Maximum E-85

logger

Hi all got Lidl kit last year, however now want to see about upgrading to a multisat system with the Az premium and fixed dish with multiple Lnbs.

Was on some German sites and the Maximum E-85 would seem to be a great dish.

However my question is how can I find out if it would be good enough for receiving certain satellites. The dish has gain of Ku-Band, min.: 38.3 dB / 37.6 dB. I am assuming that this gain figure is for the centre of the dish and it falls off as you mount lnb's off centre.

For example say I wanted to check if I would be able to receive 4.2.2 feeds on Thor5 on 0.8W, how would I check if this dish would work in theory. I see from the map that Ireland is between 44 and 47 EIRP (dBW). Firstly what does this figure mean ? and does it rule out the above dish as being suitable.

How would I then compare the theoretical performance of above dish to say the following ones,
Maximum T-90 dish Gain 40.1 dB (at 0 degree Azimut); 32.2 dB (at 20 degree Azimut)
TD 110 Gain @ 11.7GHz = 40.2 dBi

Are the performance of the two dishes above similar 40.1 vs 40.2 ?

I see on the sattelitetv web site they advise that the TD 110 is capable of receiving "On test in Mayo, Ireland we picked up MBC on 26east and Digi TV on Thor 0.8west, we also attached this dish to a Technomate TM2300 diseqc motor and got 58west right around to 57east."

However how would the dish fair with the Triax 4 way Lnb rail fitted, would it still get Thor5 say on 0.8west and Astra 2 without moving the dish. By the way we are located in West Wicklow, so I assume chances of getting some of these signals should be slightly better than if we were in Mayo. (Edit: oops, looking over the map seems we would get similar signal from Thor, since it is focused on Nordic Region)

Lastly, has anyone had any experience getting satellites from a large arc (30 deg) on a single dish here in Ireland, any info/advice would be appreciated, Would I be better served narrowing the spread, and installing two dishes instead.

I am not sure yet what satellites I will be trying to receive, however I want to first understand the basics on how to gauge the size of dish required.

Thanks in advance for any advice, links to tutorials e.t.c. where I can read up some more equally appreciated..

Apogee

logger wrote: »

For example say I wanted to check if I would be able to receive 4.2.2 feeds on Thor5 on 0.8W, how would I check if this dish would work in theory. I see from the map that Ireland is between 44 and 47 EIRP (dBW). Firstly what does this figure mean ? and does it rule out the above dish as being suitable.

Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
How large a dish do I need?

logger wrote: »

How would I then compare the theoretical performance of above dish to say the following ones,
Maximum T-90 dish Gain 40.1 dB (at 0 degree Azimut); 32.2 dB (at 20 degree Azimut)
TD 110 Gain @ 11.7GHz = 40.2 dBi

Are the performance of the two dishes above similar 40.1 vs 40.2 ?

They are equivalent if:
(1) They are both recorded at the same frequency.
(2) You can believe the manufacturer's claims.

I seriously doubt an 85cm equivalent multifocus dish has the same gain as a Triax 110cm at the focal point. It defies all logic.

Most of the 4:2:2 feeds I've seen at 0.8W/1W are receivable on an 80cm dish.

logger

Apogee wrote: »

Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
How large a dish do I need?

Thanks for that link, just sort of thing I was looking for.

Apogee wrote: »

They are equivalent if:
(1) They are both recorded at the same frequency.
(2) You can believe the manufacturer's claims.

I seriously doubt an 85cm equivalent multifocus dish has the same gain as a Triax 110cm at the focal point. It defies all logic.

Most of the 4:2:2 feeds I've seen at 0.8W/1W are receivable on an 80cm dish.

Thanks for the feedback on this, Going on the chart for the Thor5 satellite, it seemed to indicate a 1m or greater dish was required, I guess that's why we need help on forums like this.

Does anyone know of any magazine or web site which publishes test figures for dishes, so people can compare like with like.

Apogee

logger wrote: »

Does anyone know of any magazine or web site which publishes test figures for dishes, so people can compare like with like.

You'd think at the cost of the satellite magazines that they might do something useful like that, but they can't be arsed. Instead it's just Mickey Mouse reviews where they point the dish at Astra and Hotbird and say how great it is - in What Satellite this rating usually depends on the size of the advertisement taken out by the manufacturer. Even when Christian Mass was still editor of Tele-Satellite, the most I've seen him do was compare a bunch of receivers or LNBFs, but never dishes.

The old Satfacts magazine was probably the best in terms of honest reviews, but this is no longer in publication.

logger

Went for the T90 in the end.

After reading through a few more threads, this one in particular, decided the T90 would be best for my needs.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055668346

It all mounts up though when you are adding the cost of LNB's though, had been thinking of quads, however went for duals instead to keep the price down.

Also took the plunge on AzBox, however have one query on it.
There is an TV RF input on the rear of the box. Can this be upgraded to receive the digital terrestrial signals?
It seems to be a shame to have to install a separate card in spare slot for receiving the new broadcast signals. I would much prefer to have two satellite receivers rather than two Terrestrial receivers.

stesaurus

Ok I have an E85 arriving soon. I've ordered 4 single lnb's and dual lnb. Planning on the dual for 28.2 and the rest for 23.5, 19, 16 and 13 using a 4 to 1 switch.

Any potential problems with this setup?

Also for initial alignment do I split spread in two,so 15 degree spread and point it at about 20.5 degrees? Or do I align directly for 19? Also do I need to turn the dish on it's vertical axis?

Thanks for the advice.

logger

s.welstead wrote: »

Ok I have an E85 arriving soon. I've ordered 4 single lnb's and dual lnb. Planning on the dual for 28.2 and the rest for 23.5, 19, 16 and 13 using a 4 to 1 switch.

Any potential problems with this setup?

Are you intending to view 28.2 and the rest on a single receiver, if so you will need a second 4 to 1 switch or an 8 to 1, depending on what diseq versions your receiver is capable of driving.

s.welstead wrote: »

Also for initial alignment do I split spread in two,so 15 degree spread and point it at about 20.5 degrees? Or do I align directly for 19? Also do I need to turn the dish on it's vertical axis?

I think general rule is to focus dish on weakest signal, if you can and still keep other satellites in range. I may be wrong but I think in your setup 13E is the weakest signal, so you may be better off pointing the dish at 16E to get a stronger signal on 13E, where as 28.2 E is a very strong signal so should be easily picked up, with a 12deg offset, given that the dish is designed for a 24deg offset from the centre.

I would even try pointing centre directly at 13E, that would leave the 28.2 offset by 15deg which again should be well within the range of the dish according to their literature.
I am only guessing at this as I am new to all this as well, maybe others with more experience would have better opinions to offer.

stesaurus

logger wrote: »

Are you intending to view 28.2 and the rest on a single receiver, if so you will need a second 4 to 1 switch or an 8 to 1, depending on what diseq versions your receiver is capable of driving.



I think general rule is to focus dish on weakest signal, if you can and still keep other satellites in range. I may be wrong but I think in your setup 13E is the weakest signal, so you may be better off pointing the dish at 16E to get a stronger signal on 13E, where as 28.2 E is a very strong signal so should be easily picked up, with a 12deg offset, given that the dish is designed for a 24deg offset from the centre.

I would even try pointing centre directly at 13E, that would leave the 28.2 offset by 15deg which again should be well within the range of the dish according to their literature.
I am only guessing at this as I am new to all this as well, maybe others with more experience would have better opinions to offer.

I will be running two direct connects to a Sky HD box for 28.2 and the rest to a single DM500 using the multiswitch. I might try align to 13 directly as the dual lnb I got for 28.2 is an expensive high gain so should be able to cope.

Thanks for the advice.

logger

s.welstead wrote: »

I will be running two direct connects to a Sky HD box for 28.2 and the rest to a single DM500 using the multiswitch. I might try align to 13 directly as the dual lnb I got for 28.2 is an expensive high gain so should be able to cope.

Thanks for the advice.

Thought you might de doing something like that with dual LNB, however didn't want to assume, A sky box in general only requires a 60cm dish so you should be fine with it at the far end of the range, was almost going to purchase that dish, best of luck with your setup.