90 cm, or larger, dish and compatibility with LNB designed for 75 cm dish

[ftouch]

I'm new to Satelliteguys so let me give my perspective on Shaw TV reception from someone living in S. Indiana (about latitude 38.9). I have 4 800 series receivers (so all signals go through a multiswitch) and a 75 cm dish. I recently bought a signal meter, SATLINK WS-6933, but have been unable to measure a meaningful signal with it as the Quality Signal measures 0. Perhaps it's my meter settings or perhaps the incoming satellite signal is too weak. I believe it's the later. In any case, I typically measure the incoming signal by taking a Shaw box and a TV outside positioned next to the dish. If there are no adverse weather conditions, the typical signal level is 60 to 70 and EcbNo is 6.0 to 6.5. All strong enough to give me a decent picture. Below signal level 60, my picture starts fading in and out. On a bad weather day (rain, thunderstorms (not uncommon here), snow, etc.) the signal level typically drops below 60 thus no TV. My cable run for all TVs is about 100 yards from dish to TV and my signal loss seems to be minimal as I'll get similar readings at the dish and at the TV.

So, with that as background, I have 2 questions:
1. To boost the signal level, I'm considering replacing my dish for a larger dish, say 90 cm or 120 cm. I currently have an LNB, Shaw 75E-G1(T000409), so designed specifically to be used with a 75 cm dish. When I noticed my signal level decreasing, about 1 year ago, I replaced the LNB with a brand new one and saw no improvement in the signal level. Would this LNB still work with a larger dish? If so, are there any special adjustments that I would need to make in order to get it working? I know others have larger dishes, as one of the threads mentions someone in Denver with a 2.4m dish so there must be a way to make it work. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
2. To be sure my WS-6933 meter is set correctly, any advice on how to set all of the settings?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for all input.

 

[arlo]

Shaw familiar guys can answer better. You say your lnbf is designed for a 75cm dish.
So the feedhorn of the lnbf must be designed to prevent "spillover" to reduce interference from beyond the rim of the dish. If you were to picture the beam angle from the center of the lnbf throat to the dish rim in a V. Your focus is very close to the apex of the angle at the throat.
So. A larger dish won't hurt if it's an offset dish. There are online gain calculators to plug in different dish diameters.
If the larger dish maintains the same or very close beam angle at the lnb focal point, you should be golden.
Things to consider though is if the dish will allow easy mounting of your lnbf. A bracket may be needed.
With that comes you needing to move your lnbf in closer or further away from the dish to attain that focus needed to peak your signal.
Other than that. I always use my receiver and an app that lets me see signal on the receiver from inside of the house.
Can't comment on your signal finder box. But it seems that if the settings on it match what your receiver displays in setup. It should work. Although I do hear that some do have issues with them playing nice.

From the dungeon:

G

Thread 'Shaw 75e -- what kind of signal should I be getting?'

Jun 22, 2011

Bought a Shaw 75e quad LNB dish last year, and I finally got around to assembling it. The best signal strength I can get is 12%. I live about 10 miles south of Seattle. Is that a typical signal strength for this area? It seems awfully low.

I don't have the service activated yet, but I don't imagine that makes any difference ...

• Gnab Gib
• Replies: 13
• Forum: Canadian Satellite Services

 

[ftouch]

Shaw familiar guys can answer better. You say your lnbf is designed for a 75cm dish.
So the feedhorn of the lnbf must be designed to prevent "spillover" to reduce interference from beyond the rim of the dish. If you were to picture the beam angle from the center of the lnbf throat to the dish rim in a V. Your focus is very close to the apex of the angle at the throat.
So. A larger dish won't hurt if it's an offset dish. There are online gain calculators to plug in different dish diameters.
If the larger dish maintains the same or very close beam angle at the lnb focal point, you should be golden.
Things to consider though is if the dish will allow easy mounting of your lnbf. A bracket may be needed.
With that comes you needing to move your lnbf in closer or further away from the dish to attain that focus needed to peak your signal.
Other than that. I always use my receiver and an app that lets me see signal on the receiver from inside of the house.
Can't comment on your signal finder box. But it seems that if the settings on it match what your receiver displays in setup. It should work. Although I do hear that some do have issues with them playing nice.

