Fringe Spot Beam Reception

[mecro]

I've got a single lnb 18" dish, trying to pull in Cincinnati locals from 47905, which is WAYY on the fringe of the spotbeam. I peaked everything myself, and managed 90+ on most 101 transponders, with ~60 on the spotbeam transponders (4 and 12).

My question is a two parter. First, what is the minimal acceptable signal strength for a directv signal? I am new to directv, and don't know what the breaking point is. I know 50-60 is fairly low for a signal off of 101, but how bad will it be impacted when rain fade sets in?

Second parter...Is it possible to get a bigger dish? I'm only looking at getting the 101 location, so a single LNB dish is all I need. If I got a larger dish, would I get any greater signal strengths on those fringe transponders?? Thanks guys!

 

[MikeinBaja]

I've got a single lnb 18" dish, trying to pull in Cincinnati locals from 47905, which is WAYY on the fringe of the spotbeam. I peaked everything myself, and managed 90+ on most 101 transponders, with ~60 on the spotbeam transponders (4 and 12).

My question is a two parter. First, what is the minimal acceptable signal strength for a directv signal? I am new to directv, and don't know what the breaking point is. I know 50-60 is fairly low for a signal off of 101, but how bad will it be impacted when rain fade sets in?

Second parter...Is it possible to get a bigger dish? I'm only looking at getting the 101 location, so a single LNB dish is all I need. If I got a larger dish, would I get any greater signal strengths on those fringe transponders?? Thanks guys!

Minimum for a fairly reliable signal (doesn't fade when a small duck passes gas) is probably in the 75 range.

The bigger the dish, the better the ability to collect weaker signals. If you could manage it, you would probably get better results with a slimline size dish - the larger size would do a better job of collecting the weak signal - but it may not bring you a significant improvement that close to the fringe.

Hate to say this, but the only real way to tell is to try one (or see if someone close to you has one and what their readings are).

 

[mecro]

A friend of mine has one of the older 3lnb dishes (101,110,119), and reads about the same...if not lower than my 18" dish. I guess I'm probably SOL. Would something like a 30" single lnb dish make any difference?

 

[MikeinBaja]

A friend of mine has one of the older 3lnb dishes (101,110,119), and reads about the same...if not lower than my 18" dish. I guess I'm probably SOL. Would something like a 30" single lnb dish make any difference?

The older 3 LNB dish doesn't really have a much larger effective area than the one you have now. I wouldn't say you are SOL quite yet - walk around your neighborhood and look for someone with a larger slimline style dish and ask them about their reception - or even see if you spot someone doing FTA. Either one could give you close by advise on what they are seeing signal wise.

Still, I think there is a good probability you could achieve enough of an increase with a larger surface dish to make your signals stronger and more reliable, although I doubt you will hit 90+. But if you could get into the mid 80's or so you will notice a dramatic difference in reliability.

 

[mecro]

heck, i would kill for the mid 80's on those spotbeam tp's. I'll be on the lookup for some slimline friends, and see what I can see. Thanks

 

[MikeinBaja]

heck, i would kill for the mid 80's on those spotbeam tp's. I'll be on the lookup for some slimline friends, and see what I can see. Thanks

If you find someone with one in the area (and they don't take the locals) see if they will let you plug you receiver into their dish to check the spotbeam signals. Cheap way to find out (assuming they have a good align on their dish!).

Good hunting.