Another Slimline conversion

[mattopia]

I've had a Slimline kicking around in the garage for a few years and just couldn't scrap it. I've been playing with Outernet for several weeks and figured I'd try the Slimline as a dedicated Outernet dish.

I ordered an LNBF and "universal mount" from ke4est on eBay. I mostly used information I found in the forums here, but one trick that worked out well for me that I hadn't seen before is to tape a piece of tin foil to the LNBF support arm and bend it to match the angle of the original LNBF. I drew a red dot at the approximate center point of the original feedhorn. I used this to line up the new LNBF.

I've done *very* little tweaking other than azimuth and I'm getting a solid lock off of G19 even during the rain we've had today. The Outernet signal/quality readout is not the best, so I'll drag my FTA receiver out sooner or later to dial things in a bit better. I'm really curious how it will compare to my 90cm once dialed in.

 

[KE4EST]

Nice trick there with the tape. That is where a lot of beginners fail. They just guess. Always best to somehow get the new LNBF in the same spot as the old one for a starting point.
When I did my slimline conversion I think I used the hole that was in the arm for mounting the old LNBF Ass. Just mounted the universal mount there.

 

[Bongu]

When I tried this, the foil tape caught the wind and I was scroogled. Ended up using some flashing instead of the foil tape. Great concept! Locate the focal of original feed and you are golden!

 

[mattopia]

I made some additional adjustments today to fine tune the Slimline. I forget which transponder I used on G19 (11867 I think), but with my FTA receiver connected before tweaking I was at about 45% Q. I was able to tweak it up to 54-55% Q. I bet I could squeeze a bit more out but didn't want to push my luck.

On my GeoSatPro 90cm I get about 58-59% on the same transponder. I'm quite surprised at how close the quality is between the two. I do have about 30' more RG-6 in the path to the 90, and it's on a motor, and it's a different LNB (GeoSatPro PLL), so it's certainly not "equal" - but it's still a lot closer than I would have expected.

 

[stvcmty]

If you used a LNBF that was better matched to the shape of the slim line dish you would capture more signal. Right now the LNBF is only seeing a circle on the dish. For example, the LNB for the directv world direct dish uses a horn that is shaped to capture from the elliptical dish world direct dish.

 

[polgyver]

When I tried this, the foil tape caught the wind

Exactly!
This is great idea, to use something readily available, like alum. foil (every household has it), to locate and "memorize" original LNBF's position.
Unfortunately, as Bongu noticed, it does not work in windy environment.
I tried to improve it, by increasing the number of layers of aluminum, and adding cardboard core.
What I got, was still flabby.
Finally, went back to old "jig" (described earlier on this forum).
Another thing, the foil would not allow to access the rectangular bar for marking and drilling holes for LNBF holder, as it covers the bar's end.
Annotated pictures follow: