Lmb Messed Up?

[Tim Godsil]

I have an geosatpro bullet series lnb, I rigged it on a primestar dish, When I hook it up to my box(microayl mrx-100) The signal and quality will jump around even if the dish is not moing, I'm even getting a signal pointing the dish north! The box will get the free stuff on my dish 500(nasa and skyangel). But I'm wondering if I should try and replace the lnb or Buy an lnb that has the c 120 flange thatt'l fit right on the arm?

[schlever]

Tim,

The signal and quality will jump around as long as the LNB has power to it. It has nothing to do with it being a bad LNB, you just don't have it locked on a signal. Once you set the dish with the proper co-ordinates for the satellite you are looking for, you will need to fine tune the dish to lock in the signal.

[Tim Godsil]

a took a BRAND NEW lnb and took the case off of it and mounted it to the lnb arm. The focal length is set. I hooked it upped to directv receiver and swept SLOWLY near the azimuth adjusting the elevation one point each time so I went 5 degrees above and below the actual elvevation. The lnb works because I pointed to directv real well with a little pizza dish and was in the 90's. So one thing to note that one of the reflector bolts is missing, the reflector is tight though. So I'm Wondering if the missing bolt is letting the signal escape through or the directv feed horn is too small for a 39" elepictal dish.

[schlever]

Originally Posted by Tim Godsil

a took a BRAND NEW lnb and took the case off of it and mounted it to the lnb arm. The focal length is set. I hooked it upped to directv receiver and swept SLOWLY near the azimuth adjusting the elevation one point each time so I went 5 degrees above and below the actual elvevation. The lnb works because I pointed to directv real well with a little pizza dish and was in the 90's. So one thing to note that one of the reflector bolts is missing, the reflector is tight though. So I'm Wondering if the missing bolt is letting the signal escape through or the directv feed horn is too small for a 39" elepictal dish.

What satellite are you aiming at?

[Tim Godsil]

Im trying to aim at directv at 101. If i get it peaked at the sat, then I can pikc up amc 4 on the fta. With the pizza dish I can aim 3 inches to the left or right and still get a signal ,could it be the feedhorn?

[schlever]

Originally Posted by Tim Godsil

Im trying to aim at directv at 101. If i get it peaked at the sat, then I can pikc up amc 4 on the fta. With the pizza dish I can aim 3 inches to the left or right and still get a signal ,could it be the feedhorn?

More than likely not the feedhorn. FTA linear birds like AMC4 have a very weak signal compared to DBS. That being said, while you may be able to move a pizza dish 3 or 4 inches and still get a signal, with a FTA dish it being out even a 1/4 inch would mean that you will not get a signal at all. Have patience and just move the dish in very small amounts and you will eventually get it locked in.

[Tim Godsil]

Someone told me that amc 4 is the strongest satellite in the fss band and they have got it buy putting a fta lnb on a 18" directv dish. If I'm Wrong, What is the easiet satelllite to aim to that is fta besides dish or directv?

[rainman]

Originally Posted by Tim Godsil

Someone told me that amc 4 is the strongest satellite in the fss band and they have got it buy putting a fta lnb on a 18" directv dish. If I'm Wrong, What is the easiet satelllite to aim to that is fta besides dish or directv?

all of the linear sats are close in power but are a lot less than direct and dish sats so your alignment has to be more precise also your skew on the lnb has to be adjusted properly as they are vertical and horizontal polarization. you can use a direct tv lnb on the dish to get you on amc 4 then switch to the linear lnb to fine tune it for FTA reception.

[Tim Godsil]

I dont have to skew the lnb because You cant on a directv dish so I kept the lnb level. I still cant get ANY signal on the directv 101 sat using a brand new directv lnb. I think if a 18" dish can pick it up easily a 39" dish should work even better. I do have good line of sight to the satellite. Could it be that since the signal is sent out circular on the 101 sat that a elepictal dish is not cathing all the signal?

[Tim Godsil]

I am using a directv receiver on the circular lnb. The elevation for my area is 40.7 and the azimuth 196. I swept at 37-38-39-40-41-42-43 and and about 20 degrees within 196. The lnb is good since it came off a directv that I just took down.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by Tim Godsil

I dont have to skew the lnb because You cant on a directv dish so I kept the lnb level. I still cant get ANY signal on the directv 101 sat using a brand new directv lnb. I think if a 18" dish can pick it up easily a 39" dish should work even better. I do have good line of sight to the satellite. Could it be that since the signal is sent out circular on the 101 sat that a elepictal dish is not cathing all the signal?

Eliptical dish won't matter. You should get a strong signal on the DTV sat, but like mentioned above, you have to be aimed more precisely with a bigger dish.

I'm a little confused about what you mean re having the LNBF "level". Is it in the same orientation that it would be in the 18" dish? Ie even though a true circular polarized antenna shouldn't matter what orientation it is at, I'm not convinced that the DTV lnbfs are truely circular, but I think that they work better when the coax connections are down. I mounted a DTV lnbf on my big dish once, and had the thing sideways, with the coax connections out to the side, and it didn't work as well as I expected it to.
Also, you mentioned focal length above. Can I assume that you just have the DTV lnbf mounted normally in the lnbf yoke where the Primestar lnbf would have been, or are you mounting this off to the side or something?

[Tim Godsil]

I took the lnb case off and the metal neck is 20mm like the old lnb. I had it level as much as the old one was. I have the new lnb where the old one was. There are dense clouds to the south so I might point it on a clear.

[schlever]

Sounds like everything is correct with the dish setup, it just needs to be aimed correctly. The first time I aimed my big dish it took over an hour to find the signal and that was only moving the dish around by about an inch. It takes time, you just have to have patience.