Ku and C Band?

[Debbi]

I currently have:
Fortec Star Lifetime CLASSIC NA FTA Digital satellite receiver
Digipower SG-2100 DiSEqC Motor
Fortec 31" FS80P Dish
Standard Dual KUL2 LNBF

I'm happy with Ku-Band, but I have been wistfully gazing at the C-Band channels (I know just like a woman - never satisfied). From reading other posts I have gathered that my receiver can handle both Ku and C Band.

If I purchase a C-band dish. motor and LNBF can I connect both dishes to my receiver? How would I switch between dishes? Is any of this possible?? Thanks, I appreciate any advice anyone could offer.

[rainman]

yes you can connect 2 dishes to one receiver with a disqec switch.
would recommend getting a c band ku band lnbf like the bsc=621 and then you would have c and ku on 1 dish.

[pmb1010]

Yes, it's possible to integrate a 2nd dish into the mix.
Or, put 1 big dish in for both Ku and C band use.

The issue you're going to run into is C band needs a BIG dish.

4 foot - minimum. Hobbiest level. Will receive some but not all C band signals. Fun for experimenting.

6 foot - doable. Will receive a lot but not all signals. Diffiult to rotate, need new motor available soon (Motek motor & Vbox positioiner)

8 foot - better. Issue is how it gets moved. Still need a VboxII and some type of polar mount & actuator motor on dish.

10 foot - preferred. Most guys say this is the size you need to get the separation so no co-satettelite interference occurs.

So bottom line, you will need some space for bigger dish. And a way to turn it. If you are going to go thru all that expense, might be better to setup a DCII receiver setup, and slave in DVB (the FTA Ku stuff) as a secondary receiver.

If you need any clarification on whats above, just ask.

[dblackia]

There are plenty of fun FTA signals on C band - mostly DVB but also some analog and Digicipher II. Like you, I had a nice motorized 90cm dish/Ku-only DVB FTA setup and decided to 'add' C band to that.

At first I put up a separate 10' mesh dish. That worked but what was cumbersome in practice was moving each dish separately. I chose to use a 4DTV receiver to move the big dish. If you use a V-box that problem could go away (by connecting the V-box between a DiSEqC switch and the big dish). The linear actuators common on big dishes themselves are not DiSEqC compatible and require a different kind of mover, such as a V-Box or a second receiver designed to handle a 24/36V actuator motor and position pulses. I expect that to change, as for instance Sadoun already sells a new H-H motor that can move what - a 1.8m dish?

Eventually I moved residences, and having a chance to start over, decided to do C and Ku band on that same 10' dish, at the same time choosing a C/Ku band LNBF and doing away with the Corotor type servo feed.

Now finished, I'm much happier with that setup than the old two-dish one. Ku does require careful and time-consuming aiming on a 10' dish (very narrow 3 dB beamwidth - about 0.4 degrees!), and minimal play in the actuator/dish hardware. The actuator also has to have sufficient pulse resolution to allow moving the dish in very small increments.

[Debbi]

Ok, I think I'm getting the picture. If I get an 8-foot dish with a VboxII and some type of polar mount & actuator motor on dish I should be in business. But how do I connect two dishes to my one receiver??

I hope I'm in a good position for using only an 8-foot dish. I live in northern Michigan on a hill at 1200'. I have no trees so I have a clear view of the complete sky. I know for my Ham radio antennas my location is great.

My other question is regarding the big dish itself. I have seen mesh ones and Sadoun sells solid ones. Because we're on a hill and no wind break, we can, at times, sustain some pretty high winds. Will the wind issue dictate whether I should get a mesh or solid dish?

[wejones]

Originally Posted by Debbi

Ok, I think I'm getting the picture. If I get an 8-foot dish with a VboxII and some type of polar mount & actuator motor on dish I should be in business. But how do I connect two dishes to my one receiver??

I hope I'm in a good position for using only an 8-foot dish. I live in northern Michigan on a hill at 1200'. I have no trees so I have a clear view of the complete sky. I know for my Ham radio antennas my location is great.

My other question is regarding the big dish itself. I have seen mesh ones and Sadoun sells solid ones. Because we're on a hill and no wind break, we can, at times, sustain some pretty high winds. Will the wind issue dictate whether I should get a mesh or solid dish?

I don't know this from personal knowledge, but I've read explanations that the wind loading on a mesh dish may be less with low speed winds, but after the wind gets up to a certain level (can't remember what that level was, but it was only about 25-30 mph I think), that the wind loading is pretty much the same for mesh or solid.

Being on a hill with a good view doesn't really affect your decision between 8' and 10'.

Re connecting 2 dishes to one receiver, that is where diseqC switches come into play. But I would consider whether you want to eventually go for analog and/or DCII digital with the big dish. It seems a shame to me to have a big dish and not have the option of going for analog and DCII signals too. If you eventually do this, you're better off having the analog receiver control the big dish instead of the DVB receiver via the VBOX. If all you want is DVB/FTA, then the VBOX is the way to go, but if you want a dish that does everything, then I'd get an analog receiver to move the dish.

Of course if money is a problem, the DVB/VBOX is probably the cheapest way to go to get started.