BATC Forum

Hi Folks,

So today I installed my 90cm dish (my 1m one is on its way). I used the NB upper beacon to help me align. The best I got was about 19.5dB SNR. This is much better than the 14dB I was getting with my Sky minidisc pointed at 28.2. I can finally listen to SSB without any noise reduction. Do keep in mind that the SNR figures are based upon what SDR# is telling me, and it seems to vary based on zoom.....

My first question is, is this the best I'm gonna get with a 90cm dish? I didn't really know what to expect, but it's def not the same quality as being near a 2m repeater.

Regarding the DATV transponder, my minitiouner-express is also in the post, so I don't have anything to decode, but please see the attached screenshot. The SNR is only about 5dB for the DATV beacon. Is this correct? Based on my alignment of the NB beacon, I don't think I can do any better with this dish.

I will admit that the dish is in a weird spot in my garden, but if the LOS was being blocked, I would assume I'd get nothing?

Note that the contract is set really high in SDR# - so the signal looks more power than it is!

Thanks

Jonny

I recommend you download SDRConsole 3.07 and read the thread on here (or on the SW website) on how to get lock on the beacon. It didn't look much better on my larger dish, but if you are adjusting live it's easy to peak up. Don't forget to use 12v for NB and 18 for DATV, also twist the LNB off vertical, I found about 25 degrees peaked mine up for skew. Located SE London.
Good luck
Gareth G4XAT

My 1m dish finally arrived. I am now able to get a nice 22-23dB SNR on the NB upper beacon. WB beacon now shows at about 5.5dB in SDR#

Cheers

Jonny