Three old dishes, 15 LNB's, five switches and a lot of cable.

[sonnetpete]

The Gibertini multisat bar came today. It's probably the best engineered one out of those I've used. It's main advantage is that you can fit it and re mount the prime LNB back where it was - in the centre. I've tried it extended as far as possible to both the east and west and (on the 1M Gibi centred on 7°W) I can just reach 30°W to 13°E which is not quite at the end of the bar. Sadly I can only catch three channels from Amos, even with a Black Ultra.

I'll have a rethink as I now find myself with three spare LNB holders and one spare port on a 4/1 switch. I can either go for some more westerly sats, possibly 12.5°W or put some of the 'crowded' LNB's from the 60cm dish onto the Gibi. With a little experimenting it might be possible to do both.

In the same order was a spare Black Ultra (for 4°W) and the wall brackets which will give me a 60cm offset from the wall. I probably won't do much during this next week as I've got a guy here finishing the ground floor tiling.

 

[mike1]

isnt that a longer triax multi lnb thingy.

 

[sonnetpete]

isnt that a longer triax multi lnb thingy.

Yep, 49cm for the Triax and 37cm for the Gibi. Obviously the bar for the Gibi is designed for sane people who only want three or four satellites. (though I think you could buy two and bolt them together in the middle)

 

[hexah]

(though I think you could buy two and bolt them together in the middle)

It already has the holes, so you may as well get another bar for experimental Heath Robinson fun.

I suspect you might get an extra 15 degrees on either side.

It may prove useful some day.

 

[hexah]

So, as my 1 metre Gibertini was 'resting' I decided to replace the small oval minidish with it and try for 7°W. I had used an old $ky minidish 'L' support arm fixed to the mast with spare clamps from my old Technomate motor for 30°W and tried to mount the Gibi on there. . .

I just noticed you have a foam kneeling pad on the windowsill in your photo.

I find they are great for protecting your knees when worshipping ones dishes, like so: :-worship

 

[sonnetpete]

I just noticed you have a foam kneeling pad on the windowsill in your photo.

I find they are great for protecting your knees when worshipping ones dishes, like so: :-worship

True enough, it is very useful when kneeling to pray that the whole thing is actually going to work!!

BTW, I don't think I can justify buying another Gibi bar, even if it is only €20. To get it to work and include it in the system would require more LNB's and at least another switch and I can't really afford that now...(a little matter of €600 for the French equivalent of council tax precludes further expenditure!!).

 

[sonnetpete]

Managed to get the wall mounts and pole sorted yesterday, so I re-installed the 1M Gibertini on 7°W this morning. There's enough offset on the mounts and sufficient height on the pole to clear the TD88 so it isn't shadowed by the Gibi. AB7 is coming in at 55% SNR this morning on the VU+.

There's also enough space to put the minidish back on for 30°W!!!

 

[PaulR]

Pate

I don't know how or why I 've missed this thread so far but you're doing a great job there.

I would be far too ashamed to post any photos of my scrappy setups!

 

[sonnetpete]

Thanks Paul. I will stick the minidish back up for 30°W and move a couple of positions from the smaller dish to the Gibi as it's a bit crowded on that one. More recabling required though.

 

[wod]

After all this, what next cband experiments ?

 

[sonnetpete]

Lovely day here so took the opportunity (after mowing the lawn lol) to re install the minidish for 30°W. All working fine, though it all looks a bit mad now with four dishes on the wall!!

@ Wod : probably will try for more C band, though I'll have to either fix up a better temporary mount on the Laminas or get hold of that wider, stronger LNB feedarm. Won't be till next year though!!

 

[Captain Jack]

Well done, Pete! Very compact!

 

[edbe]

looks great and nice height to work......

 

[sonnetpete]

I've made a few changes to my set up and thought you might like an update....

In a delusional moment I mentioned to two english sisters who live near me (and don't have TV at all) that I might be changing one of my dishes and could therefore have one spare. A few weeks ago I got a phonecall from them saying "thanks very much, we'd like to accept your kind offer".:mad::mad: Hence, I splurged out on a Penta 85. I'd always wanted to try one of these and wondered if it would be suitable for multisat. I swapped it for the old French analogue 60cm dish I was using for a spread of four sats from 23.5°E to 5°W on a universal bar.

Initially I set it up with the supplied holder on 5°E. It worked really well pulling in the Nordic beams which only dropped out in rainy conditions. After modifying the central support for the bar (it's rectangular whereas the LNB support arm on the Penta is square) I got the bar mounted with 5°E as close to the centre as possible. 5°W is still possible but I can only pick up 16°E without running off the bar (I've altered things on the TD88 and put 23.5°E on there)

It seems to work well and I have 5°W, 5°E, 13°E and 16°E coming in strongly. The wiring needs tidying up again and a couple of runs to the switches need redoing because of the extra length of the LNB arm. I'm actually really pleased with the colour. It matches the wall quite well and blends in (though I doubt anyone would come and object). I am wondering about modding the original plastic holder so I can mount an LNB with 5°E exactly at focus and keep the bar in place.

 

[Lazarus]

And how are the two sisters getting along with your old dish?

 

[sonnetpete]

And how are the two sisters getting along with your old dish?

They haven't got it yet, apparently when the weather improves I'll be press ganged into bringing it into service......the dish...the dish!!

 

[sonnetpete]

I thought some reception reports from the Penta might be of interest:

5°W...(Smart Titanium LN 65% SNR
5°E....(Black Ultra centred) 41%SNR Nordic Beam, 56% SNR European Beam
13°E...(Alps) 84% SNR
16°E...(Inverto White) 53% SNR

Readings taken from the VU+ Solo. Weather, heavy cloud cover and steady driving rain.

Edit: Mounted the Black Ultra in the original (now modified) holder on the LNB arm. 5°E...56% SNR Nordic beam, 78% European beam. Weather similar but light rain.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Nice set up-that cable looks tidy enough for me... Lots of tv-how many channels----ish????

 

[Captain Jack]

Nice, always liked the Pentas... If only they did a 1m version.

Nordic beam varies during the day here quite a lot and depends on the transponder. The TV1000 Premium TP on 11919H gets me 54% in the mornings but early evening I only get about 42%. Whereas Viasat Film on 12054 V is steady at 56% throughout the day.

 

[sonnetpete]

Nice set up-that cable looks tidy enough for me... Lots of tv-how many channels----ish????

I have no idea how many channels actually. The Solo is still set up with the channels from the motorised set up it used be on. I have several self made bouquets set up where I can switch satellites quickly. For example I have a music bouquet which includes 19°E, 1°W, 28°E and 42°E (and others) which contains about 20+ channels. I have access to all FTA channels from 16 satellites.

Nice, always liked the Pentas... If only they did a 1m version.

Nordic beam varies during the day here quite a lot and depends on the transponder. The TV1000 Premium TP on 11919H gets me 54% in the mornings but early evening I only get about 42%. Whereas Viasat Film on 12054 V is steady at 56% throughout the day.

Since making 5°E the central focus on the Penta, there is no evening fade out of some transponders. I even keep some in moderate rainfall. Like you, if they did a 1M version I'd be very tempted to give it a try.