Mini-Bud project in progress

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northgeorgia

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Nov 14, 2011
1,557
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North GA
So, I finally decided to try this neat little experiment. Seems like where I live has pretty strong signals on C-band, which can be a blessing (yay, strong signal) and a curse (boo, adjacent frequency battles) for a mini-Bud. I'm using the 90 x 99 cm WSI dish and I'm getting much better results than I expected. I know this will just make me want a real C-band dish, but that's probably not going to happen until I find my own place somewhere. I'm going to experiment tonight and I'll post my results when I get a chance :)
 
Preliminary results, evening of Sept. 19 (without any special tweaking outside at the dish). Time for bed! I think I might be able to pull in a few more with time and tinkering; I had several transponders "flickering" at 45 Sig and 0-10 Qual. Anyway, here are my results (microHD, motorized 90x99 cm dish):


55.5 W Intelsat805 (Recommended size 170+ cm)
TGN (RRsat channels: 3695 V 8888) 65Q
VTV-4
($)FTV HD
MRTV-RR Feed
r-Rodnoy RBN
r-TGN Radio




58W Intelsat9 (Recommended size 130+ cm)
$Caracol Nacional (Caracol mux 3787 H 7405) 65Q
$Caracol Alterno


ENLACE (TBN mux 3925 V 6619) 50Q
TBN-EJTV
Ocasional
r-Enlace Radio
r-Maratonica




91W Galaxy17 (Recommended size 110+ cm)
($)CW Plus East HD (CW mux 3720 H 28800) 5Q
($)CW Plus Central HD
($)CW Plus Mtn HD
($)CW Plus Pac HD
($)CW Plus Regional


$Fox News (Fox mux 3820 V 30000) 70Q
$Atlantic
$Central
$Pacific
$NG Mundo
$Nat Geo
$FMC
$Fox News Dig
$Atlantic-Dig
$Central-Dig
$NG Mundo-Dig
$NG-Dig
$FMC Dig
$Speed
$FBN - Fox Business
$ALT
$Speed Dig
$Business Dig
$ALT Dig
r-$FMC CRN


r-DMX mux ([41 stations] 3927 V 7249) 60Q

97W Galaxy 19 (Recommended size 130+ cm)
Legacy TV (3843 V 2893) 25Q






99W Galaxy16 (Recommended size 110+ cm)
Lesea-1 (LESEA mux 4000 H 26400) 60Q
Lesea-2
Lesea-3
Lesea-4
Lesea-5
Lesea-6
r-Lesea muxes ([15 stations] Angel, Pluse, Qtones, future)


$RED CANAL 2 (Televisa mux 3881 H 30000) 70Q
$RED CANAL 5
$RED CANAL 9
$RED CANAL 2 HD
$RED CANAL 5 HD
$RED CANAL 9 HD


PRNET (Puerto Rico Network 3824 H 4319) 30Q


KCWY13 (KCWY Casper,Wyo. 3776 H 3254) 30Q


No Name (PR/VI mux: WVXF LWN 3848 H 15029) 70Q
No Name (WSJP LATV)
No Name (WVGN NBC)
No Name (WSJX Fox)
No Name (WPRU ABC)
No Name (blank-feeds)


$GDMX 6-11 (GDMX feeds 3820 V 25998) 55Q
GDMX 6-3
GDMX 6-4
GDMX 6-5
GDMX 6-6






101W SES-1 (Recommended size 130+ cm)
Ch-1 (Gods Learning Channel 3710 V 4340) 30Q






113W Satmex6 (Recommended size 110+ cm)....others?150 cm
Nuevo Leon Encoder (Azteca Feeds 3780 H 4406) 35Q
Coahuila Encoder
Tamaulipas Encoder


SIS-JAL-RADIO-TV (C7 Jalisco 3857 H 2800) 50Q


$AZ NOVELAS (Azteca Network MUX 3900 H 30000) 10Q
$AZTECA 13-2
$AZTECA 13-1
$AZTECA 7 PB
$AZTECA 13PB
($)PROYECTO 40 PB (ITC)
$AZ MIX
$AZ NOTICIAS


CANAL TRECE (TreceTV 3773 H 2875) [No signal by evening retest]


$MEXICANAL (3854 V 5712) 25Q
CABLECOM


Service 1 (Telemax 3756 V 2500) 30Q


$VIDEOROLA (3770 V 3363) [No signal by evening retest]


DVB-Server (TV de Campeche 3709 V 3254) 40Q


first_service (PueblaTV 3824 V 4200) 40Q


GPO IMAGEN (Imagen Radio 3853 H 3254) 30Q


TDT (TDT TV Tlaxcala 3866 H 2415) 5Q


RTV HGO (Hidalgo TV 3820 H 3254) 50Q






125W Galaxy14 (Recommended size 130+ cm)
TBN HD (TBN Mux 3720 H 26667) Q50
Spare
TBN_sd
TCC
JCTV
SOAC
Enlace
TBN_HD_Dolby
Spare_AC3
TBN_sd_AC3
TCC_AC3
JCTV_AC3
SOAC_AC3
Enlace_AC3




Total
TV: 96
Radio: 61
 
That is a good list for that size dish.
 
I think the Mini Bud project was one of the most fun and exciting satellite projects I have ever done. It was fun catching which you shouldn't be able to catch on such a small dish. :)

Good work! :)
 
Very nice have any pictures?
 
S6000498.JPGS6000499.JPGS6000500.JPG

Early morning scan (Sept. 20) added:


101W
Golden Eagle Broadcasting (3716 V 4340) [No signal by retest]


113W
RCG Saltillo (XHRCG-7 3764 H 2933) [No signal by retest]


131W
$AE West (A&E TV mux 3940 H 29269) [No signal by retest]
$Histry W SD
$AE EAST
$Hstry E SD
$THC en espanol
$Military History
$History International


New count total:
TV: 105
Radio: 61

(It would seem that, just as others have found, the evening hours are a bit better for reception than daylight hours. The early morning scan revealed quite a few new channels, but the signals were gone by mid-morning. However, I have also had some channels that appeared in the late afternoon that were gone by night).

-----------

Pictures are next on my list! :)
 
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In the spirit of this thread, is it possible to pull the "audio only" C-band feeds on minibuds? AMC-18 @ 105's audio channels comes to mind.....If audio can be caught on minibud, more possibilities open up for the second large dish. I've often wondered if this would work. I could be wasting my second birdview on audio-only, stationary feed. If a minibud would work for audio-only feeds, I'd fix the motor drive in the 2nd birdview and free it up for other uses.
 
S6000497.JPGS6000495.JPGS6000494.JPGS6000493.JPGS6000492.JPGS6000491.JPGS6000480.JPGS6000482.JPGS6000483.JPGS6000484.JPGS6000485.JPGS6000486.JPGS6000487.JPGS6000488.JPGS6000489.JPGS6000490.JPG
I really am surprised at the 55.5W channels. The VTV-4/Fashion TV/TGN/MRTV feeds from RRsat are hanging out at near 70%, have an FEC of 5/6 and only have 39 EIRP for my area, suggesting I should have a dish almost twice the size I'm using to be able pick them up.
 
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I haven't had any luck with audio only channels yet. Although, I would think in theory it should be possible. I could pick up the DMX radio mux and also several of the Mexican TV stations have secondary audio programs (usually one of their local radio stations).
 
In the spirit of this thread, is it possible to pull the "audio only" C-band feeds on minibuds? AMC-18 @ 105's audio channels comes to mind.....If audio can be caught on minibud, more possibilities open up for the second large dish. I've often wondered if this would work. I could be wasting my second birdview on audio-only, stationary feed. If a minibud would work for audio-only feeds, I'd fix the motor drive in the 2nd birdview and free it up for other uses.

The ones on 105 are DC2 so they require a receiver for that (but I'm sure you knew that) ;). A couple years ago I was able to lock them on my 905 with a 1.2m dish but it was barely above threshold
 
Ah yes! Wrong bird! Help me, Ice...whose audio channels are on our FTA all in a group? Since my dish is parked, I never look! They're the ones I'd love to get on a smaller dish! Similar feeds to DMX, different "names" for the channels. I just aim and enjoy! I retired my Openbox to doing "radio" on FTA only. Its much happier doing that. (I'll admit I'm lazy...its easier to ask here who I'm aimed at since 'm not running a video feed out of the box anymore)

PS, I get the award for over-using the exclamation point. I'm working on that.....
might have to join "Exclamations anonymous"
 
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radio said:
Ah yes! Wrong bird! Help me, Ice...whose audio channels are on our FTA all in a group? Since my dish is parked, I never look! They're the ones I'd love to get on a smaller dish! Similar feeds to DMX, different "names" for the channels. I just aim and enjoy! I retired my Openbox to doing "radio" on FTA only. Its much happier doing that. (I'll admit I'm lazy...its easier to ask here who I'm aimed at since 'm not running a video feed out of the box anymore)

PS, I get the award for over-using the exclamation point. I'm working on that.....
might have to join "Exclamations anonymous"

91W has all the Free Radio channels. Look up lyngsat.com
 
Evening quick scan 9/20 (Lost several channels today, but got NHK!)


58W Intelsat9
NHK mux - 5 channels (4040 H 26590) 30Q
2 channels English (one in HD)
2 channels Japanese (one in HD)
$Premium

New count total:
TV: 110
Radio: 61
 
Hats off to you mate. Many people, including myself, have said don't bother w/ this project when using a dish smaller than 1.2m (past experience in my case). Yet folks, like yourself, keep on trying just for the pleasure of experimenting of seeing whats up there to grab. You remind me how fun this hobby is...

Cheers, K
 
Evening 9/20 (revised entry)

NHK mux - 5 channels (4040 H 26590) 30Q
2 channels English (one in HD)
2 channels Japanese (one in HD)
$Premium
r-Radio 1&2, Radio 3&4, Radio 5


$Travel and Living (2 ch) (3880 V 27688) 50Q
$Discovery Brazil (2 ch)
$Discovery Kids Br (2 ch)
$Discover Health (2 ch)
$LIV Brazil
$LIV Brazil Dig
$TLC Brazil
$TLC Brazil Dig
$Animal Planet Bra (2 ch)
$Civilization (ESP (2ch)
$Civilization (PRT (2ch)
$Civilization Eng/
$Civilization (SPN
$Science (ESP
$Science (PRT
$Science (ESP) Dig
$Science (PRT) Dig
$Science English/E
$Science (SPN) Cas
$Turbo (ESP
$Turbo (PRT
$Turbo (ESP) Digit
$Turbo (PRT) Digit
$Turbo English/Eng
$Turbo (SPN) Cast/
$IS-9(signal 1) d


New count total:
TV: 143
Radio: 64
 
9/21 morning -- even caught a feed on the miniBud :)

113W Satmex

Ch-2 [Undisclosed 4:2:2 feed] 45Q

New count total:
TV:143
Radio:64
Wildfeeds: 1
feed2.JPG
 
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