NEW RTN FTA BIRD

Status
Please reply by conversation.
GaryZ and TVropro,

Here is one item that no one should overlook... Although my dish is marketed as a 76cm dish, it actually has the same effective aperture as some 90 cm dishes and some 90cm dishes may acutally have an effective apperture of less than 90cm. It all boils down to the phyiscial geometry of the dish design. A bigger dish isn't always better for reception. Keep this thought in the back of your mind while you pursue this hobby.

It is a salesmanship tactic to sell you a dish that is simply bigger, regardless of the fact that is "better". You have to read up on certain specifications like gain and effective apperture to really compare each dish, one to the other.

Sometimes the advertising is very misleading. You have to be knowledgable of satellite technology and dish design (geometry) so that you know what you are shopping for.

I attempted to use a 1M Wimegard dish, instead of my 76cm Winegard dish and found that it was much less advantageous. The 76cm dish was better all around for Ku band.

Now, with the proper LNBF and conical scalar ring, the 1M was able to receive C-Band (Walrus was doing that experimentation with my dish) whereas the 76cm dish could barely touch a C-Band signal.

There is a lot more involved than simply the size of the dish alone. Thre main criteria that I can site are:

1] Effective Apperture
2] F/D ratio
3] Overall gain
4] Total weight
5] Wind loading
6] Price

All of these are important and you need to balance them appropriately.

I found the differences moreso by trial and error, and spending money just to play (hobby). But, if you analyze and compare the results, you can determine what is best before you fork out the money.

My research led me to stick with the 76cm Winegard DS-2076 dish for Ku band.

Now, I am also located in the central US, near Omaha, NE. So I may have an advantage with some satellites over persons in Canada for the same satellite. Learning how to read the EIRP charts and maps will definitely give you more clues as to what is necessary.

There are many things to consider, and the considerations change with your location (to some extent).

AcWxRadar


I know quite a bit about dishes. Gain, efficiency F/D ratio etc. The Channel Master 90cm (AKA primestar) is a very good dish. The Fortec's and knockoffs etc are way below in what the Channel Master Fiberglass can do. I'm also using the stock feedhorn and factory NJR LNB that is matched to this thing so that plays a key role also.

You may enjoy this link:

INDEPENDENT TESTING by MIKE KOHL at GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS MAY 10
 
No RTN

7:37 tonight I noticed that Rtn Turnaround appears to be gone or scrambled.
Encryption type shows "bis" or BLS can't tell. No signal here. Also on Galaxy 18 at 11720V 27692 where one of the equity stations were? I'm seeing a logo that says "Skysport" on the screen nothing else, no audio. Blind:)
 
7 Also on Galaxy 18 at 11720V 27692 where one of the equity stations were? I'm seeing a logo that says "Skysport" on the screen nothing else, no audio. Blind:)

I saw that too, that channel had a red screen of death on it forever. Maybe Equity is renting out channel space to pay the bills.
 
uhh.. @#$(@*#%()@#$)! I had a beautify picture on G10R.. But of course now can't find amc9 at all.. are there any TPs on there that are strong to help me locate this thing?
I'm starting to get the sneaking suspicion that my dish doesn't track properly across the arc. I get good Ku signals on the western dishes, but can't find anything on the eastern ones (so far).
I currently have 2 TPs set in my pansat 2500a. 11744H 4232 and 11735H 4330.

On my recvr, T4 is at 4605 "counts,
W3 is at 4580.. so still about the same as all of the other sats on my 4dtv.. about 25 "counts" apart per 2 degree spacing.. so to find amc9, I'm starting at 4580 and bumping the dish 1 or 2 counts, let it sit to stabilize, then bump again.. I've gone all the way to 4520 and find nothing. my system should put it at 4555.. but I find nothing.. the quality never changes from 0.. the level goes up and down, but no quality.
any hints? now that I'm addicted to it? (hints aside from another dish.. we did have a heatwave today of 27F but I'm still not ready to plant another dish)
thanks

edit: don't mean to hijack the thread, is AMC9 at 85 or 83? I found a signal at 4527 which would be about right for 83, but so far nothing found.. don't tell me.. on amc9 it's s2 and I'm SOL now?
 
Last edited:
The RTN channels and affiliates are dead on G10R at 123W. Besides, G10R is now actually Galaxy 18. The only remnants of the RTN stuff there is RetroJams.

The two RTN national feeds (east and west) are on AMC 9 @ 83W on TP 11.735 (as mentioned previoulsy).

I couldn't get these to come in a couple of weeks ago, but now they are just above the threshold for my Coolsat receiver and I can and have been watching Night Rider, The Hulk, Emergency and a few others.

It wasn't until today that I panned my dish back to 83W to check, but I am glad that I did.

