Disaster!!

[Vipersan]

Hi friends ..
Just letting you know ..and to add it to this thread seemed appropriate.

My second V-box arrived today ..
This time chose a technomate Superbox III (different brand to the original)
..for no other reason than I want to be able to access both by remote handset ....in the same room without both Vboxes moving the dish at the same time...unless instructed to under diseqc 1.2 control ..
set tob box control of simultaneous Pitch and Yaw...
..or independant control of Elevation and Position by remote control..
Nice
at the moment they are in 2 different rooms ..but eventually will be side by side..
rgds
VS

 

[Huevos]

have you tried both remotes to know for sure the codes are different?

 

[Vipersan]

Yes Huevos ...
The Technomate and the Jaeger are definately different remote codes..
;)
rgds
VS

 

[aceb]

Hello VS, if you get a few minutes at some point I wonder if you could post up what sats you are able to see on C band with the 1.8, SWMBO could be persuaded to loose the corner of the garden to a 1.8m but I'm wondering what I'll be able to see for the grief it will entail. Dishpointer Pro reckons I can 'see' 53E-75W

 

[Vipersan]

Thats a fair coverage of the arc you've got there Aceb...
In your case I'd be concentrating on the Eastern most birds ...
..as most of what you can access is Circular polarised you'll need to experiment with dielectric plates..
One of my more interesting sats is at 55W ...as the H/V western most birds tend to carry South American broadcast material for the most part ..
This is where I concentrate most of my effort.
My dish is to all intents and purposes ..blind beyond 40 East ..
But You should get good reception in this area..
You will also get a fair ammount of programming at 5 west and 40 west ..
These are good strong sats so good for starting out on you voyage into the world of Cband..
As to programming specifics ..
There may not be a lot to watch unless your multi-lingual.
I investigate and log these transmissions more as a hobby than for viewing pleasure ...

You have a fair chance at 43 west s well neing much further South than me...

To give you some idea whats possible ..
Check out my other thread on 'adding elevation control' ...
It has quite a few good screen caps of various transmissions and feeds..

One day soon I 'will get around to making a complete list with pics where possible ..of what my ressurected alcoa can actually on the arc..
As I said ...If its programming your after ...
..don't use this to try and persuade SWMBO ....
...If its a hobby your after ...
Then ...good luck to you..
Its fun ..rewarding ...and occasionally surprising.
rgds
VS

 

[Vipersan]

Had enough now ..having spent over 5 hours reconfiguring the least sensitive of my set top boxes the AZboxpremium ..scanning all C band birds that are visible to me on the arc..
This was a neccessary task as I'm about to make some relocation changes to the the 2 pitch and yaw v-boxes.
So a clean sheet for the AZbox ...but it gives an idea of just whats available in Cband..
Ok ..
The scan is completed ..and no adjustments made for elevation ..so ..no tweaking and no feeds included.
..just ya basic Tv packages.
a fair proportion of which are of course ..encrypted.
The total of channels scanned ..including radio channels where over 1000...
So quite a haul without any real effort.
I'm posting this for the benefit of aceb really who was curious as to whats up there..
and remember this was from 40E to 58W ..
There's more I can't 'see' to the East ..
but its a rough guide.
;)
time for some ZZZsss I think.
more to do tomorrow..
rgds
VS

 

[aceb]

Thanks for the lengthy reply VS, it does sound like it's worth doing now. The corner of the garden is actually where the hens used to live and my other half has been on about getting some more so I think just need to convince her they can co-habit up there, it'll make a nice sunshade anyway! I'm more of a twiddler and enthusiast than a viewer too but she's used to my strange habits anyway, I've been a radio amateur since we met 30 years ago so she's had plenty of time to get used to sad geekiness lol

It's not a bad arc but I'd actually prefer it if it was the other way with a low easterly horizon, there is one spot on this property I can see to about 70E but it's basically on top of the fence between us and next door so a bit of a non starter for C band.

A couple of years ago I was donated a 1.2m Precision polar mount from a friend who could watch 75E Ku on a clear morning with about 0.3° elevation! I think it's time to give it all a clean up and see if it's worth anything so I can fund the summer C band project.

 

[Vipersan]

OOps ..
Thats what you get for working late ..
mistakes ..
managed to scan a couple of ku transponders in the mix last night ..
The actual number for C band is fore like 800+
Still respectable ..but dont want to mislead anyone.

btw aceb ..
the larger bulk of these is concentrated on 40W 55W & 58W
rgds
VS

 

[Vipersan]

Hi Friends ..
Cabling moved ...re-wire done..
Please ignore the crappy temporary positioner shelf ..
Both now moved into 'the shack'..
And so far 3 satellite positions and elevations have been set to correspond..
Individual control is possible because the remotes use different codes...
..however a single disqc 1.2 command sent by any receiver ..finds its way to both positioners ..
..as they are in fact daisy chained ..but NOT in control of the actual signal ..so no losses as the lnb signal doesn't pass through the positioners .
...only motor control does this.

