Multi feed dish

excollier

excollier

Bikes, Booze, Rock & Blues
My Satellite Setup
TD 64 and Humax Foxsat HDR with Raydon's custom firmware
My Location
County Donegal - furthest outpost of the EUSSR
Anyone have any thoughts/experience of this dish set up?
Looking to start a multifeed dish starting with 28.2e 13e and 19.2e, others to follow.
I live in NW Ireland

_http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/en/antennen-wavefrontier/multibeam-sat-antenne-maximum-t85.html

Would a Wavefrontier T90 be better?
 
What other sats are you thinking of adding?

As, for the three sats mentioned any 80 to 90 cm will do that. Whereas the T90 will do up to about 40 degrees odd.
 
Was only thinking of those three to start, 9e for Ka-Sat / RTE later this year, 16e is a bit tricky here, and most of the other useful ones are out of range for that dish.
Don't want a motorised for three sats.
Tried a Triax TD88 with multifeed arm for 28.2e and 13e recently but just could not get a good balance between the two, always had to sacrifice one for the other, posted pics on an earlier thread, but it had to come down.
Swapped for two 60cm dishes, and now set up is perfect.
So I am looking for a more flexible one dish set up than the Triax, without spending big money.
The Inverto multi-connect looks nice, but it's pricey, and I haven't heard any feedback about it.
 
Hi mate,

I am in the same position, i am fed up of realigning my motorised dish due to the weather we get here on the cost in liverpool. I have looked at the Wave Frontier and I want 28,19,16,13,9,7,4.8 and 0.8w.(8 total)

The frontier looks good but i have a few reservations about whether 1 dish could get all those satellites! cant seem to find anyone in the western UK that has ever had one or tried one, at £200 its a big spend if it gets crap signal!

Would i be able to have a switch that would output to 2 boxes? that would be a huge plus
 
Rick, a member here has just put one up last week. I'll ask him if he could post here.
 
Multifeed dishes can wrk really well when setup right, some combinations are more complicated than others.

9e, 13e, 19e, 23.5e and 28e on a TD88 is easially possible here with the right LNB's.

I myslef am going to be limited to one dish soon, and need to feed several recievers, so have just got a Wavefield T90. It's still a work in progress, but have got a rough allignment on 1w, 5e, 9e, 13e, 16e, 19e, 23e, 28e, 39e and 42e. 1w to 28e is easially possible on a t90. I will be using mainly twins and quads, and the 28e LNB will be a quattro. They are not an easy dish to setup. I'm finding that they take alot more tweaking to get right, but I'm confident of getting good results from mine.
 
chavo said:
Hi mate,

I am in the same position, i am fed up of realigning my motorised dish due to the weather we get here on the cost in liverpool. I have looked at the Wave Frontier and I want 28,19,16,13,9,7,4.8 and 0.8w.(8 total)

The frontier looks good but i have a few reservations about whether 1 dish could get all those satellites! cant seem to find anyone in the western UK that has ever had one or tried one, at £200 its a big spend if it gets crap signal!

Would i be able to have a switch that would output to 2 boxes? that would be a huge plus
Click to expand...

Chavo, no need to spend £200. If you check out the website in my original post, they have the T90 with 4 lnb and a 4 way diseqc switch, delivered for €160, that's about £135.
Is that a better deal?

Rick, it will be interesting to know how you get on with the T90.
Please let us know.
 
chavo said:
Hi mate,

I am in the same position, i am fed up of realigning my motorised dish due to the weather we get here on the cost in liverpool. I have looked at the Wave Frontier and I want 28,19,16,13,9,7,4.8 and 0.8w.(8 total)
Click to expand...

A toroidal dish is going to experience the same buffeting as a motorised dish. The only real weak point on modern designs is the size of the motor and the build quality. If you are using cheap, chances are the movement is wear of the weakest component(s) in the gearbox.
 
I will probably post up some pics when I've got the allignment fully sorted, and it cabled in. Theres going to be a fair few patch cables to make up between LNB's and switches.
 
You mention that you will be using Quads and what have you. I have a few quetions so i will list them!

  1. Where did you buy your Wavefield?
  2. Is a Wavefield better than a wave frontier?
  3. the switch that you use, does this come with the dish? how many inputs does it have? if it doesnt come with the dish then where can i get one?
  4. can you get any switches with more than one output?
  5. how many LNBs do they come with usually?
  6. can you use any old lnb or does it need to be one designed for this dish?

In relation to the wind resistance, my sky dish doesnt move at all, even if i poke it hard! (its a zone 2) i think this is due to the fewer links between it and the wall, every set of bolts provides another point of failure! with one of these i would mount it tight to the wall to reduce the resistance for the wind.

I would prefer to buy fromthe UKsouthern sat and pulsat seem to stock them as do sat store. any of these been used by you folks? After reading the manufacturers description they look like they can be a handful to set up but it says that they come with the correct information for your country.... is this the case?
 
I bought mine from a trade only distributor, but I know Ian at Southern Satellite can supply one. The Wavefield is exactly the same as the wave frontier.

When I move and complete the install, It will be supplying signals to 14 points. My main reciever will have a 16 way EMP Diseqc feeding the main tuner, and an 8 way EMP diseqc feeding the second. My second reciever will also be fed by an 8 way Diseqc. The 28e LNB will be a quattro, feeding a 5in 16out multiswitch, which will provide 28e to the switches and to all other points. Along with multiplexing Terrestrial and FM/DAB to all points. The switches don't come with the dish, but again Ian at Southern Satellite can supply them. Switches don't come with more than one output, each tuner needs it's own switch and LNB outputs.

