Found a C band dish.Now what?

[ILoveSats]

Hi!,

I found a C band dish in the neighborhood. I got the mounting pole, mount and dish. The dish measures 7 feet 9 inches across. I guess this is considered an 8 foot dish? True/false?

What do I need to look at to get this up and running?

I guess I need:

1. New C band actuator
2. FTA receiver
3. New hardware Nuts & bolts, washers
5. Sand blast & paint mount
6.Repairmesh
7. Dual C& Ku LNB

 

[Cham]

@ILoveSats​

Check the actuator, pull off the boot and remove the back. Clean out any debris etc and check the wires. If it looks not too bad power up the motor and see what it does. Might just need a good cleaning. 12v should get it to move. Make sure you apply power to the motor wires (heavier) and not the sensor.
That's a Von Weiss actuator, I have one that looks just like it. Been working for years and years.

The rest of the stuff in your list... depends on how bad it is and how "new" you want it to look. I don't have perforated/mesh dishes here so I won't comment on mesh repair, but you definitely need a decent parabolic shape to the reflector or it won't work.

FTA receiver and LNBF, check with Brian at Titanium Satellite or Mike K4EST. They are quite popular on the forum here. I would avoid the dual C/Ku LNBF and go with a good C-band unit for the big dish.

Look for a used Ku dish around your area, try to get a 4' fiberglass one if you can. Check gas stations and other businesses that have moved from satellite to fiber internet. TV and radio stations might have some spares as well.

I'm sure others will give you better advise too!

 

[ILoveSats]

@ILoveSats​

Check the actuator, pull off the boot and remove the back. Clean out any debris etc and check the wires. If it looks not too bad power up the motor and see what it does. Might just need a good cleaning. 12v should get it to move. Make sure you apply power to the motor wires (heavier) and not the sensor.
That's a Von Weiss actuator, I have one that looks just like it. Been working for years and years.

The rest of the stuff in your list... depends on how bad it is and how "new" you want it to look. I don't have perforated/mesh dishes here so I won't comment on mesh repair, but you definitely need a decent parabolic shape to the reflector or it won't work.

FTA receiver and LNBF, check with Brian at Titanium Satellite or Mike K4EST. They are quite popular on the forum here. I would avoid the dual C/Ku LNBF and go with a good C-band unit for the big dish.

Look for a used Ku dish around your area, try to get a 4' fiberglass one if you can. Check gas stations and other businesses that have moved from satellite to fiber internet. TV and radio stations might have some spares as well.

I'm sure others will give you better advise too!

@ILoveSats​

Check the actuator, pull off the boot and remove the back. Clean out any debris etc and check the wires. If it looks not too bad power up the motor and see what it does. Might just need a good cleaning. 12v should get it to move. Make sure you apply power to the motor wires (heavier) and not the sensor.
That's a Von Weiss actuator, I have one that looks just like it. Been working for years and years.

The rest of the stuff in your list... depends on how bad it is and how "new" you want it to look. I don't have perforated/mesh dishes here so I won't comment on mesh repair, but you definitely need a decent parabolic shape to the reflector or it won't work.

FTA receiver and LNBF, check with Brian at Titanium Satellite or Mike K4EST. They are quite popular on the forum here. I would avoid the dual C/Ku LNBF and go with a good C-band unit for the big dish.

Look for a used Ku dish around your area, try to get a 4' fiberglass one if you can. Check gas stations and other businesses that have moved from satellite to fiber internet. TV and radio stations might have some spares as well.

I'm sure others will give you better advise too!

The wires have been pulled out of the motor, so that will be quite difficult not impossible, however. Nonetheless, I was expecting to buy a new motor simply because I wanted to anticipate longevity with this particular part. I’m curious to know how the motor is actually powered I doubt it’s done through the coax cable, so does it have its own power source? if you wouldn’t mind elaborating knowing what the issues are with using a dual C/KUL and BF would be nice to know as I’m still quite green and the hobby
Thank you very much for responding to my post you gave a lot of good information. Thank you 73 K9JPT.

 

[armadillo_115]

I started out with an 8 ft dish, so can speak from bit of experience.
I would not invest much to repair an 8 ft'er. Don't worry about making the dish 'pretty'. Just the minimum to get it working well. No sooner than you get it working and you will be looking for a 10 ft'er... or larger.

Pressure wash the grime off everything. Massage out any dings in the mesh. Thin wire can be used to stitch up any small rips in the mesh or perf.

Mount the pole tall enough and strong enough to mount a larger dish later. Get the actuator and pole in good shape.... both can be used on a larger dish later.

Install good quality SOLID copper rg6 cable. The cheap stuff will be money wasted in the long run.

A c/ku lnb usually compromises performance on both bands, especially on an 8 ft'er. I agree with Cham... make it C band only.

The actuator (motor) is powered thru wires separate from the coaxial cable. Modern receivers will not power the actuator. You will need a disecqc antenna positioner to drive the actuator. (Or an old style receiver that can drive the actuator) You can mount it stationary to begin with if desired.

Take your time and enjoy the project. It can be both educational and fun!

 

[ILoveSats]

I don't know about a 10 foot dish. My visability is limited. I can only see from 61 in the east to 107 in the west.

 

[Captain Midnight]

I don't know about a 10 foot dish. My visability is limited. I can only see from 61 in the east to 107 in the west.

It's up to you. But after the final 5G repack, anything under 10-12ft may not work with C Band.

 

[ILoveSats]

Well if that's the case I'll bring the dish to the scrap yard since its useless. Thanks for preventing me spending time and money getting this setup since in the end it will be a waste of time.

 

[Captain Midnight]

Well if that's the case I'll bring the dish to the scrap yard since its useless. Thanks for preventing me spending time and money getting this setup since in the end it will be a waste of time.

