10E Feeds and Dish Size

[Offtensive]

As many of you know, I have another thread going where I am currently setting up a dish and suffering from beginner's curse. I have a quick query, so I thought it would be better to start a new thread than causing confusion in the other one (like I have done a few times in the past).

I might need to buy a new dish if I cannot sort out the problems with my current freebie dish.

Most of the sats that I will be using seem to have relatively strong reception in the West Midlands, namely 30W, 5W, 0.8W, 7E, 13E, 16E, 19.2E, 23E; having had a look at lyngsat, sat beams etc. they "should" be receivable on an 80/90cm dish (obviously this will be dependent on the quality of my install).

For me the marginal/most difficult reception will be the feeds on 10E. What kind of dish size would I ideally need to receive these in my area.

The Gibertini 1m seems impossible to get, the nearest I have seen to that is the Kathrein 1m which is about £170. Whereas the 85cm Kathrein is about £60 cheaper and should cover most of my needs.

I'm just curious at the moment, if a 1m dish would cover my needs, or would I need to go even bigger? As I have heard of people having difficulties getting these on a 1.1m - although I'm not sure if they are using the Triax.

 

[moonbase]

...I'm just curious at the moment, if a 1m dish would cover my needs, or would I need to go even bigger? As I have heard of people having difficulties getting these on a 1.1m - although I'm not sure if they are using the Triax.

Personally, I think that for some 10.0E feeds a 1.0m dish might possibly struggle.
A 1.0m dish will get you some of the Ku-Band feeds for definite, however it will also probably be under the signal level required for a lock for a few others.

A popular standard for feeds including 10.0E is DVB-S2 using 8PSK modulation, this requires 7.9dB to get a lock and a little bit more to keep the lock stable.
Whatever dish size you use it needs to be able to achieve at least 7.9dB signal level for DVB-S2 8PSK feeds.

If you can source a second hand 1.2m channel master dish they are popular for feeds and are available from eBay quite often.
Provided the dish reflective surface has not been damaged, an old channel master 1.2m dish will clean up a treat and give you a decent chance with 10.0E.

 

[ozumo]

Feeds are weaker than the broadcast channels on 7E, 10E, 16E & most other satellites. 1M will receive some, 1.2M will pull in more but not all.

At that sort of price there's a nice 1.2M for sale in the classifieds:

Sold - Laminas OFC-1200 1.2m dish for sale...

Have an almost new (Oct 2020) Laminas 1.2m dish for sale with E-Z mount. Worked ok, on a DISEQ motor, but struggled in the winds. (above gutter line) £160 ONO SOLD Also, have a TM-2600 motor and a Dark Motor - might throw one in. Orpington, Kent area.

www.satellites.co.uk

 

[Offtensive]

Thanks. I think 1.2m at this stage will probably be a bit too big for me (I'll most likely end up sleeping outside with the dish).

I was considering the costs and trade-offs between an 85cm and 1m dish, and if it is worth spending that extra money. As the 1m will still be missing a lot of the feeds, I'm leaning towards an 85cm as it will be cheaper and easier for me to align.

Looking at William-1's guide and Lyngsat, the only one I think I may struggle with on a dish that size would be 16e. I probably won't use that too much.

 

[DonSE2]

Which feeds are you interested on 10E? I can check them for you on my 1M. On a clear day a 1M in London can get most feeds but not all. Many of the signals are marginal lock as well, if it clouds over or rains then signal drops out. In the West Midlands you're going to have less signal, personally I wouldn't bother with the 85cm. If it's possible get a 1.2M even if it's 2nd hand, otherwise go for the 1M

 

[SimonE]

Thanks. I think 1.2m at this stage will probably be a bit too big for me (I'll most likely end up sleeping outside with the dish).

I was considering the costs and trade-offs between an 85cm and 1m dish, and if it is worth spending that extra money. As the 1m will still be missing a lot of the feeds, I'm leaning towards an 85cm as it will be cheaper and easier for me to align.

Looking at William-1's guide and Lyngsat, the only one I think I may struggle with on a dish that size would be 16e. I probably won't use that too much.

Offtensive, I am not far from you using a 1.2m Channel Master dish with an Octagon OSLO LNB. The Enex feeds work OK with this combination as do most BBC feeds. The SKY ones can be a bit illusive at times! A possible problem you may have with a smaller dish is the beam width. There are strong satellites at 19.2 degs and 13 degs. My dish only just prevents interference from them.

 

[mapperuo]

The Sky feeds on 16e are FEC 5/6 so would need about 9.5db + to get lock. BBC ones if they are 16APSK would need about the same db level to lock from experience.

ENEX are 2/3 8PSK so pretty easy.

 

[Offtensive]

Thank you all for your insights. That’s given me a good idea of what I probably can and cannot achieve in my area.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to get permission domestically for a 1.2m at the moment - I just checked again today.

I will keep my eye out for the elusive Gibertini 1m dishes, but I will most likely purchase a Kathrein or something similar.