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Satellite TV receivers & systems support forums
DISH SETUP: Single sat, Multi-Sat & Motorised
C-Band Reception, UK and Europe
C-Band in the uk any one useing it
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<blockquote data-quote="paulvr" data-source="post: 744876" data-attributes="member: 276476"><p>Hi Vipersan,</p><p>Thank you very much for relating your experiences. In fact, after having posted the question I realized that under your name was also listed the gear you use, so I already went checking. As what I saw seemed somehow related to the horrible stuff I bought before (same nationalistic american label with the three blue stars and red stripes) I felt rather apprehensive but then again your experiences are what counts.</p><p></p><p>As for me, I used to be a satellite equipment reviewer and tester in the 80´s and 90´s. I´be had a number of dishes from Winegard 180, 240 and 300 cm mesh dishes to Hero 360 cm, with first the fantastic classic Seavey feed and later different varieties of Chaparral Corotor, single C-Band and even single S-band feedhorns. </p><p></p><p>Reception also included following the Molnya satellites who circulate in an egg-shaped track and broadcast mainly over the North of Canada to cover the borthernmost regions of Siberia using a Hamco-Star later much improved by EGIS robothead with extended horizontal and vertical motor positions. I used the famous NFI sound and video filtering in order to be able to identify even the faintest satellite signals, those typical feeds on Intelsats Global beams on 4166,5 and 4188,5 MHz for instance. Equipment was originally Drake, then mainly Chapparal (Cheyenne, different Montereys and eventually Steve Chilver´s conversion) yet in sensitivity I had the impression that the Echostar LT8700 was the most sensitive/best bandwidth model I used on analogue, at the end I didn´t even have to use my external badnwith filters anymore.</p><p></p><p>Being specialized in ultra weak analogue signals you might understand that digital C/band pretty much wiped out that part of the hobby for me. Even dish aligning became most cumbersome. For a moment I thought I had a good solution with the Echostar 7000 but then it appeared that that were basically two relatively mediocre and separate receivers taped together. After that I gave up, my C-Band dish stood almost unused for a number of years.</p><p></p><p>OK, now to the issue at hand: when I started receiving C-Band around 1982 there were only transponders with circular polarization. But even in those days I had to use precision skewing at every satellite position to get the very best of signal. And mind you, that was on a polar mount, initially with an actuator, later with an AJAK H2H mount so theoretically one time positioning of the skew should have covered all satellites, but it didn´t. Especially for those signals coming from the east from say 60° E through 72° E (Madagascar!) quite a bit of polarizer finetuning was mandatory.</p><p></p><p>That makes me wonder about the statement that with digital transmissions skewing wouldn´t play a major role anymore. After all, digital is merely a transmission technique but as far as I know it doesn´t change anything to the wave forms in which the signal reaches us. The only possible exception I can imagine would be that satellites would now be more unified in their polarities assuming that before they weren´t. But that again doesn´t seem logical because especially the signals from the more extreme eastern positions had a very similar skew regardless if they were Intelsat or others. I alsways assumed it had to do something with the curve of the earth or perhaps even such things as magnetic fields around the earth.</p><p></p><p>But anyway, back then a skew was essential, also for systems that made the dish curve along the Clarke Belt a.k.a. polar mount.</p><p>As far as H/V is concerned, I remember vaguely that i once removed the teflon slab from the feed to see if I would get remarkably better signals from a satellite using linear polarization but that appeared not to be so. Not so illogical because the slab if positioned correctly only crosses the line of signal be it horizontal or vertical by a 45° angle so it shouldn´t be that much in the way.</p><p></p><p>I checked the BSC421 on the internet and four prices varying from US $12,95 till US $35,- but I guess the hardest thing will be to find a dealer who ships at a reasonable rate. Looking at USPS.com I see that being in zone 5 a 20 ounce package should only cost US $12,48 to send but most companies I contacted wanted amounts varying from 35 till 135 dollars.</p><p></p><p>Can you do any suggestion as to whom to turn to for getting it at a reasonable price? And about that 10°K LNB to attach to my Corotor, can you suggest a company name and/or firm that sells them? There are so many cheaters and liars on the market....