setting up for 148

[phlatwound]

I would like to get something rigged up to catch the occasional FTE/FTA stuff on 148 and am looking for some setup ideas/help.

I can move my motorized 90 cm offset to 148, but have a linear single LNBF on it. I also have a Terk Dual LNBF that I could put on that dish but I think it may be for D* only (Input Freq. = 12.2 -12.7)?

What about setting up a Dish 500 w/DP Plus LNBF? I guess those are for 100/119 but, if that would work, what would the setup numbers look like?

I have a Visionsat IV-200 that is always in use in my sytem, but would probably be using a CS 6000 Premium for pointing initially, then incorporating this new setup into my Visionsat later.

All thoughts/suggestions are welcome, please assume I know nothing about setting up a dish for E*/circular signals.....with the questions I have already asked that should be rather obvious anyway, thanks.

*Edit: Iceberg/moderators, if this thread is misplaced or inappropriate, please break off or axe as you deem fit, thanks.

 

[Mr Tony]

broke off to a new thread
(its all good as with most DBS sats there is stuff that might be in the clear for a little bit)

 

[photoman76]

The Terk dual lnbf looks to be for dbs and should work fine. The lo frequency should be 11250. You don't have to remove the linear lnbf, just mount the Terk next to it. You should have plenty of signal on the 90cm offset. I have two lnbfs on my 3 foot offset and it works fine.

 

[Anole]

I'm against running with the circular on your motorized, but that's just me.
Any little dish you have, would be suitable for the Terk Circular LNBF.
The Dish 500 is adequate, and can be equipped a number of ways:
- two separate LNBs
- one dual-bird legacy LNB (not sure if your receiver can select the LNBs)
- one dual-bird DishPro (bandstacked) LNB which takes diseqc commands just fine
- one dual-bird DishProPlus which is bandsacked but may take too much power to operate from your receiver & switches

Slap the Terk on it and tune for maximum smoke.
The DBS birds need no skew adjustment, so leave the dish's skew at neutral.
Makes it easier to point.
You can't miss it - they're all big beacons in the sky.
If you have a $10 meter, it'll make the job even easier. - :up

 

[Mr Tony]

I can move my motorized 90 cm offset to 148, but have a linear single LNBF on it. I also have a Terk Dual LNBF that I could put on that dish but I think it may be for D* only (Input Freq. = 12.2 -12.7)?

You can always hoseclamp a DBS LNB to it. The LNB you have would work for DBS (DBS has the same frequencies in most cases if its Bell, Dish or DirecTV). I'll post some pics tonight of hoseclamp setups. The only thing is if you motor to say 119 the LNB will be off by 5 degrees so you'd have to adjust your USALS or use Diseqc 1.2

You could set up a separate dish but for a couple channels that possible pop up in the clear may not be feasable. The LNB attached to the existing one would work fine. I prefer one LNB to get all the DBS sats and not multiple dishes (although 119 fixed is probably the best option)

What LNB is on the 90cm dish? Some may not be as easy to attach a DBS LNB as others. I have a Sadoun dual which is kinda a "block" type LNB and that works well

 

[Lone Cloud]

Once in a while I get a soccer game on 148 that is in the clear.

Believe I have it set as a circular port on my Invacom, and I'm pretty sure I remember getting it with my Winegard 31 inch dish, not only my one meter dish.

So I watch the soccer for ten minutes or so and then ask myself "Fans actually KILL each other over this game"? I really don't see it. "Click"

 

[phlatwound]

The Terk dual lnbf looks to be for dbs and should work fine. The lo frequency should be 11250. You don't have to remove the linear lnbf, just mount the Terk next to it. You should have plenty of signal on the 90cm offset. I have two lnbfs on my 3 foot offset and it works fine.

Thanks, photoman, just knowing that I can use that LNBF is good info.

I will probably go ahead and mount the Terk @ boresight in the factory mount since it just takes a sec to change it out. Then if I can get the setup right...out comes the zipties and wood chunks!!!

 

[phlatwound]

I'm against running with the circular on your motorized, but that's just me.
Any little dish you have, would be suitable for the Terk Circular LNBF.
The Dish 500 is adequate, and can be equipped a number of ways:
- two separate LNBs
- one dual-bird legacy LNB (not sure if your receiver can select the LNBs)
- one dual-bird DishPro (bandstacked) LNB which takes diseqc commands just fine
- one dual-bird DishProPlus which is bandsacked but may take too much power to operate from your receiver & switches

Slap the Terk on it and tune for maximum smoke.
The DBS birds need no skew adjustment, so leave the dish's skew at neutral.
Makes it easier to point.
You can't miss it - they're all big beacons in the sky.
If you have a $10 meter, it'll make the job even easier. - :up

Thanks, Anole, great info on the Dish 500 option, my ignorance of that stuff is complete. I may take a pic of the 500/LNBF combo that I have for further comment. I didn't consider the power-hungry nature of the Dish stuff compared to my DVB equipment, so that may not even be an option.

One of the reasons I even considered with going with a Dish 500 setup is 148W is about 20 degrees elevation from here and I may have some tree issues, but I could put a Dish 500 up on my antenna tower and easily get good LOS.

