Nimiq1 Radio?

[Mark_AR]

For the sake of nothing else to do, I tried pointing an old Dish300 (inverted) at Nimiq1 last night to see what radio stations I could pick up from Canada. Note: Inverting the dish makes it a whole lot simpler to aim. Basically just lay it on the ground and move it around a bit.

Dialed in and got 80 strength and 45-59 quality.

After a blind scan, I picked up 1 Canadian weather channel on the video side and nothing on audio. Everything else was scrambled.

I think ICE mentioned something about certain areas of the US not in the beam for BEV radio...

Iceberg/Anyone up north- Can you clarify this or do I need to switch to a D* LNBF. I've got a couple new 3phase and an old DirecPC dish sitting around.

Thanks

 

[drhydro]

I have had no problems getting the audio off of nimiq with an 18" dish and dtv lnb here in northern vt. Havent tried using any DN dishs for FTA, so cant really help you there.

 

[Mr Tony]

Mark...you're on 82 (which has 6 audio channels)

gotta move it 9 degrees west. Any DBS LNB will work (I use a D300 for that)

There use to be issues with 91 as it was split across Nimiq1 and Nimiq3 (the old DirecTV satellite). They moved N3 to 82 and everything is on N1 now

 

[Mark_AR]

Thanks IB!

I guess eyeballing it without a compass(point & hope) isnt such a good idea after all... *grin*

 

[Mr Tony]

I PM'd you but try and peak on 12282 V 20000. TP 5

That one is lower than normal and will help with peaking. Also just scan that TP and you should have 2 radio channels
Power 97
CBC Radio 2 Toronto

Also, most radio is on the odds (V)...so you dont have to delete all those bogus channels

 

[Mr Tony]

Mark did you get it going?

 

[Mark_AR]

Yep.. I had errands to do.. sorry... When I got to it, it didn't take but a few moments to dial in the right bird. Running about 45-47 quality.

It looks funny laying on the ground..

So far, I like EDGE & Power97.:up I haven't had too much time to surf yet. Like Classic to new rock.

AM680 was telling about the severe weather in Toronto. The airport was even closed with all the hail & severel lightning.

I attached a pic of the inverted Dish300 pointing at 91'. Thanks for the info.

 

[Mr Tony]

interesting way to point a dish

 

[drhydro]

Mark,
I really like the way you have that dish mounted, I am going to have to remember that method ;-)

 

[Larry1]

I work in Markham, on the north eastern edge of the city. The Airport is on the north western edge. No hail here... but a lot of thunder and lightning this afternoon. The EDGE has a web site, where you can see the announcers on their web cam.
http://www.edge102.com/
Try to catch them in the morning, during the morning show.
For those that like older classic rock, try Q107 (CILQ-FM) in the afternoon with Toronto's local rock star, Kim Mitchel

 

[digiblur]

Mine would look nuts as 91 degrees is a 54.4 degree elevation for me.

That's an awesome picture!!!

 

[DiscoLoveGrapes]

I love the mounting job!

Nimiq's radio is worth the price of a Circular LNB alone. Favorite stations/programs of mine:

CBC2's "Brave New Waves." Overnight, it's a program of new age, experimental rock, avant guarde, and out-there music. Since there's a Toronto and Vancouver feed, you can catch it late evening or early morning depending on where you are.

OZ-FM's "Jigs and Reels." Early Sunday morning, they play folk music from Newfoundland ("Newfie Music") and some other celtic music. It's one of those shows that is so fun and so good that they need to expand it to other times of the week.

Wawatay Radio Network (WRN on the Program Guide) - First Nations radio in Ontario. While at times its rough, Public Access-quality tribe meetings, other times its native music that you don't hear many other places.

 

[Mark_AR]

The rock keeps it from rolling...

I could actually remove the mast and just have the dish and LNBF arm. When it rains, the birds could use it for a birdbath too.

It is by no means permanent. But with the low profile, it would be good where you wanted a less conspicuous footprint *except* where it snowed.

A ¼" hole drilled in the center pan would probably provide adequate drainage.

Anywho... It was fun and educational.

 

[hwh]

And all those years I carried a tripod in my RV and carefully set it up. Who knew all I needed to do was to throw the dish on the ground? I'll have to dig out a spare DSS dish this weekend and try this.

 

[Tron]

If the HOA complains about dishes, with this setup you could drill the hole and put a small hose on the LNB arm, making a nice decorative (and maybe even functional) fountain dish for your garden!

 

[Mark_AR]

Unfortunately water absorbs the signal and it would not work as a functioning bird bath.

Every time anything as big as a Blue Jay landed on the dish, you would experience signal loss too.

This might be good though for campers... Now all I have to do is patent a bracket to hold the inclination and use a lazy susan(small recliner base) for azimuth.

Yee haw...

 

[Jim "Spot" Beam]

Roll your own dish/mount

I just saw your pics of the dish with the rock mount.

If one were to make their own small dish, would ku mesh work on something that small or would it be best to go with the pre-fabs and drill a small hole to drain the bird bath effect?

I also thought about your mount because I've been thinking about the radio as well.

Has anyone used anything like a large doughnut device mounted under the dish?

Think something like hemorrhoid cushion, takes the pain out of aiming your dish.

 

[Mark_AR]

The focal length is critical to the size and arc of the parabola. If you are going to make a dish, it is going to be a pain to get the arc smooth and then focus the LNBF at the right distance.

You could probably mold one to the existing pan of a 300/500 with body putty and screen. I don't know how sturdy it would be.

I tried holding the DBS lnbf over my inverted winegard 30" (to see if I could boost the signal) and it took me a good 15 minutes to find the proper focal length and offset. I was only able to get quality for a few moments since my arm wasnt steady. It was a great deal longer than the Dish300 focal length.

If you've got the time and patience, go for it, but I think it would be frustrating.

Another option might be to cut a larger hole(1-2") in the dish pan and epoxy a fine screen mesh over the hole.

I've got another 300 dish here I could tear up, but the screw is stripped on the lnbf mount arm, so I can't get it off.

I may have to hit the yard sales...

 

[sharpee]

Hey guys,
Since the menu on my Traxis 3500 doesn't have a selection for a cicular lnb, how would i set this up? Would polarity be H/V or H or V ?? Man i would love to get the music channels.

 

[PSB]

Set the L.O. to 11250

H=Left
V= Right