el bandido
TNAP-Images
Microwave towers for the phone company gave the c band satellite dishes interference problems 40-50 years ago. Ironic to see these same microwave towers being used today to create interference again on c band satellite dishes.
How To Look For & Find 5G Interference in C Band
- Thread starter el bandido
- Start date
el bandido
TNAP-Images
Outlandish solutions have been proposed to fix 5G c band interference. Anything that has to do with tin foil will probably not work unless it is being used as a RF fence. Wrapping or covering a lnb in tinfoil or wrapping the scalar ring in tin foil, or even wrapping the coax in tin foil is not going to help. The reason for this is simple: The interference is the signal on the satellite dish and not on the lnb. Great if any of these tin foil solutions work for you, but shielding a c band lnb that is inside an aluminum housing makes no sense when you think about it.
Fearless
Member
I've seen pictures of those "Foil solutions". Good for a chuckle or two. 
But seriously I use 3M aluminum tape for additional protection from RF interference. The reason they use 10 bolts to hold a LNB to a feedhorn is to prevent RF leakage. Radars are good at causing interference. Band Pass Filters have been around for a long time.
But seriously I use 3M aluminum tape for additional protection from RF interference. The reason they use 10 bolts to hold a LNB to a feedhorn is to prevent RF leakage. Radars are good at causing interference. Band Pass Filters have been around for a long time.Wow. Probably repeating what's already scattered around in this thread.
Filters block a portion of the local oscillator frequency band where the low noise amplifier section of the lnbf is downconverted from the 3.7-4.2 GHz c band to 1450-950 MHz fed to the coax.
So what interference is there at the feed is amplified along with the satellite signal. The internal electronics of the lnbf are wreaking havoc from being flooded with the interfering freqs.
Now. If I'm under the correct assumption. An lnbf with built-in filtering is going to handle that task at the low noise amplifier. Or before the mixer/frequency conversion and spit out as the L.O., l band your coax sends to the receiver. A much better approach.
With any connector or splice in a run of RF transmission line. You will have an insertion loss. RG type is about the worst. But don't get confused thinking that the signal on your receiver after inserting filters, extra splices. If it happens to display 2 dB less than it did before the change. It is not that the dish electronics or your satellite signal received at the dish is attenuated.
Your local oscillator frequency signal strength has been reduced. And receivers should do a pretty good job at managing the signal. You have seen the AGC bar in your signal meter.
There will be a threshold where the coax signal will cause the receiver to fall off and drop out. Butagain. The satellite signal entering the lnbf throat is exactly the same.
Now. If long runs of coax are needed. You want the least loss/ft that you can afford. And that's where fat coax and big connectors comes in.
Many may not remember the lna and separate downconverter days. The very short connection from the lna to the downconverter box was with N Tyoe connectors. And if a cable was used to connect them. It was microwave cable. But what came out of the box to your house. Or headend. Was the local oscillator frequency. In the pressurized waveguide days the downconverter had an output signal level pot.
Because if the connection was 20 feet away from the dish electronics. You didn't want to plow a signal to the receiver that would saturate its front end electronics.
In a fixed or limited arc satellite system. Determining the direction and source of interference may be helpful. Some of us have experimented with different ways of doing just that.
If your scalar is fixed on the dish. You may even be over illuminating it by it being a touch too far out. I don't trust strut bar mounted scalars that are stabbed where the arms bolt to them.
Anyway. You can accept interference. Buy filters and craigslist or eBay them if they don't work (vendors aren't liking try-and-return). Buy properly filtered lnbf. The best way. If in fact the filtering isn't hidden inside right before the coax connection.
Drive around. Look on towers for microwave antennas. Most may have a radome over them. Yeah, to keep birds and bird crap off of them. But look closer. The have a rim extension. And that rim extension has a layer of impregnated radar absorbing material. RAM. Stealth aircraft stuff.
Its there to not only reject off axis microwave interference. But to absorb side lobe interference. Who knows. A wrap of aluminum flashing or stiff screening and grounding it good around your dish rim may do wonders. Maybe some crafty guys here with 5g interference and know the direction it comes from could try that. Can't hurt, right!
