at BYU, Saturday 10-27, 4:30PM PDT, Channel 148-03.
CFB, Ohio State at Indiana, Saturday 10-17, 9AM PDT, Channel 148-01.
CFB, Arizona State at Texas Tech, Saturday 10-17, 12:30PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything like those events in our Hopper 3 guide for tonight or Saturday.🙁

I went into the Tools menu and requested a Guide Update. I'll try looking at it after the update completes.

edit — I now have the 148-01 4KFox events for Saturday, but not anything for 148-02 or 148-03 which don't even show as available channels. I do have 148-04 4KUSA.
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Bobby
Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything like those events in our Hopper 3 guide for tonight or Saturday.🙁

I went into the Tools menu and requested a Guide Update. I'll try looking at it after the update completes.

edit — I now have the 148-01 4KFox events for Saturday, but not anything for 148-02 or 148-03 which don't even show as available channels. I do have 148-04 4KUSA.
As I recall you have the Flex package. Do you sub to multisport? -02 is FS1 and -03 is ESPN. -01 is Fox so you would get that if you sub to locals.
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Bobby
As I recall you have the Flex package. Do you sub to multisport? -02 is FS1 and -03 is ESPN. -01 is Fox so you would get that if you sub to locals.
As an edit, you need to sub to the National Action Pack at $12 a month to receive those channels.
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 2 views
Foxbat
Supporting Founder Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Internet Television (IPTV) Discussion Forum
Apple has finally released their Apple TV 4K with built-in Siri and a microphone so it can respond to your queries even if you don't have the remote. It also increases in price, to $299. I had been planning on updating my current Apple TV 4K streamers, but that's $600 for the two of them, and that's a pass at this point.

At $299, it had better come with 256 GB of Storage, Gigabit (or better) Ethernet, the latest HDMI tech and standards, and one year of free Apple One. But it probably won't…
13 Replies · 154 views
Ronnie-
Meh. The 4Ks I have will do everything that these do that I need them to do.


Which that's most tech these days for anything released the last four to five years.


It's honestly a testament to how good the previous gen Apple TVs were and are.
navychop
I've saved a boatload of money!
navychop
It's honestly a testament to how good the previous gen Apple TVs were and are.

Don't tell them that. They'll adopt planned obsolescence.
Foxbat
The only thing I can see that is compelling is the AV1 decoding done in the A19's hardware instead of the current ATV4K's processor.
navychop
Outside of gaming, would Joe Sixpack notice any difference?
KAB
KAB
Outside of gaming, would Joe Sixpack notice any difference?
Not a bit. IMO, apple's are slow to boot up. Time is about the same with 1st gen and 3rd. Roku runs rings around them in that department. I only stick I with the Apple tv's is the Apple infrastructure, which has it's definite advantages. But $300 is not worth sticking with it. Later, Apple!
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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
2139 Replies · 927052 views
K
Now testing on the stream server:
WJBF-D2 CW Augusta GA
KSVI-D2 CW Billings MT
WETM-D2 CW Elmira NY
WJET-D2 CW Erie PA
KLFY-D2 CW Lafayette LA
KARD-D2 CW Monroe LA
WVBT-D2 CW Norfolk VA
WTWO-D2 CW Terre Haute IN
WFXV-D2 CW Utica NY
KFDX-D3 CW Wichita Falls TX
K
PISTONS and THUNDER are finally testing on the stream server. PISTONS is showing the Ion/Scripps Sports promo loop filler that their NHL and WNBA feeds have, THUNDER has a "You are watching Thunder+" slate

The Clippers still haven't officially announced their TV plans beyond 10 simulcasts on KTLA, but the NBA's FAQ for ClipperVision is now live. The CLIPPERS feed is currently showing a loop of their Hawaii preseason game.

The Heat still haven't announced their West Palm Beach or Fort Myers affiliates. Since WPLG is streaming the games for free via their app, I doubt we'll be seeing the return of WPLG on stream.

So far nothing testing for the Bucks, Magic, Hawks or Hornets.
D
Weekly Analysis for 10/14/2026:
K
NBA League Pass prep

Some more reshuffles
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K
The Clippers still haven't officially announced their TV plans beyond 10 simulcasts on KTLA, but the NBA's FAQ for ClipperVision is now live. The CLIPPERS feed is currently showing a loop of their Hawaii preseason game.
They finally announced ClipperVision, it will be on DIRECTV, but they didn't provide a channel number yet.

EDIT: It's going to be on channel 693
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K
WETM-D2 CW Elmira NY
WJET-D2 CW Erie PA
KLFY-D2 CW Lafayette LA
KARD-D2 CW Monroe LA
WVBT-D2 CW Norfolk VA
WTWO-D2 CW Terre Haute IN
WFXV-D2 CW Utica NY
KFDX-D3 CW Wichita Falls TX
These are now live on stream and weren't testing on satellite as of yesterday:
WETM-DT/19 CW Elmira
WJET-DT/25 CW Erie
KLFY-DT/11 CW Lafayette LA
KARD-DT/15 CW Monroe
WVBT-DT/44 CW Norfolk
WTWO-DT/3 CW Terre Haute
WFXV-DT/34 CW Utica
KFDX-DT/4 CW Wichita Falls
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K
The Heat still haven't announced their West Palm Beach or Fort Myers affiliates. Since WPLG is streaming the games for free via their app, I doubt we'll be seeing the return of WPLG on stream.
West Palm Beach is getting it on WTCN-CD/43 MNT. Still nothing for Fort Myers


Also, the Thunder's deal for KSBI/52 OKC and KQCW/19 Tulsa will be via a special cable and DIRECTV only feed of those stations. OTA viewers and Dish customers will be limited to 10 games.