Fracarro Penta dish maybe?

[Peapod1]

Guidance from this and similar forums is steering me towards replacing my existing 80cm mesh dish with an 85cm Fracarro Penta. The prime reason for change is to obtain 28 deg east in addition to 13+19 currently obtained on my existing fixed dish set-up. This is to permit reception of Freesat + epg in due course. Tall trees surrounding my property limit the viewing arc to a band between 9e and 35e, so from this I presume a motorised system offers limited benefits. In addition, motorising the set-up appears incompatible with the Panasonic TV’s with built-in freesat which require a direct feed from 28e to display the epg.

My question therefore is whether anyone has first-hand experience of using the 85 Penta with multiple lnb’s on a multi-bracket? Is this technically feasible and has anyone accomplished it? As a minimum I require 13 – 19 – 28e. Would I be able to capture a usable signal from all three sats? A fourth lnb for 9,16 or 26 would be a bonus. I’m located in Cheshire, and would be grateful for any guidance.

[SAT-WORLD]

The Penta dishes,do have a multi-bracket(Page 47),however it is for two lnbs only,which suggests that more than two lnbs is not feasible(due to the shape) or it is difficult.
If you want 3 or more lnbs,why not go for the Triax dishes which have a 4 lnb multi-bracket.
By the way,you are aware that the Panasonic Freesat Tv's are NOT compatible with Diseqc.

[milli260876]

i have a motorised penta it is ok... but i would stick a sky dish up pal they are tiny, i have a fixed sky a penta motorised and my aerial(log periodic 40)...
Oh and i forgot if you're using a stb you could cam it up and get digitalB on 16e if you can get it on a quad-lnb like raven do...
sateuropa.co.uk/overview.asp?catid=12&subcat=51&prod=Raven&Choose= Choose
add the www. as i think links aren't allowed??

[Peapod1]

Originally Posted by SAT-WORLD

By the way,you are aware that the Panasonic Freesat Tv's are NOT compatible with Diseqc.

Milli wrote -i have a motorised penta it is ok... but i would stick a sky dish up pal they are tiny...

Thanks guys, I appreciate the point about diseqc, and would retain the existing echostar box for other sats, piped through to the tv's AV input, using a twin lnb on a multi-bracket to feed 28e to both the box and direct to the tv to get freesat's epg. Am I correct?
I can upgrade the echostar to an HD box in due course to get HD from oother sats.

If I motorise, I assume I would need a second dish and cabling which I was trying to avoid, preferring to upgrade the existing fixed dish and lnb's if the Penta can cope.

[Robbo]

I have used a similar sized dish, the Triax TD88 and it does the job very well, on those three satellites.

[Peapod1]

Originally Posted by Robbo

I have used a similar sized dish, the Triax TD88 and it does the job very well, on those three satellites.

Thanks Robbo, but I've just been reading throgh Aldo's lengthy thread posted on the Satellite for Beginners forum which covers the same topic including commenting on the TD88. Guess I really want to hear that someone got the same success with the Penta. I'm not sufficiently knowledgable to be the guinea-pig though.

[milli260876]

that link i posted holds 4 lnb's on the raven 90cm.. i'd say as a fixed set-up this would be better than the penta due to the shape of the penta i'd assume it's harder to multi-lnb it... although you can defo get monoblocks off ebay for the penta from fracarro's london dealer (forget the name!)