looking to expand into the c world

[Blindowl1234]

Stan, I've been busy here and haven't kept up with the latest stuff you've posted. I'm curious what you were watching on 72W? Cband or KU? Not much on 72W Cband. So I'm guessing KU. Also are you running your receiver thru the Gbox? or is it stand a lone? Sorry I can't remember exactly how you had it set up. Here's how mine is set up.....I use the Gbox as a stand alone box only. I first went to Cband 87W which is close to my farthest east sat due to trees. Once I got it locked in, I went over to 135W to see if I could get something there. Both sats were locked in with a decent picture. I then started scanning all the other sats and loaded them in. In reality I can keep 87W to 139W in without issues. With some of the weaker stuff on 87W INN, @Sports etc...I have to manually go outside and adust my declination bolt down about 1 degree. Not worth the hassle to me.When I do that I lose the upper sats. Seems like at either end its a compromise. Also I was thinking....what sats are you able to receive as it stands now? Also I'd stick with trying to get the Cband stuff by itself first. In my case I start with 87W which is my true south and peaked it, then went to 135W and checked it there. Hope something I said here works....you're close to getting it. But I'd see what you can lock with just the Cband first....Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

Thanks for stopping by and saying Hi Blind!.This C stuff sure hasnt been as easy as the KU!read above posts to see what i mean .The reason for AMC6 is that its just about a bullseye on my true south satellite and once i get that down pat!i can check the arc to see good it is.I first started with AMC KU because i know that i can get!I thought i locked it in pretty good!was getting the NBC channels and service 1.When i did a c-band scan i got nothing and thats just about how far i got before i started having problems with my original g box doing crazy things.I bought a V box from galaxy and had a few problems with that also!so i guess i was wrong about box being bad and it now seems that the actuator was giving me the problems.I ordered the heavy duty actuator from sadoun and installed it yesterday.Box and motor working well so far.I went back to AMC6 today and setup the only tp listed on the C band list and did get a small Q reading It seems that my Dish elevation was set to High! and after some adjustments i now get a strong Q of maybe 70 and did a blindscan finding a few CW network stations (non scrambled)which my wife and i do watch at times plus a few other channels.So this is where i am now!This weekend ill edge down and up from AMC6 and see what i can find and hope the arc is ok.PS Sticking with the C band for now and since im using the sat hawk im using the box just to move the dish and stove satellites. Stan

 

[Blindowl1234]

Stan, sounds like your on the right track. I'd check 87W next...try TVU it has a good strong signal. If that works ok...then try one of the upper sats and see if everything is ok there. QVC up on 131w is a good one try try..Once you get it lined up, I'll send you a short list of some interesting channels I found with the Ssathawk. Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

Had some progress today finding satellites.Didnt have much time but heres what i got.I found 55.5 Intelsat 805c and 58 Intelsat 9 c!Did a quick check on finding AMC3 87w but no find yet.My tallest tree to the west is in that area so it may be blocking it.I also did a ku scan on AMC6 and did find the NBC mux channels!so i know at least on my true south satellite both c and ku work.Question! Is homeing in on KU more touchy than C? For me it seems that C has a bigger spread than KU.Still think my arc is somewhat off because when at 55.5 I didnt get as many channels as i thought i would and when i did a scan on 58 Intelsat 9 i didnt get any KU.Well tomorrow is another day and i will do somemore scanning.

 

[mmewrench]

Had some progress today finding satellites.Didnt have much time but heres what i got.I found 55.5 Intelsat 805c and 58 Intelsat 9 c!Did a quick check on finding AMC3 87w but no find yet.My tallest tree to the west is in that area so it may be blocking it.I also did a ku scan on AMC6 and did find the NBC mux channels!so i know at least on my true south satellite both c and ku work.Question! Is homeing in on KU more touchy than C? For me it seems that C has a bigger spread than KU.Still think my arc is somewhat off because when at 55.5 I didnt get as many channels as i thought i would and when i did a scan on 58 Intelsat 9 i didnt get any KU.Well tomorrow is another day and i will do somemore scanning.

ku band has a much narrower beam than c. you have to be dead nuts on the arc for ku

 

[Blindowl1234]

I agree with mmewrench on trying for the KU stuff. I got some of it on the big dish but it wasn't worth the hassle. I kept the big dish for cband...little dishes for KU.....Blind

 

[mmewrench]

The big dish has its advantages though. Takes an awful lot of rain or snow to kill that ku signal. You just have to spend more time peaking the dish. I also upgraded my actuator to a Von Weisse with more pulses per revolution. That helps to fine tune the azimuth. I use my bud for ku at least as much as I will use my 3 footer, It just took a bit of fine tuning on the bud.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Well!alittle bit of bad news that i was hoping would not happen.Two large trees bunched together 40 ft from my dish is blocking my view from around 80 to 97w.I still have trees after 97 w but around half in height,Below 80 i have no trees in the area.I did lock on to 99w(galaxy16) so there is hope of more satallites above the tree line to the west.Next few days i will see what i can lock on above 100 then check out more below 80.I may get some satellites in the 80s to mid 90s when the leaves drop! I did get some Q in the tall trees but not enough for a lock.Note! This was not my prime location for the c dish!The first choice would of given me a much better chance of getting no view blocking but it was also in view of the road and i have been worried about what the town might say to seeing a BUD in view.Thinking of cutting down those two large trees in the fall!I could always use more wood for the wood stove .

