New Girl here! Question about Old satellite dish

[Lone Cloud]

The Radio Shack guy is wrong. If it was fiberglass it wouldn't have those bolt heads in it, and it would likely have ribs on the back radiating out to the edge. I'm thinking it's probably aluninum or maybe steel.

As far as the tv availability, the Radio Shack guy is wrong there too. Maybe he is partially right if you need very local news and if you have channels you just have to get. You mentioned Animal Planet. Some folks like The Food Network and the History Channel. Personally I go with Natgeo and PBS create on 125 little dish. Those tingle my history and food funny bones


Like last night there were shows on Natgeo about the attempts on Hitler's life.

But sorry, I can't make Bakersfield.

 

[tvropro]

Gillham, I AM impressed! Yes, the mountains near Bakersfield is right...how did you know??
OK, I took more pictures....check them out. AND, I spoke to an old-timer at Radio Shak and told him about the dish. His words? "Don't waste a dime putting any money into that thing. NO, your picture won't be any better, you'll be wasting your time and money". I guess he used to install those kinds of satellite dishes. He told me it's made of fiberglass (?). I knocked on it, and it seemed like some kind of metal to me, but I have NO clue. Well...check out the pics and tell me what you think!

Here's my assessment. The dish looks like a spun aluminum it has a 18" Houston Tracker arm and a probably a PR1E or PR1AS Chaparrel feedhorn. What you need to do next is remove the nose cone and get pictures of the electronics inside. Also try to run a tape measure from end to end on the reflector and see how big it is. Im thinking it's a 9 footer. That was a popular size in spun's

As far as the guy at Cell shack (radio crap) goes tell him go push his cell phones because he don't have a clue of whats up on the big dish.

Trust the experts here, not some guy that pushes cell phones all day

 

[Smith P.]

Yes Gillham, the mountains near Bakersfield is right...how did you know?? (I know how you know, that's why I had to delete that post)
OK, I took more pictures....check them out. AND, I spoke to an old-timer at Radio Shak and told him about the dish. His words? "Don't waste a dime putting any money into that thing. NO, your picture won't be any better, you'll be wasting your time and money". I guess he used to install those kinds of satellite dishes. He told me it's made of fiberglass (?). I knocked on it, and it seemed like some kind of metal to me, but I have NO clue. Well...check out the pics and tell me what you think!

Also we know what digital camera you have

 

[nikky777]

I can live without Animal Planet . Just the regulars like I said before ABC,CBS,NBC,FOX,PBS would be just fine. So how do I find out if this beast even works (without sinking a lot of money in it?)

 

[tvropro]

It's not a beast it's a thing of beauty There are guys out there that would kill for a good spun aluminum. That thing would be killer on ku band. I think the next thing you should do is remove the cover on the feed (nose cone) to see what the electronics look like under there. That will allow us to see if you need a new LNB or servo motor. Then you would have to hook up a receiver to it to see what's what.

Just think when you do get it running what a conversation piece it will be Get the ladder and screwdriver out and take off the nose cone and get some snaps.

I modified your picture to show you what screws to remove there is 3 or 4 of them.

 

[nikky777]

So I take it that it IS aluminum?? I will try to get out there and see if I can unscrew those screws and take some pics. I don't own the house YET, but will very soon. I think I can take the nose-cone off though, take some pics, then screw it back on without anyone being the wiser!

 

[ussexplroer]

You are lucky

You are lucky to have one already in the place your going to purchase. Some new wires (heck probably could use the ones there), FTA receiver and you are set. I'll run it down for you.

This is a C-Band Dish. (As already stated) If you get lucky it will have a C-band lnb and a KU band lnb. This is both type of signals. So nothing to do if you have both. That is great.

(Before doing anything. We would need pictures of the inside cover) This will tell us if you have both and what way to go. Below is some options for you.

If you have both a KU & C band LNB you will need the following items.

Old Analog receiver to move dish and control V/H

OR

Vbox to move dish with FTA receiver that controls V/H


You can look for a FTA receiver. If you use a VBOX to move the dish you can get a FTA receiver that supports V/H (Vertical / Horizontal) I was going to put a model number for a ex of one that support V/H but cannot find one. LOL. This turns a small motor in the feedhorn. The item located in the front of the dish cone. I really think it depends on how simple of a setup you want.

Then on top of either the fta receiver and analog box or both. You can add a 4dtv receiver. This you can use to subscribe to channels.

