Motorised Dish Size

MisterAnarchy

At long last I've finally got the greenlight for a motorised satellite system .
I'm located in Cork .
I plan to put the dish on the back wall,facing due south ,of my house.
It can get a bit windy out there in the winter.
I'd like to pick up as many satellites as possible but obviously there are physical and safety limitations.
What kind of a dish should I be looking for.
Is Aluminium a must to keep the weight down ?
I was thinking about an 88cm or a 1m dish ,would the 88 be ok for most sats ?
Any advice is appreciated.

watty

80cm to 90cm will do for the main satellites.

Larger you need an 36V actuator/motor rather than Diseqc motor.

My 1.1m dish is sheltered
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?goto=lastpost&t=2055106080

You need larger depth standoff for 42E/50W on a wall. Ensure the bracket/bolts are designed for weight of motor plus dish. On my heavy dish and heavy aerial the bolts are studs that go entirely through the wall with washers/nuts on inside (shed & attic, not living room )

Make sure the receiver properly supports USALS/GotoX and motor /actuator supports GotoX

MisterAnarchy

Cheers Watty.
The main satellites I'm interested or could be in the future are 28.2E,19.2E,16E and 13E .Want to future proof.
I really wont be going anywhere past 30E/30W .
Is an aluminium dish better for wind than steel ?
I will ensure the receiver supports Usals and Goto X ,I'm thinking of getting a Technomate 9100.
Would one of those 3 offset lnb heads be wiser if only 13E-28E ?

watty

For only 13E to 28.2E a four way Diseqc switch on the back of dish is better. 88cm fine.
Much easier to align (do 19.2E first at middle of multi-LNB boom) and then add 13E and 28.2E without moving dish (just adjust LNBs).

Virtually any receiver from €60 up will support that well except a Sky box.

It means too the Sky LNB can be a Quad, one o/p feeds the Diseqc port 1 and two can feed a Sky+ or non-Sky PVR.

A motorised dish can only feed one receiver. A multi-LNB dish can feed up to 1500 tuners!

You can't get 16E though unless you use a Wavefrontier T90 (with 19E or 13E), even then I'm not sure as I havn't tried it.. The LNB spacing is too close for 3 degrees. 4.5degree is closest.

MisterAnarchy

So something like this would do the job
http://www.wizardsatellite.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_85&products_id=301
There is only one cable going from the switch to the receiver assuming I use single lnb's ?
The switching between the satellites would obviously be faster than a motorised setup.
I will have to weigh up the pros and cons of both setups.
I had my mind on a motorised setup but I dont want it to get blown away.

watty

This is far better.

Fits Triax dish (recommended)


Ive used 3

http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/triax_multi_lnb_bracket.html

I'm not the happiest with service from wizardsatellite

MisterAnarchy

Cheers Watty.
Would you recommend a steel or aluminium dish ?

watty

Doesn't make much difference if well made. Avoid mesh like sky mini dish as it rusts too easily.

MisterAnarchy

watty wrote:

Doesn't make much difference if well made. Avoid mesh like sky mini dish as it rusts too easily.

Would a steel dish be more load on a motor ?
What about performance in the wind ,steel or aluminium ?
Would you recommend T&K brackets or is that only for exposed sites ?

watty

Not much difference in motor load.

Not much difference in Wind.

T + K for motorised (or for longer heavy pole), or professional 4" L bracket . A decent 2" L bracket OK for < 90cm dish without motor.

MisterAnarchy

Cheers Watty,
I think I'll go for a motorised 90cm aluminium Gibertini dish on a 4 inch steel L mount.
The steel dishes I was looking at are 12kg ,which is almost 2 stone weight,very heavy for my liking .
Aluminium is more expensive but alot lighter ,prob wont rust either.
Looking forward to setting it up now.

