Advice needed Showtime sports

[garyg]

Hi,

I have a channel master 1.8m dish and showtime sports.

I have perfect signal in the dry, but when rain comes it starts breaking up. My mount is not the best, we made it ourself and are looking to improve it to stop any wind movement.

However is there anything more i can do to improve quality?

I average 40% to 45% signal on a good day, and i need 39% to 40% to get a clear picture.

Does anyone have any tips?

 

[Analoguesat]

Bigger dish!

 

[garyg]

I really do not want a 2.4m dish, i have searched for a 2M dish but i cannot find anything

 

[Analoguesat]

2.4m is the next hobby sized dish.

An increase fron 1.8 to 2.0 wouldnt do much anyway.

 

[garyg]

the signal litually is 1% off being fine in wet weather, so i think the .2m upgrade may be enough.

I couldnt justify a 2.4m dish in my garden, its only small lol!

 

[Analoguesat]

Its not one of those cheap Fortecstar 1.8m dishes from Maplins is it??

 

[garyg]

Hi,

I have a channel master 1.8m dish and showtime sports.

Nope ;) lol

I used to get 45/46% in the day, however the wind blew the dish out the other weekend, and rolf off here came and sorted it for me, however im only seeing 42% in the daytime now, so it has dropped about 3%.

I am going to try tweaking it tonight if the weather clears up as at night the signals stronger, around 50% last night fine weather, where as before it was 56% at night time. So I think it may need tweaking, but is there anything else that could be done to improve the signal?

 

[wod]

what lnb have you got on the dish ? as for that size you really need the feed and lnb like invacom c120

as your in a fringe reception area you might be best off getting the 2.4m dish

 

[garyg]

i have a twin invacom c120 with the correct feedhorn.

Rolf told me the quad is actually better then the twin?

Im going to see what i can do tonight because light rain never used to be an issue up until the wind blew the dish out

 

[rolfw]

The 1.8m should be fine, although the incacom C120 twin doesn't seem to perform anywhere near as well as the inverto which was on there, the main problem is the mount (a CM120 polar mount used as an AZEL) is not rigid enough, the mast is too thin guage and too small diameter, so there is movement of the dish in all but the calmest of weather. There may also be slight rotation of the embedded mast, so it really is fighting against the odds.

The Quad Invacom may be a relatively cheap way to pick up a couple of percentage points, but the main solution is as said above, a more substantial mount and mast.

 

[garyg]

Thanks for that rolf,

before the wind knocked things out i was seeing 45/46% in the daytime, I am only seeing around 42% this time around

Do you know where i could get the Azel mount and a suitable mast?

I think I am just going to have to splash out as this is really frustraiting and I need the best signal possible at all times.

Thanks rolf

 

[wod]

sat superstore sell fixed mounts for that dish in sizes of 3inch or 4.5inch pole size and also sell ground stand for the dishes but they are expensive.

 

[garyg]

can you link me to the fixed mounts? I only see there ground mounts

 

[wod]

can you link me to the fixed mounts? I only see there ground mounts

I think you will need to call them as i cant find them on their website.

I have called them before and bought dishes and mounts separately.

 

[garyg]

Ok mate cheers.

I will be happy if i can get the dish back to around 55% signal tonight as thats what it used to be and never gave me a problem

 

[wod]

have you not thought of getting a sat meter and aligning the dish up with that as dont go buy the receiver signal levels, a meter will be more accurate with this size of dish.

 

[garyg]

maybe mate, not really sure on the prices or where to get them from?

I usually give rolf a ring

 

[wod]

but best to get the mount sorted out first which will make it more robust to wind etc

 

[garyg]

just been working on it now.

going to speak to rolf, order some bits to make it more secure and fit while rolf is here with the meter.

im getting 46/47% where usually at this time id be seeing 53%-56%.

Its defo moved again (it was windy the night rolf came) but i need rolf here so i can secure the dish in the right place.

Rolf,

You have a pm coming

 

[johnwilliam1]

just been working on it now.

going to speak to rolf, order some bits to make it more secure and fit while rolf is here with the meter.

im getting 46/47% where usually at this time id be seeing 53%-56%.

Its defo moved again (it was windy the night rolf came) but i need rolf here so i can secure the dish in the right place.

Rolf,

You have a pm coming

i was reading your first two letters and what i done once for a 1.6mtr was dig a 4ft hole roughly 20'' x 20'' for a 3'' pole which was about 8ft in height altogether with the cement and broken bricks, anyhow that was then and eventually some neighbour reported me and i had to get rid of the dish, but i'm not kidding you a car driven 40 miles per hour would not be able to budge it, it looked great when it was finished, a bit of work maybe, but at the time it was worth it, just a bit of sweat thats all.