Astra 1, 2 and Hotbird on a zone 2 mini dish?

[Adam792]

I think the rail will be the way to go then! I did used to use a zone 2 for 19.2/13°E a few years back (there's a thread on here) and that was just with the LNBs held together by cable ties.

I'd like it a bit more permanent though for going on a wall. Definitely going to get the stuff to experiment with in any case.


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[Adam792]

Just a return to this, as mentioned in another thread, I'm planning to do this set-up with Inverto Eco LNBs which seem to be the optimal solution from my experimentation so far!

However, about a year ago I bought a 4 degree monobloc for super cheap (£8) off Ebay, to see if the narrower separation would match up to 6 degrees on the zone 2 for 13E and 19.2E. 4 Degree Single Universal Monoblock LNB Astra 1/3 Or Eurobird 9/13 | eBay

Finally got round to testing it today, and it actually works pretty well. Compared to where the Inverto Ecos sit for optimum reception on 19.2E/13E, the two heads of the monobloc are only a couple of millimetres closer together at most.

I tested the set-up out with 19.2E at the focal point of the dish, with 13E the offset. The dish has to sit ever so slightly west of optimal for 19.2E but still with levels of around 14dB C/N on most transponders, with 13E ones being around 9dB-10.5dB and working fine.

I would think the signals would be a bit more robust the other way round, as recommended generally for these two sats anyway!

A bit further north, these monoblocks would probably work even better with the separation being bang on! Thought I would share a nice, cheap (if a little bodgy) solution for this in case it's useful for anyone

 

[Adam792]

Final set-up, the Inverto Ecos look nice and neat and work really well.

It's just been caning it down and the signal is fine on both 13E and 28E as well as 19.2E at the centre.

Great for a fairly low-key set-up.

 

[statalite]

Final set-up, the Inverto Ecos look nice and neat and work really well.

It's just been caning it down and the signal is fine on both 13E and 28E as well as 19.2E at the centre.

Great for a fairly low-key set-up.

Top job.

The adaptor with the spirit level, this must be a special 40mm version, right?

Do you see any advantage over say a technomate TM-1 single LNB with the black eco as they are both 40mm collar, the TM-1 LNB looks reasonably priced also?

I'm considering doing similar to my zone 2 but would rather 28.2 be the focus then 19.2 and 13 to the side, this should be possible with LNB singles because they don't weigh much?

 

[Mooncamm]

Final set-up, the Inverto Ecos look nice and neat and work really well.

It's just been caning it down and the signal is fine on both 13E and 28E as well as 19.2E at the centre.

Great for a fairly low-key set-up.

What is the name of the rail and do you know a supplier?
Thanks.

 

[Adam792]

Top job.

The adaptor with the spirit level, this must be a special 40mm version, right?

Do you see any advantage over say a technomate TM-1 single LNB with the black eco as they are both 40mm collar, the TM-1 LNB looks reasonably priced also?

I'm considering doing similar to my zone 2 but would rather 28.2 be the focus then 19.2 and 13 to the side, this should be possible with LNB singles because they don't weigh much?

Yes it’s a 40mm adapter that came with a 40mm LNB off EBay (I think they’re sold as Sky twin output LNBs and are obviously not official)

I have some TM-1s knocking about but they are a little ‘chunkier’ than the Inverto Ecos at the cap end so harder to get close enough together for 13°E and 19.2°E, plus they’re a bit heavier.

You could put 28.2°E at the centre but it’s so strong in the UK that you don’t really need to on the Zone 2 in my experience (central/southern England). I’m getting pretty much the same C/N ratio on the 28.2°E transponders as on 19.2°E at the focal point. Around 16dB.

In terms of the rail used, it was just a bog standard multi satellite bracket off eBay like this one - Multi-LNB Holder for All Satellite Dishes Hotbird (Holds up to 3 LNBs) | eBay

 

[statalite]

I have some TM-1s knocking about but they are a little ‘chunkier’ than the Inverto Ecos at the cap end so harder to get close enough together for 13°E and 19.2°E, plus they’re a bit heavier.

The Inverto Black Ultra singles seem to be a similar price to the Eco's at £12.99, do you happen to know if the characteristics of the Ultra singles are the same as the TM-1s or the Eco's?

