Advice Needed Motorised System for Feed Hunting

daaahhnuh

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Hi all,

I currently have a Zone 1 mini-dish pointing at 28E on the front of the house with a Spaun multiswitch pumping TV, FM/DAB and SAT to all the rooms. However, I'm quite keen to get a motorised system for feed hunting and was looking for some advice.

I don't have the most ideal house for a motorised system. I have the front of the house pointing North East and the back of the house pointing South West and it's a mid terrace. So I've been contemplating where to mount a dish. I'm not keen to mount huge dish on the front and I won't see all of the arc. Neither am I keen to mount on the back as I imagine there would need to be a huge great pole to clear the apex of the roof to get line of sight to the eastern birds.

If I mount it on the shed at the end of the garden, I can see all the way to 55W and beyond (I'm quite high up) and get to about 28E before the apex of the house roof gets in the way (using one of the augmented dish pointer apps on my phone). I was just wondering if there was anything of use past 28E? From what I can gather most feed activity seems to be on 15W, 24.5W, 16E. Also, the shed seems quite good for maintenance, etc. Was thinking something similar to this: http://www.purplesat.com/web_images/knutsford_1a.jpg

I was thinking maybe an 80cm dish? Anyone got any good recommendations and also what motor? I think I'd prefer to use USALS as my DM800HD supports it and it seems easier to set up. Although, I am thinking of upgrading the receiver as I have discovered it cannot display 4:2:2 (so I end up having to stream them to VLC on the laptop) and also it cannot seem to handle 16ASPK modulation.

I'm also looking at also getting a TBS5925 USB tuner for the modulation issue, as they seem to be the flavour of the month on here. From reading on other forums (VU+ Community) there seems to be some drivers for MIPS (although not released officially by TBS). Unless anyone knows of any Enigma 2 based receivers with 16ASPK modulation and will display 4:2:2 feeds?

So many questions!
 

Analoguesat

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Very few receivers handle ASPK modulation - you really need a pc card to handle that. One semi obsolete receiver was mentioned on the forum a couple of weeks ago, but I think thats it.

Various feeds turn up on 39E although you could just put up a discreet zone 1 ex Sky dish for Hellassat
 

william-1

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daaahhnuh

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Thanks both. Okay... Any recommendations on what type of dish. Solid, mesh, etc? I guess I could push up to 90cm. Don't really wanna go much bigger... The neighbours will hate it!
 

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Solid or mesh doesnt make much difference. You can always spray paint the dish to blend in with the surroundings. (Use car primer paint)
 

Captain Jack

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I guess I could push up to 90cm. Don't really wanna go much bigger... The neighbours will hate it!
Sorry, but that's their problem. You're perfectly within your legal rights to put up a 90cm dish without any planning permission so they can't do anything but give you stern looks. Most* people are reasonable if you speak to them before doing anything anyway...
 

daaahhnuh

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Fair enough! Okay think I've got my shopping list as to what I need...

1 x Dish (Looking at either the Triax TD88 or Primesat 85cm)
1 x Motor (TM2600 - Can I use this with USALS?)
1 x Single Titanium LNB

1 x Post to mount to the side of the shed (at least 2m)
1 x 8ft mast (2in diameter)
3 or 4 x Fixings to fix mast to post
1 x Ground mount for pole
30m x CT100 Cabling (or should I use CT125?)
10m x Conduit for cable to be buried

Only thing I'm debating as to whether I'd need an in-line amp? The 30 metre cabling with take it to the where the multiswitch is in the loft. I won't be connecting this to the multiswitch. I do have a spare down lead going into the lounge from where the multiswitch is (it is meant for the 'return'), so was going to connect it to that and change the wall plate. That would probably add approx 7m on the run. So approx 35 metres in total.

Also, looking at the Primesat, is there any difference in performance between the clear and aluminium?

Many thanks!

PS - Have attached a few screen grabs of the arc.
 

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Analoguesat

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Something to brace across the inside of the shed?
 

daaahhnuh

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Analoguesat

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Its not the weight - its the rotational forces when the wind catches the face of the dish. There have been numerous cases where chimney mounted dishes have gone through the roof in storms. Your flimsy shed wont stand much chance in a good gale.....
 

william-1

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I use Inverto Black Ultra 0.2 Lnb's on both my set up's as it beats other Lnb's hands down I get most of Badr-4 @ 26 east & Eutelsat 7West A @ 7.3 west on my 88cm this is a good indicator that the set up will be any good for feeds.

