Scott's C-Band Dish install

[(((Garyd)))]

I've seen those.
The feed mounts face up behind the dish.
There should be a reflective plate in the center.
At least I think that's how I remember it...

You got to be a old timer to know that, Yes your right

I saw this dish at the 1985 show, the guy was pulling in the first G1 and his picture was not bad it's 4 feet or 5 feet across i forgot i should measure it, but it uses all the surface on the sides i think it can do what a 8 footer can, but what i don't know is its beam width, i hope its narrow when this dish was made that was not a big issue, but now the sky is packed full of birds

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

So have been trying to lock in C Band Satellites from Galaxy 17AT TO as far as I can go which so far is 131 AMC11.

Most things I have been able to lock onto, but some things I have not been able to. I am getting good signals on some things on the satellites but then dont get signals at all from other transponders on the same satellite.

Two satellites I have been looking for I have not been able to lock in on at all. Galaxy 3C at 95 I have not been able to pick up a single transponder. I really want this one for the equity channels. And the other satellite is AMC 18 at 105, this one I want to get the network feeds. I have been able to find AMC 18 moving the dish back and forth on my superbuddy meter on some digicypher II transponders, but I haven't get a signal from any of the S2 transponders on the bird. If anyone has a AZBOX and can pick up the NBC's on 105 please let me know your settings.

I havent tried going east yet past 91 degrees, but there isnt much movement there before I hit my limits on the motor.

I need to figure out how to move the dish on the pole as the dish moves way way past the furthest satellite in the west, and I would like it to go more to the east, as I would love to hit the stuff at 55 and 58 degrees again.

I am impressed with the HD I have been tuning in on the AZBOX. Got to watch the feed of the president tonight and the picture was amazing.

I am dissapointed though that the two satellites I really want to get in I have not been able to get yet.

Here are all the C Band satellites I have locked in on so far.

91 - Galaxy 11
99 - Galaxy 16
107.2 ANIK F1 (HOT signals on this bird! some TP's in the high 80's!)
121 - Galaxy 12
125 - Galaxy 14
127 - Horizons 1
131 - AMC 11
133 - Galaxy 15

 

[turbosat]

Move to 131 if thats as far west as it'll go now, then loosen that clamp holding the actuator tube to the mount, slightly now or the dish may slip suddenly thru the clamp. I usually go for about an inch at a time, just let the motor tube slip further in so the dish will go further west. An inch will make quite a bit of movement on the entire dish and may get you what you want to the west.
Might have to reset your west limit again once you move the clamp. Mine goes to 137 and thats far enough west for me!

 

[tdti1]

Ya sounds like you will have to adjust the clamp, I figured since it was a 24" on a 8' dish you would have been ok, oh well, little bit more playing with the dish. The channels you are getting on some birds are they all the same polarity? could be the lnbf is off or dead. Also the dish should be able to move more, if your limit is hitting already then you may just need to adjust the limit outside, be at the dish AT ALL TIME doing this, and make sure the limit is working before you go play from inside. You should basically be able to go all the way around, just keep an eye on the dish motor and mount, the 24" on a 8" should get you far to the east with no issues.

 

[(((Garyd)))]

So have been trying to lock in C Band Satellites from Galaxy 17AT TO as far as I can go which so far is 131 AMC11.

Most things I have been able to lock onto, but some things I have not been able to. I am getting good signals on some things on the satellites but then dont get signals at all from other transponders on the same satellite.

Two satellites I have been looking for I have not been able to lock in on at all. Galaxy 3C at 95 I have not been able to pick up a single transponder. I really want this one for the equity channels. And the other satellite is AMC 18 at 105, this one I want to get the network feeds. I have been able to find AMC 18 moving the dish back and forth on my superbuddy meter on some digicypher II transponders, but I haven't get a signal from any of the S2 transponders on the bird. If anyone has a AZBOX and can pick up the NBC's on 105 please let me know your settings.

I havent tried going east yet past 91 degrees, but there isnt much movement there before I hit my limits on the motor.

I need to figure out how to move the dish on the pole as the dish moves way way past the furthest satellite in the west, and I would like it to go more to the east, as I would love to hit the stuff at 55 and 58 degrees again.

