1.8 meter fortec star help

[Topper]

Cheers, very non-tenuous input there.

Indeed
Unfortunately after a hard days work sometimes your brain does work the way it should. My grey matter said ah 3000rpm motor too fast to move the dish but yes could utilise the vacuum produced by the Dyson however my fingers which work at a slower pace glossed over all that, if any explanation was needed at all;)

Good luck with your playing

 

[guest poster]

3000rpm... cooool vacuum cleaner driven petalised ironing board ...at 3000rpm...

….design finalised then..

And if we aim it right we should get it right on the GSO (literally).

 

[davyboy]

I'm a Newbie.Got my first Dish and Receiver in june this year.A Manhattan 500 and 1 metre motorized dish.
I wanted more signal to view backhaul feeds so decided to try a Maplins 1.8 metre dish.Took me three or four days to set it up but now it's pulling in excellent signal.A picture quality of about 43% on my Manhattan with the 1 metre dish is now about 68 to 76% with the 1.8 Foretec Dish.Had a picture quality today of 60%(Overon news feed on 24.5 west) using my 1 metre dish so I switched to the 1.8 metre petal dish and got signal of 93%.
I don't have a satellite meter.I used my Manhattan "channel search" interface to help me home in on signals.
Three important things to do when setting up one of the 1.8 petal dishes:
1.Make sure every nut and bolt is fastened.You fix the dish to the mount by using 6 brackets but I only used 4 when first setting it up,,Therefore the dish "hung" a little and was slightly out of shape as a result.All petals should be well and truly fastened tight enough together too.

2.The focal distance for the feedhorn should be 686 mm,not negotiable!

3.Twist the lnb to get better signal.
Only a Newbie but I did it.Don't give up hope.
Now I want to try a C band lnbf if anyone can advise one?
Dave

 

[CROSSBONES]

Well done daveyboy.

What sat are you using it on?

Now I want to try a C band lnbf if anyone can advise one?

ebay 330165256216 This is a KU and C-band, but you can get C-band only, of the same type.;)

 

[davyboy]

Crossbones,
I use it 12.5 west to 45 west at present.Need to relocate it to get good view of sats east of these.
My 1 metre dish gets decent signal,usually about 93% for a lot of channels.I just use the 1.8 metre dish when there's a weak signal on a raw feed.Today I used it on an Overon raw news feed on 24.5 west that was just 60% picture quality.I was gobsmacked when it hit 93% with the 1.8m.

 

[guest poster]

Thanks for that post Davyboy and well done... !

 

[davyboy]

Pedro
The focal length of 686mm is a must.It MUST be set at that then get a signal from there.

I use an Invacom LNB 0.3dB C120 with a prime focus feedhorn.An adjustable feedhorn is ok but a poor fit so I got a universal prime focus kit from satellitesuperstore http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/feedhorn.htm

You attach the three rods of the dish to this and have to twist the lnbf and 3 rods slightly inwards towards the dish to achieve 686mm then tighten scrws.Not a great fit but it works.
Then stand facing the dish.You see the rear of the lnb.Twist the lnb a little so the coax cable fits on the lnb at between 8 and 9 o clock as you look at it.The lnb is almost horizontal,just a bit below to the left..
Make sure all nuts and bolts are tight.Don't leave any out.Now your dish is set up cept for a degree or two tweaking of the lnb.

 

[tunesguy]

just if anybody is interested i took the old maplin 1.8 metre fortec star back and they didnt refund me as i was just outta me 14 day money back BUT i did exchange for a brand new one still factory sealed and happy to accept £80 + P@P or if you live local you can come collect, i know this isnt ebay and i hope i dont get in to trouble for posting this in the wrong section..

been cleaning me new dish and shes sparkling and pulling in lovely signals from 5e...

ive taken pics of the mounts which i will also sell, one does come with an actuator... cheers guys

 

[CROSSBONES]

looking forward to seeing the pics. I am interested in one of the polar mouns ;)

 

[guest poster]

Thanks Davyboy, one peice of advice... please take it. Once you are satisfied it's bang on and setup 100%... spend a bit of time strenghening it... It's only cost £100 and well worth a bit of basic engineering/diy and a few quid to bring it up to take a bit of weather.