Oh. Also. I don't know so much about aluminum tape and foil around your lnb or waveguide joints. If that were the case. Those little tiny holes on your microwave oven door window would have you with boiled eggs for eyeballs in a jif. Do the math. The wavelength for the frequency. Divide that by 1/4, 1/2, 5/8. If you have a gap that big. Better shop for another piece of hardware.
I'm thinking that if this 5g thread keeps going on. Until something remarkable comes out to cure the issue. It's kind of a no brainer. The stuff here is just crap I know.
Filters block a portion of the local oscillator frequency band where the low noise amplifier section of the lnbf is downconverted from the 3.7-4.2 GHz c band to 1450-950 MHz fed to the coax.
So what interference is there at the feed is amplified along with the satellite signal. The internal electronics of the lnbf are wreaking havoc from being flooded with the interfering freqs.
Now. If I'm under the correct assumption. An lnbf with built-in filtering is going to handle that task at the low noise amplifier. Or before the mixer/frequency conversion and spit out as the L.O., l band your coax sends to the receiver. A much better approach.
With any connector or splice in a run of RF transmission line. You will have an insertion loss. RG type is about the worst. But don't get confused thinking that the signal on your receiver after inserting filters, extra splices. If it happens to display 2 dB less than it did before the change. It is not that the dish electronics or your satellite signal received at the dish is attenuated.
Your local oscillator frequency signal strength has been reduced. And receivers should do a pretty good job at managing the signal. You have seen the AGC bar in your signal meter.
There will be a threshold where the coax signal will cause the receiver to fall off and drop out. Butagain. The satellite signal entering the lnbf throat is exactly the same.
Now. If long runs of coax are needed. You want the least loss/ft that you can afford. And that's where fat coax and big connectors comes in.
Many may not remember the lna and separate downconverter days. The very short connection from the lna to the downconverter box was with N Tyoe connectors. And if a cable was used to connect them. It was microwave cable. But what came out of the box to your house. Or headend. Was the local oscillator frequency. In the pressurized waveguide days the downconverter had an output signal level pot.
Because if the connection was 20 feet away from the dish electronics. You didn't want to plow a signal to the receiver that would saturate its front end electronics.
In a fixed or limited arc satellite system. Determining the direction and source of interference may be helpful. Some of us have experimented with different ways of doing just that.
If your scalar is fixed on the dish. You may even be over illuminating it by it being a touch too far out. I don't trust strut bar mounted scalars that are stabbed where the arms bolt to them.
Anyway. You can accept interference. Buy filters and craigslist or eBay them if they don't work (vendors aren't liking try-and-return). Buy properly filtered lnbf. The best way. If in fact the filtering isn't hidden inside right before the coax connection.
Drive around. Look on towers for microwave antennas. Most may have a radome over them. Yeah, to keep birds and bird crap off of them. But look closer. The have a rim extension. And that rim extension has a layer of impregnated radar absorbing material. RAM. Stealth aircraft stuff.
Its there to not only reject off axis microwave interference. But to absorb side lobe interference. Who knows. A wrap of aluminum flashing or stiff screening and grounding it good around your dish rim may do wonders. Maybe some crafty guys here with 5g interference and know the direction it comes from could try that. Can't hurt, right!
Oh. Also. I don't know so much about aluminum tape and foil around your lnb or waveguide joints. If that were the case. Those little tiny holes on your microwave oven door window would have you with boiled eggs for eyeballs in a jif. Do the math. The wavelength for the frequency. Divide that by 1/4, 1/2, 5/8. If you have a gap that big. Better shop for another piece of hardware.
I'm thinking that if this 5g thread keeps going on. Until something remarkable comes out to cure the issue. It's kind of a no brainer. The stuff here is just crap I know.
Last edited:
el bandido
TNAP-Images
The best days for c band satellite are over for me. 5G c band has took over my c band dish.
Where is the interfering signal?
