Triax Multiblock, Modification?

Thanks for the tip Pelisor.
Thing is I already have the Triax Multiblock and would rather not buy more stuff
I want to try and get a spread from 9e to 28.2e and if prime focus for that spread is @16e so I'm thinking if I can mount a central LNB on this type http://www.pulsat.com/products/Triax-Multi-Block-Feedholder-for-4-LNBs.html I should be able to get that too and setup a 5 LNB range at 9',13',16,19.2' and 28.2.

excollier wrote: »

Read this thread, particularly post #2, it helped me perfectly, same set up.
Thanks to Watty

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=70860270#post70860270

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated ;-)
Any pics of your own set up?

Just to clarify, your set up is pulling 16e aswell as Astra's and Hotbird?

watty wrote: »

That Triax bar and holder will allow 3 degree spacing and LNB very close or at Prime Focus.


The plastic parts are all mounted normally, as is arm of dish.

The curved alloy bar has hollow facing dish, so that all LNBs are same distance from notional centre that prime focus points at. But it doesn't tilt enough for 13E to 28E in Ireland (it's fine in Germany!). Since the mount hole is offset you flip the bar endwise so hole is at bottom rather than top of bar. Now it can tilt more. Elevation is now very slightly too high at centre, but fine tweak fixes that, and I couldn't see any difference actually as it's only 6mm?

I also drilled a new hole to make the bar East/West offset rather than central as otherwise it would be 19E at centre rather than 16E at centre. No shortage of signal on 28E, so it can be more offset.

The more offset the focus is, the less signal.

This is also why you always need the next size dish up for multifeed.

Watty!
Excellent Information! Thanks
I'd seen a lot of posts regarding the upside mount, but thats the 1st time I've actually known which part was turned

As for the LNB's I'm currently using Inverto Black Twins at 13' and 19' and was planning on adding singles for 9' and 16' which I was hoping would allow the correct spacing???
Along with a new quad for 28.2 as I assume the thomson LNB from sky wouldn't be the best

Watty that was my thinking regarding the Sky LNB, Thanks for confirming it!
With regards to the LNB holder modifications I found some very interesting pics
This one especially with regards tothe13',16'and 19' combination that I'd like to try

And these mods are very interesting too

Well I ordered a 23mm Inverto multiconnect LNB to take the centre spot on my LNB rail
If I manage to get up and running I'll post a pic or 2
It will be a little chaotic with the twins at 13' and 19.2, a quad at 28.2 and whatever else I can fit in on the rail!
But all good if it works! ha

Well I set up 9e,13e, 19.2e(I'd prefer 26e but the spacing is tight to 28:( ) and 28.2e today and so far so good!
I typoed earlier re:23.5', can't seem to get above 34%SNR on this bird.
Whats normal for Limerick on this bird with a multi LNB setup?

Thanks to Watty for the advice to offset the multiblock bar east to west!
Looking at how far I had offset the Quad LNB, it's a vital mod that I would never have tried
I tried the bar without the mod and I couldn't get a peep from Astra 2 until I drilled and mounted it maybe 7.5cm offset!!!

I'm getting SNR's at @ 75% across 13',19' and 28'2 and on 9'e I'm locking at 44% during the rain today!
I typoe

I'm looking forward to adding the Inverto Multiconnect for 16' as soon as it gets here
I'll post pics as soon as the job is done

Thanks to all for the input so far

watty wrote: »

Photos?

banie01 wrote: »

I typoed earlier re:23.5', can't seem to get above 34%SNR on this bird.
Whats normal for Limerick on this bird with a multi LNB setup?

Regarding above on 23.5 I think it may just have been a weak TP I used for the alignment.
I'm pulling @225 services off this bird and all on channel SNRs seem to be @ 70%-85%

And Watty I'll add a photo or 2 shortly, still havent added 16e yet as I only received the Multiconnect LNB this morning and even with this super slim LNB fitting it in between 13' and 19' is going to take some delicate touchs and maybe even some lube!!!haha!

The pictures give a good idea of just how much the east west offset needs to be to get the spread from 9e all the way out to 28.2 in the Limerick/MidWest area!
Thanks again for all the tips and when I get the holder for the Inverto Multiconnect I'll add more pics




Watty, and anyone else interested ;-) attached are the pics of what I've managed so far!

watty wrote: »

Note that if the bar is correct slope the LNBs are almost at right angles, just like on a Motorised dish the LNB is straight.

Strictly there should be a slight curve on the bar, a straight bar is a tangent to the curve of the arc that the LNB describes between 42E and 45W.


You are angling the bar to best compromise of the point on curve above.

via http://www.techtir.ie/howto/install-motorised-dish by Zaphod

Thanks for the link
I haven't finalised setting up skew yet as I still have to add the lnb at 16e.
Then I can be certain of my spacings from 9e through to 19e and set all to maximum on the box.

Well folks heres the almost final set up!
I'm going to lock the Inverto Multiconnect LNB down with a different LNB holder (similar to the 1 Pelisor recommended) as at the moment its set on a self modded LNB holder that isn't locked to the bar.
But even without being fully locked down I'm still pulling in 16e @58% with Tring at @45%

excollier wrote: »

Impressive!

Thanks!
But if it wasn't for the advice offered here I wouldn't have even known where to start

Well I received the LNB holder I had ordered(Similar to the 1 in Pelisor's post)
Unfortunately this type of mount will not allow spacing between 13'e and 19'e....it just wont fit!
So I proceeded to make the temporary mount I improvised above ^^^^^ can just be seen in the above picture
Into a permenant one.
I have modified/jury rigged a holder from part of a Triax LNB holder, that I joined with epoxy putty directly to the 40mm adaptor ring that comes with the Inverto Multiconnect LNB.
I cut away most of the Triax holder, leaving just a shallow curve to glue the adaptor ring to.
Then I cut away the bottom of the LNB(Part that mounts to the bar) and pared away enough so that I had just a lip over the bar at front/back.

As my dish is aimed at 16'e I epoxy resined this modified holder directly above the hole I drilled to recentre the bar and I'm glad to report that this modified mount does the job

I didn't take any pics as I was doing this job as it was one of those, Head down and fix it moments....
It completely slipped my mind til I was finished and had it all locked in place.
I will add pic's of the mount in place tomorrow though!

EDIT
Below is a pic showing the mount at 16'e, you can see the epoxy putty hulding the adaptor ring along with a view of the modded triax holder to give an idea of how muc was cut away.

Well today was the first day of bad weather I've had since I added the multitude of LNBs and I thought I'd take the opportunity to give an update on performance in poor weather.

I'm pleasantly suprised with the performance of the setup in the heavy rain today across all sats apart from 16'e of course
Rain attenuation practically wiped out this bird for me!

But as I only added 16'e to see how far I could push the dish/Multiblock combination its not really an issue for me, and if it gets to the stage where its a must have I can always switch to TD110 LOL

But for anyone interested during the heavy rain today my levels on 16'e dropped to 15%SNR, Black Screen;
9'e dropped to @37%SNR, 13'e, 19'e and 23.5'e all stayed above the 75%SNR mark and 28.2'e was at 80%SNR during the worst of the rain.

All in all I'm very happy with the final result and hope that my fumblings with my set up can be useful to anyone who tries similar!

P.S Thanks to all who offered help/input