Have a round Starchoice 31" dish....

[Bluebeard123]

and I want to set it up with a motor to get news feeds. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good motor for it? I understand Stab is the best, but I think I read somewhere that it won't work on a Weinguard Dish and I am told that is the kind of dish I have. I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

 

[Bluebeard123]

I forgot to add, I live where we occasionally experience 100mph winds. If that makes a difference in the answer (it probably does).

 

[beavs2112]

and I want to set it up with a motor to get news feeds. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good motor for it? I understand Stab is the best, but I think I read somewhere that it won't work on a Weinguard Dish and I am told that is the kind of dish I have. I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

I forgot to add, I live where we occasionally experience 100mph winds. If that makes a difference in the answer (it probably does).

Hi Bluebeard123. There are several important points in your enquiry. I'll do my best to answer them all. I own the Stab HH120 motor & a 39inch Wineguard steel dish. Yes the Stab motors have about the best rock solid build quality of all the motors. I have also owned other brands as well. I would go with the Stab HH120 & a large ku dish.
First ... yes there are issues with the Stab/Wineguard combination. But it depends on which models you have. The issue that everyone talks about is the back mounting bracket on the 39 inch diameter Wineguard steel dish has a larger opening than the shaft diameter of just about every available diseq H-H motor. The bracket opening is 2.25 inches & the diameter of the Stab HH120 motor (plus other make & model available) shaft is 2-1/16 inches. So there is a gap between them. See pic 1 below. So you have to add a "sleeve" of some sort to get them to bolt together tight. You can't have the dish bracket loose on the motor shaft. The sleeve fits over the Stab motor shaft & inside the Wineguard bracket. See pic 2&3 below of the sleeve I made. Its easy to make .... just get a section of pipe & cut out a section down the side so it compresses down to fit over the motor shaft. You could substitute PVC plastic pipe split on both sides in the same manner.

Second ... I think the StabHH120 motor shaft is too big for the smaller 30inch dish brackets. Most people with the smaller 30inch dishes buy the StabHH90 motor which is smaller. Most of us agree the biggest dish you can afford & fit is the best approach for ku-band. Some folks get decent reception with a 30 inch dish but the PBS channels on 125W are hard to get on a 30inch. Plus a bigger dish helps a little with rain fade issues. I would try to get a 36inch or larger dish.
I think this dish gets recommended a lot due to size & build quality. http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-Inch-120...281?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e3ff0449. I wouldn't use the universal LNB however I'd get a dual PLL version like this GEOSATpro SL2PLL Standard Ku-Band LNBF
Third .....A lot of the news feeds are DVB-S2 so make sure your receiver can decode these transmissions. I like 72W,91W,99W for news feeds.

fourth .... as far as 100mph winds. To quote the StabHH120 manuals warranty section "The motor has been tested for resistance in wind conditions of 140 Km/h with a dish of 120 cm, so care must be taken in choosing the supporting pole and its anchorage. If possible, installation should be carried out in a place sheltered from wind"

Cheers,

Kevin

 

[Bluebeard123]

Thanks for the advice Kevin. Is 125W the only sat that is weak for that smaller dish? Are there many wildfeeds on that satellite other than PBS? Looks like it may be a better call to spend a few more bucks and get maybe a little bigger dish, if the added channels are worth it. I am not sure I'd want a 48" dish in this location as it is pretty exposed to high winds- maybe I can split the difference and get either a 40". I think I need to find the smallest size I can for this location. The 31" dish has been at this location for over 10 years and has survived the 100 mph winds, but it was a fixed mount (aimed at the Starchoice satellite).

By the way, I have a new Amiko I am in the process of dialing in, so I think I have the Dvb-s2 covered.

 

[beavs2112]

Thanks for the advice Kevin. Is 125W the only sat that is weak for that smaller dish? Are there many wildfeeds on that satellite other than PBS? Looks like it may be a better call to spend a few more bucks and get maybe a little bigger dish, if the added channels are worth it. I am not sure I'd want a 48" dish in this location as it is pretty exposed to high winds- maybe I can split the difference and get either a 40". I think I need to find the smallest size I can for this location. The 31" dish has been at this location for over 10 years and has survived the 100 mph winds, but it was a fixed mount (aimed at the Starchoice satellite).

