Multi LNB Set up on a Sky Dish

jeallen01

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
6,674
Reaction score
2,630
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See Signature
My Location
Somewhere in England (possibly?)!
just needs 2 person to achieve the best signal
still work
Yes and probably "OK" if the dish is at ground level - but "difficult" if the dish is on a pole above the eves of a house roof = probably 2 people with a "head for height" on long ladders!
 

Gladstones

Member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
640
Reaction score
167
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Zone 2 Fixed @ Astra 2
Gibertini XP 1 meter motorised
Technomate TM2600
Inverto Ultra Black
LG 55 UH770V
Octagon SX88+SE
XCRUISER XDR785HDR Avant Android 4K
My Location
Midlothian
if its 2 ladder job who is going to hold the ladders :-doh
 

Gladstones

Member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
640
Reaction score
167
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Zone 2 Fixed @ Astra 2
Gibertini XP 1 meter motorised
Technomate TM2600
Inverto Ultra Black
LG 55 UH770V
Octagon SX88+SE
XCRUISER XDR785HDR Avant Android 4K
My Location
Midlothian
both, well actually maybe three

I'm looking to add at least one lnb to my existing dish (28.2e) for 19.2e

Then add in a new pole
and then either install a motorised dish too, or install a zone 1/2 dish aimed at 42e and 52e on a pole, and put the motorised dish below it on the same pole
All the dishes going to be on ground level or above the eve
 

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
The motorised one will be at eye level and the one I am thinking of installing for 42e would be about 9 foot high.
 

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
Can I mount the dish to the motor first (if that makes it easier)? Or does the motor have to mount on to the pole first?
 

ozumo

te wo tsuite
Staff member
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
5,205
Reaction score
2,610
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Raven mk2 zone 2 x4, Channel Master: 90cm x3, 1.2m x2, 1.8m PF. CM polar mount x2, Az/El x3.
My Location
South Durham
The motorised one will be at eye level and the one I am thinking of installing for 42e would be about 9 foot high.
What's the point of having two dishes and not just one (motorised) dish up at 9ft? :confused
 

Gladstones

Member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
640
Reaction score
167
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Zone 2 Fixed @ Astra 2
Gibertini XP 1 meter motorised
Technomate TM2600
Inverto Ultra Black
LG 55 UH770V
Octagon SX88+SE
XCRUISER XDR785HDR Avant Android 4K
My Location
Midlothian
Can I mount the dish to the motor first (if that makes it easier)? Or does the motor have to mount on to the pole first?
Before installation best is to update/make a note of valid strong tps on each satellite you want in your arc.
use william-1 list very helpful & much appreciated:Y:Y:Y:Y

1- Send the motor to zero with button on the motor or use receiver
2- Mount the dish to the motor tight the nuts fully and make sure motor is dead straight
3- Mount the motor to the pole leave the nuts bit loose
4- Using receiver send motor to 0.8W
5- Now find the 0.8W by moving the dish including the motor do not loose the nuts between the dish and motor
you need to move the dish up or down to find the signal on 0.8W. try to find the best signal possible.
6- Once you get strong signal tight the motor nuts on the pole.
7- Try rest of the sats depending on your line of sight.
Enjoy
 
Last edited:

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
What's the point of having two dishes and not just one (motorised) dish up at 9ft? :confused
Ideally I’d want to be able to watch 42e on two different TVs.
 

jeallen01

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
6,674
Reaction score
2,630
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See Signature
My Location
Somewhere in England (possibly?)!
Can I mount the dish to the motor first (if that makes it easier)? Or does the motor have to mount on to the pole first?
Motor on pole, THEN dish on motor (otherwise the additional weight/size of the dish makes the job a LOT harder)!

PS: the motor "may" (= "will") want to slip down the pole as you adjust the azimuth (direction) so use the well-proven tip of puting jubilee clips around the pole just below it - see photo

Jubilee Clip below dish mount.JPG
 
Last edited:

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
I might get up on the ladder today or tomorrow and zip tie a second lnb to my current dish to get 19.2e.

With 28.2e being in the centre, looking at the dish from the front, I attach the second lnb to the right of it. Should this second lnb for 19.2e be slightly lower or higher than my 28.2e lnb?

Thanks
 

ozumo

te wo tsuite
Staff member
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
5,205
Reaction score
2,610
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Raven mk2 zone 2 x4, Channel Master: 90cm x3, 1.2m x2, 1.8m PF. CM polar mount x2, Az/El x3.
My Location
South Durham

jeallen01

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
6,674
Reaction score
2,630
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See Signature
My Location
Somewhere in England (possibly?)!
I might get up on the ladder today or tomorrow and zip tie a second lnb to my current dish to get 19.2e.

With 28.2e being in the centre, looking at the dish from the front, I attach the second lnb to the right of it. Should this second lnb for 19.2e be slightly lower or higher than my 28.2e lnb?

