Channel master / PrimeStar dish

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nhulst

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Dec 20, 2007
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Another poster made reference a couple of days ago to this, which is advertised as a Channel Master and which the poster said is equivalent/comparable to a PrimeStar dish. What are the odds that this would outperform the GeoSatPro 90 cm? I've got the GeoSatPro, and I've usually been very pleased with it, but lately I've found more and more cases where I need just 3-4 more Q, as I can lock signals but can't quite view them. Does anyone have this dish or something similar who could chime in?
 
If you got that 84e for free, I would try it.
But to buy it at that price plus LNB & feedhorn ... It gets expensive.

Would it perform better?
My guess is that it would.
But if I were spending money, I'd would go for a guaranteed better dish.
A 1.2m would do it. SatAV sells those.
 
I have an 84e, two 1.2's (Ex-Primestars) and a couple of .75m ChannelMasters . According to the area rule (Determines gain) 90cm = (36x39) 4410.79 Sq. in. ; 84e is (40x30) 3769.91 sq. in. so it would appear the 90cm would have a bit more gain. Whereas the 84e will exhibit better adjacent satellite rejection. (determined with the width that aligns with the arc.) Possibly equivalent to that of a 1 meter dish.
Note: this is with the elliptical feed horn used on the elliptical dish. If a 'normal' offset LNBF is used the 84e performance is worse than the .75m by a far cry. Been there, dun that.
I have my 84e fixed on 125W. works great.
Dish info: (can't remember the source)
Size, . .. .. .. .. .. AREA
"Round" dishes
1.2m = 48x52 .. 7841.42
1.0m = 40x43 .. 5403.54
90cm = 36x39 .. 4410.79
75cm = 30.5x32.5 .. 3114.10


"Elliptical" dishes
84e is 40x30 .. 3769.91
75e is 37x27 .. 3138.45
70e ?? 35x21 .. 2309.07
60e is 32x20 .. 2010.62

To get that 2 or 3 points of Q, I would venture to say a 1.2m is required.
I have a 2.4m offset in storage, if the need arises.
 
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Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to save my money for now. I think it would be better spent on a bigger project later.
 
get the most outta what ya got

nhulst said:
What are the odds that this would outperform the GeoSatPro 90 cm?
I've got the GeoSatPro, and I've usually been very pleased with it, but lately I've found more and more cases where I need just 3-4 more Q,...

- I made an assumption that you had a stock GeoSatPro LNBF.
Those dishes usually shipped with pretty decent ones (PLL model, lately). :)

- How long a coax run?

- What sort of switches along the way?

- what receiver?
The new GeoSatPro microHD is reported by users as noticeably superior.

- what signals are you having trouble with?
Lets see what others use to get those stations.


FaT Air - your dish list looks like one I compiled and posted a few years ago.
I like that you added dish-area, a worthwhile improvement.
Here's the original:

Primestar / ChannelMaster dish info:
-----------------------------------
size, width x height
1.2m = 48x52 round
1.0m = 40x43 round
84e is 40x30
75e is 37x27 arm: 21"
70e ?? 35x21 Hughes
60e is 32x20

DishNetwork Superdish and DirecTV dishes:
----------------------------------------
DishNet SuperDish: 36" x 20" h
DishNet D-500:... 20.5 x 22" h
DirecTV Slimline: 32.5 x 22.5 h
DirecTV Phase III 20.5 x 18.5 h

Msc useful dishes:
------------------
DirectWay: 39" wide X 23" tall elliptical with rectangular feedhorn.
Wild Blue: 26" wide x 28" tall (?)
 
Might go for one of those PLL-lnbs, that might bring you the extra oomph you desire. SatAV has those too, I believe.
 
Might be that the dish/feed need just a bit more detailed 'tweaking'? From all that I've garnered, the geosatpro 90cm is a good dish.
EDIT: Deleted as Anole has already asked the Q's I had typed. (Type Too Slow!)
Anole - Maybe it was your list.
The area is just the 'raw' area of the dish face. For complete accuracy one should also take into account the offset angle where the dish area facing the satellite is = to a circle the width of the 'normal' offset dish. But it gives a good indication, I think, of the relative gain that can be expected. The formula gets a bit complicated with elliptical dishes to do this. Don't know if it's worth doing as the area would only decrease about a max of 10%. So just figured the raw area.
Hey, maybe I should hit POST?? :facepalm
 
Well, I recognize this line, specifically:
70e ?? 35x21 Hughes
You have the double question marks, and the 70e that pretty much nobody ever heard about.
I made up the name 70e , based just on dish size.
And it does have Hughes printed across the front size (no idea what they used 'em for).
I don't know what Andrew/ChannelMaster called it.
But, I have two of 'em! :)

Ya did a good thing separating the round from the elliptical, too.
Oh, and adding 90cm and 75cm round.
I didn't think about those at the time. :)
 

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Might go for one of those PLL-lnbs, that might bring you the extra oomph you desire. SatAV has those too, I believe.

Save some money. This guy is a confirmed (by Brian himself) Geosatpro reseller, and he has the PLL lnb for $17 with FREE shipping: http://www.ebay.com/itm/GEOSATpro-S...ellite_LNB_Downconverters&hash=item41692d1aca

That's a $14.50 savings over what Satelliteav wants for the same lnb. You'll almost save enough to buy a second LNB if you want.

p.s. Try making an offer at $16. I'll bet he'll go for it, and you'll save even another dollar. It's worth a try anyway.
 
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- I made an assumption that you had a stock GeoSatPro LNBF.
Those dishes usually shipped with pretty decent ones (PLL model, lately). :)

- How long a coax run?

- What sort of switches along the way?

- what receiver?
The new GeoSatPro microHD is reported by users as noticeably superior.

- what signals are you having trouble with?
Lets see what others use to get those stations.

Fortec Star Mercury 2, with a Technotrend 3200 connected via the slave port
DG380 motor, no switches, one grounding block
About 100 feet of RG-6
I do indeed have the new PLL LNBF, purchased from SatelliteAV.
The MicroHD is very much on my list and may happen as soon as next week.

As for signals I'm having trouble with, there's only one full-time one I can point to. It's listed as "CBS Feeds" on Lyngsat and scans as DC PATH3. Galaxy 16 (99W), 11804 V 3979. I can lock it but I can never view it without tiling. I have this problem quite frequently with wildfeeds, which is what prompted the question. So far, I haven't been able to get the dish peaked any better than i have it, and i have never observed the quality be any better when i have the receiver out at the dish connected directly to the LNBF by only a few feet of coax.
 
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