C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Discussion of large prime focus satellite dishes used for C-Band signal reception.
nanirdjeff
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C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by nanirdjeff » Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:41 am

I live in Fort Worth, Texas. I have a small motorized - (H-H Moteck SG-2100) - dish - the size of the dish is 30" x 30" - that was previously used for a subscription service.

Can this dish be changed to C band and receive signals from 97, 99, 101 and 103 West?

What type would be best - just one for c band or buy one for both c band and Ku band?

I welcome your input.

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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by tek2000 » Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:20 pm

A 30 inch dish won't work for c band or even for most of the available ku band. Some have experimented with a 1.2m (48 inch) offset dish and received a few of the stronger c band transponders on 101w like metv, decades, etc. You need a conical feed horn to do this, but I wouldn't bother.

I recommend people get a 10 ft mesh polar dish for c band only. I also suggest that people get a 1.2m (48 inch) offset polar dish for the ku band. Separate your bands. :thumbsup On the 10 footer, install a good linear feed at the prime focus and perhaps an adjacent circular LNBF for satellites like 47.5w, 40.5w and some of the other atlantic birds. For the 1.2m, install an Invacom LNBF to receive both linear and circular polarities. Combine both bands with a 4x1 diseqc switch and run a single cable to your stb. If you do that, you will have access to 99.99% of everything that is up in the satellite arc. There is no need for a satellite farm with 20 antennas. A simple, clean installation consisting of 2 motorized antennas will give you access to everything and your neighbors won't think you're some kind of kook. :mrgreen:
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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by dishcrank » Tue Oct 29, 2019 3:49 pm

There was a discussion about this at satelliteguys a few years ago. I think they managed to lock some transponders with a conical scalar and a geosat dish. Your 30" dish can probably lock the CNN feeds found on 87W and possibly PBS on 125W and some internationals on 97W but don't hold your breath for the CBS feeds on 99W and NBC feeds on 103W.

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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by Arion » Tue Oct 29, 2019 4:50 pm

I experimented with C-band on my 1.2 meter dish before I got the 10' dish. A regular C-band LNBF with conical scalar as indicated and on my motorized dish. It was basically a toy. I was able to get some QPSK low FEC religious channels on 91W and the Lesea mux on 99W and a couple of the very low resolution regional government feeds on 107W and 111W but that was about it. On a 30x30 dish I don't think you would get a whiff even on those but you don't know until you try. If you want to waste some time it's worth a shot but I wouldn't be buying any equipment for it because it probably won't work.
10' Tek C-band dish, 1.2 meter KU band dish, ASC1 mover, Octagon/Zgemma/Edison dual band STB's. Running OpenPli on all.

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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by nanirdjeff » Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:16 pm

I thank you for all the answers - but - it still leaves on big question, and that is - "If I could get a subscription service to work on the system when I had Dish TV, with an an excellent picture and sound, and receive all the channels that I paid for, why will this same system not work for KU band or C band".

One is linear and one is circular.

How does this affect Ku band?

I have decided not to proceed with this endeavor at this time.

Thanks again for all the answers to my questions.

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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by foebage » Wed Oct 30, 2019 6:11 pm

133W and 125W have some strong TPs.. for C. I would leave that as a Ku Rig. FOX and CBS are on 91W Ku now. ITC 12128 V @8750 bps and 130W Ku has NBC feeds and a few other channels.

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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by Arion » Wed Oct 30, 2019 6:28 pm

nanirdjeff wrote:
Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:16 pm
"If I could get a subscription service to work on the system when I had Dish TV, with an an excellent picture and sound, and receive all the channels that I paid for, why will this same system not work for KU band or C band".
In short the power output of the satellite. In order to use a small dish for DirecTv or Dish the satellite has to have high power transponders to make up for the difference. As an example the power output for a DirecTv satellite is around 110 watts output per transponder IIRC. For a commercial KU band satellite that might only be 25 or 30 watt output per transponder and usually they don't run full power. They run only enough power for the satellite link with a little extra for fade outs. So that is why your small dish won't work on those commercial satellites. Not enough capture area of the antenna to receive the signal. And with C-band that uses a much lower frequency of around 4 Ghz as compared to a frequency of over 10 Ghz for a KU band satellite. The lower the frequency the larger the antenna is required. That is why for C-band reception you need the bigger antenna again not enough capture area on a smaller dish.
10' Tek C-band dish, 1.2 meter KU band dish, ASC1 mover, Octagon/Zgemma/Edison dual band STB's. Running OpenPli on all.

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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by fatso » Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:30 pm

That is all true. Also for c band the satellite operators have to limit the power even more or they will cause interference to the microwave communication networks on the ground. I think the first c band satellite output less than 5 W of power back in the 70s. Howard Taylor and Bob Cooper were using 20 footers to capture those signals. By comparison, we have it much easier today! :bigsmile
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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by tvroadmin » Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:37 pm

You can also setup a 10' or 12' dish and use one of those combo C/Ku LNBFs at the focus to receive both bands simultaneously. That's what I got on my 12' and I am outside the main US sat beams. Works like charm and a single dish in the yard won't attract too much attention.
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Re: C BAND RECEPTION ON A 30 X 30 SMALL DISH

Post by Arion » Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:05 am

You have more patience than I do to dial it in that good. I have never even tried for KU on my c-band dish as I'm not a masochist. :mrgreen:

For me it's easier to have separate dishes and let Mr. KU do his thing and Mr. C do his. YMMV
10' Tek C-band dish, 1.2 meter KU band dish, ASC1 mover, Octagon/Zgemma/Edison dual band STB's. Running OpenPli on all.

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