By the way, I have a new Amiko I am in the process of dialing in, so I think I have the Dvb-s2 covered.

no PBS isn't the only one. ALL the FTA sats are weaker than the DTH sats like Starchoice or Dish or Direct. the 2 networks (Starchoice vs FTA) aren't the same. I know that a 30in dish is fine for receiving DTH sats like Starchoice or Dish or Direct but those sats transmit with WAY WAY more power than the FTA sats. You can't compare DTH reception with a 30in fixed dish to FTA reception on a motor. Its like apples to bananas.
To help you figure the minimum size dish needed go to the satbeams website http://www.satbeams.com/footprints you pick the sat you want (say 72w) from the row of sats on the top. then the beams for that sat come up. click on the ku band north America beam. then a map comes up showing the sat footprint. then move the cursor (I think its a little white hand) on the map to where your house is & I think it gives you the MINIMUM size dish needed. then repeat for the other sats. that should tell you if a 30in is okay. but those size calculations are based on absolutely perfect conditions all-around (& there are a lot of variables) so be warned.
the pbs channels are the only feeds on that 125w sat & they are 24/7 fulltime pbs network feeds. they're not news feeds but are interesting channels. here's a thread on members losing PBS reception on a 36in dish. http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/oeta-problems.343135/#post-3560101 And there are lots more threads like that one here & on other fta sites.

 

[beavs2112]

and I want to set it up with a motor to get news feeds. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good motor for it? I understand Stab is the best, but I think I read somewhere that it won't work on a Weinguard Dish and I am told that is the kind of dish I have. I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

here's a recent thread http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/need-suggestions-for-diseqc-h-h-motor.346725/
on motor selection. There's more. search the forum for "ku motor" or "diseq motor".

 

[jorgek]

Its the 31" Wineguard DS2076 which does not work with the Stab 90HH motor. The problem is the mounting hardware on the dish limits the full range of elevation adjustment when mounted on the Stab. So depending on your latitude it may or may not work.

 

[Bluebeard123]

http://www.satbeams.com/footprints[/URL] you pick the sat you want (say 72w) from the row of sats on the top. then the beams for that sat come up. click on the ku band north America beam. then a map comes up showing the sat footprint. then move the cursor (I think its a little white hand) on the map to where your house is & I think it gives you the MINIMUM size dish needed. then repeat for the other sats. that should tell you if a 30in is okay. but those size calculations are based on absolutely perfect conditions all-around (& there are a lot of variables) so be warned..

Great Info, I went to that site, but I cannot find where you input ku or where it tells you what size sat you need. I live north of Lake Tahoe in CA. It sounds like the bigger the better. Any particular brand/combo I should consider?

 

[waylew]

Pick your sat from the line of sats at the top,then under that line a box appears with the name of the sat with a choice of C or Ku maps,choose a map then click on the map where you are and dish info will appear.

 

[beavs2112]

but I cannot find where you input ku or where it tells you what size sat you need. I live north of Lake Tahoe in CA. It sounds like the bigger the better. Any particular brand/combo I should consider?

I have been having trouble with satbeams the last 2 days. Another site to try is here http://satstar.net/setup.html you tell satstar where you are. then goto the footprints tab @ the top of the page. this brings up a list of sats. then look for what sat you want say 72w then click on the blue name of the sat beside the 72W eg. AMC6. then when that comes up it should have the 3 or more maps of the beams of that sat. click on the ku North America map & that should bring up the map & a chart of dish size versus EIRP. look at what EIRP zone you're in (your house location should be a blinking red dot) then look at the EIRP chart for the dish size.

 

[beavs2112]

Great Info, I went to that site, but I cannot find where you input ku or where it tells you what size sat you need. I live north of Lake Tahoe in CA. It sounds like the bigger the better. Any particular brand/combo I should consider?

hey bud. I think before we decide on a combo we should decide on what size dish you need. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. below is a recent picture of what satbeams should look like (thanks very much borisov-54 ) I couldn't show you a picture cause mine isn't working. I've modified the picture to drawn in where to pick the sat & where to pick the sat beam & where to read the dish size.
If satbeams is working for you follow the instructions on the picture below. Then repeat instructions for each sat you want to check dish size. Once you've figured out the dish size report it back here in this thread then we can move forward to pick a combo.
Hope this helps.

