poor Freesat in Alicante, Costa Blanca 2.4m Fortec Star dish

[Terrytoon]

I am new to freesat, I have a 2.4m dish invacomsnh 031 lnb to a Metronic zapbox twin tuner. I live 40k south of Alicante and can only get BBC very weekly. No ITV etc.The TPs for Itv show no quality of signal. Any ideas?

Dish size edited. Admin

 

[guest poster]

I am new to freesat, I have a 4.2m dish .............

Well thats' a good start.. first dish and it's a 4.2m...

What make is the 2.4m dish?

 

[Terrytoon]

Fortecstar, not a solid dish, but others are in use close to me.

 

[Robbo]

Is it 2.4m or 4.2m???


One of these, I presume:-

_http://www.fortecstar.com/estore/storefront/default.asp?ProductID=16&CategoryID=8

 

[PaulR]

Oh dear, a Fortecstar.

These are not good dishes unfortunately and behave more like a 1.8m or even a 1.5m dish. They are very thin and distort easily when being assembled. Even if you manage to assemble it straight then a strong wind can easily bend it out of true. It sounds like your neighbours have their Fortecstars (assuming they ARE all Fortecstars) screwed together just a little better than yours.

Your best bet, assuming you don't have the option to start with a decent dish again, is to look at the dish very carefully for anything which is out of true. Take measurements across the dish and from the LNB to each side of the dish to see if you can make anything any better.

Actually, the first thing I would try with any dish is to rotate the LNB in its housing slightly each way to see if the skew is out. Skew can have a huge effect if it's not right. After that it's down to constant fiddling!

 

[Robbo]

Here's a thread to give you some clues:-

http://www.satellites.co.uk/satelli...ar-1-8m-dish-aint-bad-after-all-c-band-2.html

 

[Terrytoon]

I know these dishes are a prodlem, when I put the dish togeather I used lining pins in all sections to be sure to get rid of all hole tollerances, I have tried the skew, it is in the very best position. Assuming the problem is not the dish, although I accept it well way be, could the box be a bad choice? putting the dish togeather was not a problem, I am an engineer by trade.

 

[PaulR]

Assuming the problem is not the dish, although I accept it well way be, could the box be a bad choice?

Yes, it could be. Best way to check, if you're on good terms with your neighbours, is to try your receiver round at one of their setups. If you can, double check by using a neighbour's known, good receiver on you setup.

 

[Terrytoon]

Typo 2.4m sorry

 

[guest poster]

What LNB have you got on it?

 

[Terrytoon]

invacom snh 031

 

[Robbo]

That LNB is for an offset dish with a F/D of about 0.6

_http://www.invacom.com/products/snh_031.htm


It won't work very well. You need a feedhorn and LNB combination designed for prime focus, with a lot lower F?D ratio.

Something like-

_http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/adjustablefeedhorn.php

and the 2nd one down on this page

_http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/dbssingle.php

although the quads are supposed to work better for fringe reception.

 

[Terrytoon]

Thanks for that, Maplins supplied that lnb with the dish, good eh

 

[guest poster]

invacom snh 031

I kinda knew it would be an LNBf ... The feed horn that is inside that LNBf will block out the outside of the dish so it only sees the middle 70cm-1m rather than 2.4m.. so you have a lot to gain...

If it was a cheapo (6 euro) LNBf I'd say pop it open and hacksaw the ali feed horn right off, seal it over the hole and later add a bit of a round plate (scala ring) where the holder is ..... but not on an invacom..

maplits? take it back if you can.. and bill them for the expense..(2 flights etc.. )

 

[Robbo]

Yes, confusing.

The, 2.4m has an F/D of 0.38

_http://www.fortecstar.com/estore/storefront/default.asp?ProductID=16&CategoryID=8

However, Maplin are selling this, as a suitable LNB for that dish:-

_http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97081

which has an F/D of 0.55 to 0.65

??????WTF

 

[Terrytoon]

OK, so my first step, as the lnb now has marks from attatchment etc, is to go to one of the local sat people and try to do a part swap for the correct lnb. The ones that I can see on other dishes are far smaller than mine, but according to a mate who has seen one in action, the reception is good. The owner has said is no BBC2. I cannot ask him myself as he is in UK.

 

[guest poster]

I can see on other dishes are far smaller than mine

You couldn't photo some of those lnbs and upload them here could you Terry...?












(.........;))

 

[Terrytoon]

can do 2morow it is dark at the moment.

 

[Terrytoon]

not good quality,long range.

 

[Terrytoon]

The first of the lnbs looks like mine, but longer!