My Self-Installed Fixed-Dish Multi-LNB System

[A_T]

That's interesting thanks.

 

[satellite eye]

does look a neat job,the thing arises that if a multi-feed is fitted the user ends up with a motoriesd system at some point,and the mistake can happen of having the multi-feed then a dish on 1 degree west and another for hispasat exe,you need to start planning for when the motorised dish becomes a must.

 

[satelliteman]

garym71

I say the job you did looks a very good one. Just one point to add. I understand everything works a treat but have noticed from your pictures that the skew on the 13 & 19 LNB are incorrect. Given you location of South Oxfordshire of which I know very well, (looks like Didcot) and your long/latt, this should be almost straight skew and the east bracket as you look at it from behind the dish should be raised a little to compensate for the lower satellite (28 deg)

Regards

 

[garym71]

does look a neat job,the thing arises that if a multi-feed is fitted the user ends up with a motoriesd system at some point,and the mistake can happen of having the multi-feed then a dish on 1 degree west and another for hispasat exe,you need to start planning for when the motorised dish becomes a must.

I had specific requirements for my setup which is why I decided to go for a fixed system as opposed to a motorised one. I actually only really needed 28.2E and 13.0E feeds for Sky and to receive the Russian channels broadcast on Hotbird but for a few extra quid I decided to also fit an extra LNB pointing at 19.2E although not for any specific reason, just because it was easy to do with the dish pointing in that direction.

I don't have any requirements (current or future) to receive feeds from any other satellites so I don't see me ever changing to a motorised system.

 

[garym71]

I say the job you did looks a very good one. Just one point to add. I understand everything works a treat but have noticed from your pictures that the skew on the 13 & 19 LNB are incorrect. Given you location of South Oxfordshire of which I know very well, (looks like Didcot) and your long/latt, this should be almost straight skew and the east bracket as you look at it from behind the dish should be raised a little to compensate for the lower satellite (28 deg)

Thanks for your comments. The two single output LNB's I have are slightly odd in design whereby the f-connector output points at a 45 degree angle when the LNB is set to zero skew. You can see this from the pictures I posted in some the following previous posts...

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satelli...-vertical-polarisation-rotation-position.html
http://www.satellites.co.uk/satelli...-vertical-versus-horisontal-polarisation.html

So, even though the skew may appear incorrect by looking at the current angle of the f-connector outputs on the back of the 13.0E and 19.2E LNB's, the required skew angles are actually set perfectly correctly As far as the east and west offset brackets go, looking from the front of the dish the left-hand one (east offset bracket) is slightly raised and the right-hand one (west offset bracket) is slightly lowered. I used a satellite finder meter to set up / tweak each LNB so I could be sure I was setting each of their positions to receive the best possible signal.

 

[rolfw]

Ah yes, I've used them as well, I think they are the MTI basic LNBs, they are designed so that the cable leaves at an angle, but quite confusing when you first set one up.

 

[satelliteman]

I can see where you are coming from now after looking at the images. Not seen those types around b4. Suppose it can look confusing .

 

[RobHoo]

Hi Garry, Ive got the same dish and thinking of same sat setup. Is that just a straight piece of angle bracket with a slot in one side holding the Lnbs? or is it curved to the radius of the dish (about 530mm Rad I think) Can I ask where you bought it? I bought 3 inverto sigle 0.2 lnbs but have no bracket yet for the other 2. Ive just got 1 set up pointing at 28.2 at the mo... Thanks

 

[rolfw]

That bracket is the raven East and West LNB bracket _http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/product_overview.asp?id=1694&catid=1&subcat=51

 

[RobHoo]

Thanks for that Ive ordered one.. How do I line up the other 2 LNBs that i will be putting on it? Is there a specific satellite that I have to focus the center lnb on? Im looking for mainly HD channels if any but was thinking Hotbird and Astra 1 as the other 2...

 

[Rd100]

Nice and tidy well done,

Here are a few pictures of my setup. It's not a motorised system so it's fairly basic compared to some of the other members systems but it was my first self-installed system so it was a good learning exercise The dish went up a couple of weeks ago and the whole setup was finally completed last weekend.

These are the specifications of my system:-

• Raven Gemini 70cm Mesh Dish
• Raven Multi-LNB Holder Offset Brackets (both East & West)
• 2 x MTI Supreme 0.2db Single Output Universal LNB
• 1 x MTI Supreme 0.2db Quad Output Universal LNB
• Orbital SM1 U-Type Wall Bracket for Pole Mount Dish
• Eurostar 4x1 DiSEqC Switch
• Webro WF100 Cable

The elevation bracket on the back of the dish was originally galvanised silver in colour so I painted it dark grey to match the dish as I thought it looked much better I also modified the LNB arm by cutting a hole in the front of it so I could run the cables inside the hollow tube as opposed to them having to be taped along the outside which made the installation look much neater

The dish is centred with a single ouput LNB pointing at Astra 19.2E. The quad output LNB on the east offset bracket is pointing at Astra 28.2E, and the other single output LNB on the west offset bracket is pointing at Hotbird 13.0E.

I have both single LNBs and one of the outputs from the quad LNB going to a DiSEqC switch. The output of the switch currently goes to a Technomate TM-5400CI+ FTA Receiver. Two of the remaining outputs from the quad LNB (Astra 28.2E) go direct to a Sky+ box.

I'm getting pretty good signal level & quality results from all 3 satellites as can be seen in the attachments below.