From the dungeon:

G

Thread 'Shaw 75e -- what kind of signal should I be getting?'

Jun 22, 2011

Bought a Shaw 75e quad LNB dish last year, and I finally got around to assembling it. The best signal strength I can get is 12%. I live about 10 miles south of Seattle. Is that a typical signal strength for this area? It seems awfully low.

I don't have the service activated yet, but I don't imagine that makes any difference ...

• Gnab Gib
• Replies: 13
• Forum: Canadian Satellite Services

Hello Dungeon,
Appreciate your reply.

What app do you use to allow you to see the signal on the receiver? I've been moving my TV and receiver out to the yard. Your way sounds easier.

In an attempt to measure the focal point (at least make my best estimate) I took some measurements. To my surprise, I actually have a 90 cm dish. I originally purchased the dish in 2006 from Star Choice through a 3rd party dealer (located in Northern Ontario). My LNBF is Model Shaw75E-G1(T000409) (Not the original > replaced a couple of times since 2006) . Also, on the back of the dish is stamped 75E. Thus my assumption that the dish was a 75 cm dish. Apparently, at that time, Star Choice was providing 90 cm dishes for those living in remote areas of Canada, or those living south of the border.

So, even with a 90 cm dish, I'm right on the edge of getting a signal, or not. It doesn't take much rain, like we have as I write this, for my picture to start to fade. So now will look to upgrade to a larger dish, probably 120 cm. Should be able to use my existing LNBF as long as the correct focal point is established.

 

[Keith Brannen]

No, you have a 75E (E stands for elliptical) which is rated the equivalent to a 75cm round dish for a single satellite. Since it is setup for two satellites it is elliptical, so the horizontal measurement is larger than for a 75cm dish. This is also the case for a 60E, its horizontal measurement is 80cm, but is rated the equivalent to a 60cm dish. I also have a 75E, but it is raining here, and I don't intend to climb up on a ladder on to the roof to measure it! I don't use the 75E for Shaw Direct, but for free-to-air satellites.

As far as putting the LNB onto a larger dish, I'm doubtful whether it will work well at all. For starters, the LNB is designed for an elliptical dish and may not get as good a signal from an oval dish for both horizontal and vertical transponders. Fortunately, there is only the one satellite you are trying to get, so you avoid the problem of trying to get both satellites on an oval dish (which definitely would not work out well, if at all).

The only thing I can say is, give it a try, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't work. As well, the current focal point of the 75E will not be the same as when you transfer it to a larger dish, you will probably have to handhold the LNB and make adjustments up or down the LNB arm. Good luck, you are going to need it! LOL!

 

[arlo]

My receiver is running Enigma2 and is an Edision osmio4k. It allows for remote tcp/ip functions. Something the Shaw probably cannot do. In the "old days" I would point a webcam at my tv screen and run something like VNC and look at the screen from a phone or pc at the dish.

I am not up on pay services and the equipment involved. Seems as if your provider has different dish sizes that work with the same lnbf series. You should be okay. Using an FTA dish might introduce issues with utilizing its diameter with an lnbf designed for a specific focal length matching the bean angle of the dish. Don't really know.
I would liken it to the new mirrorless cameras that have their own lens series. Nikon for one. You can use their older DLSR lenses on them with an adapter that modifies the image projection to cover the sensor without edge fringing.

Another thing to add. I put an lnbf for ku band for offset dish use on my 12' prime focus dish. Again, beam angle coming into play. I hand held the lnbf to find the best focus and signal. Then made a bracket to mount it beside the c band lnb. Signal is pretty good. A bit of fooling around with metal sheets showed that the lnbf was only utilizing around 120cm of the dish. A proper lnbf with scalar ring would take care of that for real.
That's about all I got.