[fre17dan]

I currently have an old 24 inch single sat dish and I get 100% signal strength through light rain on most transponders. My neighbor has the old 18 inch dish with very good signal strength too but loses sync more often in very bad weather.
I suspect the standard 20 inch dish would get even lower signal strength.
So my question : Is there some other dual satellite dish available maybe in the 24 inch range? Surely it must exist somewhere since the demand exists. I'd rather use a bigger dish then using 2 dishes.

 

[Pinza]

Bell only use the 20" (51cm) Dish as a standard 2 x LNBF Dish, they do not have another model that takes multiple LNBF's for the average customer.

Correctly aligned, it will be just fine, unless you are way outside the footprint of the signals. As you do not mention your location, it is hard to determine this.

You might be able to get a larger dish at an FTA type store, that will take 2 LNBF's.

 

[fre17dan]

That is exactly what I want, a 3rd party dish compatible with Bell's 2 satellites; no luck yet in finding one, still hoping someone here would know.
I am well within the footprint, 1 hour's drive from Montreal. However I want to minimise how often I will lose signal from bad weather. I do know for a fact that the larger the dish, the stronger the signal, the more protection you get from loss of signal. The local retailer says I should get at least 92% signal strength on a clear day and like Pinza says that would 'be just fine' .
The big problem is the only place I can place the dish is on the roof of the condo building, no access in winter. Any snow accumulation reduces signal strength. I sincerely doubt I would get a good signal with snow on the standard 20 inch dish. I rarely lose sync with my current old 24 inch dish which I have since 97. Some would say that a bigger dish for signal strength is overkill, but I need the extra protection that the extra strong signal provides.

 

[Pinza]

The entire country lost signal yesterday and you could not have prevented it with a dish as large at those at NASA, as the issue was at the Uplink Station here in Ontario.

As you are using a roof on a Condo, why not go for 2 x 75'cm Dish's.?

If you are concerned about Snow buildup on the 20" Dish, you should be aware that a larger Dish is likely to collect more Snow.....

There is one option, that I know of, called a Triple Beam Dish, it is used by Bell TV to feed Apartment Buildings etc and it is the "Andrew Channel Master Gain Master 90cm"

It is about half way down this page on the right.

http://www.satellitedish.com/cata0052.htm

It is NOT approved by Bell for installation on a NPRM (None Penetrating Roof Mount) but can be Wall Mounted.

This is more than likely overkill but hey, whatever, it will at least give you a starting point.

Another coule of things to consider, a Dish Heater or Dish Cover, to minimise Snow buildup.

 

[fre17dan]

The Andrew Channel Master Gain Master is appealing but since it will be visible at a distance, 90cm dish would generate complaints; same problem with using 2 75 cm dishes. Using a dish heater would require that I run a private power cable through the common areas (attic) which would not be approved by condo admin.

I found a 21 x 23 inch dish sold by onesat.ca

Not sure how it compares to what Bell calls their 50 cm (20 inch) dish; hoping it will be better. It is described: 'The Dish 500 a 21" x 23" satellite used by dish network and bell expressvu to receive a signal from 2 satellite locations. The Dish 500 is usually pointed at dish network satellites at 110 and 119 degrees West or bell expressvu satellites at 82 and 91 degrees west.'
But then I have seen a few dish500 advertised with different sizes so it can get confusing.

 

[Pinza]

To the best of my knowledge the Dish 500 is exactly the same as the Bell 51cm (20") Dish.

I cannot imagine a 21 x 23, being much better at all.

Just get a Bell Dish and a cover, that should be fine.

 

[gmd]

About signal loss...

I had Shaw Direct (Star Choice at the time) for quite some time. I can count on my hands the number of times I have lost the signal.

Now with Bell, signal drops with just a few clouds. Installation was checked, but problems are still there. At night, signals get weaker and we loose some channels (e.g. no NBC HD to watch Leno late at night). As there are no bigger dishes out there, other than trying to move the dish, what are the options?

