Project Fibo

[Captain Jack]

Hm. Well, the plastic film is stuck on pretty well. There's no "tab" to remove it. I am pretty sure it's pretty transparent to the satellite signals, just like a normal plastic cover would be on a standard LNB.

I will leave it on to stop dust and other general crap getting inside. Also, mine came with a rubber band which would provide a waterproof seal between the flange and the LNB.

 

[wod]

Yeah was going to say do c120 lnbs still use the rubber o ring seal.

Try it with the cover on and see what signal is like otherwise remove it and use some silicone around the outside like zorch has mentioned.

 

[nelson_b]

Hi Captain Jack, aceb, nelson_b et al,







That's strange... I have always removed the plastic film cover from the Inverto Black Pro/White Tech LNB's before they were fitted... I then use clear silicon sealant to protect the joint between LNB and feedhorn... I have never tried using these LNB's with the plastic film cover left on... I wonder if I'm missing a trick here by taking it off... or is everyone else missing a trick by leaving it on... do these LNB's actually perform even better with it removed...?

Best Wishes,
Zorch

hi --
i,m betting there is very little difference -- if any --
but mayb,e on the very - very weakest of signals it might just be the difference between lock and not
but now that the subject has come up -- l.o.l. --- i,m going to have to do the test / comparison
sometime , just to satisfy my curiosity

cheers nelson.b.

 

[Captain Jack]

Right, the new Black Pro LNB is installed and this is much more like it. Comparing signals on my Uno from the same channels on my 1.2m Channel Master dish I can report that.... I don't know. It seems to perform better on some satellites (5E and 7W - between 2% and 4% SNR increase) but on some like 1W, I am a few percentage points SNR points down like on Canal+ First HD. Cannot get more than 68% there whereas I used to get around 74% on the Channel Master.

I am in a slightly different location - further south but only around 30 miles as the crow flies.

Stored most popular locations between 37.5W (9.4dB on Dove Vision) and 42E. I can see 45E but most TPs read around 3dB on F15 so is not lockable due to trees. Cannot see anything beyond that.

SES-5 is STILL not lockable Quality keeps jumping up to 4dB but no lock. I guess that's to do with DVB-S2 8PSK modulation. Astra 4A HD channels are between 11.5dB and 13dB. SD chans on the Nordic beam are even higher.

12245H Sub-Saharan beam on 36E is 6.4dB - no others on that beam lock but some are spiking.

Good signal on MBC channels on 7W - 7.4dB. Same channels on Badr-4 fluctuate between 9db and 11db(!) No idea why - I guess maybe because of interference from strong 28E.

So, looks OK but no miracles just yet. I think the dish is aligned pretty well but maybe a few more tweaks are required.

Amos 4W - no Xtra TV channels. A brief flicker of quality but nowhere near a lockable threshold.

 

[aceb]

West of south I have a couple of test or reference signals, the Algerian beam on 5W 11059 H and on 31.5W both 12341 V and12344 V on the West African beam. These last two need everything lined really well to get a stable signal throughout the day.

 

[Captain Jack]

Getting a healthy 9dB on 5W Algerian beam and 6.5dB on 31.5W. I had these channels on my 1.2m Channel Master too without too many problems. Need to find one of these obscure 25.5E, 39E and 42E transponders that others seem to get now and again.

 

[Captain Jack]

Amos 3 Xtra TV transponders are still eluding me.

Some of them are OK and some can even be described as "strong" but not getting a lock on 11389H and 11258H Just need a tiiiiiny little bit more signal so maybe I'll manage at a different time of the day.

 

[Captain Jack]

Still no cigar According to SatBeams, the signal for Amos 3 Europe H is marginally stronger in the north than south west, where I am... Frustrating.

 

[Llew]

Still no cigar According to SatBeams, the signal for Amos 3 Europe H is marginally stronger in the north than south west, where I am... Frustrating.

Good signal here in Cambridge with the Gibby 1.2.

 

[Captain Jack]

Yep, looks like you're a couple of dBs higher than me...

 

[Llew]

Yep, looks like you're a couple of dBs higher than me...

Try TA3 10806V, it's a couple of dB's higher here than 11258H, despite being a DVB-S2 Mux.

 

[Captain Jack]

No problem with TA3. Strangely, signal appears to be higher than yours on this TP...

 

[Captain Jack]

There seem to be some big variations in signal strength from this satellite.

For example, at my flat in Portishead, I can lock 10806H on my Penta but 10806V isn't registering, even though it's supposed to be a higher signal than H according to Dr HD at my parents place 30 miles south.

 

[Captain Jack]

GOT IT!!!! Nudged the dish's declination ever so slightly downwards and I finally managed to get a lock. Wasn't really able to get any decent moving images but that doesn't matter.

On a side note - I have to say that the F15 is not impressing me all that much. Over the Uno, there is really very, very little between in terms of tuner sensitivity. If anything, the Uno locked the signal quicker AND was able to give me a glimpse of an image behind the barely lockable signal.

Sorry to all the Dr HD fans but that's from my personal observations.

The Fibo itself seems to be working pretty well and is - or seems to be! - at least on par with the Channel Master. Again, I think there's relatively little between the two but haven't done a proper side-by-side comparison.

 

[Zorch]

Hi again Captain Jack,

Have you tried these TP's with the plastic lens removed from your Inverto Black Pro...?

Best Wishes,
Zorch

 

[Captain Jack]

I haven't yet. I've kind of sealed it all up with self-amalgamating tape. To be perfectly honest I don't think it will help much but I'll get it removed next week when I am at my parents again.

nelson_b - have you tried this yet?

 

[nelson_b]

I haven't yet. I've kind of sealed it all up with self-amalgamating tape. To be perfectly honest I don't think it will help much but I'll get it removed next week when I am at my parents again.

nelson_b - have you tried this yet?

no - been too busy -- not had any time to spare for satellite projects recently
i do intend to test this though at some point --

also some proper performance tests between the fibo and the channel master -- although it may be october before i get to do this one

also your reception on Amos is better at your location than it is here --
no lock on 11389H and 11258H for me here --- on c.m. 1.2 --- and the stronger ones are 1 db or more. less than your results

regards nelson.b.

 

[Captain Jack]

Try 11258H before 11389H as it's a stronger one of the two. Not getting a lock right now either but that's with the new F15 firmware, which I don't like. Also, I find that the signal is stronger around late morning/early lunch time.

 

[Captain Jack]

Got the lock again today... Seems morning to mid-day is about the peak time for this.

 

[nelson_b]

quote --- Zorch ---

Have you tried these TP's with the plastic lens removed from your Inverto Black Pro...?

Best Wishes,
Zorch

I haven't yet. I've kind of sealed it all up with self-amalgamating tape. To be perfectly honest I don't think it will help much but I'll get it removed next week when I am at my parents again.

nelson_b - have you tried this yet?

ok - had a bit of time to spare this morning , so gave this a try

tested with 1.8 c.m. on turksat east beam -- transponder - 11628 H 6666 - atv - using F15 receiver
found no difference -- signal reading was shifting between 6.9db and 7.3db before and after removing the plastic film

i,v not bothered to put it back on though --

regards nelson.b.