 

[davyboy]

Pedro
Thanks for the advice.
It's only a flimsy thing.Last sunday I was using it to watch something on 24.5 west,a really weak beam that was 16% on my Funke dish but 68% on my 1.8 Petal,incredible difference.I decided to let my 1.8 dish down though cause of the stiff breeze that was buffeting it about.
Right now it's in the garden laid flat horizontal but still on it's stand.
Next week I'll fortify the dish by maybe getting some wind netting to protect it from a steady wind.If the wind is going to be above 25 miles an hour I'll have to take the dish off it's stand and hide it away.
The main fault with these dishes is the flimsiness.They are really a "spring/summer" dish.

 

[guest poster]

get down to your local steel stockholders (not B&Q) .. steel/ ali's pretty cheap .. just add bracing where it needs it etc.. taking care not to distort it... paint any bare steel with matching car paint- you've got a £500+ dish for £130 ish that will stand the winds and joking apart as rd100 has demonstrated, can perform on a par with the much more expensive dishes of that size.. I have a background in engineering and automatically assumed if we got one we would have to strengthen it once it was setup right, a fare trade-off for its price.

 

[kimbo]

Hi mate - I know you have ditched your Fortec dish for the Andrews 1.8 Channel Master. Did you try to see if you can get the horizontal transponders on 7 west for Nilesat.

I have tried for a few weeks with my 2.4 fortec dish and this dish is not for me, Some dealers have mentioned that the Andrews 1.8 is just as good as the 2.4 m, I just wondered what kind of results you are getting before i spend some more money.

Cheers mate.

 

[2cvbloke]

Indeed
Unfortunately after a hard days work sometimes your brain does work the way it should. My grey matter said ah 3000rpm motor too fast to move the dish but yes could utilise the vacuum produced by the Dyson however my fingers which work at a slower pace glossed over all that, if any explanation was needed at all;)

Good luck with your playing

I just read this, and I have to say, any cheap vacuum motor would burn out cos they're cr*p, so you'd be better off sticking with a Ford Angular wiper motor...

 

[tunesguy]

@ kimbo

sore subject, i rebuilt the dish twice, spent over 4 days trying to set up and nothing i used the correct lnb the invacom c120 ... no 7w

bought new andrews - setup ,aligned and perfect

 

[wod]

good so you get nilesat 7west ok now as the andrews dish is much better quality and hope you bought the matched feedhorn for the dish aswell

 

[CROSSBONES]

Still awaiting the pics tunesguy;)

So your pleased with the channel master then?

 

[davyboy]

Could anyone give me advice on purchasing a C Band Lnb?
I need an Lnb for C Band Circular polarity to use on a prime focus dish.I have a Manhattan Plaza 500 receiver and a Qualitv receiver.

 

[CROSSBONES]

Take a look at this one, not bad for about £20 delivered.

-http://cgi.ebay.com/C-BAND-LNBF-DUAL-POLARITY-13-DEGREE-LNB-4DTV_W0QQitemZ150166011220QQihZ005QQcategoryZ149971QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[dxsat]

There have been so many posts on this and other forums on problems with FortecStar dishes, there ought to be a sticky post to warn newcomers to think twice before buying one. The same questions come around again and again, and always involve the dishes not performing as well as they should do.
It needs to be said, loudly, that:
FortecStar dishes are poorly made and don't represent good value for money even at the price Maplin sell them for.
Setup is difficult.
The instructions are inadequate, and any slight error in assembly will result in under- performance.
Panels are so thin they flex in strong winds.
Paint finish is very poor and susceptible to rust.
Many FortecStar dishes are working with the performance of a good offset of half the size.
The 2.4m dishes need to be assembled by 2-3 people.
If the petals touch the ground with any weight applied to them they will be instantly ruined.
The dishes are often sold by ignorant dealers with cheap offset LNBs, instead of the correct C120 LNB and prime focus feedhorn, which are more expensive and hard to configure.
FortecStar are made by Jonsa and are also known as Archsat amongst other brand names. They can be identified easily by the circular floor mount