I am now 98% happy!

[Scott Greczkowski]

Well this weekend I got outside and got to work on my dishes...

The first thing I wanted to do was get my KU band dish up and running again. I wanted to get 97 so I could listen to my feed on the Access-America network on Tuesday nights.

So I set the AZBOX to move it using USALS, and moved it to 97. When it got there I had no signal... so I went to the dish and pushed on it and got a weak signal. So I loosened up the elevation and moved it around and got a BOOMING signal!

I was happy! I then moved the LNB around in its holder, and the levels went up even more. I locked everything down and was golden!

I then added in line a ECODA 22KHZ switch I got from SatelliteAV in my house. I now split my cband dish signal with my KU dish signal. I then setup a bunch of KU satellites on my AZbox I set the KU to move using USALS. I got all the satellites all with a great signal. I was happy...

Now it was on to my 8 foot Geosat Pro C Band Dish. I have never really been happy with it as I couldn't pick up some of the things I wanted to pick up. (ie S2 signals) I decided I was going to take out the C KU band LNB and replace it with a Geosat C Band LNB (with Dual output). Before I took off the old LNB, I hooked up my Superbuddy satellite meter and tried getting a better signal from the C/KU combo. Saw some improvement as I moved it. And while I got improvement I decided to take it out and try the C Band only LNB.

I put in the new LNB and adjusted it, and went from getting C Band signals in the 40's up in the 60's Then turned the lnb and moved it in and out of the holder. The transponder I was testing that started off in the high 40's with the old LNB was now up to almost 80!

I locked everything down and went in the house and was able to pick up a number of S2/8PSK signals that I have NEVER been able to hit before. CBS looked amazing... NBC was coming in excellent via 103KU (I was unable to get a signal on 105 C band) the only thing I was unable to get was ABC but that was no biggie.

I am so happy now, some of the things are on the edge, so if the wind blows I lose picture for a moment... but I am getting them, and that's a great thing!

I am getting from 72 - 131 here in Connecticut... I should be able to go past 72, but everytime I do it screws up my positioning of all the sats. So since I don't speak spanish I don't mind and if I don't go past 72 my positioning on the GBOX does not go nuts. (for some reason the RESYNC button does nothing for me on my GBOX)

I feel that this could be the first time BOTH of my dishes were peaked to what might be their best signal levels.

It feels good when you do something for yourself.

 

[ynnedibanez]

awesome!!
man, its nice to have warmer weather to work in, aint it

 

[Anole]

- everybody loves a happy ending!

Nothing wrong with that dish.
I expected it would perform well if properly tuned.
Saw that from the few other posts on the forum from users who had one. - :up

The C2 LNBF sure is building itself a reputation.
Brian commented on it quite positively, too.

Not sure why you can't go east more.
Unless you're in a location with bad LOS, you should be in prime territory for some good eastern satellite signal reports! - :up
Maybe open a new thread in C-band, and get the guys to brainstorm up some answers for ya! -
I can't get 30°w, but encourage everyone who can, to try it.

 

[Lak7]

for some reason the RESYNC button does nothing for me on my GBOX

You have to Hold the Resync button for about 10 seconds, it will start flashing, then use the remote to move the Dish to peak signal, and press OK when done. It will adjust all saved Sat positions the same amount.

 

[Mr Tony]

very cool Scott

 

[guapoharry]

Good one.

What would it take to get that additional 2 percent?

 

[Wescopc]

Good one.

What would it take to get that additional 2 percent?

I'll bet it would be another dish - that would take approval from the PG (prize goddess = wife):rant:
Bob

 

[Mr Tony]

he already has enough dishes IIRC...and usually when he gets a new toy the PG gets new toys too so it ends up costing Scott in the long run

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

For the other 2% I would like to get ABC and RTN... I can't pick up eaither one on C Band (I didn't try RTN on KU yet...)

