Can I convert by C Band dish by replacing the LNFB and putting tin foil over the dish
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Your 6 footer may need tweaking or perhaps a better feed/LNBs. There's not much we can't get on C-band with ours, including everything on 58W to a fair amount of high rate S2 8PSK. I generally hold the bigger dishes in reserve for the tougher signals, which makes our 6' the real workhorse. Our larger dishes (up to 10.5') are only occasionally used. I did some experiments on Ku with a Frankenstein dual-ortho feed with the 6', and these persuaded me to pick up an old 6' Prodelin for Ku-only. That really screams.
ikki what kind of dish is it? Do you think the mesh size isn't right for ku? (why else would you suggest tin foil lol). I would think a decent 6' prime focus dish would make a good ku dish with the ku lnbf, but I haven't tried one myself. I had good luck with a 5' solid dish that I put a prime focus ku lnb on , used it for about 6months until I discovered that a 1 m primestar offset dish, did just as well, or better.
Ikki,
I use a 6' mesh with a c/ku combo lnb and it rocks, but the mount is larger than the pipe it's mounted on and is VERY hard to peak because of the slop. When you go to tighten it, it wants to move and throw everything off, but once it's there it's golden. I ended up making a shim to take up the space, but I'm not touching it again. By the way, If 1 of my mesh panels ever needs replacing, I think I'll try aluminum roof flashing. Anyone tried that?
ss
I use a 6' mesh with a c/ku combo lnb and it rocks, but the mount is larger than the pipe it's mounted on and is VERY hard to peak because of the slop. When you go to tighten it, it wants to move and throw everything off, but once it's there it's golden. I ended up making a shim to take up the space, but I'm not touching it again. By the way, If 1 of my mesh panels ever needs replacing, I think I'll try aluminum roof flashing. Anyone tried that?
ss
Tin foil will not help you get Ku. If a dish isn't Ku compatable it's almost never going to be due to mesh size, and even if it is partially due to mesh size, tin foil isn't going to help. I tried doing something like that with fine metal window screen once, sewing it into the dish mesh, and it only made things worse. If a dish is so old that it doesn't work on Ku, it's generally the shape of the dish that's bad, not the mesh.
Can I convert by C Band dish by replacing the LNFB with a KU band LNFB and putting tin foil over the dish?
My 6 footer is about as worthless as Dish network.
It's a hobby give it a try.
I've had good experience with both foil and aluminum window screen. The foil is easier to work with but dosen't last long. Be sure to use a PF Ku LNBF.
And remember Ku will be critical to tune on a big solid dish but that is often used by cable head ends to reduce rain fade.
No more then 1 mm dish parabola surface variation for Ku. 5 mm for C Band.
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I was just chatting with a cuban friend who's gonna do something similar to what you want to do.
His idea is to turn a 75cm offset dish onto a 85cm or even a 90cm dish, cutting the dish in 8 petals so it can open up a bit until it reaches the same depth as a 85cm dish he has, once done that he'll use resin, glass fiber, he'll sand it, and then will use aluminium foil. I know he has cloned dishes in the past with success, so, i'll be waiting to see how it all pans out.
=)
His idea is to turn a 75cm offset dish onto a 85cm or even a 90cm dish, cutting the dish in 8 petals so it can open up a bit until it reaches the same depth as a 85cm dish he has, once done that he'll use resin, glass fiber, he'll sand it, and then will use aluminium foil. I know he has cloned dishes in the past with success, so, i'll be waiting to see how it all pans out.
=)
ikki, there are probably others but this is the only one I know of (Ku LNBF for PF).
Satellite AV - Free to Air Satellite Equipment Distributors - GEOSATpro, Glorystar 888-483-4673
I have one of these and it worked pretty well on an offset dish, never tried it on a prime focus.
Theoretically, I guess, one of the main factors in how well it would work depends on the matching of the F/D ratios of the dish and LNBF?
That prime focus LNB ROCKS on the 6 footer. I tried it a while back on one of my 6 footers and most sats it maxes the meter....Eden Satmex5 which is a bugger in MN to get I got stuff in the 70's quality wise...on the 36" 0-10 
I think the last line in my signature says it all
I think the last line in my signature says it all
That prime focus LNB ROCKS on the 6 footer. I tried it a while back on one of my 6 footers and most sats it maxes the meter....Eden Satmex5 which is a bugger in MN to get I got stuff in the 70's quality wise...on the 36" 0-10
I think the last line in my signature says it all
An interesting experiment Ice would be to toss a Direct LNBF on the Fortec 6 footer and see how it fairs in a wicked storm. I notice my regular ku on my 84 goes out before Direct does on the 90cm. I actually went through a pretty good storm a few weeks back and Direct actually hung in there. Even with the 90 I have lost it in some of the bad storms we had this summer. Ku will have rain fade no matter what but gain can make it as short as possible.
Remember through that a DirecTV satellite is high power vs a regular KU satellite which by comparison is a low power satellite. I had a buddy who used a Dish network LNBF on a DTN dish and never had rain fade.
The problem with this is those LNBFs are designed for a f/D of around 0.6 and the Fortec 6' prime focus has a f/D of around 0.38. The net effect is the LNBF will only see some center section of the dish (under-illuminate) and will get correspondingly lower gain as compared to a LNBF or feed designed for a lower f/D. You still might get more gain than on a small dish, but it will not reflect what you could get with a better match.
Ice, how did you attach that LNBF to your support arms, one of those 3-legged adapter plates or..........an Iceberg Special Mount?
Have any pics?
no I got the 3 legged adapter from Sadoun a while back
Here are some older pics when I did a test on this
SatelliteGuys.US - View Single Post - BSC321SP F/D ratio
Here are some older pics when I did a test on this
SatelliteGuys.US - View Single Post - BSC321SP F/D ratio
ikki
Here is a great example of how this thing rocks on KU.
Wanted to watch the No Dakota State vs. Northern Iowa game. Only available on TV in Cedar Rapids IA and North Dakota. On the Bison fan site the coordinates were posted. AMC1 KU...oh great
30" dish with skew wrong...0
36" dish with skew wrong...0
36" dish with skew right...25-27 on the Pansat 2500
Took the 6 footer and put the LNB on it...fine tuned it....70
Got somewhere around 16 of those news feeds on H with it...stuff that the 26" wouldnt even think about getting
One thing I noticed....If you use the 3 point ring as I have in the post above push the LNB in about 1/2" to 3/4" towards the dish for optimum signal. I noticed on AMC1 its real finicky. If I had it flush the signal dropped to the mid 40's (30 is threshold)
Here is a great example of how this thing rocks on KU.
Wanted to watch the No Dakota State vs. Northern Iowa game. Only available on TV in Cedar Rapids IA and North Dakota. On the Bison fan site the coordinates were posted. AMC1 KU...oh great
30" dish with skew wrong...0
36" dish with skew wrong...0
36" dish with skew right...25-27 on the Pansat 2500
Took the 6 footer and put the LNB on it...fine tuned it....70
Got somewhere around 16 of those news feeds on H with it...stuff that the 26" wouldnt even think about getting
One thing I noticed....If you use the 3 point ring as I have in the post above push the LNB in about 1/2" to 3/4" towards the dish for optimum signal. I noticed on AMC1 its real finicky. If I had it flush the signal dropped to the mid 40's (30 is threshold)
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