Are SMW LNBs still considered to be the best?

Hitchcock

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I was just wondering whether this is still a widely held belief among satellite professionals?
 

dave branson

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Good question,i bought 2 of the x-line type some time ago,not cheap 300 eurs
I have yet to install them as they need a switch polarity.
 

Likvid

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Depends.

My Inverto outclasses both my SMWs i have.

They are really old school LNBs, Luxor and Nokia sold these LNBs with their consumer dish packages in the 80's and early 90's when you used a polarizer to switch polarity.
 

Hitchcock

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dave branson said:
Good question,i bought 2 of the x-line type some time ago,not cheap 300 eurs
I have yet to install them as they need a switch polarity.

Yes, I read your thread about it. :)

I too did the same thing you are trying to do now, it was in 1998 and I needed a 2nd LNB output for my new Nokia MM9600. I was initially tricked in to buying a new Universal Twin (Grundig T1, NF: 0.7 d:cool: but when I replaced the CM feedhorn + SMW polarizer + SMW XL-800C I had been using for two years, I got a worse picture (and also bad DRO on my Echostar SR8700).

I wanted to continue to use the feedhorn that came with the dish + polarizer + top performing LNB, but still be able to operate either receiver independently, so I went for a solution like yours and bought an OMT + 2 LNBs + 2/1 (22 kHz) switch + Master/Slave switch for the two receivers.

This setup worked OK on my Echostar as I only needed to set 0/12V (0/22kHz) for polarity, but on my Nokia I soon ran into difficulties. I couldn't swap the pol. and band controls (13/18V and 22 kHz) (even with Dr. Overflow's software) and I was laughed at on the German DVB forums for even contemplating such a feature in the software.

It wasn't until later that a guy called M**** Kj******* suggested to me that I use the the SMW Quattro (together with an array of SMW switches :D), as that should perform about the same as my old SMW XL-800C Wideband LNB, and it would also emulate a normal Universal LNB on my Nokia. I went with this solution in the end (I got myself a 5/4 multiswitch) and although a couple more cables from the dish (and a termination point for the multiswitch) needed to be installed I have never regretted it since. This is the ultimate professional solution.

Also back then (1999), at least as far as I know, this was the only the way to set up a flange (C120) 'Universal LNB' (there were no flange Invacoms, MTIs, Invertos or whatever back then).


Likvid said:
Depends.

My Inverto outclasses both my SMWs i have.

Which model are they?


Likvid said:
They are really old school LNBs ...

Actually, I'm surprised SMW are still selling those old fashioned LNBs and still hanging in there (well, at least their website is still running and Copyright 2005 has now been updated :D), they haven't changed a bit since 1995 or earlier, and the Quattro LNB (1998) is still HUGE and rather heavy (I found it to be a bit hilarious when I eventually replaced mine with the feather-weight Invacom — which by the way outperformed the SMW!)
 

Likvid

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The triple dragon receiver i sold to Dave is one of the few modern digital receivers out there that supports the dual SMW setup.

I have the same pieces, 2 SMW X-Line 0.8dB Max LO +/+1MHz with OMT.

Actually they are brand new as i only tested them twice.

SMW could have made loads of money if they made a C120 X-line LNB.
 

dave branson

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The only problem with the Triple Dragon is that it has a very poor tuner,and that is the reason that I have not installed the SMW lnb,s also they are very
heavy.
I still find that the Invacom quad performs the best,but i am going to try the Inverto again,as the reception has fallen off again due to the repositioning of the 2D satellite,this happens every April/May.
The reception in the winter is 20% better than in the summer.
The problem with most LNB,s made in the far east is that the performance is hit and miss due to poor quality control.
 

Likvid

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dave branson said:
The only problem with the Triple Dragon is that it has a very poor tuner,and that is the reason that I have not installed the SMW lnb,s also they are very
heavy.
I still find that the Invacom quad performs the best,but i am going to try the Inverto again,as the reception has fallen off again due to the repositioning of the 2D satellite,this happens every April/May.
The reception in the winter is 20% better than in the summer.
The problem with most LNB,s made in the far east is that the performance is hit and miss due to poor quality control.

Too bad there are no extension panels to 2.4m for the IRTE dish like Alcoa offered for their dishes..
 

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2cvbloke

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Rd100 said:
what is a attisat?????

An Attisat FL500 Flat Panel Antenna, it's in my equipment list.....
< --------
 
R

Rd100

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why do you need 2 smw x-line lnbs is there 1 for high band and one for low or 1 for horizontal and one for vertical????

I use to have a few califonia amp lnbs they where good qulity you could feel the weight on the lnb and they where very well made,

I just need to find a c-band lnb now to put on my cm c-band feed horn to have a play about with

Likvid said:
The triple dragon receiver i sold to Dave is one of the few modern digital receivers out there that supports the dual SMW setup.

I have the same pieces, 2 SMW X-Line 0.8dB Max LO +/+1MHz with OMT.

Actually they are brand new as i only tested them twice.

SMW could have made loads of money if they made a C120 X-line LNB.
 

Hitchcock

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Rd100 said:
why do you need 2 smw x-line lnbs is there 1 for high band and one for low or 1 for horizontal and one for vertical????

Those are the old Wideband type LNBs, so one for horizontal and one for vertical using an OMT.

Rd100 said:
I use to have a few califonia amp lnbs they where good qulity ...
I've tried those LNBs too, in fact those are the ones I tried with an OMT first, they were rated as 0.6 dB (max, I think), so I thought I was going to improve my picture, but my old SMW XL-800C outperformed them both, the DRO was also badly off on the Cal Amp.

Rd100 said:
you could feel the weight on the lnb and they where very well made ...
They are BIG and even heavier than the SMW.
 
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