₦airaland Forum

Dre_lu:
@F_Marshal,
Recently I changed all my setup (Decoder,LNB) since then my reception has been very low, I experiment what your last discoverd. though I could'nt lay my hand on a cup that match the LNG, I only used a Ragolis can, which fixed firmely without the need for a cellotape.
The result:- The signal level jump to an all time high
Thanx for your discorvery

Alright!!!! This is what I'm talking about. Experiment, and tinker with your setup you'll be surprised how much you can find out!!! It started with a cup, and we have now added "Ragolis can" to the mix with even better readings in Quality! Good Job, Dre_lu!!!! Can you post pictures?

Olason: F-marshal, bros happy birthday and many more yrs of success. [color=#990000][/color]    Twinstaiye, how far? any feedback concerning wat u called me on d phone for?

Olason, I no sabi wetin to tok o! , But my B'day na for December no be now O!, Thank u anyway!

Enigma:
@F-Marshal

How bodi now?

Some chap came to present that funnel/plastic idea at the satellites.co.uk forum last week; however, he wasn't able to convince the folk there that it boosts signal. It might be worth trying out for oneself though.


Edited: @George_D; yep, they would have indeed been testing for a while before launch. 

Ol'boy I dey O! The funnel thing is the same concept as the conical scalar ring concept on an offset dish. It is strange, I had a fluctuating quality signal betwen 37 and 42 and with a Cup in place my signal became a steady 48 quality reading.

George_D:
@F_Marshal,
Nice pics. Does the plastic cup boost out-of-footprint signals like nilesat too? Do
you know?

This experiment was performed on an Offset dish and not a prime focus dish. Who knows? There maybe a way to rig something simillar for Prime focus LNBs.

emexi:
@marshal ,thats beautiful work. but what can be used to improve the signal quality of the c /band especially 1.8m dish.@pitodenz .man isent you a mail but have not heard from you. is everything ok.

On your I.8M, I believe a good scalar ring should do the trick. Make sure your LNB and Scalar ring are centered in the middle of the dish. Find the sweet spot by moving your LNB in and out. Right now, I'm setting up my 1.2M dish (motorized) to pickup some C-band channels using a Conical Scalar Ring. I will post the pictures when the project is complete

eduzo:
Mr gem
happy birthday and all the best.

marshall

that is ingenious. will try it.
eduzo

Nothing spoil, we're here to learn from each other, abi no be so?[/color]

biggjoe:
@ F-Marshal,
You have just given me enough reason to go and adjust my FTA installation after a long period of neglect.

Thats what I call ingenuity.

[color=#000099]De OGA imsef!!! E don tey wey man neva see ya break light nah!! I happy sey dis wan bring u comot from ya hibernation o!

spaceman:
@ f-mashal
good job
u must also baer in mind that th lenght and diameter of ur funnl shld b comparable to ur dish size. I mean d opening of d funnel shld be such dat it receives max signal coming to d lnb from dish and not obstruct it.
am i making sence?

Yes, your making absolute sense, but I'm not very sure of the exact science in this case. We're all experimenting, and that's the joy of FTA.

Nash-FTA:
@F-Marshal,
That setup looks more like a rocket engine ready to fire into space! Talk of rocket science!
Anyway, I will give it a try soon.
@All,
How does cutting a Ku-band LNB (i.e., the plastic part pointing the dish) increase sensitivity to weak signals? I saw it posted in Part 2 of this forum.

We do these all in the name of FTA and all those channels we like to show off to our friends and family, but never ever get the full time to watch. Yes, cutting the plastic part increases signal, but you run the risk of exposing the LNB throat to rain water and insects nesting in them. For me, I never cut the protective plastic that covers the LNB feed horn.

salamander:
Gr8 work Marshal

Salamamder, how u dey nah?

[size=16pt]Boost Weak Signals and Reduce Rain Fade![/size]

If you're creative and don't mind the look you can use a Funnel shaped plastic cup or simillar and attach it to your lnb with electrical tape to boost some weak signals on your Linear LNB Dish setup. For 90cm to 1.2m offset dish this could mean some relief from rain fade and also an increase in quality. It is simple, but it works! 

