5 LNB Test on 4' Dish

Costactc

Costactc

Sat Junkie
Administrator
I have decided to test out my 5 lnbs that I have on hand for ku band. I will be using my Dr Hd F15 receiver for the test as it is the one that is attached to my 4' Fortec dish and Stab HH 1.2 motor. I will be testing on 3 different satellites on the American arc:

Amc 6-72w-12053

Galaxy 17-91w-12010

Amc 1-103w-11840

The five lnb that I will be testing head to head are:

Invacom snh-031

Jsc322-2

Titanium pll-1ks

Bsc321sp

Invacom twf-031


These happen to be the lnbs that I have on hand and I do realise that 2 of them, the bsc321sp and invacom twf-031 are intended for prime focus dishes. It will be interesting to see the reults.
 
The first lnb to be tested is the one that is presently on my dish, Invacom snh-031:

Amc 6- 12053- 13.7 db

G17- 12010- 16.1 db

Amc 1- 11840- 10.4 db
 
The fourth lnb to be tested is the prime focus bsc321sp and its results are slightly under the others but that's understandable:

Amc 6- 12.2 db

G17- 13.4 db

Amc 1- 7.3 db
 
The fifth and final lnb to be tested is the Invacom twf-031, another prime focus lnb and I had to mod the neck size slightly to accomodate holder:

Amc 6- 12.4 db

G17- 13.6 db

Amc 1- 8.6 db
 
..

...Soo finaly ,is the third one the - 'titanium ' show the best results ??/
..I already have one on my Musac dish .. Thanks for the test Costa ...
 
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Overall, the invacom snh-031 showed the overall best reults but just slightly. The titanium kicked the others butts on the really tough NBC tp on inclined Amc 1. I will keep the invacom on the 4' dish for now but I have 2 others that I ordered today and then I will make my final decision.
 
I'm using a 321 lnb as a side feed on my 8' dish. I have an inverto black ultra coming from the UK and an L104 Single Output Universal - Amiko as well.
 
I appreciate Costa taking the time to test these lnbs and post the results. It takes a lot of time to do this!

I do not see enough difference between the first 3 lnbs that were tested to make any difference.
Satellite signals may get a bit stronger or a bit weaker in the amount of time it takes to change a lnb. A lnb is designed to work over a wide frequency range, so it is not surprising for me to see lnb A perform a bit better than lnb B at a given frequency.
The difference of a db or two in SNR is not much either. For example, if you are watching a ku channel that has a 14 db SNR, you will lose the signal on that channel at about the same time as a 16db SNR signal when it starts raining.

The lnbs that most of us use for fta are cheaply made in China The actual production cost of these lnbs is probably under a dollar. The performance of these cheap lnbs can vary by a good bit, even if the lnbs are of the same make and model.

I see pll lnbs as nothing but sales hype. Dish Network and Direct tv use dro lnbs. If there was an advantage to a pll lnb then the networks would use them!
PLL lnbs may have a slight advantage on skinny signals or transponders with symbol rates below 1500, but the professional lnb manufactures will tell you that the pll lnb has no real advantage over a dro lnb unless the signal being received is narrow.

Invacom snh-031
Amc 6- 12053- 13.7 db 6,890 5/6
G17- 12010- 16.1 db 11,574 3/4 DVB-S
Amc 1- 11840- 10.4 db 30,000 5/6 8psk


Jsc322-2
Amc 6- 13.9db
G17- 16.0 db
Amc 1- 9.9 db

Titanium pll-1ks
Amc 6- 13.5 db
G17- 14.8 db
Amc 1- 11.7 db


bsc321sp
Amc 6- 12.2 db
G17- 13.4 db
Amc 1- 7.3 db


Invacom twf-031
Amc 6- 12.4 db
G17- 13.6 db
Amc 1- 8.6 db
 
The Amiko premium L-104 lnb arrived today and getting her ready to test out and just waiting on the Inverto black to arrive from the UK:





OUTPUTS 1
NOISE FIGURE 0.5 dB
REFLECTOR TYPE Offset
CLAMP SIZE 40mm
INPUT FREQUENCY
10.7GHz ~ 11.7GHz (Low Band)
11.7GHz ~ 12.75GHz (High Band)

OUTPUT FREQUENCY
950MHz ~ 1950 MHz (Low Band)
1100MHz ~ 2150 MHz (High Band)

HIGH BAND SWITCH 22KHz (+/-4KHz)
LO FREQUENCY
9.75 GHz (Low Band)
10.60 GHz (High Band)

OPERATING TEMPERATURE -40ºC ~ +60ºC
OPERATING VOLTAGE 13V (VER) / 18V (HOR)
CURRENT DRAW
110mA (max.)