Eurorunner

Go for a torroidal dish and avoid the motor. I know once my diseqc packs it in (they don't tend to last all too long), I will be going this route. Couple of advantages - if your dish isnt sheltered, then its going to be more stable with this setup as opposed to motorised. Also, no pissing off the neighbours with the loud hum of the motor - and no time waiting for it to swing round or further messing about with the remote to bring this about. And lastly, if you want satellite feeds in more than one room, theres no comflict in that you could have two receivers on different satellites at the one time.

yop

Interesting thread lads.

I currently have these, a 90cm dish. Not the card though
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FREE-CARD-WITH-TECHNOMATE-1500-CI-FULL-MOTORISED-SYSTEM_W0QQitemZ250138439870QQihZ015QQcategoryZ96970QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

The dish is currently on the ground, well sheltered but it has to move now soon. The only place that it can go is at the back of the house, it is exposed.
My plan is to run a pole from the ground to above the eves so that the dish can move on the motor. I presume attaching the pole with 2 brackets, one under the eve, and one near the ground would do the job?

what size of pole is needed to hold all this or would I be as well to try and sell the motor and buy a Triax Multi LNB Holder or Six LNB holder?
If I went with this, how is this is connected? Is it six cables back to the receiver??

Advice appreciated, I would like to have the motor, but is there even more than 4 or 6 good satellites at all? I use my dish for Prem League soccer mainly.

MisterAnarchy

Eurorunner wrote:

Go for a torroidal dish and avoid the motor. I know once my diseqc packs it in (they don't tend to last all too long), I will be going this route. Couple of advantages - if your dish isnt sheltered, then its going to be more stable with this setup as opposed to motorised. Also, no pissing off the neighbours with the loud hum of the motor - and no time waiting for it to swing round or further messing about with the remote to bring this about. And lastly, if you want satellite feeds in more than one room, theres no comflict in that you could have two receivers on different satellites at the one time.

Will have a look at this Toroidal thingie .Looks insane.
My dish will be sheltered though and I live on my own site so no neighbours to bother me.

The Cush

Purchased a TORODIAL T90 recently from http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/antennen-wavefrontier/wave-torodial-t90-grau.html for €109 plus shipping.

yop

Did u put that on ur existing dish?

The Cush

yop wrote:

Did u put that on ur existing dish?

The TORODIAL T90 package came with a 60mm wall mount but I used the existing 50mm pole which I modified to take the Torodial dish.
If I was installing the dish again I would use the supplied wall mount (less hassle than modifying the existing setup).
The supplied wall bolts - in my opinion - are not good enough, but easily resolved with a trip to the local hardware shop.

MisterAnarchy

I am still waiting to put up my multisat system.
The last winter and indeed the last few weeks have made me wary of putting up a motorised dish.
The gales sweeping up the valley have been horrific .
My house faces due South and I have a clear view of the sky to all satellites but the west side of the house is very exposed.
I fear a large dish ,1m would be too big in the winds.
I'm now thinking a Toroidal T90 might be more suitable to my site as it has a 40 degree spread and can cover enough satellites.
I'm primarily interested in 28.2E,19E,16E,and 13E but would like to be future proofed.
I like the option of being able to run more than one receiver off the T90 as opposed to a motorised dish.
Any opinions ?

DublinWriter

I had a motorised 1.1m Triax and it was a heart-breaker because of strong winds knocking it out of alignment at least twice a year...definitely make sure yours is sheltered.

Eurorunner

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Any opinions ?

I have T90 up and running for the past few months. Very happy with it - no more tinkering with motorised setup due to gales etc. Can't beat ground mount. As regards wall mount, I would imagine in irish conditions, its not really suitable - unless the site is well sheltered.
Have 1*W, 13*E, 16*E & 19*E via T90 and 28*E through regular dish. The quality of the guide bar is poor (plastic) - although I have not screwed lnbs into place on it - they're just miraculously staying in position!
Other plus point is no more noisy motor - which was a factor. Switching is faster. Have now got all rooms in house wired for sat - and freedom to view different sats in different rooms at same time - which motorised setup doesn't allow.
There is another multi lnb dish on the market which you may want to consider as quality is supposed to be better than T90. Can't remember the name of it but someone here may know?

