38 What Does It Cost To Add Ku To My System?
Description
This article is from the Satellite TV FAQ, by Gary Bourgois flash@lopez.marquette.mi.us with numerous contributions by others.
38 What Does It Cost To Add Ku To My System?
If your dish is KU compatible (some mesh dishes are not) all you need
to add OUTSIDE is a DUAL BAND FEED, such as the COROTOR II, and an
additional KU LNB. The cost for this will be between $188 and $300
depending on where you buy, and how sensitive your KU LNB will be.
To tell if your mesh dish will work on KU measure the size of the holes or
openings in the mesh. If they are greater than 1/4 inch, you won't get good
KU reception.
KU LNB's are measured in DB, rather than degrees Kelvin (as C band LNB's
are measured). .6 DB is considered good. 2.0 is considered junky, though
you can probably find a 2.0 db KU LNB pretty cheap, and it CAN give
acceptable signals on MOST birds, and might be a good place to start if
you find one used.
You obviously will ALSO need a receiver that can tune KU band. Most
newer receivers can.
There is also a device called the UST-55 KU convertor which was made
by UNIDEN. These are sometimes still available from various dealers
at a reasonable price. The convertor does two things. It INVERTS the
video (KU video is inverted compared to C band) and it adds a fine
tuning control to allow compressing 32 channels into 24 channels.
There is no real standard for KU channel layout as there are in the C
band. Various receivers number the channels differently. Some receivers
like the DRAKE 1824 have KU SEEK which saves a lot of tinkering when
looking for special KU feeds.
Tracking your dish for KU is more difficult. The beamwidth is much
narrower, and everything is more critical. If you get your system to
track well in the KU band, your C band reception will be perfect.
KU is a lot of fun. We recommend it!
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