001.webp 002.webp 003.webp
 
I have to totally agree with my colleague EB on variables when testing out different lnbs. The results that I achieved with my invacom are not indicative as to the results today, a bit windy here today which probably has a major effect. The L-104 results:

Amc 6- 12.8 db

Galaxy 17- 14.8 db

Amc 1- 11.2 db
 
The last of the lnbs that I will be testing just arrived from the UK. The black inverto:


Product Specifications
draw

Low Band Input Frequency Range 10.7 ~ 11.7 GHz
Low Band Output Frequency Range 950 ~ 1950 MHz
Low Band LO Frequency 9.75 GHz
High Band Input Frequency Range 11.7 ~ 12.75 GHz
High Band Output Frequency Range 1100 ~ 2150 MHz
High Band LO Frequency 10.6 GHz
Noise Figure 0.2 dB Typ. (0.7dB Max.)
LO Initial Accuracy +/- 1.0 MHz Max.
LO Temperature Drift +/- 3.0 MHz Max.
Phase Noise (@ 10 kHz) - 90 dBc / Hz Max.
Conversion Gain 60 dB Min.
Gain Ripple (Over 26MHz Bandwidth) +/- 0.75 dB
Gain Variation (Over Full Band) +/- 4 dB Max.
Image Rejection 40 dB Min.
1 dB Compression Point (@ Output) 0.0 dBm Min.
Cross Polarization Isolation 22 dB Min.
Control Signal Ca (Vertical Polarization) 11.0 ~ 14.0 V
Control Signal Cb (Horizontal Polarization) 16.0 ~ 20.0 V
Control Signal Cc (Band Switching) 22 +/- 4 kHz
Output VSWR 2.0 : 1
In-Band Spurious - 60 dBm Max.
Current Consumption 120 mA Max. @ 11 ~ 20V
Operating Temperature - 30 °C ~ + 60 °C
Output Impedance 75 Ω
Output Connector F-Type (Female)
Weight 151 g


004.webp006.webp
 
It's cloudy and raining so I really cannot do a comparison with the black inverto but I would have to say that its readings are a bit disappointing. I will retest on a clearer day. For now, I have the Amiko premium L-104 as my feed.
 
Finally found the time and a clear day to test the 3 out and make a final decision. The black inverto ultra beats both the invacom and amiko on every satellite except Galaxy 17 where its db level is 2.0 less then the other 2. The inverto was better on all other sats and will become my permanent ku feed:


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Thanks for the tests.... I've read on some of the Euro forums basically the same good points with the Inverto. The MTI seems another one that might be good, but avoid the Mti High line (AP8-TZN2R). Here is a site doing some comparisons.....

http://www.astra2forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1829&p=6793

Don't remember which site I saw this ops comments,


"I did a test on 10 714/H/22000 (C4 on 2E) earlier this year: Invacom QDF 031 0.3 dB (8.7 dB Snr) the most stable V + H TP however Mti AP8-XT2 0.6 dB (8.9 dB Snr) slighly better V TP and Inverto Ultra Quad (8.7 dB Snr) and Mti AP82-TW (8.7 dB Snr) Mti AP82-T2FBL Supreme (8.7 dB Snr) Absolute worse was Mti High line (AP8-TZN2R 8.2 dB Snr) the most expensive Mti LNBF ..."

Here are some pixs of MTI... and the AP8-XT2 on a dish with a homemade feed.
 

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  • MTI AP82-XT2N.webp
    MTI AP82-XT2N.webp
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  • MTI AP8-T2NRC.webp
    MTI AP8-T2NRC.webp
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  • Mti AP8-XT2 0.6 dB modif and homemade feed.webp
    Mti AP8-XT2 0.6 dB modif and homemade feed.webp
    20.1 KB · Views: 13
Used an MTI lnb about 14 years ago when I lived in Europe with great success. They don't come cheap...20 Euros is quite steep for a single.
 
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