Yes to Motor with USALS.
 

daaahhnuh

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Hi again all,

Almost ready to order everything for my set up. I've had a look at the Inverto Black Ultra Single Universal LNB. I kind of glossed over it before because of 0.2db noise figure. You know I kind of figured the higher the noise the poorer the LNB's performance. Hence why I was angling towards the 0.1db Titanium. However, the gain on that LNB seems great and everyone is saying the same thing - It's the best for feed hunting. So I'm definitely going with that.

Just noticed something while looking on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001ONAEKI. If you look on that page it says there is a newer model of the LNB out. The 'Inverto 40 mm Single HGLN Ultra LNB - Black'. Anyone know what the difference is between the two? Do I get the older or the 'newer' model?

I'm also not sure on is which is the best motor to get. A lot of the threads I've read are quite old. I'm angling towards the TM-2600 as it has metal gears and seems a bit more robust. Is there any motor that's faster, less noisy, etc but still powered from the LNB supply?

The final question, what do you guys use when you have to bury the cable? Would some heavy duty hose do the job? Would just need burying it under the flowerbed to the house where I can run it up the wall to the loft. Oh and also, WF100 or WF125?

Think that's all my questions. I've also decided to abandon mounting on the shed idea. I'm just going to concrete a 2"/8ft pole (I'll probably shorten it slightly) into the ground and mount it off that. I'll lose a little bit of the Eastern arc, but not to worry.

Many Thanks!
 

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The 0.1 / 0.2dB figures are all theoretical - they are measured at one point in the frequency response plots and of course are the best figure! Many of us here on the forum use the older Inverto Black lnbs and most of us have found them to perform very well indeed.

When I started in the hobby I was using the then commonly available 0.6 lnb's - and they performed more or less just as well as the new ones you get today. I think Im still using at least one 0.6 lnb - I just sling up anything thats lying around in the spares box when I need another one!

As for motors, well if your location is expose d then metal gears will probably last longer - a good gale can easily strip nylon gear teeth. HOWEVER, a suitably strong gale will break any motor......

As for underground protection, some narrow drainpipe would be ideal - and give you space t0 run more cable should you so desire in the future. Anything waterproof will do fine though - just make sure you dont stick a spade through the run!

For the new pipe get something like gas pipe if you can - something with suitably thick walls that wont fold over in a gale.
 

william-1

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WF100 will be fine,
Go with the new Inverto Lnb I have just ordered one so we will see how much better it is ? best motor is the Dark Motor with metal gears but the TM-2600 is probably made in the same factory & has good reviews much better than some of the cheap motors 5 years ago,

A pole sunk in 2 1/2 feet of concrete is what I have been using for the last 9 years I used a galvanised linen pole for the 100cm Gibertini 48 east to 58 west + a steel support & a scaffold pole for the 90cm set up 55 east to 58 west.

With a high brush wood fence behind the dishes to the North to cut down the wind that can move your dish,

My cable runs from the side of the garden in between a brush wood fence then under a aluminium plate across the garden gate.
 

daaahhnuh

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Thanks both!

Think that's everything. That was my exact thoughts on ground mounting it as the fence will be behind it to shield it somewhat (and the neighbours won't see it). The prospect of digging a 2ft hole is putting me off the whole idea ha. I'll look into the dark motor now.

In regards to the pole, I was just going to buy a 8ft, 2inch 14G here - http://www.aerialsandtv.com/onlinepolesandbrackets.html#SatellitePoles

Oh on the subject of poles, what did you stick in the end to stop it twisting in the concrete?
 

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Drilling a few holes and putting bolts through them should do the job.
 

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I used a couple of 8 inch x 1/2 inch bolts fitted to the base of the pole.
 

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daaahhnuh

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Brill. Ordered everything this morning. All came in at about £150. Minus the TBS tuner. Will keep you posted how it turns out!
 

daaahhnuh

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Another quick question. Going to install all of this tomorrow and was going to use Thor/Intelsat 10-02 at 0.8W to align for obvious reasons. Which transponders are good to use? Was hoping for a strong one to get it roughly right and a weak one for fine tuning?

Thanks!
 
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