Interference started about the first of June and got worse over the period of one week. The signal analyzers were connected to the c band lnb and cellular c band signals were noticed. A combination of walking and driving pointed the signal source to a cell tower roughly 1 kilometer or about half a mile point to point or air distance. No other interference sources besides the cell tower have been found.
How strong is the interference?
The signal analyzers I am using are cheap, non-professional types. These analyzers show an average signal around 20db above the noise floor with peaks at times going to 40-60db above the noise floor.
What can be done to lessen or lose the interference?
Probably Nothing. The handheld analyzer shows some decrease in cell signal strength at some places where the dish could be moved, but the cell signal never disappears completely. The satellite dish is located in the downtilt area of the cell tower, which makes the cell signal arrive at a similar angle as the satellite signals.
Temporary Solution:
Purchase one 4.0-4.2 MHz filter as a test.
People that are putting up new c band dish antennas need to be aware of this cellular c band stuff. A filter will probably cost me roughly 2 db in signal loss. This will make my 12 foot dish perform like a ten footer. My 7.5 foot dish would perform about like a 6 footer with filters installed. Not to mention that I also lost roughly 600Mhz of usable c band satellite frequencies. None of this is good....
Where is the interfering signal?
Interference started about the first of June and got worse over the period of one week. The signal analyzers were connected to the c band lnb and cellular c band signals were noticed. A combination of walking and driving pointed the signal source to a cell tower roughly 1 kilometer or about half a mile point to point or air distance. No other interference sources besides the cell tower have been found.
How strong is the interference?
The signal analyzers I am using are cheap, non-professional types. These analyzers show an average signal around 20db above the noise floor with peaks at times going to 40-60db above the noise floor.
What can be done to lessen or lose the interference?
Probably Nothing. The handheld analyzer shows some decrease in cell signal strength at some places where the dish could be moved, but the cell signal never disappears completely. The satellite dish is located in the downtilt area of the cell tower, which makes the cell signal arrive at a similar angle as the satellite signals.
Temporary Solution:
Purchase one 4.0-4.2 MHz filter as a test.
People that are putting up new c band dish antennas need to be aware of this cellular c band stuff. A filter will probably cost me roughly 2 db in signal loss. This will make my 12 foot dish perform like a ten footer. My 7.5 foot dish would perform about like a 6 footer with filters installed. Not to mention that I also lost roughly 600Mhz of usable c band satellite frequencies. None of this is good....
eastof111
BinThere
Bummer.... 5G is truly an itch you can't scratch. Prior to the program providers moving to different sats and higher frequencies, I had pretty bad 5G problems on certain sats. My concern was that I would have to replace very, very old c/ku lnbf with newer Norsats and filters.
Luckily, reception improved after the frequency and sat relocation. Occasionally I will get some interference, but it disappears after an hour or so. But, I have a cell tower 1/2 a mile away and the other one is located about four blocks away.
I guess I can live with the occasional interference until the 5G providers hopefully clean up their act. Hope your situation improves in the future.
Luckily, reception improved after the frequency and sat relocation. Occasionally I will get some interference, but it disappears after an hour or so. But, I have a cell tower 1/2 a mile away and the other one is located about four blocks away.
I guess I can live with the occasional interference until the 5G providers hopefully clean up their act. Hope your situation improves in the future.
el bandido
TNAP-Images
My particular problem is the cell tower is about a kilometer almost due south, and has a height advantage of at least 100 meters.. I am being smothered in a blanket of 5G C band signals that are hitting the dish directly. The interference is equal pretty much in any direction the dish can move.
I know of someone who was experiencing 5G interference that made a vast majority of channels unwatchable or totally gone.I took a chance and bought a Titanium Red feedhorn and now I don't hear anymore complaint.I don't know if this would help in your situation or not?Definitely a real bummer!
el bandido
TNAP-Images
I appreciate the information about the Titanium Red product, but that lnb will not cover where my 5g C band is operating. Right now, i am having problems in the 3980-3990 MHz range. These frequencies are beyond the coverage of the Titanium Red piece.
Prices for 5G bandpass filters are dropping. The Eagle red filters are already 100 dollars less than their Blue filter. would not be suprised to see bandpass filters in the hundred dollar range in a year or two.
