Have got a C/Ku band receiver... what now?

[Tom Mountford]

Hi Llew - Thanks for the advice, I figured as much - I downloaded a brochure for the 9225, but it seems feature-packed in most other respects. I got it for only a little more than the Maplin one so there should be enough spare cash to get a larger dish/positioner than would have been supplied with the Maplin setup. I'm thinking of getting a 1.2m motorised with external positioner to get started with... can't really go much further understanding these things when all they display is 'Signal = 0db'... it's like trying to work out the timer on the video whilst it's unplugged!

Just out of interest how large can you go with a motorised dish? I thought the 2.4m one I saw was large, but I've since seen a 3.2m (Not even I'm considering that!) I guess most people leave them set to a certain satellite, but there must be hardcore DX'ers who actually motorise things this big - how much weight can positioners shift?

All the best,
Tom

BTW - I'll have to post a shot of the setup once it's all in the rack... doesn't do anything yet but it looks pretty enough :-)

 

[Old Satellite]

Once you exceed approx a 3.0 mtr then for an horizon to horizon mount it becomes more difficult to source at a reasonable cost.

A normal jack type Polar mount is used up to approx 5.0 mtr, after this size you switch to generally a truly professional dual axis mostly system and now depeding on your dish size you have invested a lot of money.

I have a 3.8mtr on a modified ( quite heavily modded) H-H mount that has been is use for approx 4 years without any problems. and it is operating in both axis, for the tracking of satellites.

How much and how much space you have is a question to ask, With a 3.0 mtr of good quality, you will recieve a good selection of channels from around the world. However unless you are looking to recieve the most difficult from a very weak C /or ku band satellite a 1.2 may keep you happy for some time.



regards

Old Satellite