Combination c/ku dish

[rudroman]

I have a couple of questions hopefully can be answered. Just trying to learn before i actually setup my system.

I found a Bud dish that the person is willing to give to me but before I bring it home like to know if dish can be used for this type of setup? LNBF messed up so would have to buy new one.

1) If i wanted to setup a combination C/Ku band dish can an 8-10ft mesh dish be used?
2) What type of lnbf is best?
3) is is best to have system motorized? How hard is to align to satellite?


Thanks ahead of time

 

[starman345]

1 C/ku is no problem provided the openings of the mesh on the dish are small enough, C band is no problem, but ku band needs a mesh small enough so a pencil won't pass through it.

2. I have a Ck/1 lnbf on my 10 footer and I like it.

3. Yes, motorize the dish, it probably has an arm(actuator) or if your lucky a horizon to horizon motor. Its not that hard to align a dish, you have all the knowledge you will ever need right here on this forum and everyone is more than happy to help you along, so just ask questions.
Try to get a picture or two of the dish, front and back, its helpful for people here to judge what you have and what you might need to know. Good luck

 

[B.J.]

My personal opinion is that this old rule of thumb about the pencil through the mesh thing isn't very useful. I've never seen a dish less than 25 years old that doesn't pass the pencil test, but that doesn't necessarily mean the the dish will work well on Ku. On my first dish, which was C-band only, I tried to add Ku to it, but it was a very poor performer, so I tried to reduce the mesh size by covering the surface with fine metal screen material like you'd use on a window. This didn't help at all. I think the problem with old dishes is more related to the shape of the dish than to the mesh size. My current dish used to work fairly well on Ku, but now is terrible. The mesh size didn't change, but the shape did (because every winter I bang off the snow and ice with a broom, and it's now a bit warped and dented. I also have another 6' dish that used to work on Ku, but also got warped, and no longer does Ku. So I think that you really can't be certain that a C-band dish will work on Ku without trying it. My guess is that unless the dish has been mis-treated, that it will work OK, but if there are dents in the dish, or it seems to be warped at all that there may be problems. I've found that the most important thing for getting a dish to work on both C and Ku is to have the feed at the proper focal length.

Re the question about "what is the best lnbf", most people with BUDs don't use an LNBF, but instead use a feedhorn to which you can connect LNBs. However these usually have a mechanical polarotor to control polarity, and you'll need an old analog receiver to control that. There ARE lnbfs, which employ electrically switched polarity control that a FTA receiver can control. In general, these aren't as high quality as the LNBs used with the feedhorns, but they are much more convenient. I've never owned one of these C/Ku lnbfs, so I can't compare to the C/Ku feedhorns I've used.

 

[Radioguy41]

My 15 year old KTI 7.5 foot mesh dish works just fine for both C-band and Ku with quality signals hitting 99 on most birds. Correct focal point setting and a quality LNB are the keys. I'm running a Co-Rotor II with separate C and Ku LNB's.

 

[Blue Crystal]

I'm using a 10 ft "Perfect 10" mesh dish. I believe it is called a prime focus dish. The holes on my mesh dish are very small.
I'm also using a BSC621-2 universal LNB. The same lnb is used for c/ku band, without having to change the lnb each time you want to swith from c to ku.
A little tricky to use in the beginning, but works great
Just a word to the wise, try to locate a receiver that has built in protection against "transponder overload".
I overloaded my first receiver, locked it up, and never could get it to work again.
I bought a "Captive Works 800" and so far it works great
Good Viewing

 

[starman345]

I'm using a 10 ft "Perfect 10" mesh dish. I believe it is called a prime focus dish. The holes on my mesh dish are very small.
I'm also using a BSC621-2 universal LNB. The same lnb is used for c/ku band, without having to change the lnb each time you want to swith from c to ku.
A little tricky to use in the beginning, but works great
Just a word to the wise, try to locate a receiver that has built in protection against "transponder overload".
I overloaded my first receiver, locked it up, and never could get it to work again.
I bought a "Captive Works 800" and so far it works great
Good Viewing

What was your first receiver model? Did you try an editor to delete transponders then load the edited list back to the receiver or will it just not take the upload? Usually these things can be fixed.

 

[rudroman]

Thanks

Thank you, will try to go this weekend an pick up my very first satellite BUD and slowly gather equipment/parts to setup. I am sure I have many questions as I proceed.