Opinion on Fortec Star 90cm antenna

[emuman100]

Has anyone had a good experience with the Fortec Star 90cm Dish Antenna? I ordered mine from Sadoun and it seems really cheaply made. The reflector bends very easy and the LNB arm does not seem sturdy because of the reflector mount doesn't seem very strong either. Everything just seems structurally weak. Seems hard to lock onto a signal, expecially with AMC 21. When I got it from Sadoun it seemed like it was previously assembled and was missing some nuts and bolts. The two screws that hold the LNB arm to the reflector mount stripped and never held it on properly. I had to buy the nuts and bolts just to secure it tightly. The LNB holder doesn't seem to fit the way it should either.

The Fortec Star prime focus antennas are not built rock solid either, but everything is held securly and very strong. Much more rigid.

Is there something I can do to make this 92cm dish antenna more secure or should I just go ahead and buy the Geosat Pro 90cm offset dish from satelliteav? I do like Sadoun though, in fact I like them both, as well as Fortec Star.

Thanks.

Jonathan

 

[Anole]

LNB side-support brackets?

I have an FS 90, and it seems reasonable.
But, I got it 3..4 years ago. Maybe they've changed?
It's not unusual to have nuts 'n bolts missing.
Or a deformed nut or bolt.
Some dishes use pretty cheap stuff, so ya might just replace it with the best you can find at your local hardware store.

As for beefing up the LNB arm, you could very easily do the side-support arm trick they use on the GeoSatPro and 3ABN.
Look for some small diameter tubing (maybe aluminum?) and make 'em.
I used 1/2" conduit to mount a C-band LNB, and you don't need anything that large.

After careful measuring, flatten the ends of your new tubing, file 'em smooth, drill a hole, then bend the flat tab to the proper angle.
See my picture for how to bend 'em to mate with the dish edge.

The LNB end needs to be flattened at a different rotation, and bent at a different angle, to lay flat on the side of the LNB arm, just below the LNB (by maybe an inch).
One bolt through all three pieces should be adequate. Maybe attach here first.

I'd aim the dish at any bird where you know the exact elevation.
Set the elevation on the mount to agree with the expected.
Then, move your side support struts up and down at the dish edge a little, to receive the satellite.
Drill and mount the side struts at the location you determined.
Now, your elevation markings will be correct! - :up

Well, that's my idea... any others?

 

[SatinKzo]

No problems with my 90cm Fortec from Sadoun. I think it had a nut or bolt missing. Support arm wise, I have not had any issues even with an Invacom LNB and snow/ice on the arm.

I also got my dish a couple years ago, so I am unaware what the current build is like.

 

[babcea]

I have the same dish from sadoun and have no problems at all with it.when I first put it together I thought it was made cheap,but I have been using it for a year and the signals are great,I have it on an sg2100 motor and it all works good together.

 

[B.J.]

I have the Fortec 90CM, and it works OK, not quite as well as an OLD Primestar of about the same size that I literally pulled out of a trash transfer station (actually I had told the operator of the station to pull out any Ku dishes that came through, and he saved one for me).
But the Fortec dish did have some issues, one of which seemed to be that the lnbf arm is easily bent. There was one posting on the Sadoun site to the effect that their arm was off by some 5" or more. I did a "mirror" study, and found that mine was off by about 2". I never tried bending it to the proper spot, and it works "OK", but it does appear that the proper focal point might be better, so some time when I get enthused, I'll probaby bend the thing to where it seems better focused.
See FC90-sg2100.html for a description of the mirror experiment.

 

[brentb636]

Also have a Fortec 90cm , about 2 years old, that does a decent enough job, although, it is lightweight. I use the heavy Invacom qph031 just fine, and can lock the DVB-S2 mux on AMC21 during the daylight hours just fine.

 

[voomvoom]

I have 3 of them (only using 2 at present) and they work well for me.

 

[guapoharry]

Which Fortec Star 90cm Dish Antenna could you be referring to? The current offering (FS90N) is newer than I imagine what most of us are familiar with: The FS90CM (FC90U and FC90P).

I have two FC90U dishes. The construction does seem a little on the light weight side. I compare this to the 3ABN / AzureShine 90cm dishes and even 80 cm Fortec dishes.