I am impressed with the HD I have been tuning in on the AZBOX. Got to watch the feed of the president tonight and the picture was amazing.

I am dissapointed though that the two satellites I really want to get in I have not been able to get yet.

Here are all the C Band satellites I have locked in on so far.

91 - Galaxy 11
99 - Galaxy 16
107.2 ANIK F1 (HOT signals on this bird! some TP's in the high 80's!)
121 - Galaxy 12
125 - Galaxy 14
127 - Horizons 1
131 - AMC 11
133 - Galaxy 15

Ok scott when you run your dish to the east limit, remove the acc cover and you will see the black cam is hitting the micro switch, back off the screw and move the cam a hair to the left, i think and retie the screw, that should get you over to 55% west.

I did ask if you wanted the other arc, are you ready for a deeper dish?
Gary

 

[tvropro]

yep. I can think of another example

The Alaska mux on AMC7 (137W) that has 360North on it also has the Anchorage locals for the cable company there (GCI). When you scan the transponder one of two things happens depending on the receiver
-it logs in 360North only...doesnt log in the other channels
-it might log them but the pids are null (8191)...Coolsat 8000 does that

I've noticed on the other ones that do that (if its in the clear it logs the channel but if its scrambled it wont log the channel) is that the encryption is COMPEL...wonder if thats why?

My Pansat will find them ITC but not encrypted. It's the same for the Fox channels. The info that the receiver see's is probably encrypted too, not sure.

 

[(((Garyd)))]

Gary, welcome to Satelliteguys.us

I just got back from Sammy Mousa's house from Future satellite we have been close friends for a very long time he gave me all his satellite stuff he leaves for Egypt for good. Thinks haven't been that great with him and his wife, I’m going to miss him, he said to say good bye to you too

Gary

 

[Sadoun]

Gary

If you see him, tell him farewell. I hope he does well in Egypt. Heck that country is 5000 years old and still going strong (or may I say fine ). Tell him not to worry.

In fact Egypt has a lot of opportunities for those who can/want to seek it.

 

[(((Garyd)))]

Gary

If you see him, tell him farewell. I hope he does well in Egypt. Heck that country is 5000 years old and still going strong (or may I say fine ). Tell him not to worry.

In fact Egypt has a lot of opportunities for those who can/want to seek it.

Going to see him at 10 am he gave me so much stuff i need to make two trips, He's a good man, going to miss him i wish him ????

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I just got in after spending 2 1/2 hours outside working on the Dish.

I took the TV and receiver outside.

I kept trying to tune in some transponders of channels I wanted a Galaxy 3C with no luck and no signal or a very low signal.

I kept on moving the DMSI BSC-621 in and out of the scaler ring, kept turning the skew and still could not lock on the transponders I wanted. I was able to get some better signals on some transponders by doing this though.

I was starting to get frustrated, because there were a few things I wanted to pick up were not locking in.

Then I got an idea...

I went in the house and got the GEOSATPRO C Band LNB I got from the SatelliteGuys group buy a few months ago. Popped it in there and was quickly able to get the signals I was looking for!

Upon putting the lnb in and out and adjusting the scew I was able to get some great signals on both polarities.

My highest signal reading on the G3C satellite with the DMSI BSC-621 was 41, with the Geosatpro LNB I am getting a 74.

I thought it was a fluke, so tuned it to the highest powered transponder, removed the Geosatpro LNB from the holder, put the 621 back in again and again was not able to hit the high number I was getting from the Geosatpro.

Put the Geosatpro back in again and again had my signals for the transponder in the 70's.

I then locked down the Geosatpro LNB in the holder and retired the BSC-621 LNB.

I won't have KU on this Dish, which I need, but at least my old KU dish is up and working. Since both Dishes are motorized I am wondering if I can use a switch between them and still control the motors for each dish, or if I will need to use two seperate receivers (one for C band one for KU band.)

I was unable to lock in the Fox S2 feeds on G3C on transponders 18 and 19, I haven't seen a signal from them yet.

Now I am back in the house and hooked up everything again. And so far I went over to 91 degrees and am seeing nice high signals there as well.

