Cheap C Band Dual Feedhorn (AliExpress)

FedEx sent a message saying the Norsat lnbs would be delivered today, and showed the lnbs in Kennesaw, which is not a great distance. No FedEx delivery truck was seen here today, and the tracking number now shows "pending" for a delivery date. Looks like it is time to get the blindscan plugin ready.

The quoted line below sets and activates the c band scan in our Edision enigma2 receivers:
[Blind scan] prepared command : [blindscan --start=950 --stop=1650 --min=2 --max=60 --slot=0 --i2c=2 --vertical --cband]
Click to expand...

What happens in the plugin is it takes either the default frequency information or the frequency information you enter, then converts it to line frequency values, which are around 950 MHz to about 2150MHz. The Output Frequency for the 8000RI lnb is 950 - 2125 MHz. So my new Norsat lnbs should work with Edision blindscan, and maybe it will only be a bit of math conversion to make the 5750 l.o. work in place of the 5150 l.o. in the blindscan plugin.

Work on the 5750 l.o. has begun:
c band-5750_20210117233308.webp blindscan-5750_20210117233529.webp


We will see...
 
The Norsat lnbs arrived, and did not disappoint me!
I have already tested the cheap China feed with the other lnbs, so I have an idea as to where it should be mounted.
The Norsat lnbs were attached to the China feedhorn, then the lnbs and and feed horn were set into the dish. Settings were "eyeballed". The arrangement shown below is equal to the Pauxis lnbf it replaced. I would expect maybe a bit more signal if the China feed were tuned, and will try that later.

I can pretty much say at this point the China feed works and performs. Apparently I bought crappy lnbs with it. Some tuning needs to be done, and then change to the other feed when it arrives to see how the China piece performs against something that costs more.

20210118_103856.webp

20210118_105851.webp
 
The test would not be complete without trying the high end of the band.
Locking a 4712 Transponder at 65w was no problem.

65w-4712_20210118113043.webp
 
Blindscan is working at both ends of the band. Shown below are blindscan results from 65w.
Too early to tell if more adjustments are needed in the blindscan plugin.

65w-scan-result-tp_20210118132431.webp
 
The "professional" feed arrived today. Here are pictures of both feeds.
20210119_161707.webp 20210119_161716.webp

20210119_161738.webp 20210119_161753.webp

20210119_161758.webp 20210119_161800.webp

20210119_161804.webp

My conclusion:
The feeds are almost identical in appearance, weight, and performance.
The "professional" feed has the word "Chaparral" written on the scalar ring.
The "professional" feed included a decent scalar ring, but cost 3-4 times as much.

These China feeds will probably disappear. I suggest to anyone wanting to try one of these Made in China feeds to purchase one (or two). Just stay away from their lnbs. The lnbs I purchased to try on the China feed were very poor performers.
 
What is supposed to be on 4521?
I do not have any circular polarization capability with these feeds, but I will try to add it.
I do get one transponder above 4200
40.5-4581_tp_20210120000454.webp

A pair of those Norsat 8000RI lnbs cost $330 U.S. dollars delivered. I have been pleased with them so far as it is nice to have upper band capability.
 
It is suppose to be 4K feeds including NASA.I only have a 2.4m reflector with linear polarization.I hope to upgrade soon.Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
 
The dish is a Prodelin 3.7 meter. Link: https://legitfta.com/forum/showthre...-3-7-Meter-Installation-nbsp-(8-Participants)

I modified a plate to give a bit of circular polarity. The only place I found Nasa was 45 west, and did not find any channels on the high band that was 4K. 40.5w scans found only one transponder above 4200MHz.
Scan logs for the various satellites are attached. All of these scans were done with the new feed and lnbs. The logs may be viewed with Geany, Notepad++ or similar. They may also be viewed with any text editor by changing the file extension from .xml to .txt.
 

