BBC reception help in Stockholm, Sweden

[Dopamine]

Yeah.. I kind of figure it´d be best to cut my losses and spent
that money on the Gibertini 150.


I checked the signal throughout the last 24 hours (well, not entirely)
and it seems to vary less than 1 dB S/N.
Lunchtime: 5.6-5.7 dB S/N = first time the picture is perfect
4->5 PM: peaks at 6.3 dB S/N
7 PM: 5.5-5.6, starts to break up. Unwatchable.

Probably dips down to 5.4 at worst, though I haven´t checked during
the night.

Can you wall-mount a Gibertini 150?
As I said, I have a very sturdy wall-mount, but then again I don´t know
how much heavier a 150cm is compared to my 125cm.

Peace,
/Per

 

[Likvid]

Gibertini 1,5 meter is pretty expensive for what you get, i would advise you to look for a secondhand 1,8 meter Channel Master instead, then you get real margins and a really nice dish.

The Channel Master can be found very cheap if you look hard, there are many who doesn't want to keep their big dishes and throw them away to the dip.

 

[Dopamine]

Some numbers I´ve found in the various spec. sheets:

Gibertini OP120
Gain at 10.95 GHz - 41.3 dB
Gibertini OP150
Gain at 10.95 GHz - 43.3 dB

Andrew Type 120
Gain @ 11.95 GHz - 42.0 dBi
Andrew Type 180
Gain @ 11.95 GHz - 45.5 dBi

Noname 100cm
Gain (11,5Ghz) 39,5dB
Gain (12,75Ghz) 40,5dB
Noname 110cm
Gain (11,5Ghz) 40,8dB
Gain (12,75Ghz) 41,68dB

Andrew Type 100
Gain @ 11.95 GHz 40.5 dBi
Andrew Type 110
Gain @ 12.5 GHz 41.0 dBi


I find these numbers odd, since I expect the Gib/C.M to give
higher gain since they are suposebly of higher quality.
Anyhow, it pretty much seems that the dish size is the only
thing that matters.

If we assume that the correlation between the noname and the andrew
at 100/110 pans out to 125/120, then I supose my noname 125cm dish should
be pretty much as good as the Gib/C.H 120.
The question then is if 2 dB more in gain would be enough.
Or do I need the 4db to do the trick?

I find these specs quite confusing.. indeed, they might just be
bullshit marketing..

I await the specs from the 125cm I have; hopefully I´ll get them.

Im looking for some used dishes, and I´ve so far found a few big
ones, and Im trying to contact the sellers.

One guy actually offers a giant 3m dish for free to anyone who will take it off his hands.. oh, and get it down from the 5th floor roof. =)

Peace,
/Per

 

[Likvid]

Can't you take the 3 meter dish? then you don't need to worry.

 

[Jambo_Habari]

Dopamin (Per),

Why mount the dish on the wall ? Myself mounted the 140 dish right on the top of the chimney, the highest point, with a clear view.

Do not understand all your problems, we live in the same area, and you seams to have a lot of reception problems, when I have none, that is except if there is a severe storm or something, otherwise all is fine.

All you have to do is to have a proper dish, lnb, and use a digital satfinder to properly adjust your dish, all BS about signals is non-relevant, find the sat and that its.

Cheers,
Jambo

 

[Dopamine]

btw, here´s my dish.. I got the info from the retailer:
http://www.famaval.pt/index_en.php?tg=articles&topics=64&new=0&newc=0

Jambo_Habari:
The chimney is only 1m higher, and I like having the wall block some of the wind.
I don´t think the path would be clearer if it sat on the roof/chimney.

I don´t know if my dish is just a tad crappy, because it really isn´t much
keeping me from a perfect signal 24/7.

Where exactly does all of you STHLM:ers live?
I live about 1 mil outside of STHLM city.. in Segeltorp.

I think a 150cm might be enough.. indeed, just anything that gives me a, say 0.3 dB S/N jump would guarantee bbc 24/7.

Im waiting for a reply from a few people selling 150cm / 180cm used dishes,
quite cheap I might add.
I hope they´re not damaged.
I rather spend a few 100 SEK and get a hint on what size I need.
4000SEK for the gibertini is quite steep to end up just not perfect once again.

Peace,
/Per

 

[Jambo_Habari]

Per,

Myself live in Salem. south of the city, and my 140 cm dish that I do use I picked up at a scrap-yard several years ago, some SEK 100 or so, but still it does the job, what is important is that you have a high quality lnb, and that there is no obstraction in front of the sat, as well as that the dish/lnb is 100 % properly adjusted, and also not to forget, make sure that you have a good down load cable so that you do not loose signal streghnt on the way to the receiver.
Follow this advice and you will be a winner, no use to spend your $ on a dish, instead you should invest in the lnb, and the down link cable.


