TRIAX TD88 vs FRACARRO PENTA 85

[thecaretaker]

Well, call me nuts, but I've decided to up the size of my Fracarro Penta dish. I've just ordered the 85cm Alluminium to replace the 68cm. Although I was well pleased with it, some channels on 23.5E are weak (3A) and I loose them at certain times of the day. Also 16E are very weak and break up in bad weather. All the other sats are OK.

I hope the larger version will help with those sats. Wife is none too please "How many ruddy satellite dishes do you want? You've got one in the porch, one in the loft and 2 in the shed."

I think I've caught the satellite bug now, and there is no cure!

 

[satelliteman]

Good luck with the 85cm, it won't let you down on W2. Don't forget to post up the pictures

 

[Robbo]

Wife is none too please "How many ruddy satellite dishes do you want? You've got one in the porch, one in the loft and 2 in the shed."

mmm, yes, I know what it's like, I have managed to accrue 6 dishes now.

 

[thecaretaker]

mmm, yes, I know what it's like, I have managed to accrue 6 dishes now.

I was hoping to swap it over without my wife (who I love dearly) knowing. Being the same dish only larger, I thought I might get away with it.

My problem is I'm not a very good liar and she has a canny way of knowing when something is up lol

The new dish should arrive today (fingers crossed) and I've booked my fearless friend who is a qualified sparky with unbelievable patients (he needs patients with me, I'm such a pain in the -perfectionist area-) on Friday. Weather permitting!

I have no idea how much improvement going from 68cm to 85cm will make % quality wise. I hope I'm not expecting too much from it. I'm going to use the same LNB (Technosat) which so far has proved the best for me. The best quality I get on any sat is Channel4 at 84% so I will be using that as a reference. If I get quality higher than that (on any sat), I will know the 85cm is making a difference.

Then again, my current Technomate 6900 Super does seem a little conservative with its % quality rate compared with my older original TM box 84%/87% and my old Fortec Star Passion on Channel4 shows 100% which I know can't be right. It is only a guide I know.

 

[satelliteman]

Should see a noticeable difference on 16e & 1W.

 

[LAURO2008]

Great move M8 !!! You will see it

Remind your wife that it is better to have this kind of 'sat-sickness' rather than going outside and meeting somebody else :-)

 

[thecaretaker]

Well, it finally arrived yesterday afternoon (very slow delivery but it was free). I hope to find time to swap it over in the next couple of days. I will do a comparison as before and post my results here.

I've assembled it and it is sitting in my lounge ready!

 

[thecaretaker]

Well, I am really pleased. I have an improvement accross the board. I put it up in my lunch hour today, so these are pre-tweaking results and the channels are storming in.

SAT - FREQ - 68cm Penta - 85cm Penta
1w (12.187V) 95%/82% 97%/85%
4W (10.722H) 93%/50% 95%/54%
5W (11.512V) 97%/77% 95%/79%
8W (12.649V) 97%/79% 97%/85%
12.5W (12.545H) 94%/65% 94%/71%
15W (11.566H) 89%/70% 88%/71%
18w (11.569H) no signal 82%/54%
22W (11.609H) 89%/76%
24.5W (11.025V) 84%/72% 84%/76%
27.5W (11.665V) 93%/62% 93%/75%
30W (12.012V) 95%/77% 97%/83%
43W (12.658V) 95%/72% 95%/80%
45W (11.510H) 95%/74% 95%/78%
58W (11.477H) 94%/70% 94%/78%

4.9E (11.766H) 93%/74% 94%/78%
7E (11.492V) 95%/66% 95%/72%
9E (11.804V) 94%/75% 96%/82%
10E (11.175H) 86%/52% 84%/51%
13E (12.597V) 97%/79% 97%/83%
16E (11.055V) 93%/47% 93%/68%
19.2E (12.246V) 96%/82% 97%/85%
23.5E (12.565V) 92%/50% 94%/72%
26E (12.523H) no signal 93%/58%
28.2E (10.773H) 97%/82% 97%/85%
31e (11.643v) NO SIGNAL 88%/69%
33E (11.094H) 81%/60% 84%/76%
36E (12.557V) 86%/51% 90%/62%
39E (12.715H) 90%/73% 92%/76%
40e (11.096) NO SIGNAL 88%/68%
42E (11.803V) 94%/78% 96%/82%
45e (11.500v) NO SIGNAL 86%/61%

BBC Prime on 23.5E is holding up so far with a 68-72% signal quality.

I can see 2 new HD channels on 1w - Nelonen HD and TV 2 Film HD perfectly watchable.

It proves that no amount of lnb swapping can make anything like the difference that a larger dish can achieve.

I've lots of fun ahead. I am very please with the results. Thanks to this thread! :-worship

 

[satelliteman]

Nice result.

 

[kwp58]

It proves that no amount of lnb swapping can make anything like the difference that a larger dish can achieve.

The size dish is the main thing! Thanks for the done work. I observe only from 9E to 42E.

 

[superloopy]

Does anyone know if the Penta 85 aluminium comes in brick colour or is it just available in white?

 

[kenny1234]

Yes it is available in brick colour/ white and grey

 

[LAURO2008]

Does anyone know if the Penta 85 aluminium comes in brick colour or is it just available in white?

Hi Superloopy,

Pls, allow me to introduce you to my sexi baby here ;)

What do you think about?O-zzz

 

[Dave UK]

Yes it is available in brick colour/ white and grey

I couldn't find a brick coloured aluminium penta 85, even on HD's site, where have you seen them?

 

[rolfw]

Forget what you see on the net, ring them tomorrow and find out, someone is sure to have one.

 

[superloopy]

Hi Superloopy,

Pls, allow me to introduce you to my sexi baby here ;)

What do you think about?O-zzz

Looks good. So good in fact that i've ordered one in aluminium

Thanks for the pics.

 

[LAURO2008]

Looks good. So good in fact that i've ordered one in aluminium

Thanks for the pics.

have you got it?...how long will it take before admiring your pics?

 

[Dave UK]

My Penta 85 should be with me in a few days and, reading post 13 on this thread, I see that Compufunk made comment about the pivot point on the bracket being only an indentation. As I will be one-handed at height when it comes to fitting mine, would it be acceptable to drill through where the indentation is and fit a nut&bolt in it's place?

Dave

 

[kenny1234]

Dave i've fitted quite a few penta's and i've never found the need to make any alterations to the dish, put it up and enjoy

 

[compufunk]

.... reading post 13 on this thread, I see that Compufunk made comment about the pivot point on the bracket being only an indentation.

It was only a minor annoyance. I wouldn't bother drilling holes in the bracket because of it.