Thanks to everyone on here who gave me help and advice when I needed it

 

[whatpassword]

Like yourself Gary I've just completed my little experiment. Using a ISS 60cm Dish, x4 Lemon .2db LNB, Technomate 4x1 DiSEqC Switch & x2 brackets I've managed to get 1w to 28e with 13e being the central focus.
I'm also using a Technomate 5400CI. Very pleased with results but admittedly not had any heavy rain yet. I currently have a minidish situated below the Lemon with Quad LNB awaiting the launch of Freesat. If the 28e holds up in the rain I may do away with the minidish and replace the single lemon lnb with a quad.

 

[satelliteman]

Looks a neat job. Like the spray paint colour

You might be able to pull in 5W but of course the dish maybe a little on the small side

 

[whatpassword]

Looks a neat job. Like the spray paint colour

You might be able to pull in 5W but of course the dish maybe a little on the small side

Thanks.

I considered 5w but would need a smaller LNB holder. I'm sure I could cut the holder down though. I'm not sure how the extra feed would work with only 4 inputs available on the receiver with DiSEqC1.0. I'm currently able to receive approx 250 channels both FTA & Subscription at 1w with an average strengh between 48% & 80% depending on which TP your viewing. One TP is breaking up quite badly which I suspect is due to the size of dish. I'm considering an 80cm dish now so as to strenghthen everything up and dispose of the minidish. The paint was spray on red primer from halfords. One large can was enough for both the 60cm and minidish plus the mounts with a bit left over for the odd scratch.

 

[satellite eye]

neat job,you might like to have considered a small motorised setup,the plus side though you have access to channels straight away.
a lot of people find when the lnbs go up a motorised is the next step.

 

[Topper]

a lot of people find when the lnbs go up a motorised is the next step.

Not really sure what you are trying to say here?!/!5?!

 

[whatpassword]

neat job,you might like to have considered a small motorised setup,the plus side though you have access to channels straight away.
a lot of people find when the lnbs go up a motorised is the next step.

I know what you mean. I've actually almost come full circle now. First ever installation was a motorised dish but after a year or two the motor became a bit noisy. As I was only really viewing 3 or 4 satellites I eventually purchased a TechniSat Multytenne instead. I'd fully reccomend the Multytenne to anyone in the south of England wanting a really easy setup. Only downside was connecting a S_y Digib_x did not work as no DiSEqC control is present. With the upcoming launch of the BBC Freesat service its rumoured the recievers will like S_y not have DiSEqc control. All this floating around in my head I decided to install one dish for foreign satellites and another just for the Freesat service. Now I've had a play with a 60cm dish setup I'm going to swap both dishes out for an 80cm and replace the single LNB pointed towards 28e with a Quad .2db LNB. This setup I'm hoping will serve my Technomate Receiver as well as a Dual tuner Freesat PCI card when / if they become available. Once I've sprayed the new dish I'm sure the neighbours although not said anything will be pleased with the less cluttered view. Once complete I may post a little history line of photos with final result I hope?

 

[FDIMU]

Here are a few pictures of my setup. It's not a motorised system so it's fairly basic compared to some of the other members systems but it was my first self-installed system so it was a good learning exercise The dish went up a couple of weeks ago and the whole setup was finally completed last weekend.

These are the specifications of my system:-

• Raven Gemini 70cm Mesh Dish
• Raven Multi-LNB Holder Offset Brackets (both East & West)
• 2 x MTI Supreme 0.2db Single Output Universal LNB
• 1 x MTI Supreme 0.2db Quad Output Universal LNB
• Orbital SM1 U-Type Wall Bracket for Pole Mount Dish
• Eurostar 4x1 DiSEqC Switch
• Webro WF100 Cable

The elevation bracket on the back of the dish was originally galvanised silver in colour so I painted it dark grey to match the dish as I thought it looked much better I also modified the LNB arm by cutting a hole in the front of it so I could run the cables inside the hollow tube as opposed to them having to be taped along the outside which made the installation look much neater

The dish is centred with a single ouput LNB pointing at Astra 19.2E. The quad output LNB on the east offset bracket is pointing at Astra 28.2E, and the other single output LNB on the west offset bracket is pointing at Hotbird 13.0E.

I have both single LNBs and one of the outputs from the quad LNB going to a DiSEqC switch. The output of the switch currently goes to a Technomate TM-5400CI+ FTA Receiver. Two of the remaining outputs from the quad LNB (Astra 28.2E) go direct to a Sky+ box.

I'm getting pretty good signal level & quality results from all 3 satellites as can be seen in the attachments below.

Thanks to everyone on here who gave me help and advice when I needed it

Where did you buy the Raven dish as I want a similar setup?

 

[garym71]

Where did you buy the Raven dish as I want a similar setup?

I got the Raven Gemini dish from Falconsat but I recommend that you avoid them like the plague because although I did eventually get the goods I ordered, like a lot of other people it wasn't without problems (have a read of this thread). I suggest you either search Google for an alternative supplier or contact Raven direct and ask them to give you a list of UK suppliers.


One other thing to note is that I started having issues with the MTI Supreme LNBs (see this thread) so I have now replaced them all with the following Inverto Black LNBs...

• 2 x Inverto Black Ultra 0.2db Single Output Universal LNB (model IDLB-SINL40-ULTRA-OPP)
• 1 x Inverto Black Premium 0.2db Quad Output Universal LNB (model IDLB-QUDL40-PREMU-OPP)

The Inverto LNBs were about 3 times more expensive then the MTI ones but on the weaker signals they're already giving an additional 32% increase in quality than the MTI ones were from new (was 68%, now 90%) and so far I've had no loss of service at all since the Invertos have been on the dish which just goes to show that you do actually get what you pay for