Fortec 1.8 Meter Ku Dish Installation

[el bandido]

I am looking to get a bit more signal from the satellites that are located below 61.0 West. My Geosat 1.2 meter dish does a good job of getting these satellites with the upgrades that I have done to it, but I still have some picture break-ups in the rain on the satellites that are low on my horizon. A Real dish gain of about 3db and a narrower beam-width would probably give me a decent satellite signal except in heavy rains so I decided to try an old 1.8 meter Fortec dish and see if it will perform better than my upgraded 1.2 meter Geosat dish.

The Fortec 1.8 meter dish was installed with a feed holder that is designed for Ku lnbs. Some base tests were done using a prime focus lnb from DMSI (BSC321SP) and an offset Avenger PLL lnb (321S-2). Results from the tests of these two lnbs have been discouraging. At best, I have been able to Almost equal the signal on the 1.8 meter dish that the Geosat 1.2 meter dish can produce. The Q signal increased by several points when I swapped the prime focus lnb for the Avenger PLL lnb but picture break-up and pixelation increased by a noticeable amount with the Avenger PLL lnb installed.

An Inverto lnb with a C120 flange has been ordered and I will install it with an adjustable feedhorn from Invacom. It will be interesting to see if these two parts make any noticeable difference in the strength of the satellite signals. EB