Dish Upgrade

Cliveastro

I recently set up my present system with an old 70cm Uniden dish, with the help of the forum. Thank you.
Well my system performance is quite good.
But I am wondering whether to upgrade my dish.
My dilemma is should I go for an 80cm or a 90cm.
The reason for my dilemma is that I live about a mile or so from the sea and it gets pretty windy here.
The Gibertini 90cm looks lighter and has a slightly smaller profile than the Triax or to
go for the outsider a Hirschman 90cm. The other option is to play safe with an 80cm.
Any comments please.

Also roughly how much extra will I be able to pick up.

Thanks

Clive

rolfw

The Hirschmann FeSAT is a beautiful dish, very strong and with an aluminium face and stainless steel bracket, should survive your coastal location, but may be a big ask for the Moteck in a very windy environment.

The other option is a Channel master/Andrews dish, much more robust, but probably too heavy for the Moteck.

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wod

or one of them transparent dishes made of plastic or something

andrews with polar mount actuator would be best

femto

Yes, a polar mount would be far far more robust than a Horizon to Horizon mount if you're dealing with strong coastal winds on a reasonable sized (90cm) dish.

The only negative aspect to consider with regard to a polar mount is that you will not get as far east and west as you would with a Moteck or similar. If you're okay with 45 degrees east through to 45 degrees west (sometimes slightly more depending on the design of the mount), a polar mount would be the favourite in my opinion.

In order to drive a polar mount and jack actuator you will need either a receiver that has a built-in 36 Volt positioner or a V-Box, which enables heavy duty (non Diseqc) motors to be used that move your dish without the dangers of breakage or slippage in high winds.

A plus point to the polar mount and 36 Volt jack is that should your motor (jack) fail, not that it will if properly weather-proofed, you don't have to disturb the mount, that is, you can replace the jack for a new one and you will not have to reset your dish to get it tracking the arc again. If a H-H motor dies, it's all to do from scratch!

Please accept my apologies if I seemed to waffle on!

Cliveastro

Thanks
It sounds like an 80cm for now and if an upgrade is needed a polar mount is the way to go. I dont really want to change my motor as its only 4 weeks old.
Maybe then the Hirschman 80cm as it is a third less weight than the 90cm or a steel Gibertini.

Clive

femto

Ah well if you've only just bought your H-H motor, it'd be a shame to waste it now you've got it.

Just don't skimp on your choice of dish. You've got a good LNB already - I've got the same model and it's great. You won't go far wrong with a Hirschman or Gibertini dish - I've been reading a lot of praise on this site by some very clued-up members. You can read as many company sales pitches as you like but when professional installers and veteran enthusiasts like them, you must be onto a winner there!

Plus, to squeeze as much performance out of your system as you can, make up a patch cable to go between your LNB and your DiSEqC motor (and your motor to your receiver) using the best quality co-ax you can. None of this TV downlead rubbish. It may only be a short piece of cable but every little helps surely..

wod

you might as well go for a gibertini 90cm dish

Cliveastro

The 90cm Gibertini was sort of where I had started.
Regarding the cable between the lnb and motor I have used CT125 is that good enough?.

Clive

wod

yes that is good cable and have you used that then from the motor to your receiver ?

Cliveastro

No but it is a good quality satellite cable.

Thanks

Clive