Good Luck to you,

Jambo

 

[Dopamine]

I use a quad invacom connected straight through a 3m cable
to a skystar 2 card.
The signal is almost identical to the, um say 15m cable + diseq-switch
to a nokia 9902s that I use to get these figures.

Im fairly certain that the dish is perfectly aligned;
spent many hours on it and just a tad off in any direction
(azimuth, elevation or lnb skew) degrades the signal.

Looking out in the path of the dish, I see no trees or other obstacles
to be in the way.

Im inclined to believe that the only thing that differs between our setups
are the size of our dishes. (Save any locational signal differences)

I hope I can get a used dish to see if it works, (be it 150cm or 180cm)
otherwise I´ll have to go with a OP150
and be happy with what it can offer.
It should improve enough.. I hope.

Peace,
/Per

 

[indios_se]

I just got a 125cm Offset dish with a Twin Invacom LNB.

I quckly got it up and tuned to the BBC channels (10773 H),
and the picture seemed fine.

Though the signal was low (Skystar2 = 26%, Nokia 9902s = 6.2db)
the picture was fine until the early evening, whereupon
the signal dipped to about 5.5db, which is right around the treshold
of pixelation it seems.
I realize that gain won´t come in vast amounts from a better LNB,
but it´s only like 250SEK(£18) to get it shipped home to me,
so it wouldn´t be much of a loss.

But would it conceivably give me enough edge to get just enough signal
to have a perfect pic 24/7?

Any help would be appreciated.

Peace,
/Per

hi if you only want 2d horizontal channels, then this dish shouold be big enough. ive personally installed a 1.2 dish recently in vasteras for a customer and i could even pick up the 2d vertical channels until around 6pm when they go off completely (normal for this size configuration).

im not sure im with you about how much pixellation you are getting, but another lnb wont help, the mti blue line is good, but the invacom 0.3 twin is better, we've tried them all

as for disappearing signal moving the dish slightly, this is also normal even with large size dishes, skew and fine dish tuning is absolutely critical for top performance.

what make is your dish? if its not a gilbertini or a channel master, then you
could consider trading the dish out against one of these beauties, if it is, then that pear tree could be your problem.

when you say you have a clear path to the sky, are you looking straight ahead from behind the dish, or are you lookin up 20 degrees, because with offset dishes you dont want to be looking straight ahead


regards
Richard, Skyforeurope.com

 

[Dopamine]

Do anyone know what type (manufacturer etc) of dish this is?
It´s a 2m dish that Im going to have a look at later tonight.

Im hoping it´ll give me enough gain to get those elusive signals 24/7.

Peace,
/Per

 

[Likvid]

I know, used to sell those way back in early 80's, SkyLink in Linköping sold these under the brand Skylink.

The receivers was imported Toshiba which they put the name Skylink on.

It's not 2 meter, it's actually 1.95m, strange size...

Works ok.

Do anyone know what type (manufacturer etc) of dish this is?
It´s a 2m dish that Im going to have a look at later tonight.

Im hoping it´ll give me enough gain to get those elusive signals 24/7.

Peace,
/Per

 

[Dopamine]

Will I need a special LNB for this dish,
or will my Invacom Quad do fine?

Forgive my ignorance, but I´ve never dealt with
a Prime Focus dish. (This is a Prime Focus dish, right? hehe)

Peace,
/Per

 

[rolfw]

It is always best if you have a matched feedhorn for the dish, but failing that, your Invacom should work OK, but perhaps not as well as it could with a matched feedhorn.

 

[Likvid]

NOOOOOOO, you can't use a Invacom LNB with it's integrated feed, that feed is for offset dishes and f/d of 0.6!

You need to buy a SMW feed, part number XM-500, XM-140 could be used also.

All those dishes are made for using SMW feeds.

 

[Dopamine]

Ok.. Just so I get this right.

I assume I cant use my
Invacom Quad QDH-031, which is for offset only, right?
So I´ll have to invest in an Invacom QDF 031, a Quad C120,
AND a SMW XM-140 feedhorn, right? (couldn´t find any XM-500 on their page)

Anyone know what a XM-140 costs?

The dish had some weird Nokia lnb with a feedhorn,
I assume it´s for analog transmissions.
Dunno if it´s useful for anything.

It says "11 GHz Low noise block down converter"
and "part no. 2625510-01"

The feedhorn is a SMW (well I see the red stripes and "Swedish")
one with two electrical cables and 2 "sockerbitar" at the end of those.

Peace,
/Per

 

[Likvid]

I wouldn't be surprised if the feedhorn that comes with the Nokia LNB is the original SMW and then you can use that, post a picture of the feed and i can tell you right away.

