New satellite dish

[Icemen786]

Hi
Need some help in choosing a new satellite dish. Currently have the oval 80cm sky dish. It has been removed due to us having some work done to the house. I want a top of the range dish but not too big, not bigger than 80cm. Are solid dishes better for signal strengths? Mesh ones look better tho. Also with solid ones do they move in high winds and have to re aligned every other year? Also go round or original sky dish oval? I have a lnb already inverto ultra black quad, they any good? Or is there a better lnb? I'm central West Midlands. If you know of any installers please also let me know.
Thanks

 

[Channel Hopper]

I just binned a solid 80cm Sky dish (with the 6 degree offset LNB support). Whilst rusty and with zero paint on the reflector it still performed well.

You could do worse than check out Fracarro, or Televes in the same size.

 

[ozumo]

> Are solid dishes better for signal strengths? Mesh ones look better tho

If by mesh you mean perforated like a Sky minidish and the design of the dishes is otherwise equal then for Ku band the answer is no. Wether you can buy a quality perforated 80cm dish these days I do not know.

> Also with solid ones do they move in high winds and have to re aligned every other year?

The holes in a perforated dish are not large enough to make a perceptible difference to wind stability.

> Also go round or original sky dish oval?

Depends on which satellite you are trying to receive. For 28.2°E a Sky dish should be sufficient. A true 80cm round dish will have a larger working surface area compared to a zone 2 Sky dish.

> I have a lnb already inverto ultra black quad, they any good?

In my experience yes.

 

[Icemen786]

I'm going to go for the round dish as it cover more area. If the signal is the same between mesh & solid then i'm leaning towards the mesh dish.
If I was to go solid, shall I go aluminium or steel?
I'm in UK so will be trying to receive 28.2 E.
Never heard of the makes Channel Hopper mentioned. Below list what you think?

Inverto Grafit 80cm​

Technical Specifications
Reflector:
Type: Offset
Offset Angle: 26 °
Reception Frequency: 10.70 - 12.75 Ghz
Antenna Gain (Ku-Band): 37dBi - 38dBi
Finish Coat: Polyester Powder Coat
Small Axis Diameter: 70cm
Long Axis Diameter: 78cm
LNB Holder diameter: 40ø mm
LNB Arm: Aluminum
Operation Wind: 90 km/H
Survival Wind: 150 km/H

Mount:
Material: Galvanized Steel
Finish Coat: Polyester Powder Coat
Azimuth Alignment: 0° - 360°
Elevation Alignment: 0° - 90°

Technomate 80cm Mesh Satellite Dish Kit​

Use my Inverto Black Ultra quad LNB or shall I go for a new one?


thankz

 

[statalite]

If the purpose is to only receive 28.2 then your suggestion won't give you any further benefit over the dish you have removed.

 

[Icemen786]

Just get an original sky 80cm dish then?
They all around same money so might aswell get the best. Price range is like £40 -£55.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Just get an original sky 80cm dish then?
They all around same money so might aswell get the best. Price range is like £40 -£55.

I doubt you could find a boxed one but good luck.

 

[Icemen786]

boxed genuine sky 80 cm mesh oval dish?
Who are they made by? I'll have a mooch

 

[ozumo]

My Zone 2 dishes measure around 75cm wide by 55cm high, I haven't compared them to a small round dish recently but I guess they would give a similar performance to a 60-65cm round dish.

Many '80cm' dishes you see for sale are not true 80cm antennas, for flat-faced round offset dishes the horizontal width is the dimension to use to compare with other dishes. In the case of the Inverto Grafit 80cm you posted the width is 70cm, so wouldn't be much of an upgrade over a Zone 2 anyway IMO.

 

[Icemen786]

So just go with sky zone 2 dish? Who makes them is it raven or something like that

 

[ozumo]

No idea who makes them these days. In your first post you say you currently have an 'oval 80cm sky dish' therefore it sounds like you already have a Zone 2 so why not reuse it?

 

[Icemen786]

Its really old now. Just want a new one

 

[Gladstones]

In West Midlands you can easily receive sky on 44 cm dish no need to get bigger dish
In Edinburgh my neighbour has 44 cm dish for sky working perfectly.
If you want to add more lnbs or motorised it latter on buy 80 cm solid dish.
For sky any lnb is good enough for perfect signal.
If you want to buy top of range dish.
In my opinion Gibertini and DUR -line dishes are very well made and available on eBay/Amazon.

 

[Channel Hopper]

boxed genuine sky 80 cm mesh oval dish?
Who are they made by? I'll have a mooch

The 60cm version

 

[Icemen786]

In West Midlands you can easily receive sky on 44 cm dish no need to get bigger dish
In Edinburgh my neighbour has 44 cm dish for sky working perfectly.
If you want to add more lnbs or motorised it latter on buy 80 cm solid dish.
For sky any lnb is good enough for perfect signal.
If you want to buy top of range dish.
In my opinion Gibertini and DUR -line dishes are very well made and available on eBay/Amazon.

I dont think sky 80cm zone 2 dish is actually that big. A 44cm might work perfectly but i bet in bad weather the signal drops and channels start glitching. I think the zone 2 just to be on safe side. Thanks

 

[jeallen01]

Old SKY 80cm dishes generally took universal LNBs without an issue - the problems with them nowadays would be that the plastic clamps would have become very brittle and likely to break when replacing the LNB, and, since the feedarms were mainly circular cross-section, it can be more difficult to fit multi-LNB holders.

 

[Offtensive]

I dont think sky 80cm zone 2 dish is actually that big. A 44cm might work perfectly but i bet in bad weather the signal drops and channels start glitching. I think the zone 2 just to be on safe side. Thanks

I only ever had an issue once with my Zone 1 dish in the west mids, and that was during a mega storm. I tried to get Sky to fit a Zone 2 dish, but the installer told me no chance in this area.

 

[jeallen01]

I only ever had an issue once with my Zone 1 dish in the west mids, and that was during a mega storm. I tried to get Sky to fit a Zone 2 dish, but the installer told me no chance in this area.

You didn't pay him enough!

Z2 dishes are easy to fit, so why don't you do it yourself?

 

[Offtensive]

You didn't pay him enough!

Z2 dishes are easy to fit, so why don't you do it yourself?

I did. I was trying to see if I could get them to give me one for free

The installer gave me new coax cable, a new hybrid lnb, and then I changed the dish a few weeks after to a zone 2 so I could get better reception on my offset lnb

 

[jeallen01]

I did. I was trying to see if I could get them to give me one for free

The installer gave me new coax cable, a new hybrid lnb, and then I changed the dish a few weeks after to a zone 2 so I could get better reception on my offset lnb

Well, why didn't you say that in post #17 and thus not waste my (and everyone else's) time