Building your own "superdish"

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From listening to the charlie chats and posts on this board, it seems like the superdish is gonna be pretty expensive. Plus it doesnt seem like it will cover both 105 and 121 at the same time. I am hoping to start a thread here to discuss the technical aspects of building your own dish to receive signal from both of these satellites.

The span between 105 and 121 is only 16 degrees. I was researching a custom dish here http://www.techweenies.com/dss-1.shtml that uses a dtv para todos dish to receive 4 different satellites. 91, 101, 110, 119. This is a 28 degree span. One thing i see is that those sats are all roughly 9 degrees apart, making it easy to align the lnbs. There is 5 degrees between 105,110, 9 between 110 and 119, and only 2 between 119 and 121.

Now the problem I can see coming up is of course those 4 sats are DBS not FSS. From the other posts I have read here the FSS signal is weaker and thus needs a larger dish to produce a quality signal.

I am in the process of aquiring a meter diameter dish and lnbs. I hope to be able to attach 2 FSS lnbs and 2 DBS lnbs and get 105,110,119,121 all on one dish.

The second concern of mine is the signal output of the FSS lnbs. Can I just attach one of these to a sw21 and use it like I do with my 61.5 dish now? The LNB i'm looking at does vert/horz polarity at 13/18volt switching (this is the same as dish standard right?)

Has anyone tried this before? Any comments, suggestions? This is more of a hobby project, so please no "why dont you just wait for the superdish" or "just get the free install" comments please :D
 
This may give you some Ideas .... have fun.

http://www.global-cm.net/multifeedsys.html

MULTI FEED ANTENNA SYSTEMS


Maybe you could modify a old primestar with FSS
 
Wow! Thanks. This is definately a lot of interesting reading. They seem to say Ku band can be received with a good signal 15 degrees off boresight. (So satellites can be 30degrees apart) The 105 and 121 are only 16 apart thus well within that range. This of course is on a 90cm dish.

Thanks again for the link. Anyone currently running one of these setups, or a homebuilt?
 
Here is another use for the old primestar dish ....

Use a Surplus Primestar Dish as an IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networking Antenna

http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html
 
Here ya go super dish ..... 39.99 Just add the DSS LNB's Not sure if the SW21 will work tho...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3051035925&category=32841
 
After reading the global-cm link above I wonder if it might not just be worth it to get the free install of the superdish. Then with a little creative engineering you could pick up several other satellites at the same time for the cost of additional LNBs and receivers. The hard part - installing and aiming the dish - would be done for you!
 
HokieEngineer said:
From listening to the charlie chats and posts on this board, it seems like the superdish is gonna be pretty expensive. Plus it doesnt seem like it will cover both 105 and 121 at the same time. I am hoping to start a thread here to discuss the technical aspects of building your own dish to receive signal from both of these satellites.
Click to expand...

I've done quite a bit of thinking about this and have two 36-inch dishes suitable for picking up 105 and 121. The problem is that DISH has decided to make only a DISHPRO solution in the software for receiving these satellites. That means you need a special "bandstacked" FSS LNBF, not a 14/18 voltage-switched LNBF as you suggested using. DISHPRO combines DISEQC tonal switching at the DP34 or DP+44 switch with single voltage power, separating the different polarities by bumping up the frequencies on one of the polarities at the LNBF. Since the receivers are not meant to recognize a "legacy" solution to receiving 105 and 121, it's doubtful we'll be able to create an antenna using standard voltage-switched LNBFs.

Now, that said, there should be no reason we can't use 36-inch (90 cm) dishes to receive 105 and 121 if we can get the proper LNBFs. Mike at Global Communications sells a Star Choice bandstacked FSS LNBF for $59, which may be compatible, but it has a 54 mm diameter rather than the standard 40 or 28 mm. This means you'll have to build your own bracket for it, or do as Mike suggested to me and "use a hose clamp and some duct tape". I have collected all these parts but haven't aimed my dishes yet because 1) I've been waiting for the new software for the receivers and 2) my switch is maxed out with 61.5, 110 and 119. Maybe if there's a serious effort to try to do this, I'll be motivated to go on the roof and try to get one of these satellites sighted in.

--- WCS
 
These are some things that I was wanting to do and why I have been asking so many questions pertaining to the SuperDish because I know that it is a bit different than the dbs dishes that a lot are used to. The SuperDish is shaped different than the PrimeStar dish because it is made in a way in which would reduce its size and be still be able to pick up a good signal strength.