 

[ozumo]

Black Ecos are a fiver each on Amazon

 

[statalite]

Black Ecos are a fiver each on Amazon

I didn't realise, thank you.

 

[statalite]

So I managed to acquire myself a couple of the eco lnbs but the bracket that @Adam792 linked to in post 66 is now sold out, so was wondering if anyone knew of anywhere else selling the bracket for the same price or less?

 

[sonnetpete]

Amazon have them but they're a bit dearer...

 

[jeallen01]

So I managed to acquire myself a couple of the eco lnbs but the bracket that @Adam792 linked to in post 66 is now sold out, so was wondering if anyone knew of anywhere else selling the bracket for the same price or less?

MANY more like that one are on ebay - just look here!

 

[statalite]

MANY more like that one are on ebay - just look here!

Yes they are like, but I was looking for that specific design.
However your suggestion has made me realise since, I could try and use my triax lnb holder on my zone 2.

 

[jeallen01]

Yes they are like, but I was looking for that specific design. However your suggestion has made me realise since, I could try and use my triax lnb holder on my zone 2.

A number of that "specific" design are shown further down the list!

 

[statalite]

I managed to get a multi holder similar to the one as linked by @Adam792. I bent the bar into slight curve but not much.
I ventured out in the rain this morning, removed the existing 37mm lnb, added my 40mm to get 28.2e back, with the multi holder I have been able to add 19.2e to the right hand side as you look at the dish but at this moment nothing on 13e, I'm assuming it's just a case of sliding the 3rd lnb down on the same line? I didn't do lots of searching due to the rain, but will have another go.
It would be great if I could get 9e on this zone 2 multi holder setup, it looks like the holder is long enough, has anyone else had any success with this? So to end up with 28/19/9.

 

[Adam792]

Yes that's right, you'll need to put the 13°E LNB along the bar to the right of the 19.2°E dish. It might be a bit fiddly as 13°E is weaker than 28.2°E/19.2°E - and will be especially in the rain! I tend to lock on the Swiss DVB-S2 transponder 10971H and peak that to get the best signal.

You may struggle with 9°E (same sort of strength as 13°E) without making 19.2°E your centre LNB. As I say, I get very strong signals on the UK beam transponders on 28.2°E with this set-up - around 16dB. The Europe beam ones (like CNN HD etc) are lower at around 11dB but I haven't optimised that LNB really - I think I can probably get a bit more with some adjustment!

 

[jeallen01]

I agree with Adam - 19E needs to be the centre LNB with the LNB 28E to one side of that and that for 13E to the other,

Then:
1 - swing the dish so that it points very slightly further East, and optimise that centre LNB for 19E in terms of dish elevation (it will be slightly lower than it currently is for 28E), and LNB skew .

2 - slightly tilt the multi-LNB holder bar, so that, as you look past it to the dish face, the LNB on the Left (for 28E) is higher than the centre one and the one on the Right (for 13E) is lower than the centre one

3 - optimise the position on the bar, and the skew of the 13E LNB,

4 - finally do the same for the 28E LNB.

 

[Mickha]

It depends what you want, on 9E, as most seem to be Italian, and use a spot beam. I haven't been on 9E, or 10E, for some time, so I'm not sure if the beam maps are accurate.

 

[statalite]

It depends what you want, on 9E, as most seem to be Italian, and use a spot beam. I haven't been on 9E, or 10E, for some time, so I'm not sure if the beam maps are accurate.

12034v for the football which is on william-1's strongest transponder list. Other transponders will be a bonus.

 

[Adam792]

It depends what you want, on 9E, as most seem to be Italian, and use a spot beam. I haven't been on 9E, or 10E, for some time, so I'm not sure if the beam maps are accurate.

The wide beam and the extended Greece beam are around ~51dBW in most of England at least, with one of the Germany beams being ~48dBW in the East and tailing off further West (mainly encrypted KabelKiosk channels for German cable headends though anyway).

M6/W9/6ter Suisse on 12034V are on the widebeam, which is similar to the 13E beams as far as I can tell. It's also using DVB-S2 8PSK 3/4 though which needs at least 7.9dB C/N to lock