I am late joining in on this thread. Take a look at http://www.ftalist.com if you want to see all the possible channels (in a much better layout than Lyngsat) that is available in North America. Lets you select by language, satellite and such.

With KU Band, only PBS is availble in HD. Otherwise you need to go to C-Band and much of that is encrpyted anyways. Only advantage to C-Band is that there are more locals out there available as unencrpyted for all to see.

I am using a GT SAT GT-S40 Universal LNB that claims 0.2 dB NF. Usually 10 cad. I have not had the oportunity to test it in the same conditions versus others 0.5 dB NF units or 0.2 dB NF or any other Linear or Universal LNB to give an opinion. not yet, at least.

I also read yesterday about 121W AMC 21 on the SatelliteGuys.US forums giving problems to 123W G18 reception. Like you say lyngsat does not list anything. I beleive some SatelliteGuys.US user wanted to try to find an anwser using a Spectrum analizer or something similar. In my case apparently I aimed the dish more toward 121W therefore nothing from 123W interfered me.

My offset 90cm Fortec complays with the 2 degrees spacing (+- 1.97 degrees signal goes down 3db) so theoretically if aimed properly it will not get interference from either neighbour Sat namely 121 and 123W respectively. But 1.97 gives me a very narrow margin for mis-alignment. The skies are crowded this days therefore the need for a bigger dish. Minimum to complay with the 2 degrees spacing is 90 cm or 36" so in your case the 33 " at 11700, the -3 dB cut off would be beyond 2 degrees. I do not remember the exact values and it also depends on the manufacture quality of the Dish itself (quality of the surface , warps or whatever you call it) but if you search the before mention website you will find the values. A bigger Dish will be your solution apparently but the interference could be a temporary problem , maybe they are testing those TP or who knows. Time will tell.

Donnyjaguar, you mention the focal point. I have not been able to find any documentation pertaining to the focal point of my 90 cm Fortec Star Offset Dish. So far I have been assuming the LNB bracket was designed to grab the LNB by the neck and very close to the head , so therefore I always locate the LNB head almost touching the bracket itself. So far I can not complain about the results obtained even with the motor and the pole not perfectly plumb but someone told me that your are suppose to attach the LNB by the middle of the neck. Of course being an Engineer, I asked a few questions more (to check the backgroud knowledge of the person) and realized that maybe that knoledge was probably based more in practical trial and errors results which in my opinion are very important to take into account but I guess it was easier for me to set the skew properly if the bracket grab almost the head (where the reference scale is) of the LNB. What is your experience/opinion on that?

You are right the typical LO stability of a cheap consumer grade LNB is +- 1 Mhz. Imagine the cheap FTA Box!!!!.

For the LNB Specs see [Link: gt-sat.eu]. Note that it says 0.3 dB NF typical but the actual unit and box says 0.2 dB. It even has a holographic sticker !!!! but after 6 years living in Canada that is why I always say "that claims 0.2 dB NF" lol lol lol lol. No ofense for anyone but I feel I have no choice lol lol lol. But in real life seems to be a good one.

Well I guess I did not search enough about the Dish focal length it is 510 mm as per fortec website and specs.

Specification
Value

REFLECTOR Type
Offset

Offset Angle
24.62 0

Diameter Short Axis
85 cm

Diameter Long Axis
94 cm

Aperture Efficiency
75% min.

KU – Band Gain @12.5 GHz
39.34 dB

F/D Ratio
0.6

Focus Length
510 mm

Material
Galvanized Steel

Finish
Polyester Powder Coating

Color
Cool Grey

MOUNTING

Mounting Type
Ground, Pole & Wall Mount

Adjustment Type
AZ / EL

Elevation Angle Range
20° - 75°

Azimuth
0° - 360°

Material
Steel / Galvanized Steel

Finish
Polyester Powder Coating

Color
Cool Grey

Pole Diameter Acceptable
38 – 65 mm

Net Weight
9.3 kg

ENVIRONMENT

Operational Winds
25 m / sec

Survival Winds
50 m / sec

Ambient Temperature
-40°C ~ +60°C

Relative Humidity
0 ~ 100 %

Not true at all.

I checked it out. Nice layout. I think its missing some channels in the clear though. Also some shown in the clear are not.

Interesting. That's a LOT lower cost than the Invacom QPH I was considering. Where did you buy your LNB? The only dealers I saw were in Europe. I can get it there too, but if its available locally that's a plus.


I don't think you need a spectrum analyser. Just point the dish and plug in the transponder frequency. It should show signal strength if anything is there. This is easier for the dish-motor crowd of course.


It sounds like I have the same sized dish as you. But mine does have a mild dent in it. Also, I have it mounted sideways so perhaps I'm not benefiting from the best axis?


I'm guessing that if its on now, they won't be turning it off as it wouldn't be good business.


Okay, on mine you can adjust the skew and the position of the LNB within the bracket that holds it. Its an adjustment of about only 1.25" though. It does make a slight improvement when optimizing.


I found there was a difference between the calculated skew and the one which netted the best signal strength. The fellow at the store said for 123° just set it to 45°. I found it closer to, but not exactly, the 35° I calculated. Splitting hairs here though. At 45° it will give you enough signal to lock the dish position and then you can optimize.


At these frequencies +/-1MHz is actually very good!

Come to think of it, the fRef in the satellite is probably atomic. I'm guessing there's quite a temperature swing as the bird orbits the earth in geosynchronicity. I won't worry about that though. :)

I mentioned 1 Mhz because there are some LNB's that claim half of that , 500 Khz.

The Invacom QPH would be usefull if you needed also to get the Circular Birds , other than that, no need for the extra cost.