Can't lock onto an S2 signals though with my AZBOX on G17. The lowest signal on any transponder is 54 with many transponders in the 80s!

Yet if I try putting in 4100 V 30000 5/6 I get 0 signal reading. I have tried setting the AZBOX to DVS-S2/QPSK and turned the pilot on and off with no luck. I know the stuff on this transponder is scrambled, but I assume that I should be getting some kind of signal.

Also on G17 there is a network that broadcasts on transponder 1, I get a 58 signal on this transponder, however I can not scan in the channels on this transponder.

I am glad I made some progress tonight, I am loving these high signals in the 70's and 80's.

 

[Mr Tony]

Scott
If you want a 24/7 DVB-S2 channel move to 97W and dial in TCT

3754
V
5741
5/6 FEC
pilot off
QPSK-DVB-S2

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I was able to lock onto a S2 signal on G17 at 91 degrees (The Fox Sports Networks)

According to Lyngsat is S2 format... but its not. It's DVB-S2/8PSK. As soon as I checked that I got signal.

Coming in good with a strength of 100% and a quality of 76%.

YIPPIE!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Ok got TCT in HD in S2 format.

 

[Mr Tony]

yep I just locked TCT on the 6 footer too

 

[pendragon]

I kept on moving the DMSI BSC-621 in and out of the scaler ring, kept turning the skew and still could not lock on the transponders I wanted. I was able to get some better signals on some transponders by doing this though.

I've never used a BSC-621, but from the reports I've read it is an inconsistent performer. You may have a defective unit. On the other hand you don't want to adjust the LNB focus by pulling the feed in and out of the scalar rings. That effectively changes the f/D of the feed, which will cause the feed to either over or underscan the dish. Both are bad for SNR.

From what I recall the Geosatpro 2.4 is a VERY shallow dish with a f/D of around 0.46. The mouth of the feedhorn should ideally be inset about 3/8" from the open edge of the scalar rings, or at the very worst flush. That needs to be locked down and not touched until you find the focus by moving the whole scalar ring and feed assembly together.

On a solid, shallow dish you should be able to get both C and Ku fairly well. If the BSC-621 doesn't work, others here may have better suggestions. I like ortho feeds, but the cost adds up fast.

 

[tdti1]

You can try the geosat c/ku lnbf, or you mite find a c/ku feedhorn on ebay for a good price, or maybe that satellite dude near you has a used feedhorn, you would need something to control the servo though a 4d or analog receiver would be nice, this would allow you to bring in some analog feeds as well.

 

[Tron]

I can't seem to find it, but I remember a thread describing a problem with probe alignment on many 621s. There was a solution which involved loosening them and re-aligning them. Maybe the Green One can dig up a link to the thread

 

[(((Garyd)))]

I've never used a BSC-621, but from the reports I've read it is an inconsistent performer. You may have a defective unit. On the other hand you don't want to adjust the LNB focus by pulling the feed in and out of the scalar rings. That effectively changes the f/D of the feed, which will cause the feed to either over or underscan the dish. Both are bad for SNR.

From what I recall the Geosatpro 2.4 is a VERY shallow dish with a f/D of around 0.46. The mouth of the feedhorn should ideally be inset about 3/8" from the open edge of the scalar rings, or at the very worst flush. That needs to be locked down and not touched until you find the focus by moving the whole scalar ring and feed assembly together.

On a solid, shallow dish you should be able to get both C and Ku fairly well. If the BSC-621 doesn't work, others here may have better suggestions. I like ortho feeds, but the cost adds up fast.

I agree with you on the numbers and the way your doing it i made a tool to adjust the feed but he is using three supports he would have to drill new holes to do the focus also the feed may not be dead center of the dish

 

[Mr Tony]

I can't seem to find it, but I remember a thread describing a problem with probe alignment on many 621s. There was a solution which involved loosening them and re-aligning them. Maybe the Green One can dig up a link to the thread

I thought that was mainly KU?

 

[(((Garyd)))]

I thought that was mainly KU?

No, if your off the bore site you can get all kinds of problems like picking up the side lobe from the satellite next to the one your on. It's the same problem on C or KU