What I like about the latter dishes is the rolled-over sheet metal edge. This seems more robust than the simple edge of the Fortec 90cm dish.

Having said that, performance-wise I think the FC90U ranks about the same or (maybe a tiny bit less) than the 3ABN dish from my anecdotal experience.

For whatever it's worth, this link may be relevant: http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpe...testing-several-75-90-cm-offset-antennas.html

Before my FTA experience, I had aimed and adjusted DN sub dishes. They are easy because those satellites transmit at much higher power levels than FTA satellites. As far as ease of locking onto a signal, FTA Ku signals are much fussier to align well. Upon trying to see my first FTA bird; it was problematic by comparison.

 

[jdbob]

The only problem I had was that it was warped, causing extreme difficulty in trying to get the arc correct.

You should check to make sure it lays flat all the way around (without the LNB arm) on a flat surface. Mine had a high area that I corrected by putting the dish on my head and pulling down in that area a couple of times

After de-warping it has been working fine.

 

[Mr Tony]

I've had both a 90cm & a 80cm. The 80cm got upgraded to a 90cm so I really didnt play with that one. The 2 90's I had worked really good on SBS6 (now H2) and G10 (now G18). The elevation on one was nuts on but the other was off by almost 5 degrees. Both were pretty sturdy but was worried with big winds. I had an old Hotdish 75e that was flimsier than these

Also have 2 of the Fortec 6 footers and they work great......until it falls off the table ya have it bolted to

 

[Lone Cloud]

Initially got my Fortec dish with an FTA package I bought online two and a half years ago. Hard to aim, easy to bend. Replaced it with smaller Winegard and got better reception/signals.

It was around 3 1/2 feet across. Not impressed. It's in my attic under the pile of other dishes.

 

[emuman100]

Thanks for the reply guys. I have the FC90P model. It turns out the nuts and bolts holding the LNB arm came loose. The mast was plumb, but I had to plumb the mast with the reflector mount on the pole, which I thought was weird. I realigned it and got a fairly strong signal on AMC 21. If I'd tighten it too much I'd knock it out of whack slightly.

But, it does seem like the focal point is off, which is because of the LNB arm. On my meter, I can see if I bend the arm up the signal quality gets better, but I adjusted the elevation for the best signal I can get. I find it very hard to peak because it's so flimsy. I might get better performance if I adjust the arm by watching the signal on the meter, but I hate to touch it now that I got it fairly strong.

Is the Geosat Pro 90cmmade a little bit better? Or should I get a Channelmaster?

Thanks.

Jonathan

P.S. The Fortec 6" and 8" dishes are a little flimsy, but do hold up quite well. Iceberg's fell off the table it was on onto his deck, mine fell down a 70 foot ravine that I had to roll back up.

 

[rv1pop]

The GEOSAat PRO with the LNB arm braces seems to be a fairly good dish. Mine got warped or clam shelled many times in the wind and the LNB arm actually bent before I got the side braces and as the temp changes seems to rewarp slomewhat. At least I lose some transponders with temp changes. I am not sure why, but I thought it was the LNB but 2 LNB's do the same thing.
That said, I prefer the Primestar dishes. Heavier, but I am not trying to use a motor.
POP

 

[Blueridge66]

Would agree the LNB arm seemed flimsy so before installing I ran a couple 1/4" aluminum rod struts to stabilize. The dish was just installed this past summer at my cabin and I've been back twice. We get some fairly high winds but the signal still locked fine. The "test" will be this spring when we relocate back to the cabin.
It's mounted to a SG2100. I did make a modification to the bracket to fine tune elevation but it have nothing to do with structural.

 

[B.J.]

The only problem I had was that it was warped, causing extreme difficulty in trying to get the arc correct.

You should check to make sure it lays flat all the way around (without the LNB arm) on a flat surface. Mine had a high area that I corrected by putting the dish on my head and pulling down in that area a couple of times

After de-warping it has been working fine.

While the laying flat technique will work on a circular prime focus dish, it may not work on an offset dish, as it depends upon it's shape, ie how the section was taken out of the paraboloid. I think when laying it flat, you should look more for symmetry than expecting it to touch the surface all around the edges.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Most metal offset dishes are constructed so that the edges lay flat and stack in bulk. The Fortec Star, GEOSATpro and Winegard offset reflectors are examples of this common design.