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

pedro2000uk

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

Attached Thumbnails

 

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!

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

Robbo

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

Fortec star 1.8m dish Ain't that bad after all / c-band

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

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.

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

Terrytoon

Typo 2.4m sorry

pedro2000uk

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

pedro2000uk

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.

pedro2000uk

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.

Attached Thumbnails

       

Terrytoon

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

pedro2000uk

Thanks for taking that trouble...

…at first glance .. they all look wrong.. (wouldn't surprise me too much) unless someone is supplying LNBf's with integral feed horns with an f/d ratio of c.38 not .6.

1# = quad or quattro Invacom .3 LNBf with an f/d of… .6
2# = quad or quattro Invacom .3 LNBf with an f/d of… .6
3# = quad or quattro ???? Very blurred but looks like another Invacom .3 LNBf with an f/d of… .6
4# = quad or quattro (not sure brand) LNBf with an f/d of… .6

All four should be the C120 LNB equivalents (quad or Quattro) with either C120 flanged (.38) matched feed horns or adjustable feed horns set at .38. Unless someone is making Invacom LNBf’ copies with f/d ratios of .38 or whatever ratio…

What they all want is one of them.. (the C120s)

_http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/dbsquad.php (Quad C120)

Or

_http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/dbsquatro.php (Quattro C120).

And one of them…

_http://www.globalinvacom.com/products/adjustablefeedhorn.php set to .38

They are all losing loads of signal and might as well have a smaller offset…
Maybe they are all set back of the focal point and that’s how the signal is getting in- still not right.

Some of the feed support arms don’t look 100% either.

mind you.. I've ad a few so could be all booze b#ll*cks

Anyone else want to play... guess the LNB…

PaulR

Well..

No 2 doesn't look as though it's pointing to the centre of the dish to me!

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

woborny

no 3 looks like an invacom c120 with feedhorn....the one you want for your "fortecs-argh" dish

it also looks like a famaval 2.4m dish, judging by the plastic LNB holder, and the angle that the support arms are...the support arms / poles also look different to the other 3 photos...

pedro2000uk

Other evidence on the blurred number three is it's the only one that isn't pushed so far forward to the shoulder.... as a feed horn would get the focal length too... the other three LNBfs probably can't get near enough to get the the focal point either - bizarrely that might help a little with a .6 on a .38 dish.. or not. The feed horn on 3 looks small though.

BTW .. Happy New Year all... ... and my head's still in 2008 ... where's that coffee...

pedro2000uk

So what's wrong with this picture... answers on a postcard to ...

_http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97081&TabID=1&QV=Y&C=EBook&U= Ecat


oh, and I like this ...

_http://ebook.maplin.co.uk/maplinlargeebook/enter.html?page=310



try clicking on the c120 with feed horn...

I wonder if that's why 4 fortec star 2.4s have ....invacom lnbfs...