 

[Lazarus]

Most impressive, VS. Most impressive.

 

[Huevos]

Looks like you've had to sell/mature content the furniture to pay for all the gear you've been buying lately.

BTW I've got my linear LNB on too now so mine is a lot more user friendly than before... except I've got to find the actuator positions for 3 LNBs, which isn't so simple because they all run at different speeds even when on the same part of the arc.

 

[Vipersan]

Looks like you've had to sell/mature content the furniture to pay for all the gear you've been buying lately.

BTW I've got my linear LNB on too now so mine is a lot more user friendly than before... except I've got to find the actuator positions for 3 LNBs, which isn't so simple because they all run at different speeds even when on the same part of the arc.

LOL ..
Nice one Huevos..
If you are alluding to me selling mature content ..
Sadly no ..I'm not up to making 'movies' these days ...


...I think you are refering to the 3 balls kind ..
Ahem ..
;)
No I haven't pawned my furniture ..
The TV pics where taken sat on the bed in my bedroom ..
Its still there I hope ..but only used for sleeping in ..doh!
The positioners are in the shack ..and I cleared a space around them before taking the pics ..
That room is full of luverrly junk ...and also my massage table ..which I desperately need on occasions..

Nice to know you've made your system more user friendly ..
I'd be very interested in any pics you want to post up..
rgds
VS

added some pics of the shack ...which desperately needs a tidy up now the jobs almost done..
;)

 

[Huevos]

I'd be very interested in any pics you want to post up.

Ok, I've posted a couple in my Gibertini thread.

 

[Vipersan]

Hi friends ..
First ..appologies if there are any typos..
I will correct any I spot.
My hands have been less than useful over the last few days ..making work and play very difficult ..
Hopefully this is only temporary.

OK hands up anyone who has taken apart an ALPS ku lnb..?
Well I bought a couple cheap to 'experiment ' with..
..and was surprised at its construction..
Once opened you realise there is an incredible amount of wasted space ...so closer mounting to the focal point on my pf dish is a definate possibility..
An even smaller hole cut in a C-band scalar plate than expected ....is on the cards
Even better ...
The lnb has a tiny concentric ring feed built onto the lnb feed end ...made of dielectric material..
So ..this is even more useful for prime focus dishes.
I thought the bullet shaped plastic nose of the lnb might be essential to function ..
So I tested a complete unit ..
Then a stripped down unit ..
The difference in gain on my selected test channel BBC NEWS @1West ..
.......NONE...
So ..it can be re-housed in a slimmer package ..and the concentric ring feed but to good use..

Below are the first pics
Which include a picture of the received test channel ..
A complete ALPS and a deconstructed one ..
The lnb internals are currently wrapped in masking tape and an outer layer of aluminium tape ..
..and lashed to the C-band assembly with elastic bands ..
Accuracy is paramount as the focus is critical ..but once on target the gain rises dramaticaly.
More fun to come with this interesting lnb ..and at 6 Euro ...certainly inexpensive enough to carve up and play with.
rgds 2 all
VS

 

[Huevos]

Inverto Multi-Connect is quite a bit narrower than that. The Alps has a 40mm collar; the Multi-Connect has a 23mm one.

 

[Vipersan]

Inverto Multi-Connect is quite a bit narrower than that. The Alps has a 40mm collar; the Multi-Connect has a 23mm one.

Have you taken one apart Huevos ..?
Is it constructed in the same way ..
..ie a dielectric concentric ring feed ?
rgds
VS

 

[Huevos]

Have you taken one apart Huevos ..?

No I haven't but it is definitely smaller. Have a look at the picture attached to post #255.

 

[Vipersan]

No I haven't but it is definitely smaller. Have a look at the picture attached to post #255.

Looking at the picture ..I have to agree ..the lnb probe /bullet / feed is definately narrower ..
..but that still doesn't help my situation much ..as the bulk/body/electronics is still to wide too allow extreme close mounting at the dish focus ..
The stripped down ALPS ..is only mariginally wider than the F connector ...allowing it to physically sit closer to the body of the Cband lnb ..
..however I will have to come up with a suitable thin walled protective housing for the electronics.
rgds
VS

 

[Terryl]

I find thin walled PVC pipe to be a good choice for inclosing LNB's, you can take a 2" to 3" diameter (sorry I'm from the US) piece of PVC pipe with a screw on coupling on one end and a coupling that has one end cut down with a piece of Plexiglas for the eye cover, several blocks of ridged foam will keep things in place.

Works well to keep the weather out, but you have to use Teflon tape on the screw in plug or it will bind up.

 

[Vipersan]

Welcome to the board and welcome to this thread Terryl..
All suggestions for experimentation are most welcome friend.
Thats what I love about this board..
The inventiveness and creativity to be found here.
rgds
VS