a few months ago when echostar turned over to 10/11 people in the caribean use to pick up 29+ channels depending o dish size but now most peop;e and myself find that we only get 11 channels abc,nbc,cbs and a few spanish channels,all ppv and other movie channels are gone,I was told that ,MAYBE,we will have change our LNB from a standard to a universal,is this true,can anyone in the caribbean or know what i'm talking about help?
110 produced better quality signal north of the equator after the shift to 11...You may have to get a larger dish....as easy as it is try changing your settings.
Where in the Caribbean? And you need a Aspen-Eagle DSS LNBF. As an installer it is the best in the Caribbean and you will need a 6ft dish. You can get 11 transponders in the Caribbean. The strongest is 12574. With a 6ft dish you can get TP 12224, 12239, 12253, 12282, 12297, 12326, 12341, 12443, 12516, 12559 and 12574 in St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and maybe Trinidad. You should get better signal from E11 in places like Martinique up to Antigus and St. Kitts. I can currently scan in 216 channels from 110W.
You many also get 12370 depending on your location also 12355.
I normally get mine out of Miami. I have a channel master 6ft. I am just 100 Miles West of you. I can get all of the TP's mention with quality over 55% and 90% on 12574 so I ma getting 216+ channels. If i get your e-mail I should be able to help. I am not sure if you can give you e-mail on the forum.
It seems likely we are quite close geographically! I am using a converted 12' Orbitron and 4' Channel Master with Invacom QPF031 LNBF and Pansat 3500SD. I am getting good quality (>50) on many channels but not as many as your 216 on a 6' dish! Any advice for someone still struggling to get a better signal?
Primefocus antennas don't do a good job with circular KU-band channels , a 6ft offset dish will do a better job. I am usung a 6ft Channel master, Pansat 2700A with a Aspen-Eagle DSS LNBF. This LNBF is the best for the Caribbean it out perform the Cal Amp. I have a 4ft on Echo 3 for Sports channels on that Satellite. The 6ft is on E10/11 and yes I get 11 transponders over 55% quality and the Puerto Rico spot beam at 90%.
You may to change your LNBF. The Invacom QPF031 will not perform good in the Caribbean. If you are using this on your 12' Orbitron you need to change it to the Prime Focus Dual Pol DBS Feedhorn it cost about US$130.
Let me know your setup on the 12' and the 4' antenna including the LNBF you are using.
On the 12' Orbitron, I am using the Invacom QPF-031 LNBF with the ADF120 Feed; these are advertised for use on a center feed prime focus dish and seems to work reasonably well. This is my main antenna for E10; with this setup I get transponders 12,239, 12,253, 12,297, 12, 370 and 12,574 reliably except in heavy rains when all except 12,574 are affected.
With the 4' I am using the Invacom QPH-031 which has the built-in feed for offset dishes. Performance is marginal; 12,574 comes through reliably but the others only under ideal conditions.
I am getting a Cal Amp and a Eagle Aspen LNBF to compare with the Invacoms; will let you know how they perform.
Heard that the Pansats are not as sensitive under weak signal conditions and will therefore get a Viewsat and a Sonicview to compare.
Enough for now. How do you get such good signal levels with a 6 footer? I began dreaming of a DH 3.0 Meter unit but quickly lost my appetite when I saw the cost of getting one down here!
With a 6ft dish I can get TP 12224, 12239, 12253, 12282, 12297, 12326, 12341, 12443, 12516, 12559 and 12574 using the Aspen-Eagle DSS LNBF. I use to use the Cal Amp but the Aspen-Eagle DSS LNBF out perform it in fringe signal area. 12574 is 90%+ and all the others at 55%+ and I scan 216 channels.
12370 will come in sometime. I guess I need a larger dish for that. But I am waiting to see what happen with the MPEG4 change over and N3 before I make that move. Dont want to spend bad money.
My 4' antenna is on E3 for Zee Sports and the other english channel. I can also get E7 (few transponders) including CNN with the 6ft. You need to get this for your 12'antenna (http://www.prosat.com/catalog/item/1824255/1253367.htm)
Thanks for the suggestion re the prime focus KU feed. Actually, on the Orbitron, I sometimes swap out the Invacom ADF 120 for the ADL-RP3-DBS which has dual C and KU ports. This is partly the reason why I use the Invacon QPF-031, simply remove the feed and the unit fits into the KU port of the RP3. With this setup, I have complete C and KU capabilities, both KU circular and KU linear. If I move to the KU only feed, we would lose the C capability!
For those wondering, I am at 61 degrees W which places me much further east and south than either Puerto Rico or Haiti/DR. That is why I do need a much bigger dish. I should be able to squeeze a bit more out of the Orbitron (which is an older version of the SAMI and probably better built). We will see what happens when I swap in the Eagle Aspen.
By the way, I found the the old Channel Master KU Linear LNBF which came with the 4' dish, a TEE-COMM 1700, performed much better than the Invacom with linear signals. This LNBF seems to be similar to some LNBFs made under the Eagle-Aspen brand and probably uses the same technology. If this is the case, the Eagle-Aspen circular KU LNBF may also outperforms the Invacoms. I will report what happens when the unit comes in.
With Dish Network Eastern Ace at 72W and 77W. Can anyone in the Caribbean (Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Grenada) get any signal from those satellite?)I want to get a Viewsat MaxHD