prime focus on 3 meter mesh

[coxie]

I have fitted a prime focus lnb to a 3 metre mesh and are unable to see anything . I was hoping to receive KU Aussie beams.
Is what Im trying to acheive actually possible . ???

I use this dish for C band on IS 8 over the winter with no problems.

any advice greatfully received

[allstarnz]

are you able to see the Freeview muxes? That'd be a good start. Then you should be able to narrow down if the signal isn't sufficient, or it's something else. If you are after stuff on Optus C1, then perhaps get 12407V 30000, you should be able to get the tuning channel without a card. This is a dual beam. From there see what else goes.

Is it a solid or mesh?

I understand you should be able to do it, but I don't know much more, as I've never played with it myself.

You might need to do some searching on somewhere like Austech, or Geekzone. A 5 sec google seemed to bring up some good leads too. :cool:

[Apsattv]

Try setting it up on a strong signal such as Optus D1

Do you have a satfinder?

Not all mesh dishes will work well on KU band.

You will need to have the LNBF skew set correctly and make sure the LNBF is centered correctly on the dish.

[wiilliiss]

go back to intelsat 8 c band, tweak c band lnb position as well as possible then replace woth p/f lnb to get mac/ arirand as well as possible.

for is 8 ku lnb connector will be about 6.30 [imagine a clock face on top of the lnb]once youve tweaked ku as well as can be skew lnb to about 8.30 then swing dish around to 156deg.
on this orbitron 3m7 get most verticals usually at no more than 5 points above minimum horizontals are generally up to 10 above min although of no interest.

[coxie]

Thanks Everyone,
That gives me plenty to work on.

I cant even see the freeview muxes, so maybe Lnb skew is way out or its just not possible on my mesh.

Is there any way of telling wether the mesh dish I have is good or bad for KU.

Appreciate your help.

[allstarnz]

not absolutely certain, but I understand the smaller the holes the better (ie more surface area)

[wiilliiss]

if you can get a 3mm drill bit through the mesh, its not ku grade.

when ullrich reopens will be getting a few sheets of .5mm to replace the older mesh. then a long session with tinsnips.

[kiwisteve]

A 3m dish on Ku is very sharp you can easily miss the satellite if your alignment is a fraction out . I experimented with this in the days of analogue and BMAC on A3 , B1 and B3 , focal point is critical and dish accuracy if you want best results . I discovered A solid dish rated to 12ghz is much better :D:D the dish mount pole must be very strong and little flex or the wind fade is shocking on ku

[coxie]

I measured the mesh in the weekend & its diamond shaped. around 5mm by 2mm. certainly a 3mm drill would not go thru. It all sounds a bit difficult, Accuracy is also not my strong point so I may put in the 2 hard basket which is a bit of a shame.

Anyway thanks everyone for all your input.
Thanks Mr Moderator for providing the platform for me to get the advice.