Mr. Gem:
@all

My best regards to all as I'm celebrating my BIRTHDAY today. I LOVE YOU ALL. Cheers.

Happy Birthday Bro! Wishing you the best life has to offer!

deepbluesky:
Hello everybody,

It's the first time i'm writing here. Have passed all the posts made about satellite reception in your region and must admit that i'm quite impressed so many people having this hobby. One of my hobbies is doing research about extreme fringe and out of footprint reception conditions all over the world and this is how i found by chance this board. You can find me in several european sat boards as well.

I want to start with 2 questions if you don't mind:

1) Is there anybody receiving 13E in Lagos ? I suppose that even a 5m solid dish of high quality wouldn't do the job, right ?
In times before Hotbird 6 i had read about partial reception as South as Bamako on 4.5m but the newer Hotbirds look to be extremely sharp edged. At least this is what people in Pakistan and India tell and i fear that the same might be the case even in Africa.

2) Does anybody get 76.5E C-Band in Lagos ? I am aware of the quite low elevation of 8.2° and the theoretical coverage of 32dbW, so a 4.5m dish might do the job, but can this guarantee 24/7 reception ? In particular the following frequencies are of interest: 3680H/3760H/3780V


Best regards from Stuttgart and thanks for your time and hospitality.

Welcome aboard deepbluesky. So,  if I may ask how would you apply the knowlege/information you gather about these satellites you mentioned from your current location?  Once again welcome!!

[size=14pt]TIP Of The Day:[/size]
For the New Users and Season veterans Click Here for  graphic displays of Elevation, Azimuth and Skew or Polarity. I hope this helps anyone that needs it.



@ All,
How una dey??

pitodenz:
@ George D
                10758 is not my problem cos at the start of installation i use to hit it up to 98% but then when align to other nilesat freq it ll come down 88-90% but then it does not solve cnn problem. Right now cnn is showing with showsports no breaking cnn freq is hitting up to 54-55%but yet it ll still go down around 7pm. MY PROBLEM IS THE DROP IN SIGNAL IN THE NIGHT. George i wont ve doubt you had it been butoneday was not experiecing the same problem in warri,i wont ve link the problem to ph only.You dont know the type of chalenge u ve put me into.This 4m dish is having the same signal strength ur 3m but yet i still ve down time.

I would suggest:
1) Check your connection from the LNB output on dish and the connector that connects the cable. Use clamp compressors to attach cable to connectors. Make sure there are no loose connections. (it could be that the cable expands during the day, making a good connection and then shrinks at cooler temperatures at night and loses contact,)

2) When the quality drops at night, use a very short cable to to connect from LNB to Decoder to see if there is any change in qualty.

3) Try a different LNB, first using a very short cable from LNB to Decoder as a test.

LagosSky: F_Marshal
When it comes to receive of KU signals there are 3 bands and only single polarity for 3 type of LNB in commercial (ie. professional) use depending on the geographical location on earth.
The type we use is what is known as universal which means it covers all 3 bands and both polarity which is used for DTH installations.
Then there are linear and circular type. A lot of satellites in NA are circular (for example direct TV system).

What is the point.   What has this got to do with my observations on Invacom LNBs?? By the way, on the KU Band LNBs; Linear, Circular and Universal LNBs all  are dual polarity (unless you own the genesis LNBs they were only designed to output only on polarity). Right and Left polarities for Circular. Horizontal and Vertical polarities for Linear and Universal. And before I forget, there are more Linear Satellites over North America than there are Circular ones. I hope that helps.

[quote Author=Olofofo]roger that, but seems a lot of channels on the aforementioned frequencies will be lost. how u dey?[/quote]Yep!! That is the drawback of using Linear LNBs with universal Birds. I dey, how ya end?

[Quote Author=BUTONEDAY]
@ All,
I bought an invacom quad lnb from the US about four months ago. It has linear and circular outputs. It didn't work. Maybe if I had bought from the UK, it would have worked.[/quote]Did you set your L.O. (LNB Frequency) to 10750 and LNB Type to Standard or Single? and for the Circular the L.O should be 11250.

