3.1m Tecatel Gran Canaria

greg0ry

Hardly a new thread i think - i have read a lot of the others and not much further forward yet.

Together with a Sky+HD and 4-pack subscription, I have a tecatel (Famaval) 2.4m antenna with petals - but I can´t get any of the BBC or ITV channels with the exception of BBC Radio(s) and Ch4 HD - so i´m surviving on Channel 4 and NatGeoHD!! I also have a 1.2m gregorian with universal quad which to all intents and pruposes does just as well on 28.2.

Photos posted here . . . i know i haven´t tried everything on the basis that the Maspalomas (local) resort bars all variously show X-Factor and Wimbledon!! so they´re possible here- i need a clue what to do next.

I have even repositioned the dish up and back by more than a metre - the photo shows the previously dubious proximity of the mobile home (Sorry). The channel lineup was the same (depleted) before that Big Move. . though the dish suffered a ´drop´from the ´lifting apparatus´.

Presently have a single Invacom LNB (with Sky+HD in ´single LNBmode´)... I have the quad Invacom in the UK (cos i´m daft like that) and will pick it up when next...

Any suggestions? Any questions (that the photos don´t answer)?

Maybe the Feedhorn . . . the adjustable is the adjustable Invacom - but i think this doesn´t adjust down to f/D of 0.30 does it?? the fixed feedhorn supplied with the dish is the one for the 2.4 without the petals so i know not why it was included!!

Here´s hoping. . .

Attached Thumbnails

         

         

 

trigger

I will reply in more detail later but the feehhorn is pushed too far in

Low Profile

The ADF-120 is specced for 0.32F/D to 0.43F/D.
0.32 requires maximum (6mm) protrusion.
I would screw in the corrugated feed horn as much as possible, you might be able to eek a bit more out of it with around 6.5mm of protrusion.
Then move the whole LNB / Feedhorn assembly to max up the signal.

satelliteman

Looks more than just rim damage there, in addition worth checking the extension panel closer.

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 .

greg0ry

Extention panels: i have yet to do the fishing line crossed accross the front of the dish to see what shape it´s in. Today with luck - and cooler temperatures.

I think i have adjusted the feedhorn to death - but i need to eliminate all ... carefully and methodically this time.

I´ll Google the feedhorn to see: What options are there for alternative feedhorn? -sooner rather than later that will be used with the Invacom C120 Quad.

With the adjustable feedhorn, when it is adjusted to the 0.3 f/D, does the core ´tube´ waveguide protrude through and beyond the scalar rings; it reaches into the dish?

Has anyone managed to bring in 2D with the ADF120 and dish f/D 0.30?

Matters arising: What part of the whole -scalar rings, feedhorn, waveguide (of the LNB) and the antennae (of the LNB)- assembly should be at the focal point of the dish (930mm for my 3.1 prime).

Thanks to all for now.

Low Profile

The lower the F/D the more protrusion.
0.32 = 6mm protrusion
0.38 = 4mm
0.43 = no protrusion
So you're not illuminating all of your dish.
With no protrusion the 10dB beamwidth is about 116° with an F/D of 0.3 the beamwidth should be over 140°
The signal should focus onto the opening of the waveguide (although it won't be a pure focus, more of a high density mush).

trigger

Did you move the dish with the petals on?
I did it once only about 20M and up to the 1st floor. Had to change the dish. Get the fishing line on it now as its cooled down a bit. Its the best thing to do as you will know where your at.
Take the nuts off the bolts on the LNB holder and screw right in and pull the LNB back as far as possible.

Good Luck

satelliteman

Done a little search for an image Triggs

Attached Thumbnails

 

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 .

greg0ry

Thanks thanks thanks...

funnily enough i spent the day today with the poles and the lnb in the living room, marked out the floor, plumbline down the centre. . . dih dah dih dah... and i´ve taken out one error where one bolt at the LNB end was unequal with the other two. Measured up the centre line and placed the lnb at 840 from the floor - i measured that other 90 on the dish where the dish centre is concaved beyond the plane of the pole-ends.

So now the nuts are still on the bolts and the bolts are not screwed right into the pole - mostly because they start binding on the plastic inserts in the pole-ends - but the feedhorn is marked up with the 930 focus and i can adjust (peak-up on) its position around that.

Is there anything i need to learn about an additional offset elevation type adjustment? THere was mention of an adapter on the top fixing so that once the major elevation was set the dish could thene be further adjusted (probably down to the horizon) centred on the lower fixing bolts and not on the head bolts on top of the mounting post. Make sense? It was said that i needed an additional adapter which was down as a loacl modification rather than as an available purchase option... does that mean anything?


Feedhorn - I can´t get any more than 4 or 5mm protrusion out the front of the feedhorn... it tightens down on the shoulder at the end (start?) of the thread. And i note that end-to-end of the f/D adjustment there is little or no noticable affect on the LNB output level accross the spectrum. Maybe because we´re just not getting in the ballpark . . .?

Petals... i am very dubious about their condition now.. i had the dish resting on top of the step ladder and if it was deformed before it is now. So that has forced that issue!! Do Tecatel do single petals for repairs? One (the only) thing Ebay doesn´t list!!

Enough for now.. Thanks so far!!

Analoguesat

The first thing you need to do is string it. If the dish is distorted you are wasting your time working on it.

Analoguesat's message to the world Analogue forever!

greg0ry

Strung... How good should the lineup of the strings be.. i guess a perfectly coincident crossing of all strings and all in a single plane is the objective... but the real world comes close... how close is ok?

and that is with a know dogy petal or two... i should liek to swap out the lower and lower left petal and i think those two alone will accoun t for the separtion between the strings.

pics...

Attached Thumbnails

     

Telia

The strings should yently touch each others, eg +/-1mm is fine.