Is 75cm dish sufficient for East Coast?

[spongella]

A question: Is a 75 cm dish sufficient to receive most of the Ku band satellites? Right now I have a 90cm, and wanted to experiment with a smaller dish. I am at 74.8, 40.4 coordinates, in the New York-Metro area, with a clear shot to the horizon from at least 15 - 130W. Was wondering if there would be lots of signal loss going with a smaller dish. Guess I could insert an in-line amp if needed. Coax run would be less than 75 feet.

Thank you for reading.

Sponge

[pmb1010]

really depends on which sats.. some are stronger than others.

I did OK with an 80cm dish. Worked fine.

Putting an inline amp on this would be akin to holding a sponge under a full glass of water. Yeah it'll hold some extra water but its a very inefficent way of getting the job done.

Theres nothing like more dish survface area to grab up the signal. Amplifiying what ain't there won't help.

[rainman]

I agree with pmb bigger is better ok to try smaller dishes but don't expect much.

[BYX]

Originally Posted by spongella

A question: Is a 75 cm dish sufficient to receive most of the Ku band satellites? Right now I have a 90cm, and wanted to experiment with a smaller dish. I am at 74.8, 40.4 coordinates, in the New York-Metro area, with a clear shot to the horizon from at least 15 - 130W. Was wondering if there would be lots of signal loss going with a smaller dish. Guess I could insert an in-line amp if needed. Coax run would be less than 75 feet.

Thank you for reading.

Sponge

76cm is the equivalent of 30" diameter.
Here at 33023 76cm works beautiful with any 0.4dB
76cm is the minimum for Ku FTA and it will work fine, it is not a dramatic size.
Keep in mind that on Ku FTa you will see very few satellites with few transponders that are strong.
With 76cm is normal to receive transponders in the range of 50% or 60% signal quality and rock solid.
It is very retoric to mention that a larger Ku dish is better to some extent.
The larger a Ku dish is the sharper it becomes and more difficult to aim.
Don't kill your kill yourself about a proven size.
90cm is very popular and good as well.
As for the cable lenght 75 feet is tolerant but if you feel concerned look into a cable with very little cable loss such as RG11.
RG11 is a thick expensive cable with very little insertion loss.

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by BYX

It is very retoric to mention that a larger Ku dish is better to some extent.

It's better in this regard:
My 4 foot Ku band dish does not suffer as bad as my 30" dish from rain fade.

But you're right - when you've got a good digital lock more signal won't help. But when it's marginal - my bigger dish works better.

[BYX]

Originally Posted by pmb1010

It's better in this regard:
My 4 foot Ku band dish does not suffer as bad as my 30" dish from rain fade.

But you're right - when you've got a good digital lock more signal won't help. But when it's marginal - my bigger dish works better.

Amen to that