I'm new to this. hence my questions.. I bought a pansat 3500sd and have an OVAL KTI DTV Multi Satellite dish with 3 lnbs on it...How do I aim this for FTA reception? Can I adjust each of the 3 LNBs for 3 different sat. Do I need to purchase a different lnb? Thanks for any one that responds.
Which 3 sats are you wanting to pick up? unless they are EXACTLY the same distance apart as the 101, 110, and 119 DTV sats, and have the same orbital attitude and position, then the answer is no. That dish is made and molded specifically to be tuned to the aforementioned satellites. There is nothing to adjust on the LNB so I don't see how you could do it. You might (key word MIGHT) be able to align it to one sat but it would be difficult without knowing precisely where you are trying to aim, what elevation waht azimuth what tilt etc etc. A lot of times when i am aligning this stationary dish, trying to home in on the 101 i'll pick up the 110 or the 119 instead ( on the 101 LNB) which tells me I am a little low on my ele and slighty off to the right, hence i raise the dish a smidge, turn a bit to the left and bam there's my 101. But that's getting off track. More than likely unless you know where you want to aim it at and even THEN it depends on the satellite too. Is it High-powered, med- powered, RHCP, LHCP square-wave or what? Most likely no.
The other possible problem with that type setup depends on if they have internal switches in the LNB setup. Some internal switches won't work right with FTA receivers. I'm not familiar with that exact dish so I'm not sure if it could work or not. You sometimes have to scrap out the original LNB setup and install a universal LNB mount with 3 single LNBs that allow more adjustment for the different sats. Just something to keep in mind. Jerry
To further expand on what Jerry was getting at, that DTV Triple Sat Dish has the multiswitch built into the LNB assembly. As you've probably noticed, the LNB has four coax outputs on it. What they output and switch through specifically for this is as follows: 1. 13Volts 2. 18Volts 3. 13 Volts w/22 Khz tone 4. 18 volts w/22 Khz tone Unless one the satellites you want to find utilizes one those currents, you won't be able to even pick it up with this dish.
I do not believe the FTA receiver will do you much good targeting the 101, 110, and 119 Satellites. The signals coming from those are encoded to work for directv and dish network receivers only. The whole point of going FTA is to break out of those limitations. Thing is, directv and Dish want you to beleive that C-band is old technology and is going away. Truth is, that is where they get the signals from in the first place. By going FTA, you have the opportunity to get the signals from the same place they do. I use to be an installer for Directv. I decided to expand my knowledge and I am discovering a whole new world.