Previously, I was not able to acquire any signal from this sat except TOWBOY and AMC 9/3F which were both always feeds. I assume that the RTN national feeds have bumped their power levels a bit because I did nothing to adjust my dish alignment and they are now coming in, although still marginally.

I hope they keep the RTN channels here for a long time as I wish to set up a new, permanent mount this spring when the ground thaws out.





Dunnsept,

if you are loking for AMC 9 @ 83 W use 11.735 H Sr 4.430.

You may also try a stronger TP:

11.969 H Ghz with SR 8.417 MS/s.
12.160 GHz H with SR 30.001 MS/s
12.138 GHz V with SR 30.001 MS/s
12.058 GHz V with SR 30.001 MS/s
11.844 GHz H with SR 17.800 MS/s
11.757 GHz H with SR 4.232 MS/s

The last one on the list is a feed channel from WSLS channel 10 from Roanoke, VA. Gosh, the field reporter is awfully cute! Lindsay Wort? Woohoo! She is covering some sort of shooting at a college campus. Damn, another nutcase on the loose!

The TPs with symbol rates 30.001 MS/s must be data channels. They are always present, but you won't scan any channels from them. However, they will be good for locating the sat. Any of the TPs I listed that do NOT have a symbol rate of 30.000/30.0001 are likely a feed channel.

I now see that WSLS has given up it's TP to another station, WHDH (Boston) or something like that. They must have a specified time slot for their TP lease. I am now watching them cover some barn talking about a runaway horse. The reporter must be awfully cold as he can't speak without stuttering and sniffling! I don't think he is having a good time covering this story! He appears to be a whimp and is freezing his behind off! LOL!

Sounds like the horse, named Blue, fell through the ice on a pond or a pool just beyond the barnyard. Firefighters had to pull him out of the water (the horse).

AcWxRadar
 
Last edited:
Bobby, S2 is short for DVB-S2, which is a new MPEG-4 based standard that will (probably) slowly replace MPEG-2 DVB-S (the standard that most FTA receivers, including the Traxis, use).
 
thanks everybody. I peaked those strong TPs and looked on the list.. then I was sure of what I had (AMC9). did a blind scan on the sat and found absolutely nothing besides the data TPs
I manually entered the values, but still found nothing.
I guess I have more work to do tonight.
on those data TPs I was getting a Q of about 75%, but on the manually entered ones, I got nothing.
GRRRRRR! MUST HAVE BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON! ;-)
 
AcWxRadar,

You need to try and bump up that dish elevation, I am pulling in the RTNs on 83W at 87% quality. We both have the same systems only 20 miles apart so I know you should be able to do better than that. I also noticed the Scetv channels on 63W (Estrela do Su) are showing 72% quality for me and believe that too is a few percentage points higher. If I recall the last time I adjusted the elevation on my dish was back in August and only took one full turn up in elevation using the fabricated adjustment screw to go from 63 to 72% quality on the Scetv channels.

I know you said this is the dish that was bent but still think you can improve the RTNs a bit. Come Spring you need to put your new dish up in its place. 98% of all the transponders you pick up match mine in signal quality level, its just those few weak ones that really show the difference.

Hey I will take a drive this afternoon, stop out and visit, see what we can do to get RTN up a few percentage points. Great day to do it, forecast to be 52 degrees.
 
Been trying for RTN on AMC9 for two weeks now on my motorized dish with no joy. Dug out an old PrimeStar and aimed it at AMC9. BAM, getting RTN East and West at 70 strength and 65 quality on my Traxis 3500. Put a 22k switch in line and happiness has returned to the Republic of Bubba.

PS-Really like that new 'THIS' channel on G18. They sure showed up White Springs.
 
Been trying for RTN on AMC9 for two weeks now on my motorized dish with no joy. Dug out an old PrimeStar and aimed it at AMC9. BAM, getting RTN East and West at 70 strength and 65 quality on my Traxis 3500. Put a 22k switch in line and happiness has returned to the Republic of Bubba.


Primestar Dishes Rock!!! :D
 
thanks everybody. I peaked those strong TPs and looked on the list.. then I was sure of what I had (AMC9). did a blind scan on the sat and found absolutely nothing besides the data TPs
I manually entered the values, but still found nothing.
I guess I have more work to do tonight.
on those data TPs I was getting a Q of about 75%, but on the manually entered ones, I got nothing.
GRRRRRR! MUST HAVE BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON! ;-)
What is your LNB type listed on your receiver? I had mine set wrong & couldn't get RTN no matter what, I got other data etc. I changed the lnb type and was able to tune it in. I use a pansat 2500a with a 10ft bud with c/ku lnb etc...I was also getting bleed over from 82 deg sat too, fine tuning required here. maybe this will help you???
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Latest posts