sonnetpete
Grumpy Old Retired Moderator and quiz inquisitor..
- My Satellite Setup
- Laminas 1.2M fibre dish with an IBU, on a Clarke Tech USALS motor, covering 57E - 24.5W to an Octagon SX88. Displayed on a 20" Dyon LED TV.
Seperate 80 cm dish on 28E with a Humax Freesat for SWMBO.
Free Sat V8 meter. Sony Bravia 46" LCD, Sony BluRay and Home Cinema.
- My Location
- Normandy, France
I assembled my motorised system just before Xmas last year. Since then, by replacing and upgrading some things, I've become aware of what I shouldn't have done and what there is still to do!!
1) Buy the best engineered dish you can afford, and (depending on planning permission and what you want to achieve) the largest. I started with a cheap 60cm and soon became frustrated with it's limitations. On reflection I might have gone with a Fracarro Penta (and may well still do). If you are self installing you will struggle on your own with a large steel dish.
2) Do not be tempted to shortcut your dish wall mount. I bought an 'L' bend steel wall mount in a French DIY store. With the weight of the motor and the Triax it is flexing and is out of true vertical to the wall. I'm having to shim it up at the bottom of the wall plate, which is a pain. Please think seriously about T & K's. I have and will get some when I can!!
3) Previously we had an old Astra analogue dish, then we had a French installer erect 'une parabole' for French analogue from 5°W. He used the cable from the Astra dish. I put up my dish, and in a rush to complete things, reused the same cable. (Shotgun I think!!) I've replaced this with CTF100 (?) and the improvement in signal strength has been as much as 50% in some cases. So, buy some decent cable, it's a good investment!
Good luck if you are considering starting or have just got your feet wet. I find it fascinating and this forum invaluable. I hope my post contributes in some small way.
Pete
1) Buy the best engineered dish you can afford, and (depending on planning permission and what you want to achieve) the largest. I started with a cheap 60cm and soon became frustrated with it's limitations. On reflection I might have gone with a Fracarro Penta (and may well still do). If you are self installing you will struggle on your own with a large steel dish.
2) Do not be tempted to shortcut your dish wall mount. I bought an 'L' bend steel wall mount in a French DIY store. With the weight of the motor and the Triax it is flexing and is out of true vertical to the wall. I'm having to shim it up at the bottom of the wall plate, which is a pain. Please think seriously about T & K's. I have and will get some when I can!!
3) Previously we had an old Astra analogue dish, then we had a French installer erect 'une parabole' for French analogue from 5°W. He used the cable from the Astra dish. I put up my dish, and in a rush to complete things, reused the same cable. (Shotgun I think!!) I've replaced this with CTF100 (?) and the improvement in signal strength has been as much as 50% in some cases. So, buy some decent cable, it's a good investment!
Good luck if you are considering starting or have just got your feet wet. I find it fascinating and this forum invaluable. I hope my post contributes in some small way.
Pete