</p><p></p><p>kindest wishes,</p><p></p><p>Paul.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paulvr, post: 744876, member: 276476"] Hi Vipersan, Thank you very much for relating your experiences. In fact, after having posted the question I realized that under your name was also listed the gear you use, so I already went checking. As what I saw seemed somehow related to the horrible stuff I bought before (same nationalistic american label with the three blue stars and red stripes) I felt rather apprehensive but then again your experiences are what counts. As for me, I used to be a satellite equipment reviewer and tester in the 80´s and 90´s. I´be had a number of dishes from Winegard 180, 240 and 300 cm mesh dishes to Hero 360 cm, with first the fantastic classic Seavey feed and later different varieties of Chaparral Corotor, single C-Band and even single S-band feedhorns. Reception also included following the Molnya satellites who circulate in an egg-shaped track and broadcast mainly over the North of Canada to cover the borthernmost regions of Siberia using a Hamco-Star later much improved by EGIS robothead with extended horizontal and vertical motor positions. I used the famous NFI sound and video filtering in order to be able to identify even the faintest satellite signals, those typical feeds on Intelsats Global beams on 4166,5 and 4188,5 MHz for instance. Equipment was originally Drake, then mainly Chapparal (Cheyenne, different Montereys and eventually Steve Chilver´s conversion) yet in sensitivity I had the impression that the Echostar LT8700 was the most sensitive/best bandwidth model I used on analogue, at the end I didn´t even have to use my external badnwith filters anymore. Being specialized in ultra weak analogue signals you might understand that digital C/band pretty much wiped out that part of the hobby for me. Even dish aligning became most cumbersome. For a moment I thought I had a good solution with the Echostar 7000 but then it appeared that that were basically two relatively mediocre and separate receivers taped together. After that I gave up, my C-Band dish stood almost unused for a number of years. OK, now to the issue at hand: when I started receiving C-Band around 1982 there were only transponders with circular polarization. But even in those days I had to use precision skewing at every satellite position to get the very best of signal. And mind you, that was on a polar mount, initially with an actuator, later with an AJAK H2H mount so theoretically one time positioning of the skew should have covered all satellites, but it didn´t. Especially for those signals coming from the east from say 60° E through 72° E (Madagascar!) quite a bit of polarizer finetuning was mandatory. That makes me wonder about the statement that with digital transmissions skewing wouldn´t play a major role anymore. After all, digital is merely a transmission technique but as far as I know it doesn´t change anything to the wave forms in which the signal reaches us. The only possible exception I can imagine would be that satellites would now be more unified in their polarities assuming that before they weren´t. But that again doesn´t seem logical because especially the signals from the more extreme eastern positions had a very similar skew regardless if they were Intelsat or others. I alsways assumed it had to do something with the curve of the earth or perhaps even such things as magnetic fields around the earth. But anyway, back then a skew was essential, also for systems that made the dish curve along the Clarke Belt a.k.a. polar mount. As far as H/V is concerned, I remember vaguely that i once removed the teflon slab from the feed to see if I would get remarkably better signals from a satellite using linear polarization but that appeared not to be so. Not so illogical because the slab if positioned correctly only crosses the line of signal be it horizontal or vertical by a 45° angle so it shouldn´t be that much in the way. I checked the BSC421 on the internet and four prices varying from US $12,95 till US $35,- but I guess the hardest thing will be to find a dealer who ships at a reasonable rate. Looking at USPS.com I see that being in zone 5 a 20 ounce package should only cost US $12,48 to send but most companies I contacted wanted amounts varying from 35 till 135 dollars. Can you do any suggestion as to whom to turn to for getting it at a reasonable price? And about that 10°K LNB to attach to my Corotor, can you suggest a company name and/or firm that sells them? There are so many cheaters and liars on the market.... kindest wishes, Paul. [/QUOTE]
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Satellite TV receivers & systems support forums
DISH SETUP: Single sat, Multi-Sat & Motorised
C-Band Reception, UK and Europe
C-Band in the uk any one useing it
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