Got my new dish in

SkySurfer80

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jun 14, 2019
228
148
Tennessee
Well I ordered a dish from a site called Electorica. They are at SATELLITE DISHES, Electorica


Well first off I waited 4 days and never got any kind of tracking info. They sell on Ebay and sell alot. I went and bought straight off the site. So I emailed them and the owner said the site is no longer used and that the price was out of date but he would give it to me this one time! Really?Why not turn the site off?So this guy waited 4 more days then finally shipped it off! I got it finally yesterday evening a full 15 days after I ordered it! The dish is on ebay as well and advertised as a 39" Super High gain dish. Well I pulled out the tape and what do you know it is about 34.5 wide and 37.5 from top to bottom! So I guess we can call it a 36" IDK! This dude sells these all over Ebay! How can you sell a dish as a 39" when the widest point is only 37.5? I am heading out on a cruise so didnt have much time to fine tune it but I still can barely tune in the New York lotto feed on 87* and am only getting 74% on the NEWS ONE LIVE channels on 91*.. So I am not pleased at all buying a dish that is supposed to be 39" and it only being 34.5 x 37.5 but oh well maybe the signal will be better than my 76cm. I guess this would be equivelent to a 90cm. I do not recommend this seller. They are all over Ebay and the site is one of the popular ones if you search fta dishes. Just giving a warning. If you buy a 39" dish it should be 39". Just my two cents.
 
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Yeah i really dont know how to know how to tell how locked in you really are because different receivers have different readings. On the geosat 7pct quality is watchable but on say a pansat 15 pct is minimum. O guess some tps are weaker and cant be high readings. I often wonder how high they are on a big ku dish say 8 ft.
 
You're in TN so not sure if this is of much consolation but here in NJ, at least in my experience the difference between a 36 and 39 inch dish was nil. Also, some satellites (e.g. Hispasat) were received just as well with a 30 inch dish vs. 36. All mine were purchased either from Sadoun, WSI or Hypermegasat over the past ten years. When you get back from your cruise let us know how you are doing with FTA.
 
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Can't say we didn't warn you ;)

Buy from reputable sellers, like SatelliteAV, Solid Signal or Hypermegasat
Wine
That being said, the ABC NewsONE feeds on 91 have been weak lately and are scheduled to leave satellite completely in February.

Well I would not say that SatelliteAV is all that reputable...I purchased a 90cm dish from them and it was badly warped so they sent another and my Winegard 76cm easily outperforms it -
 
Well I would not say that SatelliteAV is all that reputable...I purchased a 90cm dish from them and it was badly warped so they sent another and my Winegard 76cm easily outperforms it -

Yes, I know your experience wasn't the best. I bought my 90cm and 1.2m from them and they were ok (if not a bit slow to ship).
 
Well back from the cruise and after some fine tuning,I feel I can tune a hair more, I am happy with the signal improvements over the 76cm dish. In reality this is a 90cm dish and not a 95cm as it is advertised, but I am liking the upgrade. Here are some signals right now off my Geosatpro 3500.

Keep in mind on this receiver it locks in signals at 5-7 pct and makes them watchable with no interuptions, so I feel the quality readings may be lower on here than others, I have an old Pansat 2500 I will plug up later and scan to compare the signal quality.

So far I am getting these signals

87*

LPB= 80 PCT AT NIGHT
FLORIDA CHANNEL= 52 PCT
FLORIDA LOTTO= 17-19 PCT
NY LOTTO= COMES AND GOES AT 5PCT


89*

LDS MUX= 31-35 PCT

ACTUALLY SCANNED IN A WILD NEWS FEED TODAY ON THE BIRD.



91*
NEWS MUX CHANNELS = 75-77 PCT


95*
CCTV = 85 PCT



97*

UNIVERSITY NETWORK= 46-48 PCT

MOST OTHER TPS ARE 55-69 PCT



99*

INFOWARS= 31-35 PCT

RUSSIAN TP= 59-65 PCT



103*

NBC MUX= 13-17 PCT

NBC AND COZI TP= 15-35 PCT FLUXES AT DIFFERENT TIMES



105*

ECHO TEST= 62 PCT

SCANNED IN SEVERAL FEEDS TODAY WHICH IS A RARITY IN THE PAST.



113*

REUTERS= 33-40 PCT

HOPE CHANNEL= 82-88 PCT



121*

VNN= 80-82 PCT



123*

TVW= 70PCT

DAYSTAR= 60 PCT



125*

PBS FEEDS= 54 PCT.




