Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 45

Thread: Testing out a 1 Meter “C” band dish.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default Testing out a 1 Meter “C” band dish.

    OK all you “C” band guys it’s summer time and it’s time to do some experimenting and testing, I found an old “C” band LNB in the junk drawer, it is an old Channel Master with a 40 degree LNBA on it, it has a polar rotor on it but I have no way (yet) to control this and I will be only testing the “H” polarity channels for now.

    I have made a test mount for this assembly for my 1 meter dish, I will be testing it on 91 west as this location has both “C” and “Ku” band satellites, I can find Galaxy 17 easier this way.

    The only thing missing from the LNB assembly is the scalar ring, I have no idea were that went to or what I may have used it for, who knows, it could be the center part of the dome I built back in the 90’s.

    So it’s “Hair pulling time” I hope the LNB still works, I get an “S” reading on the CoolSat 5000 so there may be hope yet, but have yet to mount the LNB and tweak it in, if it works that is….

    Anyone else tried this?
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    22,807
    Satfix Buxs
    2,206,751
    Thanks
    36,977
    Thanked 26,256x in 7,929 Posts
    Items GreeceCanada

    Default

    Sounds awesome Terry. However that lnbf you have is rustic. I could make a couple of suggestions on a new lnbf or if you like I can send you my geosatpro c 2 lnbf- I just changed feeds last week.







  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default

    Yah after several hot hours out in the sun (87 degrees F in the shade, 130 in the direct sunlight) I'm beginning to think that the LNB may be toastier then I am right now, after all that nice work making a nice 3 way adjustable bracket I think it's time for a dip in the pond........Oh wait.......That dried up last week......Darn........Then its beer 30 time.

    Hummmmm...... Geosatpro......Hummmmm I would have to redesign the mount....But I might take you up on that, I'd pay for shipping......If I can find a way.......Thanks for the offer Cos...


    I'm going to have to do this at night, its going to be even hotter tomorrow...
    Last edited by Terryl; 06-14-2011 at 10:14 PM.
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  4. #4
    jvvh5897 Guest

    Default

    May not be the LNB--lyngsat shows that 91 is a little weaker than 99, and I've never gotten anything on 91 even though I should be in good spot in the footprint with my 1M dish. Have been able to get 99 (world harvest/lesea is the easiest TP to get) and 107.3 MeteoMedia came in pretty well--but you are fighting both the low gain of the dish and its wide beamwidth (about 4.5 degrees so you get lots of signal from other sats)--you will find that some TP come in and some don't on the same sat.

    Oh, and without the scaler, I'm not sure you will get anything. With a flat scaler I don't get anything, had to use a conical scaler. That is with an offset feed dish-maybe flat scaler OK with prime focus dish.
    Last edited by jvvh5897; 06-14-2011 at 05:18 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default

    What about 89 or 87?

    What I'm eventually trying for is the NASA channels in HD, this (if I get it to work) will tie into my CS8K for HD, this is why I'm aiming at 91W, I can strap the circular LNB on this rig and get the signals from Nimiq 1,(tells me I'm on the arc) then I plan on jogging it over to 87W, this thing doesn't have a motor on it, just me, with an old 9" TV and the CS5K on a card table out in the back, (this is old fashion testing with the dish mounted on my test pipe) saves me from running back into the house to look at the main TV all the time.


    And after further testing with that old LNB I'm beginning to think that the old LNB is junk in the trunk, and no where in any boxes or on any shelf can I fint the scalar ring, so this may be fruitless, but it's keeping me sane and out of trouble. (maybe I can use that old funnel for filling the tractor?)

    Oh and I have to wear my side arm, the snakes are getting restless, already got a 4 footer, a 9mm with snake shot works wonders on rattle snakes.
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    22,807
    Satfix Buxs
    2,206,751
    Thanks
    36,977
    Thanked 26,256x in 7,929 Posts
    Items GreeceCanada

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Terryl View Post
    Yah after sever hot hours out in the sun (87 degrees F in the shade, 130 in the direct sunlight) I'm beginning to think that the LNB may be toastier then I am right now, after all that nice work making a nice 3 way adjustable bracket I think it's time for a dip in the pond........Oh wait.......That dried up last week......Darn........Then its beer 30 time.

    Hummmmm...... Geosatpro......Hummmmm I would have to redesign the mount....But I might take you up on that, I'd pay for shipping......If I can find a way.......Thanks for the offer Cos...


    I'm going to have to do this at night, its going to be even hotter tomorrow...
    No problemo bud, better on your dish then collecting dust in my garage.







  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    644
    Satfix Buxs
    2,518
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 69x in 43 Posts
    Items Rose
Gift received at 12-15-2012, 11:50 AM from ICEMAN
Message: MERRY CHRISTMAS,CHEERS

    Default

    Why not try for 121w first? That seems to be a strong one and a starting point for people running mini-BUD setups.
    Satellite Equipment:
    10' Orbitron, Openbox S9, General Instrument 920
    Shaw subscription, HDPVR630, 2x HDDSR600,
    1m Channel Master (125w), Coolsat 8000


    OTA Equipment:
    Unknown model VHF/UHF combo antenna, Channel Master 7777 preamp, Channel Master rotator, 35' Rohn 20G tower

