two satellites with one dish possible?

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Dee_Ann

Dee_Ann

Angry consumer!
Original poster
May 23, 2009
3,420
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Texas
This may sound like a stupid question but I'm wondering if this is possible?

I have a friend that I'm thinking about fixing him up with tuner and a ku dish.

I was thinking that if there was a way to get say, 101 and 125 on a single, fixed dish without a motor, that would be awesome.

I'm looking to do this with the minimal investment of course. And without getting into anything too complicated. I ~may~ be coming into some more dishes in the not too distant future and I sort of want to earn some brownie points.. :o

I don't have the new (to me) stuff just yet so I don't know what it will be and I am afraid to start counting chicken yet. So for now I'm just wondering if it even feasible to do such a thing.

If anyone would know it would be you guys. I know y'all rig up all sorts of wild stuff so who better to ask?

Thanks! :)
 
So for now I'm just wondering if it even feasible to do such a thing.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. With a larger dish like an old Primestar, (football shape one), Pointed at the right spot with two lnbs mounted at the proper locations it can be done. You might be able to get by on a slightly smaller dish like an old Superdish. That said, I would use the Primestar because of its larger surface being able to reflect more signal and its heavier design. Have a great day!
 
Sure, but by mounting two LNBFs off center, both satellites will give reduced signals.
A larger dish is certainly recommended (Primestar 84e, or maybe your DirectWay?).

There are a number of considerations, and we have an old thread concerning the math, if you care to go that way. ;)
But by rule of thumb, you want two satellites close but not too close that the two LNBFs bump into each other.
And you don't want two satellites so far apart, that the dish just runs out of steam.
6° would work. 12° would probably be fine. I think 25° is pushing the envelope just a bit.
But, you have all the equipment there to experiment. - :up
And there have been numerous threads here discussing successes and failures.
 
Many folks have trouble with bird 125. What Anole said about running out of steam is a grand danger for that bird when included in a wide spread. Personally, i would go with a solo dish on 125 and then add in 101 at a later time on another dish even on the same pole. :)
That being said, i have read other forums where they have up to 40 degree spreads.
Attainable Dee, but you may not have all the TPs.
I do recommend one thing if u try this. set 125 more to center of dish as it is rougher to tune then 101 is.(in MY opinion and guessing that u only wish to view the hotel networks on 101)
And grab a nice big dish for it all
 
yes possible but very difficult.....you would need to aim the dish in the middle around 112 and mount the lnbs on a fully adjustable bracket so you can turn them all ways and raise them up and down....you would need a large dish i would go with a 1.2m.....

this will be a very frusterating and time consuming process unless you have ALOT of experience aiming dishes....aiming a motorized dish in my opinion would be easier than doing this....
 
I have played around with similar projects, and would agree that 24 degrees is too much separation for linear Ku transponders unless the dish is large and specifically built for multiple LNBFs.

I can get 12060H on 101w in most weather with a Dish 500 modified to accept a single linear LNBF. http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/209227-what-can-i-get-linear-lnb.html
You can usually get one of those, or better, for free or dirt cheap on CraigsList.

125w is not so easy, at least not here. Some transponders are marginal even with a 76cm dish.
 
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waste of time unless you are satisfied with only receiving SD channels with rain fade. The best channels on 125w require a focused dish to get a decent signal for HD.
 
like i said....possible only if you REALLY KNOW what you are doing, and have ALOT of experience aiming dishes, and have alot of patience to fine tune things.....i have done 97w and 127w on a stationary 1.2m dish....but this is definitely not a project for the average fta user or an fta newbie....
 
It depends a lot on how tight the manufacturer made the dish shape fit a perfect parabolic curve. I have a KTI 1 meter dish that will not work with more then 10 degrees of spread. I have a T-90 that works well on 40 degrees. BYW the KTI brings in a much stronger signal then the T-90 when aimed at on axis satellite.
Bob
 
I am not sure if we are talking about the same issue because here in Europe (Paris,France) there are several kits available which enables you to attach up to 22 satellites(without motorization) and there are several twin LNBs and arms which you can adapt without some of the sugested laborious solutions.
 
Hmmm.. Good stuff guys, thank you..
It sounds like the general consensus is, don't try it. I think that's good advice.
Maybe I can find two dishes for him. But then again, it's still to soon to know how this will turn out as I don't yet have the new extra dishes, don't know anything about them and then I haven't even really talked to my guy friend in detail about the whole idea. He may not care to have it. I told him I could set up a satellite for him and he was like "Really? Cool." and then we got off on tangents.
He said he has a Dish Network left over from when he was a truck driver but he turned off his subscription when he quit driving trucks two years ago. I'm guessing he isn't too much into watching TV these days.
I sort of was thinking I could earn some brownie points.

