Installing a Monoblock?

[simonuk]

I have an old 65cm Fortec dish, Firstly will this fit ok on one of the Sky dish mounts? Now down to the monoblock, what exactly do I do? I am also using a Technomate 3100 receiver.

Thanks in advance.

[echelon]

depends on the mount as to if it will fit or not as there are several types of mount , not just the one

a monoblock is designed to be used on an 80cm dish , so the lnb arm needs adjustments to be made for a smaller or bigger dish as you will see in some of the sticky threads in the dish and lnb forums here

like this one https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60102

[Synchro]

6 degree Monoblock LNB´s are usually used on 80cm sized antennas or more, because the reception is better. So, it might be better idea to get 80cm dish instead.

[simonuk]

I'm in Northern Ireland, I'm looking Astra 1 and hotbird, the dish is 72cm x 65cm so it couldn't need much adjustment could it?

[echelon]

not much adjustment needed , but any problems and you will have to probably lengthen (or shorten) the arm so you get those sats in focus

its all detailed with pictures in the sticky threads so have a good read

[simonuk]

I am having issues, Got hotbird fine 87% quality, But moved the other side and can not get Astra, If I pull the lnb holder out until its almost ready to fall out there is astra only at 71 quality.

What am I doing wrong?

[echelon]

have you tilted the monoblock as one lnb has to be higher than the other
many ppl make the mistake of installing it horizontally , ignoring the fact that the world is round and the sats mirror that arc

[simonuk]

Yes, I have been moving the Astra lnb up and down and can't get a sniff until I pull it almost out and there it is booming, but as soon as I put it in I loss Astra

[zad]

sounds like your dish is slightly small for the focus of the lnb, your getting around this issue by pulling the lnb away from the dish however in doing this you will be loosing overall signal gain.


the best bet is to do one of the 2 things already mentioned, get a 80cm dish or lengthen the arm... however from what you are saying getting a 80cm dish would be the better option

[simonuk]

Right now I am lost, Looking at the front of this dish, I moved it from 28'e to 13e by turning the dish left, So left goes W right goes E, I clamp the left hand lnb which is hotbird, and the other Astra, And because of the ark should Hotbird not be higher that Astra? So the Astra lnb should be lower? Everyone elses setup seems to be totally opposite to this,

[echelon]

clamp it onto hotbird on the centre lnb on the arm , and the astra lnb is on the left and higher up , looking from the front of the dish

you havent taken into account its a mirror image as the signal hits the rear of the dish and bounces back , so the right hand lnb is hotbird and the higher left hand lnb is astra when looking from the front of the dish

that is why everyone elses is opposite to yours , you need to think about reflections and angles in this game

ie:- kick a ball at an angle at a wall , and it will bounce in a different direction away from you like a V for instance