Anyone have the larger of the two Ku band dishes in this photo?

[guacharaca]

Anyone have the larger of the two Ku band dishes in this photo?
I was at a garage sale yesterday and saw a pile of used pizza-pan dishes. Among that pile was this larger S-Choice dish. As you already know, the normal smaller versions of this dish are great as fixed satellite dishes on birds with strong transponders. However, if someone has this larger one, please tell me the stem length, that is, from the back of the dish to the opposite end where the LNB slides in. Yes I could probably get close by comparing the stem length of smaller dish, but it would be nice to know the factory cut length.

 

[Anole]

Iceberg probably knows the answer right off the top of his head.
But if I recall, did they use 60cm wide dishes in Canada, and 75e's in weak signal areas?
(for instance, in the USA or Mexico - )
Look on the back of the dish for mold marks or measure the face of the dish both horizontally and vertically to know for sure.
Maybe the big one is the 84e?

At any rate, ImpaktProducts has replacement arms for most models.

Which model?
84e is 40x30
75e is 37x27

edit:
I do have a similar molded commercial dish that's 35x21.
Which is probably no help to ya.
I'm assuming it's the 70e?

 

[guacharaca]

I went and checked the molding number. It is a 75e. The small one is a 60e. I did not know that they even come bigger. That is why I like this site. Somewhere out there, people know stuff. I find that these types of dishes are very efficient in terms of the amount of signal you receive vs. its size appearance in the yard.

Now that you made me aware of these molding numbers to which I googled, I now see that the LNBs are not designed to be interchangeable between different sized dishes.

 

[Anole]

Yes, they don't look like such an eye-sore, yet they collect lots of signal.
Well, now that you know it's a 75e, you could either order the LNB support arm, or ...
at least know what to ask for here on the forum. -

Maybe we should have a sticky with sizes and arm lengths of the whole series:
elliptical: 60e, 70e, 75e, 84e
round: 90cm, 1.0 meter, 1.2 meter, 1.8 meter, (8', and 10' solid BUDs)

 

[Mr Tony]

Shaw makes 2 models
60e (32x20) which is mainly used in Canada and some border US spots
75e is 37x27" which I used here in Minnesota for my Shaw setup. Yes the 60e would work but signal too low for my liking

The LNB's are NOT compatible due to the arm length difference on the dish. The 75e arm is longer than the 60e version. The cool thing of the 75e dish is the whole dish skews (not just the LNB) and the older model use to have a screw elevation adjuster which is better for slight elevation changes

 

[catamount]

Factory length on 75E is 21 inches.

catamount

 

[guacharaca]

21 inches!! Thank you catamount! That is the number that I am looking for. I have 3 of the 60e dishes which are good for the four MUX channels on 72W, and each of the Spanish language channels on 79W and 93W. Once I cut a 21" lnb support stem and find the appropiate LNB, I will experiment and see what signal strength I can get with this 75e. Hey Iceberg, this is the first time I have seen a 75e in my life. Have you seen a lot of them in your area? There are an abundant amount of 60e dishes here. People usually throw their 60e dishes in the garbage. The lady yesterday was so plum pleased that I took her 60e from her because she felt guilty adding more junk to the landfill.

 

[Mr Tony]

Since I'm in Minnesota I dont see as many as someone in Canada does
But I have installed 75e's for 1/2 dozen Canucks who are in MN now and wanted to keep the Canadian system (usually for hockey)

The 60e will work in Minnesota as the coverage "sweet spot" is along the border but the one time I installed one for someone I personally didnt like the signal numbers. 75e are more common in the states. I had a 1.2m setup for a while

 

[coinmaster32]

How did you get shaw in the US?
I tried to get shaw and they acted like I was some kind of terrorist trying to sub to Canadian service in the US.

 

[Mr Tony]

easy
bought equipment from a company who sells both the receiver and the dish. If you buy it at a big box they dont have the dish. The installer brings it (which dont work as we are in the states)
Set up equipment
called Shaw and gave them my Canadian address of my "cottage" and set up for auto pay and paperless bill

They cannot activate equipment without a Canadian address. Check out the Canadian forum here for more info. With the Canadian $ being near par (that is the same as US) its not as good as it was. When I subbed originally it was 65 cents on the dollar (1 CAD $ = 65 cents US)

 

[Anole]

I now see that the LNBs are not designed to be interchangeable between different sized dishes.