MisterAnarchy

Thanks guys.
The T90 is alot bigger than I had expected.
I'm unsure whether I can ground mount it ,have lots of trees on 3 sides of back garden .
Was planning to put it up on back face of house about 12 ft up,its a 2 storey.
Might be able to get it up on East facing side ,its quite sheltered,might limit the Western satellites availability though.
Will have to get compass out and do a ground survey.
I'd be afraid a motorised 1m dish could come down and I have 2 large patio windows out the back,I'd be afraid anything could damage them.
80cm would be considerably less wind load but it might not pick up 16E.
Dilemmas dilemmas.

Eurorunner

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Might be able to get it up on East facing side ,its quite sheltered,might limit the Western satellites availability though.

This site will help a lot as regards whats achievable based on where you site dish.

andersat2

Hi, Eurorunner,
I'm planning to purchase T90, later this month,
so i have some more questions about this dish:

- Have you tried to catch 5E Sirius European beam? ex. Ukranian, Russian channels etc..

- Why you put 28e on different dish? May be it is not enough quality signal for putting lnb for this position on t90?

- What kind of LNB you are using? I supose it's some narrow one cause you get 13+16+19E which is 3 deg difference, so is it possible with standart lnbs?

- What packages you get on 1W? is it Canal+ Norge or Digi+?

Thanks for answers!

MisterAnarchy

Eurorunner wrote: »

This site will help a lot as regards whats achievable based on where you site dish.

Ha ha,fecking class !

snaps

I have a 1.1m Gilbetini dish on the ground. I can see all sats from 42east to well past 30west and the wind (Fingers crossed) doesnt effect it. I would never even think about putting it on the wall as my friend is in a simular house in a simular position country wise and he has terrible problems with the wind moving and putting a strain on the mount on his house. As long as the satellite dish can see the satellites then there is no problems with signal. ive read a lot of good things about these wave frontier dishes.

Eurorunner

andersat2 wrote: »

Have you tried to catch 5E Sirius European beam? ex. Ukranian, Russian channels etc..

Wasnt of interest to me - so never bothered. Check lyngsat for footprint for this sat - will let you know how receivable it is from where you are.

andersat2 wrote: »

Why you put 28e on different dish?

I fupped up in my setup - and line of sight is just blocked by wall. Had mount concreted in at that stage and didnt want to go moving it. Just took down the motor off my old dish on gable wall - and stuck a sky octo lnb on the dish to receive 28*E.

andersat2 wrote: »

- What kind of LNB you are using? I supose it's some narrow one cause you get 13+16+19E which is 3 deg difference, so is it possible with standart lnbs?

Yes, they are narrow - they're alps lnbs. Be careful that you order up the right ones. Having 3 lnbs cover 3 sats over 6 degrees means that they are all slammed together.

andersat2 wrote: »

What packages you get on 1W? is it Canal+ Norge or Digi+?

Yes, the most interesting viewing on 1*W would be Telenor/Canal Nordic & Digi - both viewable with an official sub...

The Cush

A toroidal setup calculator is available on http://www.satlex.us/en/technology.html

andersat2

A million thanks Eurorunner,

Could I ask you some more questions, please

From 1W - you get Thor5, but what about older Thor 3 and Intelsat 10-01? Have you got signal from them?

Eurorunner

andersat2 wrote: »

A million thanks Eurorunner,

Could I ask you some more questions, please

From 1W - you get Thor5, but what about older Thor 3 and Intelsat 10-01? Have you got signal from them?

Not sure to be honest. My only interest on that sat is Telenor/Canal Nordic & Digi+ and I get all their channels. Check footprint on lyngsat.