Found an FW9 Dish. Will it work?

[alex9]

I'm in the process of setting up a second satellite and found one someone was going to throw away. The model number is FW9 they say and I have a picture. They said they were having trouble picking up some HD channels so Dtv replaced it. I'll have the choice package and just SD receivers. Am I going to run into problems with this dish or is it the same as any other? I noticed the shape looks odd...
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[pro96]

Thats the old HD dish, and if the original user had problems with it most likely the LNBs are bad and you will prob have the same issues.

 

[alex9]

Even if I'm just going to use it for SD channels?

 

[MikeinBaja]

Even if I'm just going to use it for SD channels?

If you are just going to use it for SD, probably OK - and the price (free) sounds good.

Those old dishes were not very good for HD, spread of the sats were just too wide for it to bring them in reliably.

For SD, you probably only need to align on 101. Tell the box via the set up menu that the dish is a round 18" single LNB. That way it won't look for the other sats & you should be good to go.

 

[raoul5788]

If you are just going to use it for SD, probably OK - and the price (free) sounds good.

Those old dishes were not very good for HD, spread of the sats were just too wide for it to bring them in reliably.

For SD, you probably only need to align on 101. Tell the box via the set up menu that the dish is a round 18" single LNB. That way it won't look for the other sats & you should be good to go.

Some of them may have been bad, but mine has worked fine since it was installed over two years ago.

 

[alex9]

If you are just going to use it for SD, probably OK - and the price (free) sounds good.

Those old dishes were not very good for HD, spread of the sats were just too wide for it to bring them in reliably.

For SD, you probably only need to align on 101. Tell the box via the set up menu that the dish is a round 18" single LNB. That way it won't look for the other sats & you should be good to go.

Thanks for all the help. I'm going to give it a try. It is free after all.
So if 101W is for the SD channels what are 110 and 119 for? Could I point to any of them just the same?

 

[moghedien14]

Thanks for all the help. I'm going to give it a try. It is free after all.
So if 101W is for the SD channels what are 110 and 119 for? Could I point to any of them just the same?

No, 110 has a few mpeg2 HD channels and 119 has some international programming as well as a few mpeg2 HD channels. If what you've said in this thread is true, it is necessary that you aim your dish at the 101 location.

To make sure you have aimed your dish correctly, check out the following channels before you activate the receiver:

201 Directv Basics
490 Test channel for 101W Odd Transponders, 13V to LNBF
491 Test channel for 101W Even Transponders, 18V to LNBF

If you can get these channels, you should have no problem getting the vast majority of Directv's SD channel lineup....

 

[alex9]

Thanks a lot. I hope all goes well. Have a good one

 

[Jimbo]

Some of them may have been bad, but mine has worked fine since it was installed over two years ago.

Yes, If I recall correctly, there were like 2 or maybe 3 different makers on the dish Cal Amp was one that I recall.

OP, That is a AT-9 dish also known as a "SideCar" dish.
Not sure where the "FW9" came from, I've never heard of that one.