Attachments

I was looking at the source I was using as a reference of those 4K feeds and it is dated 2019 and I checked Lyngsat and it shows the channel you found el bandido out in that extended C band range,but no 4K feeds.Maybe they are gone?
 
I dunno.
There are transponders in the extended c band frequencies at 40.5w, 61.0w, and 65w. I think those three satellites are the only ones with transponders above 4200 MHz. I did not find 4K on any extended transponder.
 
el bandido said:
The dish is a Prodelin 3.7 meter. Link: https://legitfta.com/forum/showthre...-3-7-Meter-Installation-nbsp-(8-Participants)

I modified a plate to give a bit of circular polarity. The only place I found Nasa was 45 west, and did not find any channels on the high band that was 4K. 40.5w scans found only one transponder above 4200MHz.
Scan logs for the various satellites are attached. All of these scans were done with the new feed and lnbs. The logs may be viewed with Geany, Notepad++ or similar. They may also be viewed with any text editor by changing the file extension from .xml to .txt.
Click to expand...
I have a dish and receiver fixed on the NASA channels at 127W, transponder 3920 V. THey have a UHD channel in Mpeg 4 UHD.
 
Elbandido, concerning your 8000ri lnbs:
How well do they perform with a low stability of +/- 500 kHz and Temp of 20 K?

I understand about better stability and lower temp numbers. I just don't understand what is actually necessary for our viewing needs. We don't do radio, data, or feed hunting. We do want all video formats when available.

I'm considering purchasing a Norsat 8525RF DRO lnb BUT the low stability is +/- 500 kHz and Temp of 25 K.

We discussed this before but I'm still concerned about pushing enough power for 5150RF's (PLL) on my systems. (5150RF DOES have better specs) I want to avoid a powered multi-switch.

For those who missed the old discussion at LFTA:
I previously had switching problems using lnbf's on two C band dishes with multiple receivers. I purchased 2 cheap dual lnb feed horns with lnbs upon Elbandido's suggestion several months ago. My switching problem was solved. As expected, the Chinese lnb's were low quality. They function to some extent but are periodically failing. Of the four: 2 are still usable - 1 is dead - 1 (spare) still works but weak/slow to receive signal. So far I have bought 2 cheap used lnb's for replacements. I'm ready to step up my game on the next purchase. :smiley14:

El bandido, thanks for the previous advice... and for any future advice.

Any one else have any thoughts?
 
My Norsat 8000ri lnbs perform just fine. The only complaint I would have about them is they are not quite s sensitive as I would like, but you are going to trade a little bit of sensitivity for the extra frequencies above 4200 MHz. A more sensitive lnb would also have a narrow frequency range if all other things were equal. The 8000ri lnbs have performed exceptionally well on all frequencies that I have tested including some radio transponders with a small symbol rate around 350.

We are constantly lied to when it comes to consumer lnbf's. The noise floors given for a lot of them are not realistic, and some of the other performance specs of lnbf's seem to reflect 'wishful thinking" than true specifications that are the result of controlled lab tests. Norsat specs showing a stability of +/- 500 kHz and Temp of 20-35 K is fine for the wide signals that we use in fta. The only way a pll lnb will help is when the signal is weak and narrow. A pll lnb will not help much if any on a weak signal with a symbol rate of around 1000 or higher.

PLL lnbs generate more noise when compared to a dro lnb, so more filtering is required in a well designed pll lnb which means more current is needed. A pair of Norsat dro lnbs will usually draw 250 milliamps or less , which is fine for our fta receivers. A pair of PLL Norsats may draw 500 or more milliamps which is the reason for a powered switch, or multiple receivers running to the same multi-switch and powered On at the same time.

Your mileage may vary, and opinions may vary. But I say get a decent set of Norsat or other quality made lnb for your system and enjoy the results. Consumer pll lnbs are more of a gimmick and an opportunity to sell something new than anything else. DRO lnbs work just fine for our fta satellite signals unless you are after data signals or very low symbol rates.
 
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