Results 1 to 17 of 17

Thread: Ideal C-Band for Central Coast

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    165
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    52

    Default Ideal C-Band for Central Coast

    I am looking at diving in and getting a C-Band Setup going and I was wondering what the best way was to go.

    Due to my local area I don't think a 1.8-3m mesh dish is really appropriate, but I was wondering if a smaller solid dish would be able to do the same as the larger mesh dishes?

    Would a 1.2m solid be able to pick up the same range of sats? Also what Sats would be available to be received from the Central Coast, NSW?

    Another thing would be the distance to house, I would need to ground mount the dish about 20-25m away from the house to get a clear view and I was wondering if this cable length would be too long?

    Does anyone know a source for a 1.2m solid dish?

    Thanks,
    -Suff



Look Here ->
  • #2
    Junior Member vbthanks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    115
    Thanks
    17
    Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts
    Rep Power
    202
    Reputation
    65

    Default

    Hi Suff....
    I live on the coast too and have done some (but not extennsive) research into C-Band.

    You really need the biggest dish you can get - but most get away with either a 1.8 or 2.3metre mesh.

    Coax length okay - just make sure it's the good stuff.

    To see what services you can get - visit lyngsat.com

    Cheers,
    Mick

  • #3
    Junior Member nathj's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    somewhere over the rainbow
    Posts
    200
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    36

    Default

    wow it seems theres alot of ppl here from the coast.....

    if you had to mount the dish 25m away you are going to have alot of signal loss....


    i use to be an antenna installer in my younger days (over 15 years ago now) and even to mount an antenna 25m away you would need a booster....

    im not sure if there are sat boosters but if there were i would expect you needed one....

  • #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    165
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    52

    Default

    Thanks vbthanks,
    I was looking into getting a solid dish as they should be able to reduce the dish size while still being able to pickup the same sats.
    Lyngsat.com is a great site, but I was hoping someone would be able to post what they actually pickup in this area of australia.

    -Suff

  • #5
    Junior Member nathj's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    somewhere over the rainbow
    Posts
    200
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    36

    Default

    p.s cant you get enough entertainment of the optus C1 ????

  • #6
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    165
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    52

    Default

    Hey nathj,
    Yes you can get inline sat boosters so if there is a high signal loss i should be able to stick one of them in, in any case it is about 10m to the actual house, but 25 to the communications cabinet where everything is managed.

    I can get plenty of entertainment from C1 and IS8, but I just like to play around and experiment...

  • #7
    Junior Member nathj's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    somewhere over the rainbow
    Posts
    200
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    36

    Default

    i have no experiance with dish installation but if you have an inline booster wouldnt you be able to use a smaller dish??? just a thought

  • #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    568
    Thanks
    39
    Thanked 51 Times in 27 Posts
    Rep Power
    220
    Reputation
    201

    Default

    A "booster" does not make up for a small dish ! Increasing the level in the cable does not change the signal to noise ratio except to often make it worse due to mixing and intermodulation issues.

    The ultimate signal to noise ratio is determined by the dish size and the noise figure of the first RF device in the LNB, and for C band you need at least a 2.3m, but a 3m will give you a few more services and increase the quality marginal services.

    The IF output from a C band LNB is fairly high and you can usually afford 20dB or more of cable attenuation and more before any change in BER (signal quality) is noted at the receiver. Many users have cable runs of up to 100m of good quality RG6Q.

    Some people will argue with this ! You can note a Q reading of a certain value then put a 20dB attenuator in the feeder from LNB to receiver and note ZERO change in Quality reading, but the Strength reading will drop. Try it !

    All that happens with the use of an attenuator is that the AGC in the receiver doesn't work as hard, this is exactly the same as increased attenuation from a long cable run.

    25M+ of good quality RG6Q will be no problem, your main consideration for any satellite system is always to get the biggest dish you can. In the case of C band a 3m or even a 3.7m is a good choice.

  • #9
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    165
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    52

    Default

    Thanks bulbous, 25m should be fine then. Does it make any difference in using a solid vs a mesh dish? I am pretty sure that I will not be able to fit a 3.5m dish in my backyard...but a smaller solid dish should do.
    Does the dish need to have 100% clear vision of the sky or can it still receive signal through small bushes/foliage?
    If it can still work through foliage I may be able to hide it away down the back but then the cable run would be ~75m so I man need to put a powered booster in.

