Monoblock plus 5W on old "Analogue" Dish

Lazarus

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
Rather than hijacking another Thread completely, I've copied out a Post plus a couple of replies to start a dedicated Thread................




When it gets milder again, I'm going to try to rationalise SWMBOs dishes, consisting of an old "Sky Analogue" dish with a 13e/19.2E Monoblock, a "Sky Zone 1" for 5W and an A/B switch, by removing the Monoblock and bunging on a generic multi-bracket with 19.2E, 13E and 5W LNBs. Fun.
 
Your going to have to bend the bracket to get a proper allignment on those Tivu, because the 5w LNB will end up too high if you leave the bar straight. It will be an interesting mod to see though :)
 
A whole lotta fun indeed ---- especially in more clement weather. Brrrrrrr
 
Rick said:
Your going to have to bend the bracket to get a proper allignment on those Tivu, because the 5w LNB will end up too high if you leave the bar straight. It will be an interesting mod to see though :)
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Yes, I have my doubts over it .............. but nothing ventured and all that!
 
So, as the snow is thawing, I've done a recce and come to the conclusion that I can actually leave the Monoblock in place and there is enough physical room to clamp and rotate the generic bracket onto the 13E port. So hopefully all I need do is whack on the 5W LNB and not have to worry about bu**ering up the 19.2E position.

Piccies and more thoughts in due course.
 
Works a dream on a Gemini70cm, better still a 90cm. Using the East and West brackets, 5w can be achieved along with 13, 19 & 28e; tried and tested.
 
Well immediate success.

Whacked the bracket on and guessed and hit 5W straight away. Trouble is everything is "loose" so I've got to tighten with care - not too bad a job as the dish is at step ladder height.

The snow showers don't help!
 
Getting bitterly cold and snowy again now, so I've left the project in lash-up mode.

Works fine.

Will tweak and tidy up next week - If herself has no French Telly (or Italian, for that matter!) this weekend owing to an incurable itch to twiddle rather than leave well alone, my life won't be worth living.

So, the Monoblock does 13/19E as before and the bracket adds 5W.

5W goes into a DiSEqC switch along with a feed from our dedicated 28E dish.

The pairs 13/19E or 5W/28E are selected by an A/B switch.

Simples. Changes that are totally transparent to SWMBO, but which free up a Minidish ....................... now what shall I do with that???!!!
 

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Excellent news. I have one of those brackets for emergencies. Don't forget to observe general working at height health and safety whilst up ladders or a step ladder, Lol :)
 
As a former HSE bod, I shall continue to ignore my own advice about Working At Height!

I broke one of the plastic clamp sections by over-tightening - fortunately I had a spare (As you know, those brackets come with three).

Just refitted it and it's near enough perfect.

But I am COOOOOOOLD !!
 
I see you have one of those cheapo Chinese LSD orange with green cap LNBs on 5w. O-Ha

The hilarious thing is that they are actually very good. :-rofl2

It looks good.

The only problems that I can think of are the wind, which might tend to whip it round. From my experience of abusing Triax brackets, some self-amalgamating tape around the monoblock feed should cure that problem, if it arises.

Also the TMC and TV8 transponders on 5w are weaker and FEC 7/8 so they may prove flighty at times.

Perhaps the Maximum T85 might be a Christmas gift to SWMBO. :cool:

:-rofl2
 
Oddly enough, I'm just doing TMC now ............ realised her Fortec Star hasn't been retuned for yonks.

The dish/Monoblock has been there for years and I've done nothing but add the extra bracket. Playing around this afternoon, I can move the Dayglo LNB way out of optimum orientation and still get lock! Haven't even touched skew yet.

The enduring principle here at Tivù Towers is to re-use, make do etc. Anything to avoid spending money!!
 
I wouldn't be surprised if once you optimize skew for TMC and TV8, it proves to be solid.

But I can't help feeling that the LSD LNB should be on display in your personal museum. It must be a collectors item by now. It sure beats that piss yellow Technomate hands down in the style stakes. Oh how I wish I had got one from eb*y years ago.
 
Well it's getting dark and I've lost interest for now ................. finish off early next week.
 
Tivù said:
The enduring principle here at Tivù Towers is to re-use, make do etc. Anything to avoid spending money!!
Click to expand...
And no one can argue you've done just that. Rather well it seems I hasten to add. Nice job m8
 
Have you applied the self-amalgamating tape?

It will stop the cable sliding out in the merest puff of wind. . . not to mention the torrential rain which will no doubt suddenly appear from nowhere...

O-Ha
 
hexah said:
. . not to mention the torrential rain which will no doubt suddenly appear from nowhere... O-Ha
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...........................or the plague of frogs!!

(Looks a bit Heath Robinson to me.....Good job though!!)
 
sonnetpete said:
...........................or the plague of frogs!!

(Looks a bit Heath Robinson to me.....Good job though!!)
Click to expand...

It'll be tidied up in due course ................ got a fair bit of cabling simplification to do and a now redundant dish to take down.
 
Tivù said:
It'll be tidied up in due course ................ got a fair bit of cabling simplification to do and a now redundant dish to take down.
Click to expand...

Heath Robinson was a joke of course......you know I worship at his altar!!
 
Oh, I know: He's rather partial to Frog's Legs, IIRC ..................
 
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