I wonder if there will be even better (and cheaper) solutions for the lnbf and maybe the dish as well when there may be a different lnbf used.

I find the Wireless Networking an interesting idea for using the PrimeStar dish but wonder if I can get it to work as much as 8-10 miles away from the source of the signal at the tower.
 
Currently IRDs with superdish support do infact support legacy style Ku FSS Lnbs - as well as the DishPro model that will be released with the superdish
 
Guest- Is that a fact? Have you gotten a signal on a dish ird from either 105 or 121 sat using a legacy switched ku lnb?

That would make sense, since legacy IRDs literally dont know about dishpro technology correct? Unless it was something in the software update, but these ird's expect a normal non stacked frequency range on the sat input. (thus the need for the dishpro converter)

Of course the superdish will only be sold with dishpro lnbs, since thats what they are pushing. I dont have any dishpro irds, thus would need converters for each, seems like a big PITA to me.

Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to aquire my 1 meter dish and an lnb to test some of this out... My 6000 has gotten the 7.81 update and sat 105 shows up in the dish pointing screen. I hope to at first get the 105 working alone, then experiment by adding the 110/119, then finally another Ku at 121.

If someone out there has a old style ku knb and dish, could you hook it up and try and get signal from 105 on your ird? (Or confirm that this is true, guest).

I have no problem rigging up a mount, i was just looking at how these Ku lnb's attach. It seems like only the diameter is semi standard.
 
HokieEngineer,

You should read this thread before repost same questions again and again :
http://www.satelliteguys.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=222.
It's working for many ppl last weeks - check lyngsat.com too.
 
Whoops, sorry. I had read that thread actually, but didnt check back on it and saw the new info posted. Glad to see many people have gotten it to work. I guess the next step is combining multiple sats onto one dish. Once I get my equipment I'll will try and take pictures to document it incase anyone else wants to try. Again, thanks for the good information :D
 
Just be warned that the support not non Dishpro FSS LNB's may not always be around. A simple software upgrade could wipe away that feature forcing people to use real Dish LNB's.

Not saying they are going to do that, but they could. :)
 
Lol, yes, I could see them doing that. If they do that however, they will be getting a call to their cancel subscription department asap from me. If they spend time writing code to limit certain lnb/sat combos, then they DEFINATELY arent spending enough time fixing bugs and adding real features.

Actually, could they do this with legacy boxes? These boxes need a dishpro adaptor anyways, i dont see how they can diferentiate between the signal coming from a dp adaptor and a legacy lnb setup??

Quick question: Would a 1 meter circular dish or a 33x26 oval dish be better for trying to nab both 105 and 121 (along with 110/119 in between)? Thanks for the help guys!
 
Scott Greczkowski said:
Just be warned that the support not non Dishpro FSS LNB's may not always be around. A simple software upgrade could wipe away that feature forcing people to use real Dish LNB's.

Not saying they are going to do that, but they could. :)
Click to expand...

Why would Dish do that? Using non-Dish LNBs is not something that somehow enables "cracking", and it benefits paying customers who have special needs (or wants) at no cost to Dish.
 
Scott Greczkowski said:
Just be warned that the support not non Dishpro FSS LNB's may not always be around. A simple software upgrade could wipe away that feature forcing people to use real Dish LNB's.
Click to expand...

Ok, I crawled up on the roof several times today and reaimed one of my 90 cm dishes at 105. My 6000u w/o legacy adapter recognized the 105 satellite, albeit with low signal strengths on available transponders. Also only three channels showed up in the guide, and none of those had programming.

Switching the 105 feed to my 501 receiver, the 501 recognized the satellite as 105 on legacy hardware, though the signal strengths were lower than with the 6000u.

Putting the 105 feed on a DP34 switch and testing on the 501 gave a NC (not connected) reading on the switch test, so no go with DP switches.

--- WCS
 
wcswett said:
Ok, I crawled up on the roof several times today and reaimed one of my 90 cm dishes at 105.
Click to expand...

Ok, another configuration...

I took two SW21's up on the roof and cascaded them with the first one attached to legacy 119 and 110 LNBF's and the second one adding in 105 using a standard Ku FSS LNBF. I ran the resulting cable to a 6000u and did a standard switch check. The result was 119 119 110 110. I selected the Superdish/129 check box and did another switch check. This resulted in 119 119 105 105.

Has anyone tried this configuration and gotten more than two satellites?

--- WCS
 
Scott Greczkowski

A better look - SuperDish LNB's

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House prewired

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