Spotbeam? What is it

[fire_317]

What is Spotbeam vs Transponder on my signal strength? When I aim the dish, should I set my transponder to a specific one?

 

[mike123abc]

Try to use transponder 11 or higher when aiming. Transponders below 11 can be used for spot beams. Spot beams are where they only send the signal to specific areas of the country. By only sending the signal to certain areas they can reuse the same frequency over again in a different area. So, on transponders below 11 you cannot be certain that your area of the country is recieving them.

In reality 119 the spots are on 1,3,5,7,9 and 110 2,4,6,8,10

 

[ChrisCoop]

Well, you really can't "set" the transponder/spotbeam. All you're really doing in the point dish screen is looking at the signal strength for any given transponder. The receiver itself will select the appropriate transponder or spotbeam depending on the channel you tune to (different channels are on different transponders - for a list of all of them, see TNGTony's page HERE). Regarding spotbeams, it's my understanding that they beam the signal down a more narrow pipe (kind of looks like a flashlight shooting down on you from the sky) at your particular region. So instead of blanketing the whole country like the other satellites/transponders, the spotbeams just cover your area. For example, every dish customer sees the 110/119 satellites, but you might have a spotbeam shooting at your city that I don't "see." Maybe it provides some of your locals to you, for example.

 

[Mr Tony]

You should never try to aim a dish using a spotbeam

I tried it once for fun...Spotbeam 2 (110) I got close to 125 signal even after I turned it about 2 or 3" away from the original spot...The rest were around 50

 

[ChrisCoop]

Guys, I don't believe he's really aiming his dish. He's asking about the different transponders/spotbeams he sees in the "Point Dish" screen.

 

[SimpleSimon]

You should never try to aim a dish using a spotbeam...

Absolutely right!
Best bet is to always use 11 & 12 for aiming and reporting of signal strength - this way it's easy to do apples-to-apples comparisons with the folks here.