Thanks
Zip-tieing a 2nd LNB to the existing one may not get it properly aligned (or even at all!) on 19E - that's why you really need the sort of multi-LNB bar discussed earlier in the thread. Also, since 19E transponders are generally slightly weaker in the UK than those on 28E, it's preferable to have the centre LNB aimed at 19E.

Nevertheless, as also mentioned earlier, 19E is higher in the sky than 28E, and therefore the 19E LNB should be slightly lower than that for 28E when viewed from the front face of the dish (and that's true, regardless of whether you use a multi-LNB bar or not).

NB: see post #18
 
Last edited:

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
I had to take the ladder out today, so I thought I'd have a crack at it. I'm getting around 60% quality and 90% strength on a couple of transponders on 19.2e, but I'll check the weaker ones later. Hopefully it rains this week too, so I can see how it holds up in the bad weather.
 

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
Too add in a diseqc switch, do I have to be wary of anything? I remember reading somewhere that said make sure the receiver is off or something. I just don't want to fry my lnb whilst doing it (if that is possible).
 

jeallen01

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Messages
6,674
Reaction score
2,630
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See Signature
My Location
Somewhere in England (possibly?)!
Too add in a diseqc switch, do I have to be wary of anything? I remember reading somewhere that said make sure the receiver is off or something. I just don't want to fry my lnb whilst doing it (if that is possible).
It's always best to switch the receiver OFF when connecting anything, but if you don't then there is a slight chance of causing the receiver o/p to close down (but it will recover if you then switch it OFF and then ON again) because you accidently shorted the end of the cable from it. However, I have rarely had that happen, and it didn't to the SX88 in our "office" when I fixed the earlier-reported problems with the LNB cable i/p's to the 16-1 switch from the 2 dishes where I had either no or very low signals - disconnected and reconnected each of the cables several times with no problems before I finally fixed both.
(It's a 40m roundtrip, plus the house stairs, between the SX88 and the DiSEqC switch, and I didn't want to have to do that every time I disconnected/reconnected one of those cables!)

What you must do before connecting an LNB cable to the DiSEqC switch is to make sure that there are no strands of the braided screen trapped between between that screen and the bare core of the cable inside the F-connector, and that the core itself is dead-straight and centralized in the plug so there's no likelihood of it bending and shorting the switch i/p F-connector.

PS: you won't "fry" the LNB if the o/p of the receiver or switch is shorted because that will simply remove any voltage on the LNB i/p!
 
Last edited:

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
Regarding the motorised dish. After having a wonder around the garden with the ladder, I'm thinking of doing it in a different location.

In the new location it would be about 12 feet above ground level. As the Triax dish I bought would need 2 people to align, that's going to be a no go. I'll most likely buy a new dish, but in the meantime, would I be able to use my spare zone 1 dish and attach it to my TM-2600 motor?
 

ozumo

te wo tsuite
Staff member
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
5,205
Reaction score
2,610
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Raven mk2 zone 2 x4, Channel Master: 90cm x3, 1.2m x2, 1.8m PF. CM polar mount x2, Az/El x3.
My Location
South Durham
A motorised dish setup at ground level will work exactly the same if it was then moved to 12 feet high, provided the poles are both plumb.

The zone 1 can be attached to a motor via the horizontal bar, it has cut outs for which you will require an appropriately sized clamp such as:
Code:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Satellite-Bracket-Adaptor-Mounting-Aerials/dp/B082W9ZMXT/
 

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
Thanks. My current zone 1 that is in use is connected to the pole at the end of the horizontal bar. Would the motor connect to it at the same point, or would I need to connect it at a more central position so it follows the arc better?
 

ozumo

te wo tsuite
Staff member
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
5,205
Reaction score
2,610
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
Raven mk2 zone 2 x4, Channel Master: 90cm x3, 1.2m x2, 1.8m PF. CM polar mount x2, Az/El x3.
My Location
South Durham
Thanks. My current zone 1 that is in use is connected to the pole at the end of the horizontal bar. Would the motor connect to it at the same point, or would I need to connect it at a more central position so it follows the arc better?
It would be attached to the motor at the same point the pole does now. I believe it may be possible to mount the horizontal bar further across in order to make the pole mount more central.

It will track the arc but because it is offset you will gain elevation on one side, and lose elevation at the other, depending on which side the bar is mounted to the dish.
 

Offtensive

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
385
Reaction score
108
Points
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky Q, GigaBlue UE 4K, Zone 1 28.2e, Zone 1 30W. Kathrein 1m 5W - 23E
My Location
Midlands
It will track the arc but because it is offset you will gain elevation on one side, and lose elevation at the other, depending on which side the bar is mounted to the dish.

Thanks, but I'm not sure I've fully understood that. At the moment, looking at the dish from the back, the horziontal bar is on the left side of the dish. Does that mean the dish would have higher elevation for eastern satellites, and lower for western satellites?
 
Top