The C band satellite hobby gets expensive once 5G is properly introduced to your dish. A pair of bandpass filters can easily run $600.00 while a proper 4.0-4.2 GHz (4000-4200 MHz) lnb from Norsat will be around $700.00 Minimum, or roughly $1400.00 for a pair.
$200-$300 U.S. Dollars used to go a long way in the satellite hobby. But that amount is a drop in the bucket when you have 5G cell signals hitting your dish directly.
Here are a couple of analyzer screenshots of 101w showing the problem I have with 5G in the 3980-3990 frequency range:
This screenshot shows the whole spectrum the lnb is capable of on 101w:
My only salvation is when the 5G showed up, it was easy to see that it was not gonna be easy to beat.
Prices for 5G bandpass filters are dropping. The Eagle red filters are already 100 dollars less than their Blue filter. would not be suprised to see bandpass filters in the hundred dollar range in a year or two.
The C band satellite hobby gets expensive once 5G is properly introduced to your dish. A pair of bandpass filters can easily run $600.00 while a proper 4.0-4.2 GHz (4000-4200 MHz) lnb from Norsat will be around $700.00 Minimum, or roughly $1400.00 for a pair.
$200-$300 U.S. Dollars used to go a long way in the satellite hobby. But that amount is a drop in the bucket when you have 5G cell signals hitting your dish directly.
Here are a couple of analyzer screenshots of 101w showing the problem I have with 5G in the 3980-3990 frequency range:
This screenshot shows the whole spectrum the lnb is capable of on 101w:
My only salvation is when the 5G showed up, it was easy to see that it was not gonna be easy to beat.
el bandido
TNAP-Images
It is easy to get confused about the air distance between your dish and the 5G C band signal source. If the offending 5G tower is visible, you might look at it and decide how far away it is. But to figure out what you need to do, or to understand how the 5G C band signals may be hitting your dish, the correct distance and the height of the C band interference needs to be known.
There are websites that list tower height, and some may also list average height above terrain as HAAT(Height Above Average Terrain). The Air distance to the the interference source, and how high it is above your satellite dish will help piece together how the signal is hitting your satellite dish. In my particular situation, I am in a "blanket" area where the 5G cell signals are dropping straight down on the dish. I am close enough to the tower to get this blanket effect, but I am also a bit further away from maximum signal, which means the 5G signals are not near as strong as they could be.
I find dishpointer.com to be useful for finding air distance between the 5G tower and satellite dish. The dispointer map draws a line, so I simply find my dish location and mark it, then find the tower and use a satellite from the list to put a line over or near it. Now I can measure the line between the satellite dish and 5G tower, then reference the same distance to a road or something else where the distance is known and get a good idea of the actual distance in the air between the 5G C band tower and the satellite dish. There may be better sites for doing this, but dishpointer.com worked very well for me.
There are websites that list tower height, and some may also list average height above terrain as HAAT(Height Above Average Terrain). The Air distance to the the interference source, and how high it is above your satellite dish will help piece together how the signal is hitting your satellite dish. In my particular situation, I am in a "blanket" area where the 5G cell signals are dropping straight down on the dish. I am close enough to the tower to get this blanket effect, but I am also a bit further away from maximum signal, which means the 5G signals are not near as strong as they could be.
I find dishpointer.com to be useful for finding air distance between the 5G tower and satellite dish. The dispointer map draws a line, so I simply find my dish location and mark it, then find the tower and use a satellite from the list to put a line over or near it. Now I can measure the line between the satellite dish and 5G tower, then reference the same distance to a road or something else where the distance is known and get a good idea of the actual distance in the air between the 5G C band tower and the satellite dish. There may be better sites for doing this, but dishpointer.com worked very well for me.
el bandido
TNAP-Images
Aluminum foil was attached to a piece of cardboard. The cardboard was then wrapped around the scalar ring on the dish and held in place using zip ties. ALL satellite signals disappeared in the test, but the 5G C band signals were still present. The dish was rotated through the satellite arc during this test, and the results were basically the same. Putting a rf fence around the rim of this dish will probably do absolutely nothing to help quash the interference.
