Aquired a 12 foot mesh C band Dish

[JeremielMontanez]

This is my second post. I'm a beginner. I had bought a 6 foot WSI dish that I intended to put together and use for watching EWTN. Then I started reading some of the threads which discuss how to put it together and set it up. I was confident I would be able to do it with all the information I was getting. Then I read several posts that Galaxy 15 was difficult if not impossible to receive on a 6 foot dish, I live in Panama City Florida, and several posts suggested a 10 foot dish minimum for good reception that far away so I started looking around for a larger dish I found the 12 foot dish pictured below. I acquired it and the receiver from my friends girlfriends father who has not used it in years. He bought the whole set up as a unit It is a Uniden Satellite Television System UST 4400. I even got the manual that came with it, all for $75. Hopefully I can put a new LNBF on this dish that will permit me to receive the EWTN DVB-S signals on my Openbox H10 PVR receiver. Comments on what kind of LNBF I need to get, and any other comments would be appreciated.

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!!! Also Congrats on the nice find. A WSI DMX741 would work just fine and give you ku ability if you wanted to try out other stuff on other birds.

 

[gabshere]

great job , a good cleaning and you'll have it looking like new don't count out the lnb thats on the dish it probably still works. at least its worth testing

 

[JeremielMontanez]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!!! Also Congrats on the nice find. A WSI DMX741 would work just fine and give you ku ability if you wanted to try out other stuff on other birds.

Thanks! I just ordered a DMX741 on ebay. Now I have to go dig it out of the ground. The post feels like you couldn't knock it down with a tank. By the way I am also in amateur radio. My call is KC4TXC.

 

[KE4EST]

Always nice to meet another ham. Yeah keep us updated and don't hesitate to ask any questions.

 

[JeremielMontanez]

great job , a good cleaning and you'll have it looking like new don't count out the lnb thats on the dish it probably still works. at least its worth testing

Yes! There will be a lot of work to be done before I can watch my EWTN programs. All that white stuff is dried up sap from that tree it's under The orange stuff near the bottom is dried leaves also from that tree. But even before I do any cleaning I have to get it home. I will have to dig up all around the cement holding that pole in the ground. Good thing I have a couple of young guys who are going to do the work for me while I do the heavy looking on. :O)

I don't think ebay would accept a return of the new LNBF I already ordered. The UST 4400 receiver that came with this dish is analog only. I thought the lnb probably is only analog too. I don't know much about this satellite TV stuff yet. The man I got this setup from told me he bought the whole system as a unit 20 years ago. Would a 20 year old lnb be capable of receiving EWTN? I was under the impression that DVB-S signals are digital. I'll take your advice and give it a try first though, just to find out if it does.

 

[gabshere]

when i moved my first dish i checked the size of the concrete pad ( it wasn't too large ) dug around the edges and backed my truck bumper up to it, eased into it, it pushed right down and hoisted the whole thing pad pole & all into my truck bed. dug the new hole to fit the old pad and lowered it right back in.

the newer stuff is all labeled " Digital" but yeah some of the older stuff will still work ( its still always best to have a backup plan and parts)

 

[johann12]

Would a 20 year old lnb be capable of receiving EWTN? I was under the impression that DVB-S signals are digital. I'll take your advice and give it a try first though, just to find out if it does.

I set up a 20 year or older... old dish ( laying 15 years behind a biulding) and ironically the EWTN was by best signals I received with the old LNB.
But I was missing a lot of channels throughout the satellites.
A new LNBF ( Bcs 621), A S10 receiver and a V-box got me most of the channels that is out there on a 7 1/2 dish here in north Carolina.
You will be happy using the new LNBF with your 12 foot dish.
If the holes of your screen is smaller than the size of a pencil than you may receive KU signals also.
On my 7 1/2 foot dish the holes are about the size that I can stick 1 1/2 tooth picks in there.
I can receive KU signals, but I get more on a small KU dish.

 

[JeremielMontanez]

The size of the holes on this one are about the size of a drinking straw. About the lnb, I'm pretty good at acquiring free stuff and already I have one that I got of a different broken down dish the guy who I got my DSR-920 4dtv that I snagged today and wrote about in another post.

 

[JeremielMontanez]

[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]I went over and got my 12 foot c band dish today. It actually was not as hard as I thought it was going to be to dig it up. After first taking the dish off the post I dug all the way around the cement then attached a chain around the cement and pulled it out of the ground with my SUV. Here are some pictures of the dish and post, cement and all up on my trailer.[/FONT]

 

[JeremielMontanez]

Here are some pictures

 

[gabshere]

great job your on your way

 

[JeremielMontanez]

Well now that it has stopped raining here in Florida, and the ground isn't all mud anymore. I started working on installing my c band dish again. I already have the pole in the ground and cemented in place. While waiting for the cement to cure I started reading the installation instructions. I have a question that I hope someone can help me with. There is a cable that goes to the actuator. I have no idea what it is called so I can find some on line. I also don't know if it is all standard if there are many types. I have to know more about it so I can know what to order. The instructions I have are not clear on this. Can someone help me?

 

[FaT Air]

The Uniden will operate the servo for polarity control (Odd or Even channel #) Will also operate the actuator to move the dish. Run coax directly to the FTA receiver. (May have to select horizontal only, as then will supply 18v to the LNB. Many older LNB's don't work well with only 13v)
Ribbon cable & The beginning angles to set to align to the arc.(@ zenith [dish moved to it's highest with the actuator]) see pics.