More newbie C-band EWTN advice needed

[mikeineburg]

Hi all,
This is a continuing effort to assist in updating the EWTN broadcast for a local religious institution that currently broadcasts EWTN's analog C-band (that is going away) within their facility. Our goal is to use digital service from the same satellite. I have a fair amount of Dish/DirecTV experience, but virtually no C-band experience. Installed my new receiver, connected up the satellite cable, configured as I thought would be appropriate (newbie) but no joy. Hooked up my SuperBuddy satellite meter and, after a bit of surfing, locked in on AMC11 at 131 degrees. So, I need to swing the dish a couple of degrees west to get Galaxy 15 at 133 degrees. The question is (you knew there would be a question buried here somewhere) - the current drop from LNB to receiver is 100' +/- of 20-year-old RG6. Would it pay me to replace this with RG11 to decrease the loss? The rumor is that EWTN has given some other folks here a rough go, so I'm trying to do all I can to provide a solid solution. My plan is to flake off the 20+ years of rust, connect meter and tweak as best as possible. Below is image of dish/LNB - does anything scream "oh that won't work"? Thanks! Mike

 

[Magic Static]

Nice dish, a Winegard Pinnacle perforated. With digital services you need a digital receiver. Can't see under the cover but,the old LNBF probably had a polarotar controlled by the receiver. The new digital receivers use a voltage controlled LNBF. The old RG6 is probably a ribbon cable with other wiring for the positioner and polarotar. Sounds like you also need provisions for a large distribution system (multi-switches) Some things to consider for the upgrade

 

[Mr Tony]

VERY nice dish.....the folks having issues are folks like me using a 6 foot dish. I know EWTN recommends a 10 foot dish minimum.
Since your only working with one channel (EWTN) the LNB will be fine but you could switch it out for a LNBF (magic posted that info)

Since you're doing the relocation if it isnt too hard to replace I'd just replace it with some good quality RG6. RG11 would be like if you are running 250 feet or more.

 

[phlatwound]

Yeh if your LNB/feed was working for the analog feed there is a good chance it will work for the digital feed also.

You won't necessarily need something to change polarity, if you are just going for the one channel. Your polarity may already be correct for the new digtal transponder, or if it isn't you can manually move the probe in your feed horn to either vertical or horizontal and leave it.

That is a NICE dish.

 

[mikekohl]

No really a great idea to put an LNBF on this system.
What you should consider is a high stability C-band LNB such as a Norsat 8515, 8215 or 8115.
Replace the existing LNB with one of the above.

You're not going to be moving the feedhorn once you get it aligned (although it may be necessary to
tweak and rotate the probe for optimum horizontal polarity alignment). Once it's aligned, it should run itself.

This will work much better than a C-band LNBF, which will never have the stability required for a commercial
installation (The signal is down in the mud, and you need all the help you can get.)
A 10 footer is as small as one should use on the east coast, and larger would be better---but I understand the financial challenges. LNBFs may be less costly, but they have their tradeoffs, and the "bargain" ones should not be considered for a facility that has to run 24/7. One unneeded service call will pay for the difference in doing it properly the first time.

 

[mikeineburg]

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies - good to know we have good equipment.
Existing analog receiver is on transponder 11, digital signal is on transponder 5 - both are horizontal, so I shouldn't need to change polarity. It looks like my SuperBuddy powers the LNB at 18 volts with my settings. Unfortunately, I used the defaults for most everything because I simply don't know what is "under the hood". Actually touching the LNB may be a challenge - I can easily get to the base and aiming mechanism, but the LNB is hanging over the edge of a fairly high roof. Good news is that there are actually two identical dishes on this roof and we only need the services of one. And the view from the roof is magnificent. In the end we're going to demodulate via new Satellite AV supplied receiver and broadcast analog. We'll also install an MPEG4 receiver and transcode to QAM on our private cable network. Once I get the signal out of the receiver, the rest is every day stuff for us.
Cheers!

 

[Mr Tony]

very cool to hear!

yup since they are both horizontal you should be OK. You can even split the output to 2 receivers

And the view from the roof is magnificent.

no pics?

In the end we're going to demodulate via new Satellite AV supplied receiver and broadcast analog. We'll also install an MPEG4 receiver and transcode to QAM on our private cable network.

good call. SatelliteAV is awesome at helping ya out