Originally posted at:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=69832
After owning my Winegard 76cm dish for a while I decided it's time for something with a little more gain, I'd commented in another thread at how the Fortec Star dishes sold by
Sadoun may not be as solid as I'd liked, I felt I had to see for myself.
I ordered the Fortec Star
120cm (4') dish earlier this week, yesterday it arrived in a large, flat box via FedEx who took great care in shipping the dish to me.
The front and sides of the box had large red "Fragile" labels, just incase the FedEx guy didn't get the message the first five times.
I was surprised how quickly the dish arrived having only took 3 days to reach me from Sadoun (Our new sponsor)
The box was constructed of thick cardboard and sealed with thick staples with plastic straps for extra reinforcment.
Unpacking the dish I was pleasantly surprised at how it was wrapped, in addition to the cardboard there was a layer of bubble-wrap to protect the parabola from damage.
Inside the box there was another box of parts, nuts/bolts, LNB holder, U-bolts and the instruction sheet.
After taking the dish out of the box I lay it face down on the floor to check for true which I found to be exceptional - there was no warpage and no dents or scratches. The steel used for the reflector is 18 gauge and powder-coated for protection against the elements.
The rear brackets which hold the mount onto the reflector are constucted of a much heavier gauge steel which I found to be almost indestructible (As you'll see later).
Two cross-members bolt securely onto the rear of the reflector with a square section connecting the two together which is part of the mounting assembly, this adds rigidity to the reflector and provides a secure mount for the Az/El mount.
The mount itself is also constructed of the same heavy gauge steel as the cross-members and has the necessary markings for elevation as well as the holes for the provided U-bolts which hold the dish/mount onto a regular positioner or pole of up to 3 inches, in this case I used my trusty DMSI
SG2100 which is rated for including, and up to a dish of this size.
My only caveat with the mount is the way the U-bolts slide into the mount holes - you'll need to physically separate the elevation/mount slightly to enable them to slide in, this was no bad thing as it demonstrated the sheer strength of the mount.
After noticing some people had problems with the elevation on some dishes not being able to adjust to a low angle I can safely say this mount will satisfy.
The range of adjustment on the mount is huge and I don't forsee anybody having a problem with low or high elevation settings whatsoever.
The pole mount on the dish can be affixed with the pole-stop pointing up or down as to give compatibility with practically every positioner system, in my case the SG2100s mount is pointing downward, it'll work perfectly with positioners with a mount that points up too, kudos to Fortec for that idea.
I took the Winegard off the SG2100 ready to be mounted onto another pole and lifted the Fortec into place, this isn't the lightest of dishes so I had to hold the dish up with one arm while I tightened the bolts with my other, the U-Bolts will fit masts of up to 3 inches in diameter and are constructed of hard steel and are more than adequate.
After making sure the dish was square to the positioner I assembled the LNB holder
Because the focal length of the dish is longer than a regular 76cm dish the holder has 2 lightweight steel support arms which bolt into place either side of the reflector and again at the end of the LNB arm, again - the bolts used are good quality and ensured a good fit for the whole assembly.
The LNB holder itself is by far the highest quality I've seen, it's made of very thick, moulded plastic which screws into the end of the arm, it also includes a 40mm to 23mm adapter which allows for use of an LNB with a narrow throat.
With everything in place and securely fastened I hooked the motor back up along with the LNB and swung my dish over to Galaxy10R. (The positioner was already set up from when I'd installed the Winegard so I didn't feel the need to adjust it just yet)
I thought the SG2100 may struggle with the weight of the Fortec 120cm however it seemed as fast as ever and didn't falter with the heavier load.
With my old dish the maximum I could get out of TheTube (G10R/11720/V/27692) is usually 32% Signal/100% quality (Fluctuating) on a good day, my neighbours trees slightly obscure my view of G10R especially when leaves are growing. When it starts raining I lose almost all of G10R.
Conclusion:
I anticipate no rainfade with this beauty.
Both the
Invacom SNH-031 and the ASC321 LNBs were tested, both gave amazing results.
Without even tweaking the elevation or azimuth on the motor or dish I now have 75% Signal and a rock solid 100% Quality reading.
I'm pulling in transponders I thought were dead and can now receive feeds I wouldn't have even known about.
With proper alignment I know this dish will give me even higher figures - I never though I'd get anywhere near a 75% signal from TheTube.
The same goes for all the other satellites I can see, with a signal meter inline and using the SG2100s built-in manual east/west control, the meter would fly over past the maximum signal reading with every sat I hit.
Fantastic.
Overall I'm impressed, I honestly didn't expect the dish to be constructed as well as it is and I'm basically forced to eat my own words.
It may not be the cheapest dish you can buy, 90cm dishes are cheaper to ship however if you want something that'll pull in everything that's up there while still being smaller than a regular
C-band dish, look no further.
For those wanting the ultimate in gain without having to find an unwieldy C-Band dish, the 120cm Fortec is perfect and in this case you certainly get what you pay for.
A larger dish such as this really is the way to go, combined with a decent LNB there's very little you'll miss and you'll definitely thank yourself for it.
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