My 85cm Fracarro Penta

thecaretaker

I took some images of the 68cm Fracarro Penta dish, but never got around to posting any of the 85cm. Not a lot of difference really. lol

Here is my very ameture effort, nothing like you experts!

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kenny1234

Looks good great dish

rolfw

Nice installation, well done.

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wod

looks nice, been looking at getting the smaller one for my 28e dish

thats a sharp lnb you got on the dish ?

Robbo

Looks good to me.


Though you want to get those brackets painted, I take it that they're not galvanised?

gerryl

neat cabling job...

satelliteman

Nice install.

satelliteman . ..... A Detailed DiSEqC Motor Installation Set Up Guide > HERE Quick Reference Guide also > HERE Satellites UK site Advertisers . An Installers Choice ...... Follow us on .

CROSSBONES

Very nice

thecaretaker

I had noticed they are started to go rusty Robbo (Less than a year old). The brackets were supposed to be galvanised. But then there is galvanising and galvanising.

My TV ariel brackets have been up for 20 years.... grrrrh

how

I use this dish in Australia,i have put four lnbs on it and signal strength on all four satellites are strong. Good dish with its odd shape. Thanks.

bobbywise

Hi thecaretaker,

I recently got a 68cm Penta dish.
I am wondering what LNB you were using with it to get the best results.
Also, when you upgraded to the 85 Penta, did you use the same LNB that you used with the 68cm, or change for another LNB ?

With Well Wishes,

Rob

doktorofsat

nice one

here in romania none of da satshops have penta dishes

thecaretaker

Darn it, I just spent half an hour typing a reply and I lost the post. grrrrhh

In the pictures I had a Technomate 0.03db LNB but I have change it since then. I've played around with several makes and models of LNB and found the Inverto "BLACK Ultra" Single 0.2dB lnb model IDLP-SINL40-ULTRA-OPP to work the best across the full range of frequencies. It does what it says on the box (a very attractive and expensive looking box may I add lol)

I've taken a scan of the little tiny leaflet that comes with the box which explains...

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compufunk

I'm using the Inverto black ultra twin with my Penta 85 at the moment. I'm quite happy with it. It out performs the Fracarro LNB I had previously been using.

I'm managing to get the MBC channels on 26E which I couldn't previously.

sonnetpete

Caretaker,

You might want to experiment with the position of the LNB in relation to dish focus. Check the attached image showing where I've found my Black Ultra performs best on my 1M Gibertini.

Pete

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thecaretaker

I have m8. For some reason, it works best as far forward as possible. Unlike any other LNB I've tried, they usually want to be as far back on the bracket. I know it looks odd in the picture but I have fiddled and fiddled to get the sweet spot.

Can I give you a tip? Take a look at my close-up. The Black Ultra has a protective cable cover which pulls down over the cable and plug. I see you have pushed on a rubber cover and might have missed this useful feature!!

Tivù

Yes - those cable covers are becoming very much the norm nowadays.

Very useful indeed.

sonnetpete

Ah....so it has

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bobbywise

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the replies. Good to know that we should be able to get the weaker 26E channels with an Inverto LNB.

Additional question for thecaretaker -- when you say your LNB as far forward as possible, do you mean as far as possible away from the dish like in your photos (I am double checking, because this is what I do anyway with my existing LNBs) ?

thecaretaker

Oh heck... after that post I went out to play with it and must confess, the poster was correct.

To test, what I have always done is find a really weak signal like a nilesat channel and try to get the highest signal from it by adjusting the lnb. Pushing the lnb back and foerth made little if any difference. If anything, pushed far back did give the channel (City7) a degree or 1-2% more.

But I decided to position it the same as in the photo. I went in and zapped a few sats. What I have found is the more signal there is, the better the improvement in that position. Weak signals don't show much if any improvement, but medium signals that gave me say 55% are now giving 60-70%.

Even on the Freesat channels 28E, I used to get 98-100% on most (BBC1,2, ITV's etc), but a few like Lux TV, ITV HD, some Zone channels and music channels, I could normally only get an 80-85% signal. They are up to 90-95% now. So the more signal there was originally, the more of an improvement I get by setting the lnb further back.

What a plank I've been!

Goes to show, I'm still learning m8. I wouldn't worry about the lnb positioning, I'm sure it will work perfectly for you.

bobbywise

LOL, you haven't been a plank mate.
It's all relative. So if you think 'forward' means in the direction your dish is pointing, then you would say furthest forward and not furthest back.

This is why I asked for a reference point (relative to your dish)

bobbywise

By the way, where did you buy your LNB from.
I was just about to order one off a German website, but their system only seems to accept PayPal and Bank Transfer. Want to pay by credit card. Any good recommendations ?

thecaretaker

I tried using one German company EG-SAT and they decided they wouldn't ship to the UK and refunded my online payment. I also tried contacting one of the site sponsors. They were helpful, they emailed Inverto but they got no reply. In the end, I used a company called _http://www.satcompany.com and found them very helpful & quick m8. Cost me a total of 27 euro's.

sonnetpete

Rob and Caretaker,

I purchased both my HD receiver and Gibertini dish from a German supplier, _www.hm-sat-shop.de They were quick and efficient.

They stock a Black Ultra for 19.90 Euros plus shipping. I would definitely recommend them.

Caretaker, do you mean you moved the lnb to the same positon as I have it in the photo?

Pete

bobbywise

I went with _www.satshop.tv in the end. I payed by PayPal in the end too. Probably better than using my CC anyway in case I ever needed to launch a PayPal dispute.