    Thanks,
    -Suff

  • #10
    Senior Member global88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    59
    Posts
    1,157
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked 7 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    237
    Reputation
    53

    Default

    Solid dishes tend to give a stronger signal and keep their shape better. Mesh is better in wind and nicer to the eye.
    Clear vision to sat is necessary. The more foliage, the more signal loss.
    Here in Melb most people use 2.3m mesh dish, some go 3.0m mesh for fun.
    As bolbous pointed out a quality coax has no probs for 25m.
    Signal boosters also amplify unwanted noise, should not be needed if you use a good lnbf and coax.

  • #11
    Senior Member
    weirdo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    5,458
    Thanks
    4,638
    Thanked 3,135 Times in 1,633 Posts
    Rep Power
    0
    Reputation
    29602

    Default

    yep go at least a 2.3 or 3 meter. If you buy too small now you'll regret it later.
    I started of with a 2.3 but have upgraded a couple of years ago to a 3.7

  • #12
    Senior Member Keepleft's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Hunter Valley, 2325
    Posts
    941
    Thanks
    189
    Thanked 113 Times in 67 Posts
    Rep Power
    240
    Reputation
    566

    Default

    Have 2.4m PSI mesh, so choose 3.0 miniumum, but I will go 3,7m too in time.

    Larger better for feeds such as UP4 on AS2.

    3.7m mesh is certainly what i'd run in NZ, or PNG.

    Coax run here on quadshield around 70 metres and all is well.
    5th Wyking Panzer Division

  • #13
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    165
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    204
    Reputation
    52

    Default

    Thanks for all the tips guys, much better idea of where I am headed now, looks like a 2.4-3.0m is going to have to be the way.
    What exactly does the size represent? is it diameter of the dish or the size of the actual dish face (therefore as it is curved the actual diameter is smaller).

    Thanks,
    -Suff

  • #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    568
    Thanks
    39
    Thanked 51 Times in 27 Posts
    Rep Power
    220
    Reputation
    201

    Default

    The mesh dishes aren't real "deep" so a 3m dish is about 10 feet across.

    You must have a clear view to the satellites, any foliage is "hotter" than cold sky so decreases your signal to noise ratio, the foliage doesn't actually have to physically block the signal. This is quite important.

    You can safely paint a dish to make it blend into your yard better, some people get a shock when they first see a dish appear but quickly get used to it. Tell them to stop looking at the dish and look at the bloody pictures on the TV !

    Try to find some pictures of better-hidden dishes at vetrun dot com and other places, then present these to the minister of domestic affairs in support of your case..

  • #15
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Taiwan
    Posts
    6
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Rep Power
    0
    Reputation
    10

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by nathj View Post
    wow it seems theres alot of ppl here from the coast.....

    if you had to mount the dish 25m away you are going to have alot of signal loss.... I use to be an antenna installer in my younger days (over 15 years ago now) and even to mount an antenna 25m away you would need a booster....

    im not sure if there are sat boosters but if there were i would expect you needed one....
    Complete bollocks. Maybe you used to do instals but things have changed.

    I do regular runs over over 30m to 70m with RG6 and have no significant loss and no boosters.

    With a good LNB and dish you can use very long coax runs. I use Commscope RG6 Quad Shield or soemtimes RG11 depending on the install.



    Longest run I have from 4 dishes with 6 coax lines to a multiswitch 100m away then out to receivers is over 120m further away.

    An inline amp was used but certianly I dont use them on coax runs of less than 70m. My regular install uses around 40m or more.

    As for in line of sight foliage... buy a chainsaw

  • #16
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    855
    Thanks
    59
    Thanked 94 Times in 70 Posts
    Rep Power
    238
    Reputation
    609

    Default

    Foilage=water=BAD. a 3+meter dish plus a clear view of the sky is about the starting point of anybody serious anything less is a joke.

  • #17
    Junior Member bassett's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    68
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Rep Power
    200
    Reputation
    10

    Default

    A 2.4 prime focus solid dish will give you everything there is to see.

  • Similar Threads

    1. KU Band Feeds
      By SatGuRu in forum Free to Air , C Band and Feeds
      Replies: 75
      Last Post: 13-03-09, 12:19 PM
    2. C Band Feeds
      By SatGuRu in forum Free to Air , C Band and Feeds
      Replies: 22
      Last Post: 09-03-09, 07:45 PM
    3. Is there any decent english FTA on c-band worth getting big dish for?
      By rickd in forum Free to Air , C Band and Feeds
      Replies: 13
      Last Post: 16-02-08, 05:40 PM
    4. WTB: 9x6 or 9x8 Multiswitch and C-Band Setup
      By suffocator in forum Buy Sell and Trade
      Replies: 2
      Last Post: 12-01-08, 11:18 PM

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •