MiniBUD (1.2m) - Advice

[srinath]

Hi,

I've been playing with FTA for about 2 year, starting with a small elliptical dish and then going bigger .... Unfortunately, due to regulations (wife and city) and can't get myself a real BUD. And that's why I decided to get a 'miniBUD'.

After countless hours battling with alignment, trying different LNBFs, weird skew marks and more countless hours of reading, I got myself some positive results.

My current setup is a motorized Fortec Star 1.2m (4') with 2 LNBF, (One central Ku and one C). Receiver is a Viewsat Ultra.

For Ku band I'm able to hit several birds from 97W to 15W, and even some times I get weak signal quality on 12.5w (AB1). My Ku-Band LNBF is a Fortec Star Universal.

For C-Band I'm using BSC621-2 with Conical Scalar and I got good results on 91W (TP1 - 3720 H) with signal quality around 60-70% and some other TPs around 20-30%. All CW channels are watchable and stable

For Inelsat9-58W I got with weaker signals (10-20%) and unstable video/audio.
Same signal quality for Intelsat805-55.5W TP3759H but with stable image during good weather.

Since I've read that BSC621-2 does not perform very well for both Ku and C is it worth investing on a DMX241/242 ? Will the 70db gain make much difference in the signal quality ?

* I could verify the poor performance for Ku-Band on the BSC621-2


Thanks

 

[phlatwound]

Maybe brentb will jump in here with some thoughts, that sounds similar to what he did IIRC (going to a C-only LNBF on his 1.2m).

You might also search for minibud posts from 1ADAM12, I think he had some success with C & Ku using a homemade conical scalar and an extension piece on a BSC-621.

Do you still have your smaller Ku dish where you could dedicate it to Ku, and the use 1.2m for C-band?

 

[srinath]

Maybe brentb will jump in here with some thoughts, that sounds similar to what he did IIRC (going to a C-only LNBF on his 1.2m).

You might also search for minibud posts from 1ADAM12, I think he had some success with C & Ku using a homemade conical scalar and an extension piece on a BSC-621.

Do you still have your smaller Ku dish where you could dedicate it to Ku, and the use 1.2m for C-band?

I've already read about the home made scalar.

Still have the smaller dish, but the way it's installed I can't hit 'lower' Ku-band birds (<80W).

 

[phlatwound]

Here is the thread I was thinking of regarding the extension piece:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/195498-bsc621-ku-s-q-improvement.html

 

[brentb636]

Maybe brentb will jump in here with some thoughts, that sounds similar to what he did IIRC (going to a C-only LNBF on his 1.2m).

You might also search for minibud posts from 1ADAM12, I think he had some success with C & Ku using a homemade conical scalar and an extension piece on a BSC-621.

Do you still have your smaller Ku dish where you could dedicate it to Ku, and the use 1.2m for C-band?

My only experience is with the GeosatPro cK-1, c-2, and the WSI DMX242 lnbf's. The only channels that I can count on are the 91W channels,( the CW is the strongest) LESEA channels on 99W, and STO on 121W . Frequently I can get sports feeds on 72W and 83W , but that's not often and they are infrequent. My LOS is about 60
W to 139W , but the western arc has been futile this summer. Last summer, there was more available. That rogue satellite over there has killed everything for my 4 footer.
Luckily, though , on the Ku side I have both a 90cm dish and 1.0M dish, motorized, so I don't have to try to get both bands on the 4 foot dish. Sorry that I can't be more help. It seems to me that the GeoSatPro C2 lnbf is identical to the DMX 242 lnbf. Both seem to work the same for me, and look identical.

 

[signal.quest]

My only experience is with the GeosatPro cK-1, c-2, and the WSI DMX242 lnbf's. The only channels that I can count on are the 91W channels,( the CW is the strongest) LESEA channels on 99W, and STO on 121W . Frequently I can get sports feeds on 72W and 83W , but that's not often and they are infrequent. My LOS is about 60
W to 139W , but the western arc has been futile this summer. Last summer, there was more available. That rogue satellite over there has killed everything for my 4 footer.
Luckily, though , on the Ku side I have both a 90cm dish and 1.0M dish, motorized, so I don't have to try to get both bands on the 4 foot dish. Sorry that I can't be more help. It seems to me that the GeoSatPro C2 lnbf is identical to the DMX 242 lnbf. Both seem to work the same for me, and look identical.

Are you ever able to get ABC/ESPN feeds? Thanks.

 

[brentb636]

No I don't think so. Never gotten any DVB-S2 on the miniBUD, either. By far, most of the feeds I watch are on the Ku band. Only occasionally will a C-band feed be strong enough . Last summer, though, I picked up more feeds than this summer, on the western arc sats. 131W and 133W both had programming I could pick up. Not the case this year. Maybe next year will be different still.

 

[srinath]

My only experience is with the GeosatPro cK-1, c-2, and the WSI DMX242 lnbf's. The only channels that I can count on are the 91W channels,( the CW is the strongest) LESEA channels on 99W, and STO on 121W . Frequently I can get sports feeds on 72W and 83W , but that's not often and they are infrequent. My LOS is about 60
W to 139W , but the western arc has been futile this summer. Last summer, there was more available. That rogue satellite over there has killed everything for my 4 footer.
Luckily, though , on the Ku side I have both a 90cm dish and 1.0M dish, motorized, so I don't have to try to get both bands on the 4 foot dish. Sorry that I can't be more help. It seems to me that the GeoSatPro C2 lnbf is identical to the DMX 242 lnbf. Both seem to work the same for me, and look identical.

what are the signal quality that you are getting for those channels/tps ?

 

[brentb636]

The Quality varies but all are watchable. Numbers won't mean anything unless you are using a CS8000 . It has a very non-linear signal meter.
This morning STO on 121W has a Q of 60, the PR mux on 99W has a jumping Q of 9-17 ( yesterday it wasn't there at all ) , CW on 91W has a Q of 44 . Still no trace of NASA on 87W, sometimes it's watchable.

[edit]
Went outside and dumped about a teaspoon of water from lnbf, and several tablespoons from conical scalar ring.
CW Q=60
PR mux Q= 32 (heavily pixelated0
STO Q=70

Rain overnight.

 

[srinath]

On my Viewsat I was getting 60% on CW over the weekend, but Yesterday night it was ~40%.

55.5W tp 3759 V was 10-20% and watchable on Sunday, yesterday it was 5-15%
and heavily pixelated ...

Are these variations 'normal' or could be something with my setup ? I tried some tweaking and no improvements. I checked Ku-Band signals, ans they were at normal levels. (Then I don' t believe that my antenna moved or something)



Any way to avoid water/snow accumulation in the scalar ring ?

 

[brentb636]

I'd say those are normal variations. As to water in the scalar ring, I'm thinking of drilling a couple small drain holes, and see if that helps.

 

[pback]

@Brent

Do you get the GDMX on 99W?

 

[srinath]

@Brent

Do you get the GDMX on 99W?

Hi,

I have not tried anything on 99W, I can try it later and see what and if I can get ..

 

[signal.quest]

I'd like to see if you can get any ABC feeds on 99. Thanks.

 

[pback]

@Srinath

These are 422 feeds, so, unless you have a 422 capable box like Azbox HD, you may be able to scan it but not view it depending on your receiver.

 

[Babadem]

My only experience is with the GeosatPro cK-1, c-2, and the WSI DMX242 lnbf's. The only channels that I can count on are the 91W channels,( the CW is the strongest) LESEA channels on 99W, and STO on 121W . Frequently I can get sports feeds on 72W and 83W , but that's not often and they are infrequent. My LOS is about 60
W to 139W , but the western arc has been futile this summer. Last summer, there was more available. That rogue satellite over there has killed everything for my 4 footer.
Luckily, though , on the Ku side I have both a 90cm dish and 1.0M dish, motorized, so I don't have to try to get both bands on the 4 foot dish. Sorry that I can't be more help. It seems to me that the GeoSatPro C2 lnbf is identical to the DMX 242 lnbf. Both seem to work the same for me, and look identical.

I hope I will be able to get some sports entertainment feeds when I repoint to 99.0°W using 1.2M Minibud!

 

[brentb636]

@Brent

Do you get the GDMX on 99W?

I get the 3820 V 26000 tp strongly, with 6 channels, but not the other two GDMX tp's listed on Lyngsat.

 

[Mr Tony]

The other 2 GDMX channels are gone....
on DVB its just 3820
There is a DVB-S2 TP that I think took over for the old HD feed that was at 3780

 

[pback]

Thank you both, Brent and Ice..............now to try for them!

 

[brentb636]

I hope I will be able to get some sports entertainment feeds when I repoint to 99.0°W using 1.2M Minibud!

There are some there that are frequently ITC. Good Luck.

[edit] Sound to me like you're dish is not motorized. That will allow you to "dial in" the signal better than I can with my motorized dish. A definite PLUS in many cases.