[Quote Author=olofofof]
the LNB the owner ordered is here yet or not? LNB from the US hardly work in this part of the world.[/quote]Not quite! Most of the LNBs for USA is mostly linear or Circular, therefore if used in Europe and Africa, since all the birds are Universal, you don't get the frequencies from 11400 to 11690 or so, but you should be able to pull in frequencies  from 11700 and above assuming all your settings are correct.

[size=14pt]Where is the (Edit) Modify Button? [/size]

bodejohn:
Don't mind those who call themselves installers, some of them know next to nothing.
About the dish, there was a time a saw a 60cm dish inverted. I mean the lnb arm/holder was up instead of been down.
I have wondered in my mind for some time now what will be the result of tracking a bird with the "dish upside down"
If the dish can reflect the signals to the lnb, i think it should work.

I will be glad if i can see some contributions to this.

Inverted or Upside down dishes are used to track Satellite Signals in areas that have very low Dish Elevations. It is mainly used with offset dishes. For example, if your dish elevation for a satellite is 10° and your dish can only point down to 18° (due to mounting Post restrictions), by inverting the Dish, you expose the dish to a wider angle of the signal from the satellite. For this to work the elevation has to doubled in the oppositie direction. For our example of 10° normal elevation, you move to scale to let'say 19° or 20° elevation. Azimuth and Skew remain the (original)same.

toxnaija:
Pitodenz,
I can be reached through toxnaija@gmail.com

Olofofo,
pls update us on the Invacom lnb asap.thanks for the updates.

Tox!!! How u dey nah?? I hope sey u no dey insai bush as u dey FTA Naira land so o!

George_D:
Not necessarily. You could use a multi switch with multiple lnbs too. The goal is for you to be able
to watch more than one channels at the same time without conflict.

Lets say I have 3 dishes. One pointing to intelsat 7/10, the second to Eutelsat w3a and the third
Sirius 4 all connected through a diseqc switch to a reciever in the parlour and I'm living in a two or
three bedroom flat. Instead of just looping out the RF output of my decoder in the parlour to the other
other TVs in the rooms, I might decide to pass the output of the diseqc switch through a multi switch
to the TV in the parlour and those of the other rooms. Why is that? What is special in this arrangement?

Now, this is the difference: If I decide to pass the output of the RF port from the decoder to the TVs
in the other rooms, I can only watch whatever channel is on in the parlour (this is the most common
arrangement in many homes with FTA). But if I decide that I need freedom to watch any channel
independent of what is being watched in the parlour, I have to pass the output of the diseqc switch
through a multi switch to another decoder in my room. So that, while the children are watching, e.g, baby tv
channel (from Intelsat 7/10), I can be on any other channel, e.g, ETV-HYDE-PARK (from sirius 4) in my room.
If I decide to forgo the multiswitch and  pass the output of the diseqc through an ordinary two or 4-way splitter to my decoder in the room what I get is conflict between channels with horizontal or vertical
polarities. The decoder in the parlour becomes the 'master' decoder and those in the rooms become the
'slaves'. So, if the decoder in the parlour is on a channel with horizontal polarity, e.g, baby tv (intelsat 7/10),
the other ones in the rooms cannot recieve any channel on vertical polarity except you power off the master reciever in the parlour.

To avoid this kind of conflict, you need a multi switch so you can watch channels of different polarities
independent of each other.

George_D, This is a simple matter. Your three SAT example cannot be achieved if the LNBs only have a single output. For you to achieve what you're looking for you need ( I say it again) LNB with a DUAL output connected to a multi- switch or  2 4X1 DiseqC switches with each ouput going to Receivers in your palour and Bedroom. Another method is using a Band Stacked LNB, that uses the "One Cable System or OCS"  method which I doubt you do and connected to a multi-switch. Remember, to use a BandStacked LNB, your Receiver must be OCS capable. If you do what you have been theorizing above, there will be a conflict. Period!!!!  Look at the diagrams by BUTONEDAY and LagosSky as guides. I hope this helps.

olofofo:
@all

ART is back on abracadabra. in process of uploading to the group. enjoy!