Your picture will be marv. and all the guys can answer anything you have about anything.

Money is the limit for options. Some fo the things to remeber though and I think is the most missed from dish / direct is the program guide. There is non except I think the 4dtv has it.

Later,

Josh

 

[truckracer]

Radio shack guy is full of $hittle.
He just does not know. He probably thinks all you get on a big dish is analog.
Analog is all but dead , there's tons of digital in the sky.
If the dish is metal you have a real treasure on your hands. If those dishes were not worth throwing money into I would not have purchased two of them new four years ago including new lnbs feedhorns, actuators, two pansat 9200 FFA receivers with s2 tuner boards.

 

[osu1991]

I would probably pick up an fta receiver that can blindscan, like a coolsat 6000 and hook it up to the dish and blindscan. See if it is still aimed at anything. Then you could look at an analog or gbox to move it. Also determine if the lnb is still any good.

 

[Smith P.]

I would connect my spectrum analyzer to it and will check LNBs and motors. Just a few hours drive.

 

[Anole]

where'd it come from?

If it's actually spun aluminum, then it's pretty thin. Around 1/8th inch or a bit less.
If it's an old one-piece fiberglass, then it'd be 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
You should be able to tell along the edge, or where the hardware bolts the LNB support arms to the edge of the dish.

If it's a spun aluminum dish, it might have come from DH Satellite.
Here's a picture of a mount they use, which isn't exact, but similar to yours.
You can look through their site; they have a lot of pictures.
Problem is, none really show LNB supports like yours, so I doubt they're the maker.

As to getting it going, there's not a lot of question about that.
Whether you want to, is the only question.

The motor looks good from the outside.
Doesn't mean it's not water damaged inside.

Then, the LNB cover hides the rest of the secret.
Pop that off and shoot at least five pictures from various angles.

If you choose not to fire it up, then do make sure someone who'll appreciate it gets it to play with.
And as suggested above, stretch a tape measure across the rim and give us a measurement.
If it's 8...9 feet, we have fellows here who'd be happy to clear it off your property. -

 

[Smith P.]

Well, well, well ... Is there a line just created?

 

[truckracer]

LOL ....You guys behave

 

[tvropro]

Like said above it can be made operational from a basic standpoint to a deluxe standpoint in how much money you want to put in it. Worst case scenario to get it up and running would be a new LNB, Actuator, Servo motor, wire and a Receiver. That would give you the basic setup needed. A deluxe setup would include a High definition DVB receiver, and a 4DTV also. If you lived around me I could test everything in about a hour but that's not an option. So think of it an learning adventure with the knowledge and help here you have at least 50% of the job covered. The other 50% has to come from you and friends to physically do the work.

Like I said in my first post if your serious about getting it running you can. You have to dedicate yourself to it and not jump ship because something don't make sense. I'm an old hand at satellite and know a lot. But also have gotten help from the guys here over the years and did things I never did before. So Go for it, spend a few bucks and when you have it up and running you can go talk with the guy at radio shack and tell him a thing or too

 

[eurosport]

I see one coax and the polarotor cable going into the "nose-cone" -it's probably C-band only.

 

[tvropro]

I see one coax and the polarotor cable going into the "nose-cone" -it's probably C-band only.

I saw that too, I'm thinking its a Chaparral PR1E or possibly a PR1-AS. I can't tell from the picture if it's adjustable scaler or the economy model. Since the arm is a HTS I'll bet it has a Echostar LNB and originally was connected to a HTS or Echosphere receiver. Back in the day the distributors used to sell packages to the dealers that had the same brand components for the most part.

 

[Mr Tony]

wonder if it was possibly aimed mainly at G5?

on a side note, I'd love to have the dish aimed that far west on the arc and have the elevation that high

 

[tvropro]

on a side note, I'd love to have the dish aimed that far west on the arc and have the elevation that high

Tired of looking into buildings and tree's on the west end of the arc like me huh Ice?

 

[Mr Tony]

actually I have to aim through a couple trees for the far west sats (133 west) and depending on where in the driveway I put the C-Band dish is what I get

 

[tvropro]

actually I have to aim through a couple trees for the far west sats (133 west) and depending on where in the driveway I put the C-Band dish is what I get

I wonder if that thing is on G1? I have to remember that were talking about California and not the Midwest. Thats about how G5 looks by me but there it could be G1. The more I look at that dish the more I like it. It's designed after commercial dishes I think