Yes, you need to buy also the Invacom QDF-031 C120.

Part of what you are saying about the Nokia LNB it seems to be a old analogue LNB, just throw it away, it's useless today.

The "sockerbitar" and SMW is probably the SMW Ferotor, XF-45, don't throw that away, you can still use it, it's a ferrite polarizer and they work good.

But, post a picture and i can tell you.

Ok.. Just so I get this right.

I assume I cant use my
Invacom Quad QDH-031, which is for offset only, right?
So I´ll have to invest in an Invacom QDF 031, a Quad C120,
AND a SMW XM-140 feedhorn, right? (couldn´t find any XM-500 on their page)

Anyone know what a XM-140 costs?

The dish had some weird Nokia lnb with a feedhorn,
I assume it´s for analog transmissions.
Dunno if it´s useful for anything.

It says "11 GHz Low noise block down converter"
and "part no. 2625510-01"

The feedhorn is a SMW (well I see the red stripes and "Swedish")
one with two electrical cables and 2 "sockerbitar" at the end of those.

Peace,
/Per

 

[Dopamine]

Finally got my sisters camera today, so I could take some pictures.
Sorry about the size (resolution and filesize),
I scaled them to 50 percent, didn´t want to mess with the PQ
any more than I have to.

I need to find a cord for the motor, it´s connected to 5-6 or so
points on the STB and motor. I have a little edge left so I know
how it´s suposed to be connected.

I also need to find a way to mount this dish;
it was mounted on his roof, so perhaps I can find a way to get it up there.
I got a 3m pole that he used.

Dish:

Feedhorn from above:

Feedhorn from the side:

Feedhorn from another side: (SMW text)

LNB:

LNB from the side (with the cord)

Mount and motor:

Peace,
/Per


Replaced images with uploaded jpgs, as page loaded too slowly. Admin

 

[Likvid]

Strange, that isn't a Skylink dish, in the pictures it seems to be a aluminium dish, is it?

Skylink was glasfibre.

Might be an old Nokia dish then, they are good anyhow.

Ok, what i can see in the picture that is REALLY old stuff, first of all the Nokia LNB is the old analogie 10.95-11.75GHz LNB, no use of today that on a museum.

The other SMW thing coupled to it is a REALLY old first generation SMW ferotor that was designed for 10.95GHz-11.75GHz range, not much use of today, that prolly goes to the museum also.....

However, the feedhorn is great, unscrew that from the old SMW ferotor and use it to your new C120 flange LNB, MTI or Invacom.

The actuator seems to be old, you need prolly to buy a new one, they don't cost so much, about £50.

You should really set up that dish with the motor, it will give you great results.

 

[Dopamine]

It is glasfibre.

You can´t really tell from the pic, but if I´d take a pick from the back
you´d see it. Or if you saw it IRL.

The actuator (as well as all of the parts) are suposed to be working;
is there any upside to a new one?
(I guess diseq 1.2 but that´s not really a priority for me)

Do you have an idea what cable I need? Im no expert at electronic cables,
but having the right cable I´d have no problem connecting it.


oh, and while Im at it.. Im looking for a prebuilt or a plan/idea for
a tripod ground mount. Im going to try it out on a flat roof and see
if I can keep it there. (The top roof is pretty inaccessible)

The pole I got with it that matches the dish is about 80-90mm,
and I need something like that, but with supporting legs
so that it can stand on it´s own.

I can´t take a closer pic now, but if you look at the first posted pic (his),
there are two metal plates that I think are for tightening the pole
to a surface.. could I build some heavy backstructure
and put those on it, getting a stable pole?

It´s a large pole, but as the picture reveals, it´s quite the right size.
(I think the pole is about 1m longer than the dish.)

Any ideas?

Peace,
/Per

 

[Likvid]

No, the right way to install the dish is to use the existing pole you received and dig a large hole in the ground, i would say 1,5 meter deep and 60-70cm i diameter, put a bar right thru the pole so it doesn't twist when it's windy or loose it's position in the concrete.

Put the pole in the ground in a perfect level position and put concrete in it and let it burn.

Fill the inside of the pole with concrete as well.

The motor you have there is a 36V motor, Diseqc didn't exist in the 80's, it came long afterwards for being a cheap budget solution to keep costs down and ease installations.

Real motors use 36V and they are fast.

if the motor works good then i don't see any reason to buy a new one, just lubricate the actuator arm with grease and take away all rust.

You could buy cable at ELFA in Solna, they have good KTV cable

http://www.elfa.se/elfa-bin/setpage.pl?http://www.elfa.se/elfa-bin/dyndok.pl?lang=se&vat=0&dok=182523.htm

They have F-connectors also.....