Dishes survived ...but the TD88 needed some attention

[Vipersan]

Well ...the winds have dropped considerably ..though still breezy ..
All 3 dishes appear to have survived undamaged and needing no ajustment ..though connections to the switch at the rear of the TD88 ..needed some attention ..
Having run a new cable section from the motor to the loft of my neighbours house ...I figured I might as well do the much needed mods at the same time ..
There is a 6 mtr section of cable still inaccessible ..and will always be so ...but the cable that was accessible was replaced with WF100 ...
Even without the in line ajustable amp ..I noticed an increase in gain of around 2 db accross the board.
Not content with that ..I've replaced the primary and secondary ku lnbs with inverto black ultras ...and fitted the recently 'cas't C band lnb holder on the alluminium triax multifeed bar ..
The re-did all connections from lnbs to the switch and made the whole lot weatherproof ..
Not had time yet to test anything other than the primary ku lnb ..which previously gave 6db on TMB 62E ...according to the F15 receiver ..
With the new cabling and new lnb ...this is now at 14db ...
Without the amplifier in line ..
Sadly this isn't a full cure as the gain still dies rapidly on the spectrum around the mid IF frequency ...so will still need the slope amp.
Here are some pics showing the multifeed sporting the latest C band bracket ...
..No feed horn of course ..so not sure what I will get ..but _anything_ will be an achievement.
Tests later..
rgds VS

 

[Lazarus]

Good stuff - those Ladder Stand-Offs are great: Sadly mine disappeared during the move to our current abode.

 

[Vipersan]

Good stuff - those Ladder Stand-Offs are great: Sadly mine disappeared during the move to our current abode.

Your not wrong there Gordon ..
one of the best and most used pieces of equipment I ever bought..
cheers
VS

 

[Llew]

Yes, a great piece of kit that, but I always find mine a pain to put on my ladder, as it's a fairly heavy wooden one, and turning it round to clip it on then turning it back round again can be awkward.

 

[Vipersan]

..Well ..I won't say I'm not disapointed ..
Though really shouldn't have expected miracles ..from a C-band LNB on a 90cm offset dish ..
..anyone thinking of experimenting should keep in mind ..
The LNBF is technically not at the dish focus ..
Too far forward ...and no proper feed horn ..
also ...5 degrees off focus ...
Better results might be possible if I could work on this setup at ground level ..instead of up a ladder in the wind and relentless rain ..
but ...I can 'see' 40West on the speccy ..but not enough to scan lockable signls ..
2db above the noise ..max..

Same goes for some transponders on yamal @49 East

No problems at all pulling the Russian mux on 40East ..(inclined bird) ..
8.5 db and a very sold lock ..

Can't try any of the birds between 1W and 30W ..as these are totally obscured by trees..in regard to the TD88.
But ..I honestly believe that some C band reception is possible on a 90cm ..IF..
The lnb is high gain ..with good stability...
Its placed at the focus ..and tweaked for maximum reception ...
A suitable feed horn is used ..etc..
It wouldn't take much to turn those 2db signals into something lockable...
I shall keep experimenting.
rgds.
VS

 

[Lazarus]

Haven't you got a Shop to run?

 

[Vipersan]

..You wouldn't think so at the moment Gordon ..
Verrrry quiet here currently ...weather keeping the customers away ???
As you know ..I only work half days now ...and they drag when its his quiet ..
So ...I fill the days dreaming up new and implausible experiments ..
Luckilly the TD88 is on the wall at the back of the shop (where I currently am..)...so only a short climb away ..
;)
rgds
VS

 

[Vipersan]

..a break in the rain ...and a bit of tweaking ...and I managed 1 ...count ...'em uno...Cband channel from 40.5°W NSS 806

3663 R
tp 10 TV União Fortaleza DVB-S 2170-3/4

whilst all other channels struggled to make 2db ...above the noise ..this lsr channel ...was producing a decent lockable 5db+

..so my guess is that a properly setup 90cm ...preferably 1m offset with the C lnbf at the focus ...should indeed be able to pull at least a dozen channels from this bird..

rgds
VS

 

[nelson_b]

..so my guess is that a properly setup 90cm ...preferably 1m offset with the C lnbf at the focus ...should indeed be able to pull at least a dozen channels from this bird..
rgds
VS

hi vipersan -
i would agree with that --
early this year i did some tests for a forum member, on 40.5 west -- using a 1 metre channel master offset dish -- C band l.n.b and conical feedhorn, and although the tp,s he wanted were too weak for reliable reception -- there were quite a few others that locked ok with a decent signal strength -- cant remember which they were now though - as i did not log them at the time --
cheers nelson.b.

 

[Vipersan]

hi vipersan -
i would agree with that --
early this year i did some tests for a forum member, on 40.5 west -- using a 1 metre channel master offset dish -- C band l.n.b and conical feedhorn, and although the tp,s he wanted were too weak for reliable reception -- there were quite a few others that locked ok with a decent signal strength -- cant remember which they were now though - as i did not log them at the time --
cheers nelson.b.

Thanks for the confirmation Nelson m8
I was hoping to grab at least 1 channel from Yamal 49E ...which as you know eludes me as it hides behind the troublesome tree ..
Sadly nowt down ..
At least 8 transponders showing various signal levels between 1 and 2 db ...and 3 what I assume to be data transpnders ..as they wont lock ...
They are however showing levels between 4 and 5 db ..so probably would lock ..if they contained anything other than data..
Oh well ..
at least I tried..
rgds
VS

 

[nelson_b]

Thanks for the confirmation Nelson m8
I was hoping to grab at least 1 channel from Yamal 49E ...which as you know eludes me as it hides behind the troublesome tree ..
Sadly nowt down ..
At least 8 transponders showing various signal levels between 1 and 2 db ...and 3 what I assume to be data transpnders ..as they wont lock ...


They are however showing levels between 4 and 5 db ..so probably would lock ..if they contained anything other than data..
Oh well ..
at least I tried..
rgds
VS

yes at least you tried ---

i never tried that sat when i had the 1 metre setup -- just used 3727 R DW tv Africa at 5 west to initialy setup the l.n.b and feed, as i find it is strong and easy to locate,
then did my fine tuning and tests a 40.5 W ---

 

[Vipersan]

Late addition ...
Potential Cbanders ..English speaking ..with a small dish might like to know ..
Voice of America on Intelsat 907 at 27.5°W ...is an easy catch for a 90cm dish

3715 R
tp 21 VoA TV DVB-S 8448-1/2

Thought I'd check as I wasn't sure the dish would clear the tree ..
but it did ..sufficiently to give 3.5 db ..with the lnbf 5 degree off centre..

here's the picture
rgds
VS