  8. #8
    jvvh5897 Guest

    Default

    I'm going to have to take back some of my previous comments. I had an hour to play around and nothing better to do so I took off the conical scaler and tried the flat Chaparal style scaler and I got OK results on a number of the 99 degree TPs (LNB was just even with bottom of the scaler and no change in LNB position forward or back improved things so focal positioning much be the same with this scaler as with conical). So I took off that scaler and still got the GDMix (strong but think the video is 4-2-2, audio is OK though--Q reading 50) and Lesea TPs (not usable but got a lock) with nothing on the LNB at all. Then thinking of the info Paul Wade has about scalers, I cut out a ring from cardboard and used spray adhesive to attach heavy AL foil to it and found that if 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inch back on the LNB GDMix peaked up at Q of 55 (reading was about 65 with conical scaler and about 60 with Chaparal scaler). Did try to fake a simple cone with another peice of cardboard with AL and seemed to get a peak if the cone flaired at an angle that had the edges of the cone pointing at the edges of the dish and the cone started about that same 1-1/2 inch back on the LNB as the ring maxed at--had to hold the cardboard in place so no reading taken.
    Did try for Nasa--could not get it.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default

    OK the hardware is wayyyyyyyyy too hot to handle, (93 in the shade) this is now an after 9PM projo......
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  10. #10
    jvvh5897 Guest

    Default

    I built a couple more cardboard and aluminum foil scalers to try them out.
    http://www.w1ghz.org/antbook/chap6-3.pdf
    describes a VE4MA feed--a ring with a lip--didn't work all that well, but about as well as the simple ring "choke".

    Better was a true cone shape--I tried a 60 degree cone to fit on the LNB and it did not quite see the whole dish. Calcs say that I need an 79 degree angle of acceptance (2*arctan(D/2/f)). Still it peeked up the strongest signal about as well as anything else I tried, but not well on ALL the TP (and the strongest is not the one I like to watch).

    I ended up putting the Chaparral feed back on. Might have to try to move the dish to see if I do better on other sats with this.

  11. #11
    jvvh5897 Guest

    Default

    Seems not all Chaparral scalers are equal--had a backup C band LNB and the scaler with it does not work. The lips on the rings are only 0.5 inches high and they should be at least 0.7 to be 1/4 wavelength at the highest C band frequency (so it is better if they are at 0.8 inches for the lowest freqs).

    Found that an 80 degree conical horn is pretty easy to use and almost as effective as anything else--positioning is not critical so if you don't know exactly where the focal point is or where to put the scaler and you haven't get a good idea of dish positioning yet, it might be the best to start with. I used two concentric circles: inner radius 2.05 inch, outer radius 5 inch for a cone that fits on 60mm LNB and for 6.4 diameter outer radius of the horn--you only need 230 degrees of the circle but I left another 10 degrees of arc for joining the two ends and left two 10 degree tabs to center of circle to attach to a ring to hold it on the LNB (picture the capital C with some odd lines to center).
    Last edited by jvvh5897; 06-16-2011 at 03:08 PM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default

    I might just try this out, I have some very thin aluminum flashing that will be just the right size, now to go find my protractors...
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default

    OK this is what I whipped up out in the shop, does this look right?

    Cone 001.jpg
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    9,003
    Satfix Buxs
    4,002,465
    Thanks
    3,658
    Thanked 8,666x in 3,246 Posts
    Items PhoneHeartVintage truck
Gift received at 12-23-2012, 09:06 AM from ICEMAN
Message: thank you budTVCoffee makerPinkfloydthe travel gnomeTractor

    Default

    Here is another shot, for size comparison its sitting on top of my stack of old Dish 311 receivers.

    Cone.jpg
    ♫♫♫ I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK ♫♫♫ I drink all night and sleep all day. ♫♫♫



    Coming soon to a crop circle near you.....

    There is a 66 and third % chance that I'm on the right planet...

    "I'm happier then a Jackalope in a balloon factory"

    "First rule of testing satellites"
    "If its working fine now, then don't mess with it"

    "Second rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and now it doesn't work, can you blame someone else?"

    "Third rule of testing satellites"
    "If you did mess with it, and it doesn't work now, and you can't blame someone else"
    "Can you HIDE it"?

  15. #15
    jvvh5897 Guest

    Default

    Look pretty good to me! I might add a cylindrical band to the LNB transition, the cone has to feed directly into the waveguide and if you can't press the rim directly to the LNB, a cylinder could help mate the two--I found that I could mount the LNB where it was convinent and then slide the funnel about till I could eyeball the edge of the dish past it (and maybe squash it one way or the other) and the cylinder would make the transition electrically.

    I suspect that the guy that reports using a metal salad bowl for a feed on a mini-bud was getting pretty much the same funnel like effect with a curved surface.

    My test showed that the outer rim of the funnel was not that critical in size (I tried one much smaller with a stiffening ring of diameter 6.4 inch and it was OK)--max readings for Chaparral was about 62 on GDMX TP and with cone I got 60, and on Virgin Is TP also drop of about 2 Q points. There is some loss due to the thin AL foil too I think--might be better with thicker material. Also recall ham info on microwave gear saying that there can be some odd effects from rivits and seams--they would likely use brass shim stock and silver solder. Think the biggest effect would be matching the required angle for given size dish and focal length--much more critical than materials and construction method.

    I have an old primestar LNB that uses a 60 degree horn and a 20 degree horn--I get slightly better results with that old thing than some of the rest of the LNBs I've tried on KU band--but lots of metal required for something like that, I bet the current designs are to save a little on materials.
    Last edited by jvvh5897; 06-17-2011 at 04:16 PM.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •