Elliptical dish with two dual LNBs motorized???

[jvfff]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this forum and to the subject of DIY satellite TV in itself. I'm preparing to install my first FTA system and I want to have an option of subscribing to DishNetwork in the future if decide to do so. I want to motorize my dish in order to be able to get access to as many satellites as possible. At the same time I know that if I were to get an elliptical dish, I could have two (or more) LNBs installed on it to get immediate access to, say, 110 and 119. The dish in this configuration is going to be tilted and this raises a doubt in my mind about being able to motorize it. Would it be possible? Can the motor change the tilt as well? Or should I just get a dish with one LNB, motorize it and get access to any available satellite one at a time? As I said, I'm new to this, so I'm asking to forgive me if I'm not making any sense . I'm not very comfortable though with the one LNB solution because I will probably be stuck with 110 and 119 most of the time making the motor go back and forth switching between the two satellites all the time.
So, my main question is what would be the best setup for me?
Can I motorize an elliptical two LNB dish to reduce the load on the motor?
Can the setup be made smart enough to use the other LNB if possible instead of moving the dish with the motor?

Thank you!

 

[turbosat]

If you really want free to air signals, I'd stick with the usual one dish-one lnb system. The pay-tv providers will supply equipment designed for use with their systems.

 

[Tron]

It is much easier to keep your FTA system totally separate from your subscription satellite system. First of all, modern Dish Network systems use stacked frequencies that require special LNBFs (DishPro and DishProPlus), and probably wouldn't work well with regular LNBFs that are used in FTA systems. Also, if you're going to be motorizing your dish, you'll lose the subscription birds every time you move to a different satellite. There's a good chance that Dish won't provide technical support of any kind in such an installation. Considering the attack they are launching against legitimate FTA receivers at this time, they may even try to sue you for owning one

 

[bloomdog]

Take a look at these threads:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/95705-elliptical-dish-wow-2.html
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/103148-fingers-crossed-my-cm-1-2-m-2.html
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...d-same-thing-my-globecast-eliptical-dish.html

 

[aegrotatio]

Hi, it's definitly possible to motorize a dual-LNBF dish.
The trick is to reset the skew device on the dish to zero or center (no skew).
The motor will take care of all the skew required.

Looking closely at the dual and quad LNBFs that DiSH uses they seem to be level with each other. The older ones (with two separate LNBFs) might not be close enough.

The purpose of this is, well, I'm not so sure what the purpose could be.

 

[Anole]

Can you?
Sure.
Should you?
No.

If Tron didn't make it abundantly clear above, let me add . . .
Keep your subscription and FTA antenna separate.
Each is designed for a particular purpose, and should be optimized for that service.
Additionally, any subscription receiver needs constant reception of it's satellites for proper operation.

Further, there would be no practical use to putting two circular LNBs on a motorized dish.
I wouldn't put two linear LNBs on a motor, either.
. . . Though the thought is amusing.

 

[jvfff]

Thank you guys!
I'm now leaning towards starting out with a dedicated motorized FTA dish with one LNB and then add a Dish 500 later if I feel the need. Would you recommend any particular dish for the system?
Again, thank you for your support!
-Alex.

 

[Anole]

Here's discussion of a decent dish deal:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/102541-good-place-buy-dish.html#post973266

As for LNB, you can go with the one they offer, or do some research and get some more input.
A popular (and reviewed) LNB is the Invacom SNH-031, which is a single output Universal.
But, if you'll look around on the forum, many have been reviewed and discussed, and with that dish, most should turn in decent performance.


edit:
I don't believe you mentioned what city you were near.
If outside the continental USA, there might be a consideration.
There is also a satellite only receivable in some very southern states, and another that doesn't quite make it to the Canada border.
Our far-northern Canadian cousins sometimes have challenges, too.
The other 95% are well suited to the above antenna/lnb configuration.

 

[jvfff]

I'm in San Francisco Bay Area. That's a tempting deal, but now that I read more of the forum, I lean towards the frequently mentioned Winegard 31". A lot of people seem to agree that this dish is one of the best dishes in it's category. There are a few deals on ebay for a combo of the dish with a dual LNB and a SG2100.

 

[aegrotatio]

Well, I know what the purpose could be, because I used for this purpose once. I wanted to listen to Muzak and the radio stations on Bell ExpressVu and didn't want to use two dishes. This is because Muzak is at 119 and the ExpressVu stations are at 82 and 91 and no matter how clever I was, I could not get all of them on one stationary 75cm dish. Oh, and the LNBFs on the Echostar dish are band-stacked, so it was a much simplified setup.

There, that's a good purpose.