Wavefield T55

[closetosoton]

Hi Guys, long time no talk.

I recently acquired a Wavefield T55, which claims to cope with up to 40degrees seperation (also came with 17 LNB's no less!) - I've seen references to the T90 here and there but not the T55.

Anyhows (I know the answer is going to be 'try it') what do you think my chances are of getting 5W thru 28.2E? that's a mere 33deg separation, so I shouldn't be too far off.

I'm located on the central south coast, my aim would be to get 5W,13E, 19E and 28.2E, I currently have bodged an old sky analogue 60cm dish getting 13E & 19E with no problems, and a separate 60cm pointed at 5W, so I don't forsee any issues... I reckon I should get decent signal strength on all satellites from stronger transponders?

Are there any other notable satellites of interest, I've never really considered anything else...

Cheers,
-CTS

 

[sonnetpete]

Yes, I managed that seperation on an old 60cm French analogue dish last week, using a universal multisat bar. I'd imagine a T55 could cope with that.

 

[Robbo]

28.2E to 5w does work on a T55, been setting one up today, ready for installing.


You should be able to get something from 5E, there may be some channels of interest on there. 9E poss also.

 

[closetosoton]

Thanks Robbo, looks promising, I'm guessing that's the way to go before I stick it on the wall: try it on a mount on the foor with clear view of sky.

-cts

 

[Robbo]

Yes, certainly is best to set up on ground first if possible, the manual even recommends it. Though for it to work well enough, with only minor adjustments, the ground mount and wall mount must both be set at the same angle (eg vertical!)

 

[closetosoton]

Roobo, looking at your pic, your dish appears to 'lean' is this because of the issue highlighted in my latest thread http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/newreply.php?p=989026 - that is 28E is at a different elevation?

Is the righter most (Yellow that we can just see) LNB the one for 28E in your pic? (If not I'm guessing its on further to the right of that and we can't see it).

Am I also right in thinking that everthing is back to front because of the 'dual reflector' effect going on, i.e. the LNB to the left is maybe 5W and the right 28E?
(To the right as you look at the dish...)

Just want to be sure before I spend hours fiddling... ;)

Many thanks,
-CTS

 

[Robbo]

When looking at my photo, the most left LNB is 28E, 5W is on the right but you cant see it as the sub-reflector is blocking the view.

Yes, the dish is 'leaning', or correctly described as 'skewed'

I skewed the dish by fiddling with it until it seemed to work best, but having installed a second one, I used an online calculator that tells you the skew to use based on the satellites wanted. It was on the satlex.de website.



Yes, the dish is skewed so that the LNBs are at different heights to cover the different elevations o fthe satellites. It also means that each LNB Skew is roughly where it should be too.

 

[godzillafan]

great setup

we are just doing my uncle's T55 which we just brought and he had planned to stick 6 lnbs on there from 28 - 19 - 13 - 9 - ? - unless what else is possible from barking london based on 28 as E

anything other sats worth mentioning to him for his last two lnbs?

cheers

 

[Robbo]

23.5E should be, and some tps from 4.8E, and 5W.


The maximum that can fit on is roughly 7.

I used Sky quad LNBs because they save on cost for cust, an added bonus is that they are narrow (Visiowave or Zinwell MK4). A slight drop in performance though.

 

[Huevos]

Yes, the dish is skewed so that the LNBs are at different heights to cover the different elevations o fthe satellites.

The dish skew is based on where the dish is pointing, not the elevation of the satellites.

Here's an example:

To receive two satellites 19ºE and 1ºW, from location 52N, 1W.

1) Centre the dish on 1ºW and dish skew will be 0º.
2) Centre the dish on 9ºE and dish skew will be 6.6º

Both will work fine and neither is wrong.

 

[Robbo]

Yep, makes sense, thank you.

 

[godzillafan]

23.5E should be, and some tps from 4.8E, and 5W.


The maximum that can fit on is roughly 7.

I used Sky quad LNBs because they save on cost for cust, an added bonus is that they are narrow (Visiowave or Zinwell MK4). A slight drop in performance though.

cheers for that - I will put those numbers into the equation. We are going to use smart tit'n twins. They are working out to around 11.54 each, , now that you have mentioned sky quad zinwell mk4 range. I could save 45bucks getting them - but tI thought sky lnbs are crap and better to go for a quality make.

How much perfm do you use and is it worth getting them instead.

Not sure how 6 of them will look on the dish and will they be bigger than the smarts?

cheers

 

[rolfw]

now that you have mentioned sky quad zinwell mk4 range. I could save 45bucks getting them - but tI thought sky lnbs are crap and better to go for a quality make.

Nothing wrong with the quality of Sky LNBs, just that they are designed for the minidish and do not perform optimally on a standard dish.

 

[godzillafan]

Nothing wrong with the quality of Sky LNBs, just that they are designed for the minidish and do not perform optimally on a standard dish.

Cheers for that - not sure to chance it as I would like to get best signal possible first time around. The smarts twins are first choice as I am using smarts singles for the T90 - so thought to stick with them. Size is small and many plus+ for the smarts in the reviews.

sky are the cheapest by far and all other twins come in from £10+

A box of 10 will cost 25 bucks, but will it be a waste if the signal is not the best in london?

Man not sure now for London Barking area - house is on street level but its has a clerar SE where 28E is pointing, with good spread available.

 

[Robbo]

The sky quads lose a bit of signa yes, it was worth it for the setup I did as he wanted 4 quads, which could have cost £80 to £100, whearas the sky quads were well, you know, a damn sight cheaper by a lot. LOL. I had the LNBs already, so was able to check if signal was good enough, if it hadn't, standard LNBs would have gone on.

 

[godzillafan]

The sky quads lose a bit of signa yes, it was worth it for the setup I did as he wanted 4 quads, which could have cost £80 to £100, whearas the sky quads were well, you know, a damn sight cheaper by a lot. LOL. I had the LNBs already, so was able to check if signal was good enough, if it hadn't, standard LNBs would have gone on.

cheers for the advice as its got me 2nd guessing now as my uncle with the 1.1m dish he wants 7 rooms sorted so that means a octo - and sky is the cheapest at around 18bucks.

sky quads aswell around a couple of £, will sort out my twin problem and be cheaper, but will 6 of them fit the t55?

cheers

 

[Robbo]

Six of the Zinwell quads will yes, I think there looked to be about space for 7 altogether. Not sure about the Octos though, the fat body at the back could take up too much space.

 

[closetosoton]

Mmm, so I got it wrong, I thought the sub reflector inverted everything again, but thinking about it, why should it?

Skew: I'm sure I'm going to have fun trying to get all sats to work at their optimum together in harmony...

Is there any point of fitting more than 4 LNBs on the dish - with one receiver surely the most that's sensible is four - since there's no bigger than a 4 way in the world of diseqc switches?

-cts

 

[closetosoton]

Oh, with the T55 I inherited a rail that is currently holding 15xLNBs - I'll take a pic, I'm sure they'll be at the 'useless' end of useful as they won't even face the sub reflector but it'll be an interesting excercise....

 

[sonnetpete]

Is there any point of fitting more than 4 LNBs on the dish - with one receiver surely the most that's sensible is four - since there's no bigger than a 4 way in the world of diseqc switches?
-cts

I'm planning to use 16 LNB's on one receiver. You might find the following link enlightening,

_http://www.satellite-heaven.de/technik/diseqc11.htm

Oh, you can get a 16/1 switch.