I read fast. Got interested.
People praise or cuss comparing understanding electricity to water. Works for me. And when somebody with a brain asks and is intrigued in learning, well. They do.
Even a state cop at a convenience store got interested when I got on a friends case because he bought $1500 speaker wires. And swore that they made his home audio system sound better.
Wait a minute! So the pc board traces are maybe .003" thick and less than 0.5" wide leading to those huge binding posts.
And then inside of the cabinets wiring "maybe" is 14g.....if you're lucky.
So, you're feeding a fire hose leading to your garden that is hooked to the hose bib on the side of your house.
And the plumbing in the house to the bib is ~1/2" diameter. And the fire hose is spliced to some 5/8" garden hose at the garden.
My friend chimped-out. The statie smirked and bobbed his head up and down.
Oh. Back on track. Microwaves/optics. Why do reflector telescopes that are exposed to extraneous light have a tube around them all the way past the eyepiece mirror?
Cantennas. "Cylindrical monopole microwave waveguide antennas". Can-stinkin-tenna.
By obscuring the scalar, you defeated it's purpose. It's entire circumference should have been exposed to capture and re-reflect the signal and hopefully concentrate it in phase to the lnbf throat.
I just notice all of the tower microwave link antennas have a ring around them. And a birdshit cover.
Commscope publishes youtube videos and docs. explaining sidelobe interference. And the solutions to them.
Instead of shielding the scalar/lnbf and losing all weak C Band signals. Instead, making a cage with rim extension rods.....those cheapassed fiberglass driveway marker poles you see at Tractor Supply. Grabbing a roll of window screening. Fasten the poles extending from the dish rim. And wrapping a layer of screen around those.
Hell. Make the screening movable so you can slide it up the the feed point.
Yeah. I guess living out in the boonies has advantages. Like freezing your ass off in winter, no tomato can mufflers and bass pumping down the street at all hours. Hitting deer.
No 5G....yet...even though Verizon said I "had to" get a 5G phone. 40 mile drive to get any 5G at all.
Oh. I have a question. Next post.
People praise or cuss comparing understanding electricity to water. Works for me. And when somebody with a brain asks and is intrigued in learning, well. They do.
Even a state cop at a convenience store got interested when I got on a friends case because he bought $1500 speaker wires. And swore that they made his home audio system sound better.
Wait a minute! So the pc board traces are maybe .003" thick and less than 0.5" wide leading to those huge binding posts.
And then inside of the cabinets wiring "maybe" is 14g.....if you're lucky.
So, you're feeding a fire hose leading to your garden that is hooked to the hose bib on the side of your house.
And the plumbing in the house to the bib is ~1/2" diameter. And the fire hose is spliced to some 5/8" garden hose at the garden.
My friend chimped-out. The statie smirked and bobbed his head up and down.
Oh. Back on track. Microwaves/optics. Why do reflector telescopes that are exposed to extraneous light have a tube around them all the way past the eyepiece mirror?
Cantennas. "Cylindrical monopole microwave waveguide antennas". Can-stinkin-tenna.
By obscuring the scalar, you defeated it's purpose. It's entire circumference should have been exposed to capture and re-reflect the signal and hopefully concentrate it in phase to the lnbf throat.
I just notice all of the tower microwave link antennas have a ring around them. And a birdshit cover.
Commscope publishes youtube videos and docs. explaining sidelobe interference. And the solutions to them.
Instead of shielding the scalar/lnbf and losing all weak C Band signals. Instead, making a cage with rim extension rods.....those cheapassed fiberglass driveway marker poles you see at Tractor Supply. Grabbing a roll of window screening. Fasten the poles extending from the dish rim. And wrapping a layer of screen around those.
Hell. Make the screening movable so you can slide it up the the feed point.
Yeah. I guess living out in the boonies has advantages. Like freezing your ass off in winter, no tomato can mufflers and bass pumping down the street at all hours. Hitting deer.
No 5G....yet...even though Verizon said I "had to" get a 5G phone. 40 mile drive to get any 5G at all.