Depending on your location, there may still be some channels receivable with a smaller dish on C band but from what I've read, not too many. Not saying that you should scrap it. You could set it up for Ku band or even L band to receive NOAA satellite imagery.

 

[primestar31]

Well if that's the case I'll bring the dish to the scrap yard since its useless. Thanks for preventing me spending time and money getting this setup since in the end it will be a waste of time.

I'm using that size dish, and I get probably 75% of what's up there.

 

[ILoveSats]

You in the North East- Do filters help?

 

[primestar31]

You in the North East- Do filters help?

I'm in mid-Michigan. I don't know about filters, because I don't need them for my location. I have natural terrain blocking. Which is far superior to any filter.

 

[ILoveSats]

So your saying filters aren't worth spending money on. They simply don't work?

 

[armadillo_115]

I wasn't suggesting to scrap it... just be realistic with how much you want to invest in getting the 8ft dish part to work.
The cabling, pole, receiver, sat positioner, actuator (if good), switches, etc are wise investments toward a larger dish in the future.

 

[primestar31]

So your saying filters aren't worth spending money on. They simply don't work?

No, I didn't say that. I've never used one on a C-band dish, so I don't know how effective they are. But blocking 5g from getting into a dish in the first place, has to be superior to an add-on filter.

 

[ILoveSats]

How would that be measured, determined and implemented then?

 

[Titanium]

The main reason for a larger 10-12 ft dish is due to the increase in frequency/polarity overlap on adjacent satellites. No doubt that a larger dish will provide a benefit by increasing the signal to noise ratio for a target satellite signal and negating terrestrial interference (including 5G), this is not the primary reason for installing a larger dish.

As the North American C-band satellite downlink bandwidth narrows from 3700 - 4200MHz, then 3800 - 4200MHz and in a year to 4000 - 4200MHz, this remaining frequency range is being utilized for simultaneous transmissions on both polarities. In days gone by, overlapping frequency ranges would alternate polarities on a satellite and between adjacent satellites, decreasing the potential for cross polarity and adjacent satellite signal interference. As uplinkers optimize their bandwidth usage, higher FECs ratios are being implemented and the resulting higher SNR requirement. Now a larger satellite dish is often needed to provide higher signal gain and most important, to shape a tighter beam width to reject signals from adjacent satellites.

While it is a great idea to install a 10 or larger reflector, in the real world, I would not reject or discard an 8 foot dish. It is a great starter dish and will be useful for receiving most services. If you enjoy the hobby, keep on the lookout for a larger dish and upgrade if and when it is possible!

Filters may not be necessary. If an offending interfering signal is identified and the intensity measured, a filter would be selected to attenuate to a provide a manageable SNR in the the frequency range.

 

[ILoveSats]

The main reason for a larger 10-12 ft dish is due to the increase in frequency/polarity overlap on adjacent satellites. No doubt that a larger dish will provide a benefit by increasing the signal to noise ratio for a target satellite signal and negating terrestrial interference (including 5G), this is not the primary reason for installing a larger dish.

As the North American C-band satellite downlink bandwidth narrows from 3700 - 4200MHz, then 3800 - 4200MHz and in a year to 4000 - 4200MHz, this remaining frequency range is being utilized for simultaneous transmissions on both polarities. In days gone by, overlapping frequency ranges would alternate polarities on a satellite and between adjacent satellites, decreasing the potential for cross polarity and adjacent satellite signal interference. As uplinkers optimize their bandwidth usage, higher FECs ratios are being implemented and the resulting higher SNR requirement. Now a larger satellite dish is often needed to provide higher signal gain and most important, to shape a tighter beam width to reject signals from adjacent satellites.

While it is a great idea to install a 10 or larger reflector, in the real world, I would not reject or discard an 8 foot dish. It is a great starter dish and will be useful for receiving most services. If you enjoy the hobby, keep on the lookout for a larger dish and upgrade if and when it is possible!

Brian, Thanks for putting this into perspective. It helped a lot. I do think this is an interesting hobby and I'm looking for this experience to help me once we get a 2M repeater in space.

You got a really neat QRZ page. I like your 2 meter yagi. I need to build one so I can hit a distant repeater in Mass. It's possible just got to build it.

73!

K9JPT

 

[primestar31]

How would that be measured, determined and implemented then?

Several ways. By knowing just exactly where your local cell towers are, then placing your dish behind a building, wall, or RF fence that can block that signal from getting into the dish, yet that doesn't interfere with aiming at satellites.

Or, knowing where your local cell towers are, then using a spectrum analyzer to look for intruding signals, confirm they exist, and putting the dish behind a building or wall that blocks that specific direction.

Things of that sort. Just be aware that in some areas, 5g microcells are actually being mounted on telephone poles right IN peoples neighborhoods. IF you have to aim through one, that's not easy to block. Though once again, IF you know where it's located, you MAY be able to install the dish pole where it'll be shielded by a wall to block that signal.

 

[JFOK]

ILoveSats,

For what it’s worth, I have a solid 8 foot dish and I receive MOST satellite services up there. I bought one of Titanium’s 5g filtering lnbf (s) and that took care of my 5g issues. I also have a kU side car set up on that dish and it works well also.
Yes a 10 footer would do more, but I’m very satisfied with my dish set up.

John

 

[ILoveSats]

ILoveSats,

For what it’s worth, I have a solid 8 foot dish and I receive MOST satellite services up there. I bought one of Titanium’s 5g filtering lnbf (s) and that took care of my 5g issues. I also have a kU side car set up on that dish and it works well also.
Yes a 10 footer would do more, but I’m very satisfied with my dish set up.

John

Well this is positive to hear. Thank you for sharing!