Bigger Dish Needed: 3.7 Meter Installation

[el bandido]

The actuator and original lnbs for both bands work. The power for the actuator will need to be upgraded, but I can move the dish a limited amount using a cheap G box for power Now the dish needs to be precisely adjusted, Decisions on what lnb(s) to use and how to correctly power the actuator need to be made.

[chewie]

Hello EB
My dish is about 350 pounds with mount, I use a venture actuator VEN-24 is the 24 inch, they have a 36" also, here are some specs.
I use the ASC-1 to power the Actuator, never had a problem so far.

Venture Actuator
NSC Item Number: VEN-24
Manufacturer: Venture Mfg. Co.
Price: $399.00
Product Options
Actuator Sizes:
Quantity:
Product Specs

Features

“User Friendly” easy to install design
Rugged steel tube construction
5 pitch ball screw
1500 lb. capacity
Tube and gearbox easily taken apart for installation and service with simple tools
Interchanges with virtually all other actuators in the field today
Black E-coated outer tube and plated inner tube for superior corrosion protection
Plastic Pilot guide prevents metal to metal contact between the tubes
Forged steel end mount design with swivel and built in standoffs for ½” bolt mounting.
Easy to install split clamp assembly for ½” bolt mounting
Mounting bolt kit included
Limit switches with single screw adjustment
Water drains and vents throughout for freeze protection
KU or C band compatable
36/24vdc motor
5amps @1500 lbs @ 36vdc
Available with; Super Sensor II Reed Switch 40 ppi
Super Sensor II Hall Effect 30 ppi
Potentiometer feedback 0.25 kpi

Regards.
Chewie

[el bandido]

I am happy to say that this dish antenna has been fine tuned for C band. The dish is now locked in place, and I do not plan on doing anymore tuning until a ku band lnb can be installed.

I have never tried to turn a dish that weighs this much, and was concerned a bit about what was really needed. In testing, a Gbox that was a few years old with about 22 gauge solid copper wire was used to move this dish. This arrangement was unpredictable and I never went past about 30 degrees from center.
The small gauge wire was replaced with 12 gauge wire, with a total length of about 45 meters. The G box is a little slow, but it has moved this dish out to about 55 degrees from center without issue! So no moving problems at present!

I tried a host of lnbs (actually lnbfs) to see what worked best. There are 2 brands or varieties of c band pll lnbfs that are available in the United States. While these lnbs did good, they did not perform quite as well as my Pauxis dro lnb which is on the dish now. I do not find any real benefit to using these types of pll lnbs on this 3.6 meter dish, probably because they do not have the extra filtering needed for the pll oscillator. One of the reasons commercial pll lnbs cost more is they have the extra filtering that is needed since a pll oscillator generates more noise than a dro oscillator. So the Pauxis wins for now-by a small amount. Commercial lnbs are set to be installed in the future.

Some feeds and other cables need to be buried, and I have the conduit for that. Now I am set to watch tv for the winter without doing much of anything else. I am still deciding what I want on the dish for lnbs, and will probably wait until after Christmas to buy them.

Attached is a picture of a completed scan of 139 West. The dish has to be tracking fairly good to scan that many channels, and the lnb has to be doing something right too. Overall, this 3.6 meter satellite antenna system is probably the best investment I have made in fta.

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[el bandido]

Again??? Seriously??? The temptation was just too great. I found the brother of this dish and have inquired about getting it. Nothing like having a spare,Or maybe even one dedicated and precisely tuned for Ku band? Pictures of the brother are attached.

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[rrob311]

Cool you must have a nice yard to fit these. Do you have a open view of the arc there? I have dishes in different parts of the yard to be able to expand my arc around trees.

[el bandido]

Yes.
I have a bit of room and I have a good view from 15W to 139W.

[eastof111]

Glad you were able to fine tune that heavy dish. Good luck on obtaining the brother.

[ViP3R]

Holy crap, more cleaning to do, does no one wash their dishes...lol, no bullet hole in this one?

[el bandido]

The dish I have now has no bullet hole. It has the bullet embedded in it instead!

Some people buy and use expensive satfinders or other special tools to align the dish. I think the special and expensive tools are great if you align dishes every day or on a regular basis. But I do not align dishes often. I use to align by taking a receiver and tv out to the dish. But I did not do that with this dish install. The only thing I used for aligning this 3.6 meter dish was a smart phone and a enigma2 app. A screenshot video of this app in action is attached.

[eastof111]

I still use a SatHero meter for my ku dishes which makes it very easy to align. Many years ago for the bud, I made a laser pointer contraption that fits in to the throat of the lnbf. Nowadays, you can buy a laser digital level that can be used to center the feed horn and then the lnb or lnbf.