 

[Mr Tony]

RTV on KU is easy to get now since they paid the power bill. Signal very strong

 

[Blindowl1234]

Scott, RTN/RTV is easy on KU. Not a peep for me on C band though, with a six footer. For ABC try 99W c band where the Carribean mux is 3845 H?....the SD is now gone but I think WPRU HD is there. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I think that's the one. I used to watch George Lopez on the SD when you could see the picture....sorry bitrate they had. Nice 720P picture on HD. Hope that helps.... Blind

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Just got the RTN feeds on KU.

Nice and strong.

 

[tdti1]

Good news man, what lnbf did you have on before?

 

[guapoharry]

So what's the percentage now?

 

[AcWxRadar]

It feels good when you do something for yourself.

Scott,

This is such a great statement! As simplistic as it is, it encompasses a great deal.

Out of all the things you mentioned in your post, this statement stood out as the epitomy of the reason why you and I and everyone alike enjoys FTA. It is the challenge of "I can do this myself" that makes this so much fun!

It is a challenge to our minds (and sometimes to our bodies if you are a little older) when we can build something with our own hands and our own minds. When it starts to work and when it works nicely, that is when we reap the rewards of our time and labor and things start to become even more fun and enjoyable!

For everyone new to this enterprise and this adventure of FTA, it may seem to be a daunting task as you look at it from the outside, coming into it... But, it grants such a neat and fun reward if you have persistance and dedication. The reward is not that you now have FREE television service available to you and your family. That is just a pleasing by-product. The reward is the satisfaction that you find in your mind and your heart, after you discover that you did it all yourself!

The feeling you get when you become elated after seeing the signal (quality) bars light up on your receiver just makes you feel so good inside and it makes you proud. After the first satellite that you achieve this way, it merely becomes an addiction and you want to learn more and re-experience that feeling once again.

It is the best way to "get high"! No chemicals are used to feel this way, except those that your own body releases as you discover new things during the process. The more you read and do, the more fantastic the feeling becomes and it drives you further onward into the hobby (or the addiction) as we so often refer to it as.

Yes, there really are not many other hobbies for men and women that challenge the mind and provide such an intense feeling of euphoria. FTA is one hobby that can be accomplished when the weather outside is bad, or when it is good. It doesn't cost too much money to play the game (provided you do it right) and you get to enjoy a nice by-product in the end. It is just such an awesome hobby as it is the only one that really and truly digs into all avenues of knowledge along the way... History, geography, mathematics, physics, a little chemistry, electronics, english or other language skills, many others and certainly the science of "FUN"!

I call this hobby one of the STEM hobbies... Science + Technology + Engineering + Math . You just cannot beat it! YOU CAN ONLY ENJOY IT!

RADAR

 

[sideswiper]

thanks for the info on the Geo sat C2 i just ordered one from sadoun, and was wondering how good they are

 

[Mr Tony]

I have a few of the C2's and I love them

Work real well and fit nicely in most "old school" scaler rings

 

[vanalex]

I too have one and they work well. They work even better when you move them off one satellite and move the dish to the usual satellite (Ghetto Move to 99 West) and spend about thirty minutes with the bird dog trying to peek the signal back to the usually strenght but can only get 29 instead of 75. You get mad, pull the the C2 LNBF and put the Cal Amp back on and you find the sat in 30 seconds with the meter and have it tuned in perfectly. Later that night you are laying awake in bed trying to figure out why you can't peek that sat with the C2 and a revelation strikes you like a freight train. The sat you were previously on was circular, so if you take out the Di-Electric plate out of the C2, it would probably work much better on the linear satellite. You try this the next day and all is again well.

 

[John Popper]

I locked everything down and went in the house and was able to pick up a number of S2/8PSK signals that I have NEVER been able to hit before. CBS looked amazing... NBC was coming in excellent via 103KU (I was unable to get a signal on 105 C band) the only thing I was unable to get was ABC but that was no biggie.

There are network S2-8PSK feeds @ 103 Ku? not that it matters since the footprint sucks for me down here

 

[guapoharry]

Yes. And they are HD too.

Kind of like SD stuff that is on 72ºW