Ol'boy!!!   U never sleep!! How nah? BTW, INVACOM LNBs are very good in pulling in Fringe area Satellite reception. 

George_D:
Thanks for the information. I am still waiting for olofofo's reply on the issue. What I need is
something similar to your illustration.

Remember, the LNB MUST have a dual out put for it to work.

George_D: The multi-switch I am talking about is not the normal signal splitter. Rather, it's a special kind of switch used to seperate vertical and horizontal polarities of signal coming from the same lnb or multiple lnbs. It enables you to watch channels of different polarities with more than one decoder at the same time without conflict.
Just go to alaba or call your guy there and explain to him. He will immediately understand.

@ George_D I don't know if you already have an answer to the switch question.  You need a 3X4 switch like this.

More FTA Tips and Tutorials!!!

Here are Tutorials and Tips on FTA; ranging from Dish Assembly to Setting up a Motor on a Big Dish. Remember, use the instructions as a guide. The Website is satcrazy.com and under Technical Zone section you should choose the lessson/tutorial you want. I hope this brings more Knowledge to all Nairaland FTA members.

enitan2002:
i guess whats happening to me is the effect of the law of karma. i once had the original of the 4652 series, there's someone i bought accessories for installation, 4653x was the decoder i bought. and since mine doesnt have a blindscan, so i thought the best option is to swap mine for his, without him knowing. so, i guess that is the root of my problem. HAD I KNOWN

The Law of Retributive justice does exist after all!!!! Lesson learned, I hope?

[quote Author=olofofo]nice one. how have you been?[/quote]I dey o!! How about you and ya Family?

Tutorials on FTA Dish, Motor, DiseqC and etc setups.

http://www.ftavideos.com/

pitodenz:
@ George D / Enigma
thanks for ur contributions, i ll get to work by sunday. Enigma i believe that should be my own piece of cake, thanks and happy birthday.

Ahiem!!! *cough* *cough*

alcove x:
@ satman,
i ve followed ur request for someone to track daarsat from d hitv thread. I tried tracking those freq on intel 907 @ 27 deg west without success. I was in My tv office in abuja(mpape) to sort out a receiver problem and witnessed a live display of thracking of daarsat. The revealing aspect of the display is that to track daarsat, u need an HD Decorder plus HD lnbf to receive all thier 52 channells broadcast that are all in high definition/free to air at that moment early in feb, 2009. I asked why strong hd receivers/lnbf,s have not flooded the market and was told they are carefull not to incurr the wraght of daarsat since all their technical parameter are not yet made public.
I noticed in d satshops at wuse zone 3 in abuja that FIJI has a HD KU LNBF in d market now.

Acovex, your regular LNB already picks-up the HD Signals. The only problem is that you need an HD capable receiver to decode the signal. Let nobody fool you into buying a new LNB. It is a sell gimmick. Don't fall for it! My advice for anyone buying new STBs (decoder) if you can afford it, you should buy HD MPEG 4 capable receivers. They can handle from Standard SD, MPEG 2 HD to MPEG 4 HD Signals. Remember, Nigeria will be switching over from Analog to Digital TV transmissions in 2015. But before you buy make sure you research well to make sure the unit you buy will meet all your needs.

pitodenz:
@ George D
                  i need help to install diseq motor, how do i calculate the longitude and latitude . plz i need a guide from u guys.

Pitodenz, using DishPointer.com click on "Motorized Systems" and choose Moteck SG2100 H-H motor as an example, and type your location, Port Harcourt.  It will give you the following: Your Latitude: is 4.7915° and Longitude: is 6.9991°. Your Motor Latitude: is 4.8° (this is your latitude rounded) and Your Dish Elevation:  29° (This is the elevation that you will set on your dish. (Note this is different from the motor elevation which your current latitude of 4.8°) The LNB skew should be zero, this is because the motor controls the skewing as the dish moves acoss the arc. I have attached a link to Tutorials on how to insall various H-H motors. Don't forget to factor in your Azimuth. Remember, your true south is your longitude (6.9991°), and your True south Satellite in this case is Eutelsat @ 7.0°E. On dishpointer.com pay particular attention to "Dish Setup Data" section, all the figures that you need are located there. I hope this helps.

