-11DegC in NW England

smiffie

smiffie

Regular Member
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox 800HD 500Gb X 2, Dreambox 500S X 2, VBox 2, Jaeger 99G H to H 36v, Inverto SilverTech Quad LNB 0.2dB, 95cm Maxx Digital Mesh Dish 42E-45W, Technomate TM 2600 H to H Diseqc, Inverto Ultra black LNB 0.2dB , 85cm Transparent Dish 42E-1W.
My Location
North West England, UK
We've had about 10 inches of snow in Cheshire and its been minus 11C today. I noticed some of the 100% signals on 28E are down to about 95% but I don't think I've lost any channels even on 5E and 16E. Thought I'd have a look at the dishes and take some snaps, the transparent one doesn't look very clear with all that frost!
 

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Looks like there might be a build up of snow on the boom. Nice set up anyhow.
 
The LNB has some snow on it, which probably accounts for the signal loss, normally I'd jet it off with a hose but its frozen solid. The LNB support staves are actually made from 30lb fishing line which I added to stop LNB wobble at 30W on windy days. Usually, without the snow, you can hardly see them.
 
Would you mind me asking how reception is on the 85cm Transparent Dish i 'm thinking about getting one to replace my triax 88 . what is it like on BADR & Eutel W2 ?
 
@mike1

Overall I'm disappointed with the 85cm Transparent Dish, it does not bring in the Balkan transponders on 16E, but then again I only get 30-40% SNR and 5-10K BER on the 1M dish, so perhaps that is too much to expect for a 85cm. It brings in all other transponders on 16E which is acceptable as a second dish. The big issue for me was initially not being able to pick up the Horizontal HD transponders at 1W. I resolved it by replacing the LNB with an Inverto Ultra Black, but I'm still liable to lose it in heavy rain. BADR? Is that 26E? Sorry I've no interest in that one so cannot comment.

Physically, I seem to remember the dish is 90X85 cm, but the actual reflective mesh does not extend to the rim, so I estimate the effective reflective area is more like a 78-80cm dish. Also the plastic resin material used, has a gloss finish which reflects the sun, making it, er, not all that transparent. They've used four inclination adjustment bolts as apposed to two which make it fiddley to adjust and it can be infuriating to try and peak the signal when setting up.

I believe at about £80 new, I got this one quite cheap and I only just consider it fit for purpose. So if you want a discreet dish I would stick with a budget mesh 85cm dish in matt grey, like an ISS for about £35. Only problem is it will be rusty in about 5 years!
 
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