Anyone in Austin, TX area help me with 82W (Nimiq2) & 91W (Nimiq1)

[Mr Tony]

yep...I get good results here in Minnesota too

 

[melgarga]

An old single lnb DTV dish [18"?]works for both here near Houston, [82's a bit iffy]should not be too much different in Austin.
On my Primestar + Invacom + modified motorized polar mount project, getting the correct arc/declination/true south alignment has been a challenge. I used the circular out, and plotted the Echo Ku birds with the V-Box. I used the 18'er at 0 skew to have a "relative" reference to dish azmuth and elevation to compare to the P*'s orientation. Worked pretty well actually, anyway, I was surprized at the strength of all the Echo's especially Express-Vu's on an 18" dish. I dont recall which TPs I was using. When I get back to that project, I'll pay closer attention.

 

[FitzAusTex]

Wow Guys!!! Thanks for all the help. And Ghia, thanks in particular for checking and rechecking. I owe ya a six pack. I'm gonna re-read all your posts to try to make sense of it. I'm a bit confused about which ones are TPs 17 and 32 which are the most important TPs to me on 82W...

 

[Mr Tony]

here is the list to match it up
Nimiq 2 at 82.0°W - LyngSat

 

[ghia]

Oh no, now you guys got me wondering, lol! I never tried to get 82 (except accidentally the traxis 3500 will suck signals off it witha linear lnb sometimes)
Back when I had the DP-twin lnbf that worked, and I was trying to find a 'rainfade' solution to Dishnetwork I never could get the skew right on a .90primestar. It would get one sat great , and the other at 40%, eventually I gave up on that and cancelled the subscription shortly after that.
But now I wonder, about 91/82. Well thats an experiment for a later (cooler) day, haha.

The results I posted where from a motorized setup. I was only pointing at one bird at a time. A dual lnb setup is probably not a problem, but I would use two seperate dishes this far south for those two, nothing like paying for TV service and then losing channels when the storms roll through. That's just me though, heck I have an old globecast dish with a single lnb on it for the 129 part of my dish subscription, rain fade is not a problem with that one!

 

[FitzAusTex]

here is the list to match it up
Nimiq 2 at 82.0°W - LyngSat

Ok...cool Lyngsat is my friend ...ok TP 32 (12676) is at 74%. Ghia, is 74% considered a good signal for your equipment, or kinda marginal?

I really am not sure how to gauge this...

And if it is pretty easy for you, could you check just one more - 12457 (right side)? Thats the other main TP I'm most interested in...

And yeah, If I do go ahead with this, I'll def post my experience/findings so that others might get an idea if it'd be worth it for them.

Then I gotta figure out dishes/lnbs. I'm probably too far south to do a D500, but would other E*/D* size dishes maybe work? and it just occured to me that 82 and 91 are 9 deg apart like 110 and 119, duh, so I could use that LNB? although prob better to use two dishes with one lnb each? it would be most cool if i could use like a 1000+ with one lnb on 82W or a 1000+ with a dual on 82 and 91. I'm most interested in 82W, so if an lnb for just 82 gets me a much better SS, than I may just go with that...

but i suspect y'all are gonna tell me i prob need to go with a 36" pizza shape dish?

 

[ghia]

Wow Guys!!! Thanks for all the help. And Ghia, thanks in particular for checking and rechecking. I owe ya a six pack. I'm gonna re-read all your posts to try to make sense of it. I'm a bit confused about which ones are TPs 17 and 32 which are the most important TPs to me on 82W...

No problem, The results where better than I thought they would be. I would go with a two dish setup if I where you, better safe than sorry. 90cm is a bit larger than what you where wanting to use, and it might be a bit overkill. I would use at least something like the Patriot elliptical 85cm on 82, and probably a 75 to 80 cm on 91.

 

[Mr Tony]

Ok...cool Lyngsat is my friend ...ok TP 32 (12676) is at 74%. Ghia, is 74% considered a good signal for your equipment, or kinda marginal?

I really am not sure how to gauge this...

And if it is pretty easy for you, could you check just one more - 12457 (right side)? Thats the other main TP I'm most interested in...

And yeah, If I do go ahead with this, I'll def post my experience/findings so that others might get an idea if it'd be worth it for them.

ExpressVu uses a 1-100 scale so its close to what ghia would post

I know on my Pansat 1500 75 quality is the same as 70 or so on the Dish 811

 

[ghia]

Ok...cool Lyngsat is my friend ...ok TP 32 (12676) is at 74%. Ghia, is 74% considered a good signal for your equipment, or kinda marginal?

I really am not sure how to gauge this...

And if it is pretty easy for you, could you check just one more - 12457 (right side)? Thats the other main TP I'm most interested in...

And yeah, If I do go ahead with this, I'll def post my experience/findings so that others might get an idea if it'd be worth it for them.

74% is good for this receiver. I hardly watch anything circular. To give you an Idea though the NASA channel on 119w is usually above 90%. On the Linear side of things, The Russia Today channel on 97 (my TS) usually comes in about 80%. White Springs @ 129 is usually in the upper 80's, while the PBS HD over at 87w is usually around 50%. All of these are watchable at these levels. The PBS channel usually breaks up on me when it gets below around 40%, which happens when it storms.

I just checked 12457 and it is showing 63%, but there are some fairly heavy storms overhead now.

 

[FitzAusTex]

Thanks guys. Very helpful info. This seems like it might be worth it. I'm not so worried about storms, since many believe that the content on the channels I'm interested in is just a wee bit repetitive, so i can just wait until 3 or 4 hours after such a storm and it's bound to be on again.