 

[beavs2112]

I have been having trouble with satbeams the last 2 days.

well I heard back from satbeams today. they have an issue with their website where the coverage beams maps don't load in Internet Explorer 11. so Bluebeard123 .... satstar or a different browser on satbeams.

 

[Bluebeard123]

Hey guys, good stuff. What satellites are best for news wildfeeds? I have no clue- give me an idea for sats viewable from the west coast , near lake tahoe.

 

[FTA4PA]

Hey guys, good stuff. What satellites are best for news wildfeeds? I have no clue- give me an idea for sats viewable from the west coast , near lake tahoe.

72W - NBC feeds (4 channels rotates between NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Weather Channel, sometimes inactive)
87W - CNN Newsource feeds (2)
91W - ABC NewsOne feeds (2)
95W - CCTV News
97W - Foreign news channels in English (not feeds) - RT, CNC World, Press TV Iran, Al Etejah
99W - CBS Newspath
113W - Reuters Live feed

Probably more that I can't think of at the moment.

 

[Bluebeard123]

hey bud. I think before we decide on a combo we should decide on what size dish you need. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. below is a recent picture of what satbeams should look like (thanks very much borisov-54 ) I couldn't show you a picture cause mine isn't working. I've modified the picture to drawn in where to pick the sat & where to pick the sat beam & where to read the dish size.
If satbeams is working for you follow the instructions on the picture below. Then repeat instructions for each sat you want to check dish size. Once you've figured out the dish size report it back here in this thread then we can move forward to pick a combo.
Hope this helps.

View attachment 105156

How do you get it to show the reception details? All it shows me in the little white box is www.satbeams.com

 

[Bluebeard123]

Actually over on the left side it shows azimuth, elevation, sat location, distance, but it doesn't show anything regarding dish size.

 

[FTA4PA]

Actually over on the left side it shows azimuth, elevation, sat location, distance, but it doesn't show anything regarding dish size.

When you zoom in on the map and then click on your location a box should pop up showing EIRP and dish size required.

 

[Bluebeard123]

When you zoom in on the map and then click on your location a box should pop up showing EIRP and dish size required.

When I click on the location of my satellite the box that pops up says:
"Copyright 2007-2014 www.satbeams.com" and that is it. There are no recommended sat sizes. If I click on that box, then I get a field to send an email to the satbeams people. I am using Firefox. Maybe something is wrong with my set up.

Now if I use SatStar, utilizing the sats that FTA4PA recommends, the largest suggested dish is 70 cm. Should I go with that or go bigger? For some reason my H2H mount won't allow me to go further east than SES2, and it looks (so far) on C band, the farthest I can go to the W is AMC8 @129W (although I will see if I can get further out there tonight).

 

[FTA4PA]

When I click on the location of my satellite the box that pops up says:
"Copyright 2007-2014 www.satbeams.com" and that is it. There are no recommended sat sizes. If I click on that box, then I get a field to send an email to the satbeams people. I am using Firefox. Maybe something is wrong with my set up.

That's definitely strange that Satbeams won't work for you, especially if you are using Firefox. I'm currently using Firefox 35.0.1 and all works fine.

Now if I use SatStar, utilizing the sats that FTA4PA recommends, the largest suggested dish is 70 cm. Should I go with that or go bigger? For some reason my H2H mount won't allow me to go further east than SES2, and it looks (so far) on C band, the farthest I can go to the W is AMC8 @129W (although I will see if I can get further out there tonight).

70cm is only 27.5" and most will recommend a minimum of 90cm (36") for solid reception on ku band, many use a 1.2 meter. With FTA reception bigger is better so you can't go wrong by having a bigger dish.

 

[Titanium]

To hang a Winegard DS-2076 on a STAB HH90, use two SPC-1 clamps to offset a 1 5/8" stub post and provide clearance for the declination setting.

The DS-2076 is 76cm and considered to be a quality 31" dish. Not 2 degree complainant but overall a great performing dish.