Feedhorn/LNB Identification

[kirara386]

First off...I've been reading the threads here for months and gleaning lots of useful information. Now I've got something the search function didn't help me find out.

I've got my parent's old 10 foot Perfect 10 Dish back into operation. It's working great on my FTA receiver with the BSC-621. Although the 621 isn't performing as I'd hoped. It works great on C-Band and so-so on KU.

Since the 621 isn't working on KU as well as I'd like, plus I also have a 4dtv 920 coming (Thanks Lak7)...I want to put the old LNB with the servo back on the dish and use it for C-Band only until I can get a Corotor II and LNBs for that. I don't have a problem getting it hooked up. The only thing that's perplexing me with it is trying to figure out what brand name it is. I've tried googling and searching here and I can't seem to figure out what kind of feedhorn it is. So I'm going to post some pics of it and see if anyone here knows. The label has long baked off the LNB from the Florida heat, and other than the Channel Master Servo there isn't any kind of ID on the LNB.
?

 

[Lak7]

If the 621 is performing well on C Band, why change it?

EDIT: I left the 4DTV setup for use with the BSC621, if you have any questions, please let me know.

 

[kirara386]

If the 621 is performing well on C Band, why change it?

I forgot to mention that it's the 621-2 universal so the 920 won't know what to do with it, plus I just like messing around with stuff as well. My husband always tells me I'm not happy unless I'm tinkering with something. I never can leave well enough alone.

 

[Lak7]

It will still work for C Band. Not much Ku for the 4DTV.

 

[gabshere]

yeah just run the c-band on the bsc621-2
and you could always add a dvb receiver and use the ku for that

 

[kirara386]

I have a DVB receiver and a 90 motorized dish with a QPH-031. The motorized dish is already setup and tweaked. I just disconnected it so I could experiment with the big dish. I have wires coming from both up in the attic. I just need to run another wire down the wall so I'll have the little dish and the big dish coming into the house.

How do you by-pass the built in switch on the 621? I tried experimenting with it last weekend but never had any luck.

Plus I'm still curious about the make of that feedhorn. It's kind of interesting. It screws into the scaler and has declination? marks.

 

[Lak7]

How do you by-pass the built in switch on the 621?

Don't use the "Jumper" cable. Use a DiSEqC switch, Port 1 to C Band, and Port 2 to Ku.

It screws into the scaler and has declination? marks.

I would guess "f/D ratio" marks.

EDIT: For better Ku, try removing the Feedhorn cap. If it is greatly improved, find something else to use. I use the bottom of a water bottle, fits neatly inside the mouth.

 

[kirara386]

I took the cap off of the 621 from day one, since I read that others have had problems with it blocking the signal. I haven't even tried it with the cap on, and I haven't made a substitute for it yet. At least it's not wasp season yet.

I had the LNB adjusted to get 100% quality on C-Band, but I was only getting about 20-30% on KU. Now I'm getting about 70% quality on C and 44% on KU after adjusting for KU. I think I'm just going to adjust the lnb so I'm getting 100% on the C and the hookup my smaller dish to get the KU, for now.

 

[Anole]

Kira-rah-rah -

It's a pleasure to get a new member who does their homework and comes to the table so well informed. -
Welcome aboard ! -

 

[hotelboss]

The lnb is/was made by gardiner.I am not sure on the feedhorn.

 

[truckracer]

My bsc621 sucked on ku band.
Got a corotor and the corotor blows it away hands down on ku and c

 

[kirara386]

Finally I've had some success by-passing the built in diseqc on the 621, and as with most problems it came back to something simple...I forgot to turn the diseqc "off" on my DVB receiver last weekend when I was trying to get around the built in switch.

Then I was attempting to bypass the switch again today I was using a diseqc switch I had laying around, since I was trying to use my separete dish for Ku, and I couldn't get the darn thing to work at all. Finally it dawned on me to try it without the switch...sure enough it was a bad port on the switch. Now all I need is a new switch and I'll be up and running on both C and KU.

 

[truckracer]

I hate to tell you, but the best of switches won't make that lnbf perform on ku.
I tuned on mine for hours with my 10' Sami (new dish).
You just couldn't get the f/d set to satisfy both bands at optimum levels.
I don't have that issue with my old school feedhorns.

 

[truckracer]

I read one time that a few years ago chapparall tried making a combo c/ku lnbf but never released it because they could not get cross pol and other issues resolved from having c and ku in a common boresight

 

[ACRadio]

The feedhorn is the old blue Astrotel with a Channel Master replacement servo. It was easy to get the feed throat crooked with the Chaparral design so they made a thread on the side and you just dialed up your f/d ratio...the throat was always straight.

 

[kirara386]

I hate to tell you, but the best of switches won't make that lnbf perform on ku.
I tuned on mine for hours with my 10' Sami (new dish).
You just couldn't get the f/d set to satisfy both bands at optimum levels.
I don't have that issue with my old school feedhorns.

Yeah I realize, by passing the switch won't make the KU work any better. I wanted to by pass it so I could use my 90cm motorized dish for KU and the 10 foot dish for C only. The separate switch was so I could control the motorized 90cm and its LNB.

The feedhorn is the old blue Astrotel with a Channel Master replacement servo. It was easy to get the feed throat crooked with the Chaparral design so they made a thread on the side and you just dialed up your f/d ratio...the throat was always straight.

After dealing with the bsc621 and it's tendency to wobble a bit, I found the threads to be an interesting solution to that problem. That's one of the reasons I was curious to find out the make of the feedhorn. Thanks for the identification.

 

[Lak7]

How have you wired that in?

 

[kirara386]

It actually wasn't that hard to wire in. It's similar to the slave kit for the 4dtv and a DVB receiver. What I did (before I found out my diseqc only worked on some of the ports) was I hooked a Hi-Freq splitter to the C-Band line. One of the C-band lines is going to be for the 4dtv and the other is for my DVB. I ran the C-band line for my DVB into port one of the switch, and the KU line into port 2. I'm using a GBOX to move the big dish at the moment, so I put the diseqc before the GBOX so the receiver doesn't move both dishes at the same time, at least that was my goal. I never did found out how it was all going to pan out since my switch wasn't working properly. I was able to drive the little dish though, so I know that part of the plan works.

I've got another cheapo diseqc that came with my receiver, so I may try testing with that until my new switch comes.

Edit:

I pulled out my other diseqc switch and I can verify that I can control the motor/actuator of both dishes independently. However port #1 was burnt out on that diseqc too, so I had to try it on port #4, which means no signal from the 621.

 

[Lak7]

You should not run trhu a DiSEqC Switch to a Motor.

Receiver-------Motor--------DiSEqC Switch------LNBs

 

[kirara386]

Yeah, I know that you are supposed to run it that way. I was curious to see if the motor would run at all that way and it does. Whether it would be dependable that way or possibly damage equipment I don't know.

I don't know a lot about the internal workings of a switch or motor, so it makes be wonder why are you supposed to put the switch on the LNB side of the motor? Is it so that all of your lnbs feed through the motor and there's only one cable coming in the house, or because the switch might block some signal that the motor needs? Perhaps it confuses the receiver in some way? I see on Sadoun's site it says it will impact the performance of the motor, but doesn't say how or why.

Unfortunately the big dish is about 200ft from the house and the small dish is 15 feet from the house and both feed in on opposite sides of the house, so unless I decide to run the C-band line to the small dish and then into the house or move the KU dish closer to the big dish I don't have many other options. Plus if you wired it that way both dishes would move at the same time.