 

[phlatwound]

You can always hoseclamp a DBS LNB to it. The LNB you have would work for DBS (DBS has the same frequencies in most cases if its Bell, Dish or DirecTV). I'll post some pics tonight of hoseclamp setups. The only thing is if you motor to say 119 the LNB will be off by 5 degrees so you'd have to adjust your USALS or use Diseqc 1.2

You could set up a separate dish but for a couple channels that possible pop up in the clear may not be feasable. The LNB attached to the existing one would work fine. I prefer one LNB to get all the DBS sats and not multiple dishes (although 119 fixed is probably the best option)

What LNB is on the 90cm dish? Some may not be as easy to attach a DBS LNB as others. I have a Sadoun dual which is kinda a "block" type LNB and that works well

Thanks, Iceberg, I'd like to see your pics.

Another thought...I still have the Dish 1000 w/3 LNB setup up for NASA (and OTA digitals) on 119, it's up on my antenna tower. I don't even remember how I got it working (except that it never would have happened without your help!), is there any way it could be reaimed...or graft the Terk onto that existing dish?

 

[phlatwound]

Once in a while I get a soccer game on 148 that is in the clear.

Believe I have it set as a circular port on my Invacom, and I'm pretty sure I remember getting it with my Winegard 31 inch dish, not only my one meter dish.

So I watch the soccer for ten minutes or so and then ask myself "Fans actually KILL each other over this game"? I really don't see it. "Click"

Hey Lone Cloud, I've never really "gotten" soccer either.....some of those folks make our crazy sports fans look pretty tame!

 

[Lak7]

Kinda Off Topic but....
I think Soccer is like NASCAR, if you watch closely there are always a bunch of little things going on, then the Score or Big Crash.

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks, Iceberg, I'd like to see your pics.

Another thought...I still have the Dish 1000 w/3 LNB setup up for NASA (and OTA digitals) on 119, it's up on my antenna tower. I don't even remember how I got it working (except that it never would have happened without your help!), is there any way it could be reaimed...or graft the Terk onto that existing dish?

various pics of a DBS & KU LNB on one setup (some still have some don't)

 

[phlatwound]

Thanks for the pics, Ice. I may ziptie that Terk to my motorized dish, or setup a stationary temp dish (90 cm BJU) on my 5 gal concrete bucket mount, and see if I can get LOS to 148W.

If that doesn't work might try investigating the Dish 500 caper, here a pic of the LNBF I have:

 

[Cadsulfide]

See if there is any dish 300 junk around your area, and put the DP single with the straight plastic piece on that dish 500 instead of the "y adapter" and dual lnb.

Lots of them around that were used as wing dishes for 148, and for 61.5. Aiming it with a meter is a breeze.

It's so small that with a couple of u-bolts to hold the mast on the tower you're done in 30 minutes. It'll take longer to blindscan...LOL

 

[phlatwound]

See if there is any dish 300 junk around your area, and put the DP single with the straight plastic piece on that dish 500 instead of the "y adapter" and dual lnb.....

Thanks, Cad, how 'bout putting a piece of Terk junk on the Dish 500?

If that would work, that brings another thought to my tiny brain....

On the Dish 1000.2 (110, 119, 129)/Dish 811 receiver setup that I am using for NASA & OTA digitals, I *think* there is another LNB input on the 1000.2 for a wing dish.

If I got the wing dish pointed to 148W, could I use that 4th input for the Dish 500/Terk unit, run a check switch routine, and view the FTA signals through the 811 receiver?

 

[Anole]

The Terk LNB is Legacy not DishPro (voltage controlled, not bandstacked).
So, it won't plug into the 1000.x

Your 811 won't recognize un-authorized programming.
So, you're out of luck twice, on that approach. -

Best bet would be to put the Terk on a small dish, connect it to your FTA receiver (with a diseqc switch, or whatever suits your situation), and be done with it.
If you have other small DBS dishes, post a model or picture, and maybe we can offer some alternatives.

Don't forget the suggestions above for mounting the Terk beside your motorized LNB.
It's just a matter of choice.

That's two ways to go.


edit: here is some reference material for your viewing pleasure -

How to locate a new LNB at the proper focus, when replacing it:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...ert-superdish-true-fta-use-2.html#post1540313

McGuyver photo gallery: (non-standard LNB grafted to Dish 500)
SatelliteGuys Photo Gallery - McGuyver Gallery - Powered by PhotoPost

Here's the LNB adapter Cadsulfide mentioned for the Dish 500:
http://www.dishstore.net/product_info.php?cPath=65&products_id=146

 

[phlatwound]

Thanks Anole, after a little research I understand about the Legacy vs. DishPro incompatibility. One of my (many) areas of ignorance is truly understanding how bandstacking works, and how it interacts with the equipment we commonly use.

But I'm learning!

Thanks to all for the great ideas, pics and suggestions in this thread. I've been too busy to put any of my crazy schemes into practice lately, but hoping that will change soon.

 

[V_H]

various pics of a DBS & KU LNB on one setup (some still have some don't)

Is the center LNB in the last picture the one from Bell Express Vu? Got one just like it from Ebay and thought the seller made a mistake and sent a circular LNB because I did not know that BEV also use linear. Sat in the pile for a while until I read your message about your own BEV LNB.

 

[Lak7]

Bell Express Vu uses Circular, I think "Starchoice" uses / used Linear

 

[phlatwound]

Decided to put the Terk LNBF on my BJU 90 cm....with a little help from dishpointer I had my Coolsat 6000 locked on to the strong transponder from The List (12224 V 20000) in about 2 minutes.

Sure, it's scrambled, but it taught me that I could get to 148W (19.5 degrees elevation) and was a fun experiment.

Thanks to all for the help and encouragement.