Oh. I have a question. Next post.
Last edited:
el bandido
TNAP-Images
Put very very simple, The 5G C band cell signals are most likely hitting my dish at the same or similar angles as the satellite signals. If True, This means you can go to any Hardware Store you want and purchase anything you want to put on my satellite dish and you will still have 5G C band signals on it. If I was gonna do something in the way of rf shielding, I would simply cut up a couple of the 7.5 foot mesh dishes and install them around the rim of the Prodelin C band dish.
Signal analyzers help to give a view of what a rf signal looks like. It is a visual tool. I purchased these cheap analyzers to keep from making hardware changes that have no chance of working. As an example, you have no way of knowing the the C band cell signal is still on the dish with the satellite signals removed unless you have some sort of signal analyzer that works.
So far, the only place I find near the satellite dish that has little to no C band cell signals is in a canopy of trees. A canopy of trees blocks the signal overhead, which means the satellite signal would also be blocked.
A bandpass filter is supposed to arrive Monday. I will install it on one lnb and then figure out what I want to do. It is possible that shielding the rim of the satellite dish would decrease some of the 5G C band signal. But if the c band satellite dish is getting hit straight down or angling down with the C band cell signal, then the party is over except for filtering the unwanted signal.
Signal analyzers help to give a view of what a rf signal looks like. It is a visual tool. I purchased these cheap analyzers to keep from making hardware changes that have no chance of working. As an example, you have no way of knowing the the C band cell signal is still on the dish with the satellite signals removed unless you have some sort of signal analyzer that works.
So far, the only place I find near the satellite dish that has little to no C band cell signals is in a canopy of trees. A canopy of trees blocks the signal overhead, which means the satellite signal would also be blocked.
A bandpass filter is supposed to arrive Monday. I will install it on one lnb and then figure out what I want to do. It is possible that shielding the rim of the satellite dish would decrease some of the 5G C band signal. But if the c band satellite dish is getting hit straight down or angling down with the C band cell signal, then the party is over except for filtering the unwanted signal.
I'm compelled to add. Back when lna's were hand built and 1 in 10 gasfet's made the cut.
Sun shielding and temperature stability was very important. I traipsed up on our little CATV dish farm while hunting one fall.
With maybe 12' dishes with Cassgrain feeds, pressurized mylar windows with a tank and regulator of nitrogen strapped to the pole.
All of the 'guts' were behind the dish out of the way.
And although nobody in the fta world probably remembers those setups. Or has one to slap up for a test. Seemed like a good idea.
Sun shielding and temperature stability was very important. I traipsed up on our little CATV dish farm while hunting one fall.
With maybe 12' dishes with Cassgrain feeds, pressurized mylar windows with a tank and regulator of nitrogen strapped to the pole.
All of the 'guts' were behind the dish out of the way.
And although nobody in the fta world probably remembers those setups. Or has one to slap up for a test. Seemed like a good idea.
el bandido
TNAP-Images
Installed the Eagle ECB-5G-4042E Bandpass filter Monday and find that it does what it is supposed to do. I notice a signal loss of around 1 db(SNR) according to the FTA receiver I am using. The bandpass filter's performance has been good other than the slight signal loss. Here are a couple of before and after analyzer screenshots of 101w-Horizontal:
101w-Before filter
101w-After Filter
The 5G C band cell signals are in the Noise Floor with the Eagle Filter installed.
101w-Before filter
101w-After Filter
The 5G C band cell signals are in the Noise Floor with the Eagle Filter installed.
el bandido
TNAP-Images
5G C band filter prices need to be looked at a minute as they are Ridiculous. IMO, these filters should sell for around 100 dollars or less a piece, but that is not what we are seeing yet. The Eagle phase 1 C band filter is already 100 dollars less than the phase 2 model, which shows the mark-up for this product.
Rick Caylor wants about 400 dollars for ONE Alga filter with shipping included shown Here:
https://www.rickssatelliteusa.com/alga5gblue.htm
The price for Rick's Alga filter with Hardware kit included is $423.00. This is ridiculously high, and is pricing people out of the market. There is a thing called Greed I guess.