Well, I'm not sure about the Primestar (-like) feedhorns 'n LNBs.
But for sure, the Star Choice (Shaw?) dual-bird LNBFs have different spacing between 'em due to the different focal length of the dishes.
For the purpose of FTA, if you replace the LNB or just use one of them (is that still an option? Maybe on real old ones?) then I think you're fine.

 

[metal head]

The 75e is used here in newfoundland, but lately I have been noticing a smaller one being installed for new customers.

 

[SATisfied]

I have a Starband dish that's very similar to this Shaw 75e. It also skews the whole dish. It does a good job of pulling in strong signal.

 

[Mr Tony]

Channelmaster was making the 75e...I dont know if they still do or not

 

[Dishman Dan]

Channelmaster was making the 75e...I dont know if they still do or not

A long time buddy of mine works at a molding company not too far away from me.

It was probably a good 12 years ago that his shop was making dishes for ChannelMaster.

I wish I would of grabbed some of the seconds back then!

Now I have a couple of broken Primestars and I could of replaced the dish with a new piece!

 

[guacharaca]

But for sure, the Star Choice (Shaw?) dual-bird LNBFs have different spacing between 'em due to the different focal length of the dishes.

For the purpose of FTA, if you replace the LNB or just use one of them (is that still an option? Maybe on real old ones?) then I think you're fine.

That makes perfect sense. My first thought was that the shape of the LNB's feedhorn could be different to accommodate a slightly different shape, focal length, or even depth of the larger dish which would result in a weaker signal. I have had this experience on some round offset dishes with specific feedhorns designed for those particular dishes. However it makes more sense that the manufacturer is referring to the situation where one is trying to receive two satellites. If I had both LNBs in hand, it would probably be evident exactly what is different between the two LNBs. Since I will be using only half of the LNB anyways, perhaps it will make no difference whether I use an LNB designed for a 75e or one designed for a 60e provided my LNB support stem length is correct.

 

[guacharaca]

The 75e is used here in newfoundland, but lately I have been noticing a smaller one being installed for new customers.

I read that they boosted the signal about five years ago. I suspect that an increase in the signal will make the most difference way out at the edge of the earth in Newfoundland. One would then no longer need the larger dish to get a decent signal. I wish I had access to the the dish junk yards out near the edges of the footprint for use in the FTA hobby.

 

[Anole]

Since I will be using only half of the LNB anyways, perhaps it will make no difference whether I use an LNB designed for a 75e or one designed for a 60e provided my LNB support stem length is correct.

I believe you're on firm ground, there.

Some years back, one of the members documented a way to calculate the distance between two LNBs, given a particular dish, and any two satellites.
A main consideration was focal length of the dish.

- For DBS, DishNetwork needs 9° spacing for 110° and 119° satellites.
The Dish 500 assembly handles the task.
Since DBS is far less critical, this dish works from coast to coast.
Unfortunately, the dual LNBF monoblocks designed for FTA are more critical and a bit of a trade-off

- For two birds at 4° spacing, SatelliteAV came up with a dish, custom bracket, and small LNBFs to do the job.

- Say you want two birds at 2° spacing.
Need little tiny LNBFs and a long focal length dish (1.2m is good).

- Or, given a big, long dish, let's say you wanted to cover the sky...
There's at least one project with a slew of LNBFs on a 6' Prodelin dish!


reading material:

MJflash and his math to put two LNBs on a single dish:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/89049-offset-lnbs-theory-practice.html

WescoPC and 2° birds on a 1.2m dish:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/151258-building-1-2-meter-dish-2-spacing.html

Linuxman and entire arc on 6' Prodelin:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...st-way-receive-whole-ku-arc-fixed-dishes.html

Mike Kohl does Skyvision wide-swath dish:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/181923-whats-new-skyvision.html

 

[Davage]

They cannot activate equipment without a Canadian address. Check out the Canadian forum here for more info. With the Canadian $ being near par (that is the same as US) its not as good as it was. When I subbed originally it was 65 cents on the dollar (1 CAD $ = 65 cents US)

Canadian dollar is worth $1.05US.. It sure makes my Skyvision C-band subscription into a nice price, compared to what it used to be.

 

[Mr Tony]

damn you're right....I looked at it wrong

So now it costs way more to sub to Canadian TV in the states...damn