Best Dish for Ku - BUD, Offset ??

[phpinfo]

I have been considering putting up a 10' Winegard Pinnacle, in place of the 10' Quadstar. I heard the Pinnacle is a way better dish, but the depth may cause some issues for Ku.

So, my question is:

What is the best dish for Ku?

Would I be better off getting a 100cm offset dish for Ku, then use the Pinnacle for C? Or if I adjust the BSC621-2 LNBF for Ku on the Pinnacle, will it be better than a 100cm offset dish?

 

[oldford]

If you have the room, separate dishes are best IMHO. 1-1.2m offset dish for Ku will serve very well for most of US in-footprint birds.

GL, Eric

 

[phpinfo]

If you have the room, separate dishes are best IMHO. 1-1.2m offset dish for Ku will serve very well for most of US in-footprint birds.

GL, Eric

So the 10' Pinnacle would not have any advantage i.e picking up TPs a 1.2m could not, higher signal quality etc.?

 

[Anole]

From what I've read the BSC621's and that whole sort of dual band LNBF's just don't see the entire dish at Ku very well.
Sure, centering them perfectly, aiming the LNBF at the dish perfectly, using a spun aluminum dish, and other tricks do make for a good solution.

But, the Ku portion still doesn't have a proper F/D to match a BUD, so you only see the center of the dish.
That makes for difficult alignment, and performance below your expectations.
Then, there is the surface accuracy at Ku frequencies...

Three ways I'd consider to improve Ku, might be:
- solid, accurate, (maybe spun aluminum) BUD dish
- orthomode feedhorn, with two C-band LNBs and two Ku band LNBs ($200-400 + the LNBs)
- dedicated 1m or 1.2m Ku dish 'n LNBF..

 

[phpinfo]

From what I've read the BSC621's and that whole sort of dual band LNBF's just don't see the entire dish at Ku very well.
Sure, centering them perfectly, aiming the LNBF at the dish perfectly, using a spun aluminum dish, and other tricks do make for a good solution.

But, the Ku portion still doesn't have a proper F/D to match a BUD, so you only see the center of the dish.
That makes for difficult alignment, and performance below your expectations.
Then, there is the surface accuracy at Ku frequencies...

Three ways I'd consider to improve Ku, might be:
- solid, accurate, (maybe spun aluminum) BUD dish
- orthomode feedhorn, with two C-band LNBs and two Ku band LNBs ($200-400 + the LNBs)
- dedicated 1m or 1.2m Ku dish 'n LNBF..

So really a 1.2m might be the best and cheapest route to maximize Ku? So what are the best Ku dishes?

 

[Anole]

IMO:

So really a 1.2m might be the best and cheapest route to maximize Ku?

Well, we certainly have members doing great Ku on BUDs, so let's hear from them.

So what are the best Ku dishes?

Primestars, ChannelMaster, whatever other name they've been sold under, or of course Prodelin.
Those are the molded type, with ribs on the back side, available off gas stations, drug stores, and other buildings.

 

[PANHANDLER]

Hi phpinfo
I am currently using a 31" fortec with a ivacom quad strictly for ku and i am very happy with it .Sense i love testing i thought i would give the bud a try on ku band . I purchased a geosat ck1 c/ku lnb to mount on it . It took me quite some time to zero in on the ku signals with the bud. I finnaly got it to work after alot of hair pulling , cussing ,kicking the dog etc. And after all that i don't see much improvement in signal from the 31" fortec to the 7.5' bud . So along story short use your 10' for c-band and purchase a 1.2m for ku . Take a look at the gold sponsors here , they are all very well priced.

 

[phpinfo]

For Ku dishes, when does the size come into play?

Because I have access to some old oval Primestar dishes, which I believe were made by ChannelMaster.

To maxamize Ku with the ability to pickup weak TPs, should I just look at a 1.2m or would a Primestar work fine?

 

[Anole]

Would I be better off getting a 100cm offset dish for Ku . . . .
. . . I have access to some old oval Primestar dishes . . .

If you have a 1 meter wide* elliptical molded commercial dish, I would try that.
It should get plenty of signal, and suppress adjacent birds similar to a 1m round.
(probably works best with the original feedhorn, on those elliptical dishes)
If that doesn't satisfy you, then look for the 1.2m.


* - I believe over the years, that dish has been made with markings of "84e" or "1.0x0.7m"
As long as it's 39 inches wide, I'd give it a test drive! - :up

 

[zamar23]

How about Fortec Star Ku-band dishes? They seems to be very popular with this forum sponsors. From that angle it looks like the most popular (by sale numbers) dish brand in NA? Or there are more popular Ku-band brands currently being sold? I'm looking to upgrade to 1.2 m, but not sure what dish is stronger, and has more accurate geometry?

Another thing is, it's not always convenient to mount dish with a motor using sold everywhere "tube pole mount with 2 struts", since there isn't enough wall space at times to mount both struts. Or such mount is too short to expose dish beyond upper floor cover on a balcony, and the mount should be hooked to a balcony rail instead of wall. Anyone seen different types of dish mount, say of a welded type, to be mounted to the balcony rails?

 

[eurosport]

I have several 1.0 and 1.2 meter Primestar/Channelmaster offsets, and they outperform my 10ft BUD on Ku band.