I talk to people around, and all seem to experience rain fade regularly.

-gmd

 

[Pinza]

As there are no bigger dishes out there

I used a 1.0m Dish yesterday for Bell TV, so there are lots of bigger Dish's.

 

[Cham]

Bell here goes out when a cloud drops by... If I can't work outside (when it is raining) that is when I can't watch TV. They installed a 19" (likely 20" but it measured 19") dish, I wanted a 24", but the installer said there is no such thing.
I know there are lots of so-called FTA dishes around but the quality might be an issue... I do have a 24" bell dish from a previous install but the dual LNBs would be difficult to line up since it was a single; would have to cut the arm and then the spacing (between LNBs) would likely be too narrow. Maybe a wider-spacing Y-adapter is available for this dish? The 24" Bell dish seems to be perfectly round.
-C.

 

[hsantos]

I decided to migrate from a 24in to 33in dish. It improved the reception
during light rain. I also installed a 33in to add a third LNB to get 97W satellite
for FTA.

 

[Interceptor]

Cham, I'd use the 24" for the weaker satellite, probably 91 and the 20" for the other satellite (82). You could also find another 24" or bigger and use two dishes. That's what I do, but living on the wet coast where the satellite reception is poor even on good days, I need it. I can't see why people living in more or less central Canada are having abnormal reception problems though.

 

[Cham]

Interceptor,
I noticed the larger dishes on the west coast when I've been there.
We've had an unusually wet summer with lots of cloud cover (thunderstorm type clouds) and even today first day of Fall the signal has been dropping out. I suspect they sized the dish for "normal" prairie weather, this season has been anything but normal.
I like the neat installation with the one dish but I suppose either I put up with the marginal reception or use two larger dishes...

I will look for another 24" dish, maybe one of the FTA dealers have one that will fit.

Tnx..
-C.

 

[ScaryBob]

Larger dishes used for FTA work fine for Bell. There is a problem with Bell/Dish LNBs since they have a non-standard mount. To get around this, DirecTV DBS LNBs can be used. (They are compatible with Bell/Dish.) It's quite common for Bell installers to do this is in weak signal areas. A 24" dish is usually all that is required, except in the territories. Another option is to use a large oval dish. A Shaw Direct 75cm (24"x35") dish will work with an adapter called a Flexi-block. These were once available from satellite etailers in Canada. Not sure if they still are.

 

[taxtwit]

... even today first day of Fall the signal has been dropping out. I suspect they sized the dish for "normal" prairie weather, this season has been anything but normal.

If the skies are clear and your signal is still dropping, it's probably a problem that a bigger dish won't solve (i.e. uplink issue, dish aiming issue, hardware issue).

Are you sure your dish is optimally aimed? I'm further west (& probably further north) than you, which means I'm going to get a weaker signal than you get in MB and I haven't notice a huge issue with signal drop off this summer, despite the cloudy/rainy weather. I'd at least try to re-aim the dish you have before buying new equipment and changing everything up.

 

[Tom.F.1]

33" dishes

I changed to 2 x 33" dishes a couple years ago. I get much less rain fade than before.
I bought the dishes cheap, off Flea bay, but I found a seller local and picked them up to save shipping.
He tried to upsell LNB's because the Bell/Dish don't fit the standard LNB mount.
Yes, they DO fit the stanard LNB mount once you cut the grey plastic cover away. I got fancy and cut away just enough for the mount, so it still looks pretty, but really you can rip the whole cover off and it still works just fine.
The first winter I discovered a problem. Bigger dish is better at collecting More Snow!
The 2nd winter I waxed the dishes in the fall with Pledge funiture polish. Snow slides off much better, I'll wax again before the snow flies.

Has anybody else noticed that the people who watch more TV get more rainfade/dropouts than those who watch very little TV?
Bell/Dishnet only count reported dropouts, obviously they're not going to publish numbers of dropouts that happen when nobody was watching. It's kinda like the tree falling in the forest....