Old Direct TV Dish

[thejones]

I have a direct tv system (18") from 97 and wanted to put it to good use...testing the FTA waters. I am going to pick up a Conaxsat Mini to hook it up to.


Just need some clarifications. I can use the single LNB and get 110. If I change the lnb what can I get? What lnb can I should I change it to and where can I get it from? How many lnbs can I put one one dish. I am really looking to get the History channel, BIO and PBS World. Is the 18" to small or is it possible? I have done a lot of research but the language throws me off a bit. I'm up in the mountains with a good view of the southern sky.

Hope someone can help me out. I would really appreciate it.

 

[Ironsides]

18"

I think an 18" dish is far to small for the majority of FTA satellites..As for your other questions concerning lnbf's and how many that depends on the size of dish and several other factors.

 

[freezy]

Pretty useless for FTA application. That square lnb mount is different than all linear LNBs use. They need a round yoke that will allow the LNB to be skewed. There are adapters around but 18" would be very difficult to find anything and the signal would be very unreliable... if it worked at all.


Best re-use of a 18" DBS dish. Mount it on a 2' x 2' piece of plywood and take your directv with you camping

 

[thejones]

Unfortunate it looks like my research was most of 2 year old threads. I wanted to use the Direct tv dish to justify the cost of getting a pro FTA setup...just to prove that there is some merit in this. I may try the lnb adapter.

thanks

 

[Ironsides]

FTA

I am afraid you will be in for a disappointment trying FTA even with the lnbf adapter on an 18" dish. FTA is well worth the time, work, and money involved if you enjoy learning and a little work. It's one of the most fun hobbies I have ever been involved in.

I am not saying you will not be able to make the 18" dish work for you but I think the results you might be looking for just will not prove it's worth the investment. If you're looking to prove something my best advice is to get a larger dish.

If you're not looking to spend any money, you might consider trying a Dish hunt and look for older C-Band dishes or Primestar or even Direct PC dishes. Often times you can ask the owners they will give you the dish just to get it out of their way. I have located several Primestar dishes just by running an add on a local forum and the price was right every time because all I had to do was go get it. I found 2 8' foot C-Band dishes last year totally free and sadly got sick and was unable to get either of them...

 

[Jim S.]

I've received History and Biography on 101W and PBS on 125W with an 18" dish.

 

[freezy]

How hard was it to line up...sig/quality?

 

[1ADAM12]

Some folks do.

I've received History and Biography on 101W and PBS on 125W with an 18" dish.

Others get some stuff on 97W also.

2nd picture shows 2 Number 3 conduit clamps ($.69@)

 

[Jim S.]

How hard was it to line up...sig/quality?

Quality was good to high, at least in clear weather. The 18" dish always goes out first in poor weather of course. But 101W and 125W are pretty high power here in the northeast. 97W only gave me 5 or 6 transponders out of 22 or so. Other satellites that are strong on an 18" are 74W and 72W, although 72W seems to drop power frequently. I can get the full-time ABC feeds on 89W, but no mobile feeds.

Alignment is pretty touchy. The 18" dish tends to see more than one satellite at a time, especially if they're only 2 degrees apart. As a result, some satellites that should work based on their power output don't in practice. For example, 99W. I couldn't get anything to lock reliably because it was swamped by 97W and 101W.