How to install H-H Motors and Your True South Calculations using DISHPOINTER.com

Happy B'day to Enigma & Enitan2002!!! Wishing you guys the best life has to offer.

[Quote author=George_D]Bros, it's not exactly as hard as you think. And you don't need to tunnel through the earth to recieve
either satellite (as you seem to suggest), at least not from my location anyway. Check out the alignment
section of the fastsatfinder software I made available in the google group. Input my co-ordinates (5.59N lat, 5.71E long) and you'll discover that both birds are on my horizon:

Star One C2 (70,0°W)   268.579 ° Azimuth   5.562 °  Elevation
EchoStar 3 (61,5°W)   267.656 ° Azimuth   14.245 ° Elevation

All that is remaining now is the dish size that will match the EIRP of the transponders
We have gone past the stage where we make unsubstantiated claims in our posts. Not with the array of
installation gadgets and tracking softwares we have at our disposal in this forum.
So, once again, anyone care to join me?[/quote]@ the highlighted, and hence my comment "Anyway, nothing is impossible sha!"

Kee007: am using this medium to congratulate all member wellcome to sesason 3 of fta.
@have not had anything coment fro enitan ooooooooooooooooooooooo . where u dey come on board now.
@ F_Marshal .am also interesested on the ups stuff ooo, how can i get more infon on goggle group,pls shed more light on that
cheers[color=#990000][/color]

Please, direct your questions to Nash-FTA and Gangsta101. They are in a better position to help you.

Gangsta101:
All,

i was going to make a detailed post before buy I'm much too occupied to that now, so i'm just going to post this anyways. a while back, Nash FTA pointed out how one could change the batteries of a UPS to a car battery and in the process get a much longer viewing time from a single charge, the problem we were all considering then was whether the in-built charger of the UPS would be able to charge the batteries without burning out.
well i discovered that the problem wasn't the charger burning out, but rather the charger wouldn't be able to charge the batteries properly. i bought a 62AH SLA battery and every few days i would have to put the batteries in a car to charge it up cos the charge from the UPS could power my TV for less than 5mins, even after a few days charge, (compared to 5 hours after staying in a moving car for a while). so i remembered an old project of mine when i was trying to modify a computer AT power supply to  see if i could get 13.8 volts from the 12v line for something similar.
i got an ATX power supply and using a potentiometer in the 5v feedback loop, i was able to raise the voltage to 14 volts, now those ATX supplies can pump out a lot of current at relatively low voltages so even after 3hours charge (which is how long PHCN usually leave the light on around here) i can watch a complete EPL game, and since i get home late at night, i rarely have to put on the generator these days.

Now someone may ask what does this post have to do with FTA but this thread is all about INDEPENDENCE (being able to get what u want, when u want it), so a true UPS that can power your TV, decoder and sound system for hours with minimum fuss does give you the independence you need to enjoy your FTA system. now there are a few problems with the setup, the most notable of which is that the ATX power supplies are notorious for tripping off with slight voltage or current changes on account of a very sensitive surge protection circuitary, but like i said, i will explain all of this much more fully in a detailed post later, maybe i'll post it on the computer/electronics section of this forum and paste the link here.

I have attached a picture under the post:

By the way, does the jsc patch for echolink affect the showtime/art packages in anyway? what i mean is does it mean u give up the ability to watch the showtime/art packages, or do you have to remove the card every time or something else?

Good Job Gangsta101. and thanks To Nash FTA!!!!!

This is a good project for anyone living the "FTA" life, and also wanting to Shame "NEPA", or whatever they call themselves now. Imagine, watching your favorite shows without the noise pollution from Generator, or constant power failures from NEPA? That's way too COOOOOOOOLLLL!!!! People, this is something to look into short of installing Solar panels or a Wind Turbine to generate Electricity. Once again, KUDOS to Gangsta101 Nash FTA !!
BY the way you should share the blue print to this your wonderful achievement on this forum.