The dishes come with 5 LNB holders, but the T90 will fit up to 16 on the rail. They don't come with LNB's, but unless you live in the USA or Canada, any standard Universal LNB will do. Black Ultras perform better than anything else I have tried on it.

A correctly mounted dish shouldn't have an issue with wind. They are of a very well built. Don't underestimate these dishes. The manual they come with is crap. I've spent 4hrs in total, assembelling and alligning the dish. I still have atleast 2hrs work to get the cables in, and I'm not yet sure how long it will take me to be happy with the allignment and thats with proffesional equipment. There is alot more to setting these up than a standard parabolic dish, so have a spare weekend ready and take your time with the install for best results.
 
As a person with a T90 here's a quick run down. First the performance. I would estimate that it works like an 80cm dish in the centre and about a 70cm at the ends of the guide bar. The guide bar covers approx 40º of arc. If you want to add more LNBs beyond this range you will need to look into a custom guide and holders. Outside the guide bar performance drops right off... On my dish I've got it set up with 0º skew with Hispasat (30ºW) on one end and Astra 2 (28.2ºE) at the other, 58º of arc in total. All transponders from Hispasat (a 54dB satellite here) are possible while only the strong ones from 28ºE and 26ºE are possible. The T90 goes on a 60mm pole and is far more solidly mounted and wind resistant than any dish could be on the stub mast of a DiSEqC motor. Also the dish is much easier to adjust than a typical dish due to the heavy duty elevation adjustment normally only found on much bigger dishes. Construction of the dish face and second reflector is pretty flimsy in my opinion and the whole lot looks like it could do with a good coat of extra paint for increased protection against rust. I mounted mine on a wall at ground level for extra protection against wind. The LNB guide bar is attached to the dish on plastic pedestals that really need some extra custom hardware to firm things up. The LNB holders that come with the dish are plastic, for a 40mm collar LNB and also have adaptors for 23mm collar LNBs like the Multi-Connect. If you use these original LNB holders the minimum spacing between satellites is 3º, so combinations like 9ºE, 7ºE, & 4.8ºE are not possible without custom holders. Price of the dish should be around 100€ plus shipping, but that is misleading. The real money is in LNBs and switching which could run into hundreds if you are going to decent quality components like Spaun switches rather than the cheapo alternatives. And if you go for all twins or quads that's going to work out even more. Lastly the main reflector is over 1 metre so for a jobs-worth it's outside planning permission exemption.
 
I wouldn't say the dish itself or the subreflector were flimsy, I do agree that the supplied LNB holders aren't the greatest design in the world though
 
Rick said:
I wouldn't say the dish itself or the subreflector were flimsy
Click to expand...
Rick, what I am getting at is it is pretty thin gauge, and if you give it a shake when not bolted together it is very flexible. If you do a search you will find quite a few photos of this dish where it has been bent or distorted during assembly. Probably down to brute force, but it's certainly nowhere near the quality of a decent dish like a Fibo. Don't get me wrong though, I do like the dish, and it makes zapping a pleasure compared to a motorised deal.
 
Oh I agree it's not up to the build quality of a Fibo, but once it's all together I would think It would take a really bad storm to distort the dish
 
I would just like to say, thanks very much for the input, i have been looking for an honest owner review of this dish and both of you have given some really good info. I am especially concerned about the 3 degree issue, i like 4.8 and 7. Sportmax is a fav chan of mine as is Viasat on 4.8.

Rick, i see you live quite close to me, and you get similar satellites, do you use 16 for the central position of the dish?

Huevos, you mention about custom gear quite a lot. do you make the custom gear yourself? how would you go about fixing the 4.8 and 7 east issue? Also you say about the dish for 100 euros, where is this? i cant see it for less than 130 pounds.
 
I used 19e as the centre point, but for the sat's your interested in I would use 13e as a centre point.
 
one last question then i am done! what LNBs are you using rick? those ultras cost 20 each, i want 8. add the switch and dish you are closing in on £400.
 
chavo said:
you mention about custom gear quite a lot. do you make the custom gear yourself? how would you go about fixing the 4.8 and 7 east issue? Also you say about the dish for 100 euros, where is this? i cant see it for less than 130 pounds.
Click to expand...
The dish retails at 108€ at .hm-sat-shop.de (comes with 5 holders but no switches or LNBs). Dealers here do it at a similar price. I don't know about a UK retailer though.

For custom ideas for the T90 have a look through Hakon's thread.

The 9ºE, 7ºE, 4.8ºE problem could be dealt with using T90 holders at 9º and 4.8º and then just make a bridge bracket between the 2 and use a Multi-Connect LNB for 7º. On mine I had a similar problem at 7ºW and 5ºW. I'll try to post a couple of pictures tomorrow.

BTW, for me my central satellite is imaginary. I set it up due south. For LNBs I am using mainly second hand stuff at the minute.
 
I'm using a combination of Inverto Black Premiums, Black Ultra's and I even have an old Silver Tech on there. Black Premiums should be fine for the likes of 13e and 19e on the centre of the dish. You might well want Black Ultra's for 1w and 5e. That would help with the cost.
 
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