The calculated skew should be the optimal BTW , maybe you are also moving forward backwars the LNB as well while setting the skew. I have found the skew values from Dishpointer.com to be precise at least for the 3 birds that I tested with when I did not have the motor set up yet. 79w , 30W and 123 W. I will play with the focal length this weekend now that I know it is 510 mm.

Dish Mounted sideways? what did you do that? Well this is a free country I know lol lol lol but unless the manufacturer designed the Dish to be mounted like that you should mount it upwards.

Well got to go , 30 min luch is over.

Oh I forgot, I bought it from Ariza , the dealer located at ambler dr in mississauga. there are two more stores there on matheson as well. no idea the prices on the other store.

When it comes to a list of channels I either use Lyngsat or the one that satteliteguys.us maintains. the before mentioned ftalist doen not even list some Spanish speaking channels (the cubans for instace despite they even use a very strong TP) after realizing that I stop reading it of course lol lol lol lol lol.

wow so many grammar mistakes in my last posts!!!.

I think I found why the motor does not rotate more than 59 degrees either direction eventhough the electronic limit is 65 degrees. The culprit: the Coolsat 6000 premium receiver! I even reset the limits to no limits but apparently every receiver has a different limit , Pansats go even less than 59, around 55 apparently. CaptiveWorks goes a little more around 62. My workaround to get Telestar 12 @ 15W will be to instead of using USALS for that satellite use then DiseqC 1.2 for that one only. Will try that this weekend to see if it works. Apparently the same receiver using DiseqC 1.2 have different limits.

donnyjaguar: BTW the Linear outputs of the "mighty" Invacom LNB are not Universal. It is still a standard Linear LNB. Dual in this case, meaning you only use 1 circular and 1 linear output for 1 receiver. You can use the other 2 outputs for another receiver.
I also read that the interference produced by the new AMC 21 bird at 125W is due to the new Montana PBS channels on that bird in the Ku Band. not too much info in the internet about it but some press release on the montana PBS website says that since October the 6th, 2008 they are moving to the new location on AMC 21. They even have the PBS HD I guess.

Thanks, HD. Question, and I'm not sure if you know the answer. Can you run 4 antennas from the same FTA box and have one of them on a dish motor and expect it to work alright? I have to go over to Sayal today so will stop in and have a look at the satellite stores in the same plaza to see what they have.

yes of course but make sure you put the Diseqc Switch between the motor and the Dishes. I mean the RG-6 coming from the FTA STB goes directly to the motor and then from the motor you go to the 4 port DiseqC switch. An then all 4 Dish go to 1 port in the switch. Then do the proper config in the STB menu to tell it which Dish goes to which port. It is in fact apparently a very common setup at least combining a fixed dish with a motorized one because it will allow you to change channels to your favorite fixed dish quicly and then only the "move to dish" delay for the rest of the satellites. I am assuming that you have 3 fixed dish and only 1 with a motor. 2 motors from the same box eventhough not impossible at list makes no sense. Of course I have not done it myself therefore I could be wrong but I am hardly ever wrong lol lol lol lol. Enjoy fast changing channels back to your 3 fixed sats then lol lol lol. Ah! I almost forgot, you are very welcome.

I am about to throw the hole motorised Dish set up in the Garbage bin!!!!!. Specially the Coolsat 6000 receiver!!! I was typing this was the 4th time I lost the channels and sat config due to receiver power off or standby but .... there was a 1 sec blackout in the neighborhood few minutes ago so make it the 5th!!!!!. I am suspecting it is the internal flash memory not holding the data anymore. Does anyone knows if this receivers have some kind of internal battery to hold the channel list and sat config or is it some kind of NVRAM like the usb flashdrives?

Dont get me wrong, once it is set up and running it is a charm and the USALS system it is so easy to set up also but it is no fun to scan the skies for 3 hours again to get everything possible. With my set up I am not having any problems with the 2 degree apart Sats. I am getting reliable signal from 121 , 123 and the new 125 birds. Of course the 2 PBS HD channels on the new AMC 21 (125W) I can not watch them since my receiver is only SD but PBS Create, V-Me and so on are fine.

My problem right now are 30W, 22W and 15W. I had to relocate the Dish (was on a tripod in the center of the patio) to a corner of the patio where there are trees now in frontof those east birds. BTW for 15W the USALS settings will not move the Dish with my Coolsat 6000 but if I use DiseqC 1.2 for that bird then it moves the Dish to that bird. A nice workaround for birds beyond the USALS receiver limit and close to the motor electronic limit.

And yes the Elevation scale on the Fortec 90cm Dish is defineately OFF!!!. but know that I know setting it up is a no brainer.

After loosing the Channels several times due to power off or standby mode I have decided to use a SatcoDX compatible receiver to upload and update all the Sats and TP's available to me, very easily. Of course I will have to Auto Scan at least again. The SatcoDx software updates such list over the internet periodically. But the problem is I have not been able to see a local dealer selling a SatcoDx compatible receiver. Apparently they are common in Europe (where true FTA is popular) but here in NA our receivers have other features but not SatcoDx compatible.

I would very much appreciate if someone who knows or see a SatcoDx compatible receiver being sold somewhere in the GTA let me know about it.

well I went to 3 local """"""""FTA"""""""" dealers and not a single one knew even what SatcoDX was !!!!!. And they call their receivers free to air? unbeleivable!!!!!. In my opinion more than 98% of the receivers sold here in NA are for hacking or pirating purposes. I guess I will have to buy it over the internet from a European Dealer then.

Am I the only one posting on this thread lately? lol lol lol