I paid $276.93 for the Eagle filter with a hardware kit included. There is a big price difference between the Alga Rick sells and the Eagle filter I purchased. Most of us need two filters, one for each LNB. More price comparisons below.
$553.86 = 2 Eagles
$846.00 = 2 Alga
So if you buy a pair of bandpass filters from Rick, you will pay about 300 dollars more, or about 150 dollars more a piece. Ridiculous when you consider both items do the same job. It should be noted that you get 10 extra screws for about 15 dollars a piece when you purchase Rick's Alga filter.
There is a cheap SatMaximum filter from China on Ebay that is in the high hundred dollar range and ships directly from China. I don't know anything about this filter, except that it looks cheaply made. The Eagle filter is supposed to be 100% Made in the U.S.A. Easy to see why I purchased the Eagle.
I feel certain the price of 5G bandpass filters will come down in time. Anybody that purchases 5G filters right now will pay a steep price when compared to what we pay for FTA receivers and other parts.
Rick Caylor wants about 400 dollars for ONE Alga filter with shipping included shown Here:
https://www.rickssatelliteusa.com/alga5gblue.htm
The price for Rick's Alga filter with Hardware kit included is $423.00. This is ridiculously high, and is pricing people out of the market. There is a thing called Greed I guess.
I paid $276.93 for the Eagle filter with a hardware kit included. There is a big price difference between the Alga Rick sells and the Eagle filter I purchased. Most of us need two filters, one for each LNB. More price comparisons below.
$553.86 = 2 Eagles
$846.00 = 2 Alga
So if you buy a pair of bandpass filters from Rick, you will pay about 300 dollars more, or about 150 dollars more a piece. Ridiculous when you consider both items do the same job. It should be noted that you get 10 extra screws for about 15 dollars a piece when you purchase Rick's Alga filter.
There is a cheap SatMaximum filter from China on Ebay that is in the high hundred dollar range and ships directly from China. I don't know anything about this filter, except that it looks cheaply made. The Eagle filter is supposed to be 100% Made in the U.S.A. Easy to see why I purchased the Eagle.
I feel certain the price of 5G bandpass filters will come down in time. Anybody that purchases 5G filters right now will pay a steep price when compared to what we pay for FTA receivers and other parts.
el bandido
TNAP-Images
The Vertical side of my C band satellite system will have to be dealt with. One thing noteworthy is : If the satellite signal is strong enough, then it is not effected by 5G C band interference. Shown below is CV Shopping on 93w-Vertical. the SNR for that channel is around 17db, and it is directly in the 5G C band cell signals.
Analyzer screenshot of 93w-Vertical.
CV Shopping channel running in the interference.
Go Figure...
Analyzer screenshot of 93w-Vertical.
CV Shopping channel running in the interference.
Go Figure...
el bandido
TNAP-Images
Here are some Eagle bandpass photos:
el bandido
TNAP-Images
Shown below is a filter, probably from Satmaximum that only allows 4.0-4.2 GHz or 4000-4200MHz. This is a two hundred dollar filter that I know nothing about, but am sort of tempted to try. On the other hand, I find the Eagle filter to be apparently well made, and performing as advertised. Ebay charges tax, so the real price for the China filter would be about $214.00 as compared to $276.93 for the Eagle.
These bandpass filters are "tunable", and could be adjusted or set by a competent Radio Repair Shop, or by anyone having the proper equipment. The price to set or re-tune one of these filters would probably be at least half the purchase price of the filter. There have been some reports of bad filters. These reports mostly come from the Alga type filters that Rick Caylor sells. In general, you don't put a filter like this on a satellite dish and have it working, only to have it Not Working later.
These bandpass filters are "tunable", and could be adjusted or set by a competent Radio Repair Shop, or by anyone having the proper equipment. The price to set or re-tune one of these filters would probably be at least half the purchase price of the filter. There have been some reports of bad filters. These reports mostly come from the Alga type filters that Rick Caylor sells. In general, you don't put a filter like this on a satellite dish and have it working, only to have it Not Working later.