Last night while tuning I noticed I got a few points higher on signals when I pushed the lnb downwards but I have no way to keep it held downwards and I find it kinda strange. I moved the arm of the dish downwards to see if I needed to adjust the dish down a bit but it wasnt that so I am gonna try to figure out how to hold the lnb down a bit. Maybe this dish lnb holder isnt the best for my geosat lnb.

I feel as far as the motor and dish setup since I am getting these signals from 87-125 my motor settings and angle is dead on since any adjustments I do now affects both my due south and my far west end sat at 125. I will plug in my pansat 2500 later and check to see what kind of readouts I get on it.



Here are pics
 

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I noticed I got a few points higher on signals when I pushed the lnb downwards but I have no way to keep it held downwards and I find it kinda strange. I moved the arm of the dish downwards to see if I needed to adjust the dish down a bit

That doesn't seem to be the right question. :shh
If moving the arm down gives improvement, you get signals from higher above, so the solution for that would be to adjust the dish UP !

Or you might want to check if the LNB position matches the offset angle of the dish, so to check if the arm might be constructed in too high a position?

"Easy" formula to check that (for flat, paraboloid dishes), to see how long your topstring should be, is:
Topstring = Bottomstring + squareroot ( (dish-hight squared) - (dish-width squared) )
Where topstring is distance from top of dish to focal point (phase center of LNB feedhorn), and bottomstring the bottom-variant of that.

Of course you could also check the distance from LNB to dish, but then you'd need a more extensive calculator/calculation.


I feel as far as the motor and dish setup since I am getting these signals from 87-125 my motor settings and angle is dead on since any adjustments I do now affects both my due south and my far west end sat at 125.

Well, the problem is that when adjusting one variable at the motor setup to get improvement on a certain satellite position, usually means that another variable has also to be adjusted, to keep following the arc.
Have you used the 'modified motor angles' for setting up your motor? (E.g. this table: Elevation / declination chart )

Greetz,
A33
 
That doesn't seem to be the right question. :shh
If moving the arm down gives improvement, you get signals from higher above, so the solution for that would be to adjust the dish UP !


No the arm down or up wasnt making a difference. It was the lnb itself facing more downward was raising signal a few points higher but there is no way to keep it in that position.



Or you might want to check if the LNB position matches the offset angle of the dish, so to check if the arm might be constructed in too high a position?

"Easy" formula to check that (for flat, paraboloid dishes), to see how long your topstring should be, is:
Topstring = Bottomstring + squareroot ( (dish-hight squared) - (dish-width squared) )
Where topstring is distance from top of dish to focal point (phase center of LNB feedhorn), and bottomstring the bottom-variant of that.

Of course you could also check the distance from LNB to dish, but then you'd need a more extensive calculator/calculation.




Well, the problem is that when adjusting one variable at the motor setup to get improvement on a certain satellite position, usually means that another variable has also to be adjusted, to keep following the arc.
Have you used the 'modified motor angles' for setting up your motor? (E.g. this table: Elevation / declination chart )

Greetz,
A33
 
If tipping the feedhorn down improves things, your dish is pointed too low or your LNB mount isn't locating the feed horn at the focus of the dish.

I suspect that the signal is coming in too high and bouncing too low such that you have to reach down to catch it. As you tilt the dish up, the angle between the incident and reflected beams will narrow bringing the reflected beam closer to the feed horn.
 
No the arm down or up wasnt making a difference. It was the lnb itself facing more downward was raising signal a few points higher but there is no way to keep it in that position.

Ah, so sorry! I wasn't reading carefully! :oops:

If in fact the LNB is pointing somewhere to the middle of the dish, that is too high. (It is hard to see, at your pictures.)

Normally it should be aimed at the so-called G-spot, that is along the bisector line from focus to dish, exactly dividing topstring and bottomstring angle in half.
Or a very little bit higher, between G-spot and deepest point of the dish (which lies about halfway between G-spot and center of dish); that might even be a very little bit better.

If this part of dish geometry istn't constructed well, I'd not only check the LNB-aiming, but also the LNB-positioning, if I were you.
Inputs needed are hight and width of the (working area of the) dish, and very exact depth at the middle (assuming the dish has an exact flat front ("string tested") ).
Parabola6 by Strannik is a good calculator on the internet for that; or I have a spreadsheet calculator that can calculate the same dish specs for you of you want.

Greetz,
A33
 
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