pulling my hair out aligning dish

[Lynskyn]

Okay, I'll bite. What the heck is "the top of the s"?

 

[pendragon]

this lnb im am using, doesnt have a scalar. it has some dipole looking thing inisde of it

Unless you have a very deep dish, you need to put on some form of a scalar. Otherwise your feed will over-illuminate the dish and you'll be adding a ton of noise from the relatively high thermal temperature of the earth. We talk about LNBs that have an equivalent noise of say 20K; point it at the earth and you're talking about 300K or so. That's a quick way to drop your SQ.

 

[B.J.]

Unless you have a very deep dish, you need to put on some form of a scalar. ....

I thought that perhaps he was confusing a scalar ring with a teflon slab or something, so I looked back at the very first post in this thread (I started reading it in the middle). There is a picture of the dish. Looks like it has some kind of a buttonhook type holder, but I'm really confused about what's attached out there. I assume that he's taken the feedhorn off, but there is a little box that almost looks like a polarotor motor (or perhaps an lnb without a feedhorn?), that's connected to the plastic feed cover (that might be attached to a scalar, but you can't see what's behind it).
ANyway, what is shown in that picture. Not like anything I've seen, and my first dish had a buttonhook type mount somewhat like that. Did he ever say what kind of feedhorn he had???


EDIT: NEVERMIND, I just read the sig block, and I see it's a Chapparal Micropak. I've never seen one of those before.... that's a wierd looking thing!

Anyway, Ignore my comments above.

 

[pendragon]

BJ, interesting point. OP says he has this:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-...19-chaparral-micropak-lnb-quest-hardware.html

Poster there says the Micropak doesn't use a probe. Not sure how well it works but it does look cheap. There also this link:

http://www.chaparral.net/europe/adj_mpak.htm

It's not clear to me how they control illumination, if at all.

 

[B.J.]

BJ, interesting point. OP says he has this:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-...19-chaparral-micropak-lnb-quest-hardware.html

Poster there says the Micropak doesn't use a probe. Not sure how well it works but it does look cheap. There also this link:

Adjustable MicroPak

It's not clear to me how they control illumination, if at all.

Yeah, I found a picture of it at the Skyvision site.
I've never seen anything like that before.
Looks to be wider than a normal C band throat, so maybe there is a small built in scalar ring under the front cover.

 

[Techfizzle]

I took some more pics today. The bolts where the reflector bolt on to the ring mount were loose, causing the dish to have play in the elevation. Also one of the bolts was loose on the mount, letting the dish move.

I tightened everything up and peaked it on my T-S satellite. Then i went to the 121 satellite, and got 90 percent quality on al channels and the same for 87 so the dish is back in track (so to speak)

EDIT, something is wrong with amc-10, the nasa channels come in at 30% quaility, yet the satellite right to the east of it, amc-10, the channels boom in at 75-90% qualitty

Description

The Adjustable MicroPak is an integrated feed/LNB designed for reception of C-Band signals throughoiut the world. Compact and affordable, the field-proven MicroPak now features an adjustable mounting ring for easier installation and extended flexibilty. The Adjustable MicroPak is designed for reception of signals between 3.4 and 4.2 GHz.
The Adjustable MicroPak provides users with many key benefits and features, including high cross polarity isolation, skew control, low noise temperature, and quick and easy installation. The Adjustable MicroPak uses a dipole antenna for superior cross polarity isolation which reduces interference from adjacent satellites. The MicroPak includes Chaparral's reliable servo motor for selection of horizontal/vertical polarities and skew control for optimum picture clarity. It also utilizes Chaparral's proven LNB technology, which incorporates P-HEMT transistors for superior noise performance.


Specifications

Adjustable MicroPakPart Number:Adjustable MicroPak: 11-6675-62
Mounting Ring Kit: 62-6629-62Frequency Range:C-Band: 3.4 - 4.2 GHz, linearOutput Frequency:950-1750 MHzf/D Range:.28 to .45Cross Pol. Isolation:30 dB in both bandsOutput Connector:Type "F" Female Power Requirements:+5V, +14V to +24V, Gnd, TTL Logic PulsePolarization:Linear, Horizontal & VerticalLNB Noise Temp:20°Conversion Gain:65 dB LO Frequency:5.150 GHz LO Stability:+/- 2.0 MHz Temperature Range:-40° C to +60° CSize:6.5" diameter, 4.69" heightWeight:1.06 lbs

 

[Techfizzle]

also, why do some powervu channels come in unscrambled, like 2-3?

 

[turbosat]

also, why do some powervu channels come in unscrambled, like 2-3?

Because they have turned the encryption off, temporarily.

 

[eurosport]

EDIT, something is wrong with amc-10, the nasa channels come in at 30% quaility, yet the satellite right to the east of it, amc-10, the channels boom in at 75-90% qualitty

When was the second AMC-10 launched, I missed that!