 

[stanleyjohn]

Good hunting this evening!

Creeping up west on the arc!this evening i locked onto 101 (AMC4),103 (AMC1) and 107.3 (Anik F1R).Starting to rain now!think ill continue tommorrow evening.Strange thing about AMC1! I had a good amount of strong TP's but when i scanned them i got nothing.I did get a few scambled channels though.Question! I have found some broadcasts that have ok audio but there is a greenish like fog that distorts the video!is this a 4:2:2 signal?and sometimes i find color bar test patterns that have green bars on one side.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Finished the arc west! No new satellites due to trees .Marked off 5 to 7 med size trees that i beleave when cut down i should get from where i lost sig 110 to 135w.Twin large tree that blocks from around 80 to 97 will be cut at a later date,dont feel like tackleing such tall trees just yet.The chain saw will be busy this weekend,Just planning on dropping trees now!they will fall mostly in the woods and ill cut them up at a later date.No blockage from 80 down to under 30 w so i should be able to catch satellites in that area with no problem.Wish me luck! and Timberrr. PS! glad i put my 36" motorized dish on the garage roof!I get the whole arc up there.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Three trees down and a few more to go this weekend.Got more daylight to the west!Ill check later to see if some of the far west sats come in.Boy!! What a guy will do to get a satellite lock.

 

[semco72057]

I'm considering getting a C band dish and I live in a rural area. The neighbors probably think that I am working for NASA with all the dishes I have up. The Ku band dish works fine for me, but I figured out that the channels I want to watch is on C band. Most of the channels on Ku band are Arabic and I don't speak it or Chinese either. I have seen the 6' dishes on some sites, but nothing larger. From what I read here I might miss out on some important channels unless the LNB's have changed.

 

[semco72057]

I guess that it would be better to get a 8' dish when I get a C band system. I am glad that I read the messages here before ordering. The dish will be installed on a steel fence post and motorized so I can find more channels. My Ku band is motorized also and works great except for the receiver I got with the system. It seems that when you get packages they sell you outdated receivers and mine has lost information which can't be updated since it did not come with USB support.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Bigger is better in the FTA world but in my case the town like some others has a thing about dish size limits and for my area its 3 feet.I took a chance getting the 6 ft!its about as large as i can go and have it hidden from the road and from what i have heard from many is that i will be able to pick up a good amount of the c band but not all.in my case the one real draw back for putting the dish out of site is that my west needs some tree cutting which i am albe to do because its on my land but it sure isnt a peice of cake.When my tree cutting is finsished (soon) i will report on what i have been able to get with my new system!I have around 10 satellites locked on now and getting C and KU with the DMX741 LNB.PS i bought a package!I can save you a good amount of $$$ doing it this way and in my case the package consists of well proven workable equipment,not out of date junk.

 

[mmewrench]

dish for free

There are many free dishes available. Quite often people are willing to give them away judt to get rid of them (some will pay you). Just stay away from the fibreglass ones (very heavy and not often good for ku).

 

[stanleyjohn]

Just a update! Locked in on 12 satellites so far from 55 to 131 w.Found QVC on 131!i know my wife will like that .Just seeing what i can get for satellites right now!some i have been able to get both c and ku while others just C.After i take care of the whole arc on what i can get then i will go back and do some elevation treaking and minor adjustments on the LNB for max Q.PS I have found around 4 HD channels so far on C.This weekend im planning on also updating the firmware on the solomend!From what i have heard so far it looks like a hit!except not looking forward to the advertisments on the menu screens.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Stan, I'm going to send you a PM.....Blind

 

[stanleyjohn]

Thanks for the info Jeff! Two or was that three HD channels,labeled ch1,2 and maybe 3 i found on one of the far west sats,but not sure because dummy me didnt write it down.Still not able to get from around 80 to 97 w because of two large trees bunched together in that area.After all the recent cutting i have done,i need to take care of cutting up those before i tackle these last two large trees.Yep!looks like lots of scanning again when new upgade is added to my solomend.Not sure but i think one of the fixes will allow lists to be saved and restored after any future firmware updates.Im still missing channels on the scans and think at least part of the reason for that!other than a small c dish is elevation and LNB still need alittle tweaking.What i find somewhat annoying during a blind scan is getting duplacate channels when it scan switches from H to V.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Did not do much sat hunting today but i did get a lock on a KU sat (Horizon2 74w) and found two HD channels on it playing newer type movies and was called HD Net Movies.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Haven't been going much with the c band system since the holiday due to heat in sun room.With the kind of heat we have been getting lately (95-100) central Air not very efficient cooling sun room so that room is closed off during the day and opened in the evening!after cooling that gives me maybe an hour or so to play with the dish.I don't want to disturb neighbors after 9pm with constant motor movement looking for sats.I have covered a good part of the arc now from 55.5 to 133 west with around 15 sats locked in.Trying to tweak in the Ku band now and found that i have lost KU on the western and eastern parts of the arc so now playing abit with the Declination offset angle to get the arc alittle more linear for the KU.Still getting some channel duplication on several sats but ill worry about that last!most likely my LNB needs some adjustment.Just a Note here!! I do get some duplacation also on my Geosatpro upstairs using my .90 meter motorized Ku dish!so either both my LNBs are alittle off or this is a common thing around here at my location.