Is this Dish / LNB Combo Well Matched

Vote 4 Pedro

Hi,
I have a Triax Dish, It's 80cm Top to Bottom x 70cm Across,
with a unbranded Octo LNB that has gone faulty and needs replacing.

I was going to replace it with a Technomate 0.1db Universal Octo LNB Super High Gain (so it says)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technomate-0-1db-Universal-Octo-Super/dp/B003M8QZVA/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315930533&sr=1-12

I'm just using it for one Sky Plus box and one Freesat Plus box
and then 2 standard Freesat boxes leaving 2 spare feeds.

I just wanted to know if my Triax dish and Technomate LNB was a good match
as i've been reading a bit about getting the right combo been very important,
I'm just getting confused and don't want to waste my money on the wrong LNB.
Any help or info greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

darth_maul

Vote 4 Pedro wrote: »

Hi,
I have a Triax Dish, It's 80cm Top to Bottom x 70cm Across,
with a unbranded Octo LNB that has gone faulty and needs replacing.

I was going to replace it with a Technomate 0.1db Universal Octo LNB Super High Gain (so it says)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Technomate-0-1db-Universal-Octo-Super/dp/B003M8QZVA/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315930533&sr=1-12

I'm just using it for one Sky Plus box and one Freesat Plus box
and then 2 standard Freesat boxes leaving 2 spare feeds.

I just wanted to know if my Triax dish and Technomate LNB was a good match
as i've been reading a bit about getting the right combo been very important,
I'm just getting confused and don't want to waste my money on the wrong LNB.
Any help or info greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Any universal (non SKY) LNB will work fine with that dish, Now in saying that, as the dish is a bit bigger than is usually needed for Astra 28.2, I would be tempted to try a much cheaper SKY octo LNB first as the extra size will compensate for the mismatch (sky LNBs are designed for oval dishes).
**wouldn't do this on a customer install** but know the results would be as good if not better that a normal 60cm dish and universal LNB
How do you know the other LNB is faulty, unusual for the whole LNB to go faulty, usually happens to one or 2 of the feeds.

Vote 4 Pedro

darth_maul wrote: »

Any universal (non SKY) LNB will work fine with that dish, How do you know the other LNB is faulty, unusual for the whole LNB to go faulty, usually happens to one or 2 of the feeds.

Yeah a few of the feeds have gone down

darth_maul

Vote 4 Pedro wrote: »

Yeah a few of the feeds have gone down

have you had the cabling to them checked??

Vote 4 Pedro

Yes i checked the cable, they just fitted the cheapest coax when the house was built about 9 years ago
so i have just replaced it with decent stuff and swapped the feeds around to make sure it's not the cabling.
The same LNB feeds are cumin up faulty so i am going to replace the LNB and i think i'll be sorted.

I just hate spending money on the wrong thing because of lack of knowledge
and wanted to make sure it's the right LNB for the job and the dish is OK size wise etc.

steveon

Good Lnb and good dish would work together no problem.

MrSneeg

darth_maul wrote: »

I would be tempted to try a much cheaper SKY octo LNB first as the extra size will compensate for the mismatch (sky LNBs are designed for oval dishes).
**wouldn't do this on a customer install** .

how would a sky lnb fit into the lnb holder of a triax dish ?

Deep diver

MrSneeg wrote: »

how would a sky lnb fit into the lnb holder of a triax dish ?

Mr Sneeg,

I,ve used tape in the past, and it worked fine, with a few cable ties,

MrSneeg

Deep diver wrote: »

Mr Sneeg,

I,ve used tape in the past, and it worked fine, with a few cable ties,

would that be the special 'rogues' tape?

Deep diver

MrSneeg wrote: »

would that be the special 'rogues' tape?

Mr Sneeg,

I use sello tape, wrapped around the collor, and a few cable ties, done a great job, still got a picture for the customer,and they are very happy.

darth_maul

MrSneeg wrote: »

how would a sky lnb fit into the lnb holder of a triax dish ?

All SKY Quads and Octo's come with a removable holder/adaptor, and they can be then be mounted on any dish, I am aware of the mismatch of the shape of dish to LNB but seeming as he is using a 80cm dish this won't matter in this case.

steveon

Do not use a sky lnb for any dish other than a sky dish, they may fit but are not designed for round dishes and as such you will have more trouble than its worth.

kbell

Deep diver wrote: »

I use sello tape, wrapped around the collor, and a few cable ties, done a great job, still got a picture for the customer,and they are very happy.

You used sellotape on a service call to fit an lnb for a customer??

steveon

kbell wrote: »

You used sellotape on a service call to fit an lnb for a customer??

Of course he did as he obviously hasnt a clue what he's doing...as any reputable installer wouldnt do such a thing, and cellotape will loose its sticking properties in time due to the bad weather...

darth_maul

steveon wrote: »

Do not use a sky lnb for any dish other than a sky dish, they may fit but are not designed for round dishes and as such you will have more trouble than its worth.

Was just pointing out as he is using a 80cm dish which is a bit overkill for 28.2, I have tested a sky Quad & Octo LNB on a 80cm dish using a spectrum analyser and meter and surprisingly found that the results matched those of a SKY 60cm dish on most TP's and better on others. Now given that a SKY octo can be got at more than half the price of a universal Octo, then it would be worth trying first. The one that I linked to had a normal 40cm collar (no need for the bodge). Now while I have never and would never permanently do this on a customer job , I have done it temporarily while I was awaiting for a universal to be ordered with their understanding and permission of course.

***not condoning or championing the use of SKY LNB's on round dishes but suggesting that on a 80cm dish the losses could be overcome and on a DIY install it would make monetary sense to try it first***

steveon

I also tried them, and they do not work properly especially during bad weather. I have had countless service calls for exactly that problem, poorly aligned dishes with the wrong lnbs, have sent 3 people back to maplin with dual lnbs that they claim work with sky dishes with a different collar that do not work rite.

darth_maul

What your talking about there is universal LNB's on SKY dishes, I find the results there very bad, but as for SKY LNB's on round dishes the results are not as bad as expected especially if the dish is bigger that needed.

Zardoz

darth_maul wrote: »

What your talking about there is universal LNB's on SKY dishes, I find the results there very bad, but as for SKY LNB's on round dishes the results are not as bad as expected especially if the dish is bigger that needed.

+1
I have a Sky Quad lnb on a Smart 60cm dish and it works very well.
Much better reception than I had using a minidish .
I tried a Smart Titanium lnb on the Smart dish and using my signal meter the difference in signal strength between that and the Sky lnb was negligible if any.

Peter Rhea

It's not a signal strength issue when you use the Sky lnb on a 60cm dish, it's the quality that can suffer as the oval feedhorn picks up random signal from outside the dish edge. This noise seems to vary depending on dish location & in some cases won't affect reception to a troublesome degree.

snaps

steveon wrote: »

Do not use a sky lnb for any dish other than a sky dish, they may fit but are not designed for round dishes and as such you will have more trouble than its worth.

I disagree, ive been using the round type octo lnb on a fixed 80 cm and the oval shaped mk4 quad on a 1.1m dish (Infact ive 4 on that dish for 28, 23, 19,13) and im getting same DB readings as what i was with a titanium .2lnb twin output)

I found the mk4 quads were perfect and cheaper for the job as they are a lot thinner.