But if he does decide to get one, maybe a two dish setup would be best.

Also, one of you guys mentioned a Dish Network dish. There's a whole bunch of those little pizza dishes out in the tool shed that dumb-dumb picked up out of trash piles.
Which kind could be used and which kind should I just toss? There's two sizes, small round ones and slightly larger round ones.
I was under the impression those are too small to use for ku?

Thanks so much guys! :)
 
Anything smaller than 30 inches is pretty much useless, unless you like low signal quality, or none at all in the rain,
 
I don't claim this list is 100% accurate nor fully comprehensive, but it may cover the more common dishes you'll find out back:

DishNetwork Superdish and DirecTV dishes:
----------------------------------------
DishNet SuperDish: 36" x 20" h
DishNet D-500:... 20.5 x 22" h
DirecTV Slimline: 32.5 x 22.5 h
DirecTV Phase III 20.5 x 18.5 h

edit:
These are the most common and older dishes.
If you have anything else, list it's width and height, and post a picture for better feedback.


The smaller dishes are for bragging rights (been there, done that) and whether or not you -can- get a signal, should you bother?
What happens in marginal reception situations (bad weather)?
And of course, what I alluded to above, can you get the difficult transponders?
I personally hate to see anyone purchase a 30" dish of any sort, when one of these would be just as poor. - :)

People have posted success with the DishNet SuperDish and the DirecTV Slimline.
The Slimline would be outfitted with an aftermarket LNBF.
The Superdish could use the existing FSS LNB and feed that comes with it. (bandstacked LNB)
If you have either, it's probably best you give it a test-drive and see if it impresses you.
My weather is so dry, they all work for me. ;)
 
Valasante said:
I am not sure if we are talking about the same issue because here in Europe (Paris,France) there are several kits available which enables you to attach up to 22 satellites(without motorization) and there are several twin LNBs and arms which you can adapt without some of the sugested laborious solutions.
Click to expand...

There are quite a few differences between European FTA and North American FTA. For starters, just a quick look at your satellite footprint beams show that your EIRP (dBW) is usually higher than ours (as well as more uniform over larger areas), except for those satellites here that are for the pay services such as Dish, DirecTV, Bell, and Shaw Direct. Naturally, this means you have stronger signals, and, therefore, a smaller dish can be used, or in the case of multiple LNBs on a dish, the LNB can be placed further from the centre of the dish without too much loss. For example, on one satellite (72W) where I am in a "sweet spot" of 51 EIRP (which seems to be the standard EIRP of your satellites in Europe) I get it on a LNB 11 degrees off-centre on a 75E (elliptical dish), with very strong signal quality. While on other satellites the signal would be very borderline or completely gone at such a distance off-centre, even on a larger dish.

But the main difference between European and North American FTA is that European FTA is geared towards the consumer, whereas with North American FTA (other than 97W, which has only 48.5 as its highest EIRP) the consumer is not the target of the broadcasts. This means that the signal strengths can range from poor to blasting on the same satellite. The only concern for the broadcaster is whether their intended target (cable company, tv rebroadcast station, etc.) gets the signal, and most use larger dishes than the standard FTA dish we use to receive the signal. This, of course, restricts how far off-centre you can place your LNB and still receive a good signal. Generally, six degrees off-centre is optimal (without a great loss), eight degrees obtainable on some satellites, if you are in a "sweet spot", but all depends on the strength of the broadcast signals as to whether it is viable or not.
 
Hey Dee

The dishes your getting are channel master and andrew 1 meter and I have 1 cm 1.2 meter
with the big 3" heavy mounts..The site we talk about has not been confirmed to address who the
owner is.I believe you will able to have 3 1 meter dishes in this group..I should be in your area on wed.
 
Dee_Ann said:
Also, one of you guys mentioned a Dish Network dish. There's a whole bunch of those little pizza dishes out in the tool shed that dumb-dumb picked up out of trash piles.
Which kind could be used and which kind should I just toss? There's two sizes, small round ones and slightly larger round ones.
I was under the impression those are too small to use for ku?

Thanks so much guys! :)
Click to expand...

I have a Dish 500 that does quite well on many satellites but I would go bigger on 125w. Like someone said above you could mount two small dishes on one pole instead of risking two lnbs far apart on one dish.

If you're interested in modifying a Dish 500 dish check out this thread
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/256744-need-help-modifying-dish-500-fta.html
 
starwatch said:
Hey Dee

The dishes your getting are channel master and andrew 1 meter and I have 1 cm 1.2 meter
with the big 3" heavy mounts..The site we talk about has not been confirmed to address who the
owner is.I believe you will able to have 3 1 meter dishes in this group..I should be in your area on wed.
Click to expand...

W00t!!! :D
 
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