 

[i_sifton]

24" dish Dallas

On the weaker TPs on Nimiq 2 in Dallas, I was getting close to 50% with a 24" and most were in the 60s and 70s. I switched over to a 31" and it bumped the signal levels by about 10% so for your location, I would recommend a 31" to decrease rain fade.

As for Nimiq 1, I would say the same size though the Globecast dishes with a circular feed could work.

BTW....you can use say an 18" dish to get either bird, but it will be marginal signal at best. I tested Nimiq 1 with an 18" and it barely broke 30-40s even on the highest.

 

[FitzAusTex]

On the weaker TPs on Nimiq 2 in Dallas, I was getting close to 50% with a 24" and most were in the 60s and 70s. I switched over to a 31" and it bumped the signal levels by about 10% so for your location, I would recommend a 31" to decrease rain fade.

As for Nimiq 1, I would say the same size though the Globecast dishes with a circular feed could work.

BTW....you can use say an 18" dish to get either bird, but it will be marginal signal at best. I tested Nimiq 1 with an 18" and it barely broke 30-40s even on the highest.

Thanks much for the info. Are you still pointed at Nimiq2? If so, could you tell me what you're getting on TPs 17 and 32?

 

[babcea]

i

 

[i_sifton]

Dallas TPs

Sorry Guys for the delay.

I get over 70's on both though I have noticed there is some fluctuation with the 24" dish.

These are stronger TP's for the bird, but I noticed Vu has been changing TP's again and when they move any channel onto the older bird, we in the Southern Conus see a big decrease.

Thanks much for the info. Are you still pointed at Nimiq2? If so, could you tell me what you're getting on TPs 17 and 32?

 

[FitzAusTex]

Sorry Guys for the delay.

I get over 70's on both though I have noticed there is some fluctuation with the 24" dish.

These are stronger TP's for the bird, but I noticed Vu has been changing TP's again and when they move any channel onto the older bird, we in the Southern Conus see a big decrease.

No worries about a delay, I totally appreciate the feedback. Couple more questions though.

Do you currently have a separate dish for 82 and a separate dish for 91?

What brand dishes and LNBs are you using?

And could you clarify is possible, when you say 'when they move any channel onto the older bird, we in the Southern Conus see a big decrease' which location are you talking about? Are you talking about when they move channels from one bird at 82 to the 2nd bird at 82 and from one bird at 91 to the 2nd bird at 91, or are you talking about when they move channels from 91 to 82 and/or from 82 to 91?

thanks again!

 

[i_sifton]

Yes, they are separate dishes for each bird. I had experimented with a globecast dish to get both as it has a skew adjustment, but I never liked the results.

The 24" dish an old voom dish using the same LNB. The 31" dish from Fortec with a DTV LNB.

Yes, I was referring to the beams on 91 to old 91 and 82 to old 82. An example was that they moved TSN HD for a few weeks to a much weaker TP that we could barely get, but they have since return it to a strong TP.


So....based on your setup, here is what I would advise. If you have the space, get 2 31" dishes as it will truely give you the best performance. However, if you have to cut the size down, look at a globecast dish or something similar for 91 and a 24" dish for 82.

No worries about a delay, I totally appreciate the feedback. Couple more questions though.

Do you currently have a separate dish for 82 and a separate dish for 91?

What brand dishes and LNBs are you using?

And could you clarify is possible, when you say 'when they move any channel onto the older bird, we in the Southern Conus see a big decrease' which location are you talking about? Are you talking about when they move channels from one bird at 82 to the 2nd bird at 82 and from one bird at 91 to the 2nd bird at 91, or are you talking about when they move channels from 91 to 82 and/or from 82 to 91?

thanks again!

 

[FitzAusTex]

Yes, they are separate dishes for each bird. I had experimented with a globecast dish to get both as it has a skew adjustment, but I never liked the results.

The 24" dish an old voom dish using the same LNB. The 31" dish from Fortec with a DTV LNB.

Yes, I was referring to the beams on 91 to old 91 and 82 to old 82. An example was that they moved TSN HD for a few weeks to a much weaker TP that we could barely get, but they have since return it to a strong TP.


So....based on your setup, here is what I would advise. If you have the space, get 2 31" dishes as it will truely give you the best performance. However, if you have to cut the size down, look at a globecast dish or something similar for 91 and a 24" dish for 82.

Thanks much for your responses. 2 more questions if you get a minute. Do you know if it is possible to skip 91W entirely, and just connect 82W? 91 doesnt have anything I'm particularly interested in. Also, could you post your signal strengths on TP 17 and TP 32? thanks!

 

[Mr Tony]

you might as well put up 91 too otherwise you're throwing away a heckuva lot of money for a few channels.

You need the basic package before adding any HD to it

 

[FitzAusTex]

Yeah, I know, but I really only need 3 channels and they're on 82. Question is will the receiver function properly if I don't put up a dish for 91? I'd assume so, but I think I recall reading somewhere that the receiver had to be able to receive both.

And while I'm at it with the questions, is there a fitting/adapter to connect the E* DishPro Twin LNBF to a Fortec Star 31" dish? If so, I might could see if I get a strong enough signal using just the one dish.

 

[Mr Tony]

Yeah, I know, but I really only need 3 channels and they're on 82. Question is will the receiver function properly if I don't put up a dish for 91? I'd assume so, but I think I recall reading somewhere that the receiver had to be able to receive both.

the receiver should work fine with just 82

And while I'm at it with the questions, is there a fitting/adapter to connect the E* DishPro Twin LNBF to a Fortec Star 31" dish? If so, I might could see if I get a strong enough signal using just the one dish.

no due to focal point. Since the Twin LNB is designed for a 20" dish, when you move the focal point out that will make the spacing between the satellite greater than what the Twin has. You could do 2 LNB's with some wood and a hoseclamp between them but to use the stock option isn't going to work