Optus Sat Spacings....

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Jaxson

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#78111 27-Feb-2011 14:55

Hi all,

Quick question. If the angle between Optus D1 and C1 is 4 degrees, does that mean that same 'sky' dual LNB can work between Optus C1 and D2 if I realign the dish?

Looks like it's 4 degrees between them all, D1 at 160, C1 at 156 and D2 at 152 East.

I have terrestrial freeview for the usual freeview channels so would like to know if I can use the existing dish/lnb to cover C1 and D2 to check for sports feeds etc.

Cheers.

mm1352000

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#443926 27-Feb-2011 18:19

Good question!
I think you'll need an installer to answer that, but my guess is that you have to consider the skew as well as the spacing. I've heard people comment that the skew on the Optus satellites is weird, but if it is consistent then I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work (never tried to receive C1/D3).

geek4me

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#443936 27-Feb-2011 19:23

I have 3 LNB's pointing to a single 90cm dish. They are mounted on a specially cut bracket made by the installer. I can receive D1, C1/D3 and D2 without realigning the dish - works great.

mm1352000

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#443941 27-Feb-2011 20:41

@geek4me
Yes, those setups are cool. :)
I think the OP must have a spare 65cm Sky dish since they're talking about an LNB something like the one pictured here. As I understand it, those "dual" LNBs are more tricky to set up than separate LNBs with a bracket, however separate LNBs are going to have to be quite slim at a 4deg spacing. I have a 90cm dish receiving D1 and D2, but I doubt I'd be able to fit another LNB between the two.

geek4me

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#444017 28-Feb-2011 09:27

The triple bracket looks a lot like this. It has 3 full-size LNBs. The signal is not as strong as one alone - that's why a dish of 90cm or larger is needed.

Jaxson

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#444019 28-Feb-2011 09:29

Hi all,

I'm going to try this anyway so will report back.

Yes I have a 65cm standard ex sky dish with the sky custom dual lnb. sounds like the Optus satellites all have similar skew so that LNB should be fine for this.

Should be

Will let you know if it works. This setup won't be to everyones liking, but may be good to know what's possible or not if anyone is keen.

Does anyone know of the best options for sports feeds?
I can do Optus D1 and C1 with this lnb or C1 and D2 (hopefully).
I've heard good things about D2 is all.

mm1352000

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#444085 28-Feb-2011 11:54

@geek4me: Size of the dish is not the only reason why you can't do this with anything smaller than 90cm. In fact, you probably could do it with a 65cm dish if you could make LNBs that were thin enough, or do something like this. What I was trying to explain is that you physically can't put the LNBs close enough to eachother on a 65cm dish to pick up satellites that are 4deg apart. That is why Sky uses the special LNB which Jaxson is talking about. That LNB is designed for use with the 65cm dishes that Sky installers use...

@Jaxson: I guess you've got nothing to lose except time. I'd be interested to see how this turns out.

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GeekGuy

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#444088 28-Feb-2011 11:58

geek4me: The triple bracket looks a lot like this. It has 3 full-size LNBs. The signal is not as strong as one alone - that's why a dish of 90cm or larger is needed.

The lnb's have to be alot smaller to fit onto that triple lnb plate then the usual ones you get.

geek4me

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#444141 28-Feb-2011 14:29

The LNBs look standard size to me. They are single ones not dual ones like Sky use.

Mine did not come from Freeviewshop but they look similar to those shown in the picture slotting into the notches on the plate. The installer should know the right type to use.

GeekGuy

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#444305 1-Mar-2011 00:54

geek4me: The LNBs look standard size to me. They are single ones not dual ones like Sky use.

Mine did not come from Freeviewshop but they look similar to those shown in the picture slotting into the notches on the plate. The installer should know the right type to use.

I did not mean the dual lnb's. I bought the triple lnb plate from Freeviewshop last week as they had dropped in price.
The lnb I have fits perfectly in the middle slot but not so perfectly in one of the outer slots.

Jaxson

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#444334 1-Mar-2011 09:38

Feedback....

Yep, this works fine as. Just got up on the ladder, loosened some bolts and swung it anticlockwise (looking down straight down the pole to the roof) or left (if you are behind the dish looking out towards the lnb) by a tiny 4 degrees. Didn't use a sat meter at this early stage but got good signal strength on both satellites now.

Normally there is not a lot of channels at all on C1 (at least FTA) and there are around 40 God Squad and news channels on D2. Only a few are in English too so this is not something you'd want to do normally I suspect. But anyway, we're hunting for sports feeds here so will just fire up the blind scan at the weekend and see what we can find. If I don't get anything that often I can always swing it back.

So yeah, the same fat/oval 10750 lnb works fine between D1 and C1, OR C1 and D2. Switching is via 22kHz tone.

mm1352000

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#444357 1-Mar-2011 10:19

Sweet!

Thanks for reporting back.

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geek4me

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#444460 1-Mar-2011 14:38

GeekGuy:
geek4me: The LNBs look standard size to me. They are single ones not dual ones like Sky use.

Mine did not come from Freeviewshop but they look similar to those shown in the picture slotting into the notches on the plate. The installer should know the right type to use.

I did not mean the dual lnb's. I bought the triple lnb plate from Freeviewshop last week as they had dropped in price.
The lnb I have fits perfectly in the middle slot but not so perfectly in one of the outer slots.

Sorry to hear the outer LNBs didn't fit. They did on the holder made for me which must have been a little bigger than the Freeviewshop one which sounds like it may not be suitable for the job.

mm1352000

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#444468 1-Mar-2011 15:00

There is a reason why Freeviewshop sell *specific* "flat body" LNBs for their bracket. Not all LNBs LNBs will fit close enough together in the first place (for example, the other LNBs that Freeviewshop sell), and not all LNBs will fit their bracket...