"Dish 500" out of a True-Focus 1.8M?

[sforgue]

P;
The company is True-Focus; the dish/reflector is a regular, offset dish (LNB near the bottom).

 

[RVD420]

Have you tried aiming the Dish at 119, and then with a 2nd LNB in hand find a good position for 110.

I did that resently for my Dad who got a solid offset 6 ft dish (formerly used for 2 way internet Gilat LNB and transiver was hooked up. Salvaged from a Franks nursery)

 

[Smith P.]

P;
The company is True-Focus; the dish/reflector is a regular, offset dish (LNB near the bottom).

Duh !

 

[Smith P.]

Have you tried aiming the Dish at 119, and then with a 2nd LNB in hand find a good position for 110.

I did that resently for my Dad who got a solid offset 6 ft dish (formerly used for 2 way internet Gilat LNB and transiver was hooked up. Salvaged from a Franks nursery)

Yeah - get highest SS for one 119W LNBF w/out switch; use the same cable from 119W LNBF to other LNBF ( for 110W) and holding it in your hand find best position for the LNBF 110W. I did that for my 1m dish adding second LNBF 129W to 121W main LNBF.

 

[sforgue]

Well; it's done...

Finished up the "dish 500" this week. It's not what I was hoping for, but it's working! If you look at the picture, in the foreground is the 1.8m getting 110W through the gap in the trees. On the roof is a 1m dish getting 119W through the same tree-gap. It's all feeding a DP34 down in the crawlspace.
I'm not fond of screws in my roof, so I'll be pulling down the small dish and mounting it in the backyard.
BTW, the signal strength is pretty weak for E*8 way up here. Most of the transponders are getting around 60-70, TP8 is around 55, and 10 won't even lock most of the time (luckily, TP10 just has a bunch of shopping...). Once Charlie "relaunches" Dish this Fall, are we going to get a better signal from 110W?

 

[Smith P.]

Oops, looking at the picture I feel your LNBF is not in focal point.
Can you post more pictures: frontal (0 degree) and side (180 degree of LOS ) of the 1.8M dish ? With original LNBF and Dish's LNBF ?

 

[Anole]

copy of PM with Claude of DishStore

Better LNBs might buy you a little. No guarantees.
This PM is from the first of the year.
I guess I forgot to include reference to it in your thread.
Actually, I was under the impression you weren't taking my advice on the DishPro/DP34 approach.

Wonder what you might have learned in the two months since I sent this?

Happy New Year.

You are DishStore, aren't you ?
I seem to recall the name from a telephone purchase I made there several years ago.
(thanks, by the way)

Would you be so kind as to take a look at this thread...
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=80038
...and let the guys know if Dish has such as thing as a low noise LNB for Alaska.
If so, I was suggesting the fellows in Puerto Rico give it a try.
They're already using 6' dishes for 61, and any little bit more they can get, would help a lot.

'nother business opportunity for you, too...

Im looking into this.... I'll email you back when I get an ansewer

I actually got some in stock, they are $10 more than the standard Dishpro Dual LNB's

For all intents and purposes they look the same, but I did not test them to see if there is a difference.

Claude G.

 

[sforgue]

More photos

Here are some more shots of the reflector. Let me know if things look "out of whack". BTW, that model of dish is really popular up here, and, from about 30 feet away, they all look about the same (mine might be a little more wavy).

 

[Smith P.]

I see it now - looks good. But that little bumps ... no big deal, but if whole parabola dis-shaped, then signal will be low then usual. If you coud recheck 119W with it - what will be SS for all tpns ?

 

[sforgue]

P;
I can't really check 119W with this dish. The tree-gap that I'm shooting through is aligned with 110W at that spot in my backyard. If I wanted to hit 119W with that dish, I'd have to physically move it about 12 feet to the east.
The signal strenth is okay, I guess. We've had a few windy days, and some clouds and rain, and we haven't had any problems with signal strength (except for tp10).

 

[digiblur]

P;
I can't really check 119W with this dish. The tree-gap that I'm shooting through is aligned with 110W at that spot in my backyard. If I wanted to hit 119W with that dish, I'd have to physically move it about 12 feet to the east.
The signal strenth is okay, I guess. We've had a few windy days, and some clouds and rain, and we haven't had any problems with signal strength (except for tp10).

You might just wait for E11 then if you tried a lot of things. E11(110W) is supposed to offer better signal strength to your area.

 

[sforgue]

Dish 500 V2.0

Pretty busy this weekend... Some folks down the street decided to ditch E* and go with DigitialCable, so I bought their ChannelMaster 1.2M from them. It is now mounted in the backyard about 12 feet from the 1.8M. Together, the two of them are D500 V2.0! I was a little puzzled when I fired up the 1.2M and got the same relative signal strength as I was getting from the 1.0M (both pointed at 119W). Something to do with how far north I am??? The 1.0M came off the roof (nothing driven into my roof now!), and since I had a free port on the DP34, I decided to set up a Very Small Array in the backyard and point the 1.0M at 148W (our digital locals are on 148W). I must be getting better at this whole satellite-peaking thing, because I had 148 locked-in within about 5 seconds (no joke!) On the second thumbnail, 148W is the little guy on the ground (temporary mount) near the right, 119W is in the middle, and 110W is on the left. The wife thinks I'm insane to have all of these dishes in the yard, so I'm probably done for a while!

 

[mdonnelly]

...Something to do with how far north I am??? ...

I love those pictures of the dishes pointed right at the horizon. I'm guessing that there aren't so many trees to the South of your dishes.

 

[digiblur]

On the second thumbnail, 148W is the little guy on the ground (temporary mount) near the right, 119W is in the middle, and 110W is on the left. The wife thinks I'm insane to have all of these dishes in the yard, so I'm probably done for a while!

The low one looks like a primestar dish!

 

[sforgue]

Yeah; I've seen some pictures of old Primestar dishes, and the little (?) guy does look like one, down to the dark spot near the top where the sticker would go. BTW, I'm thinking of trying to turn the VSA into a Dish 500+, but I'm having a hard time getting 129W with the 1M. I figure another 1.2M would help...

 

[Anole]

Are you kidding?
The folks in the northwest lower-48 can barely get 129.
Did Dish say you could get reception up there?

 

[Jim5506]

If you're in Alaska, you're barking up the wrong tree. Dish has special spotbeams for Alaska HD on 110. You'll need a HUGE dish to get 129 up there.

 

[sforgue]

Anole;
I haven't actually called and talked to Dish about it: I was just kinda hoping that I'd be able to get it...

Jim5506;
When you say HUGE, what exactly are you talking? I've tried the 1 meter, and a friend at work has another 1.8 meter that he wants to get rid of...

 

[Jim5506]

2.5-3.0 meter maybe more. WAG

 

[sforgue]

3 Meters?!? Holy smokes! There's no way I would be allowed to put up a 3 meter dish
Maybe I'll just wait until a healthier sat moves to 129W...