Picked up a dish today...Questions...

[Khandurian]

Hey guys, I picked up a dish today. Fiberglass. Measures 43 inches top to bottom and 40 inches side to side.

It's in rough shape. Well what I consider rough. It doesn't have a smooth surface.

1. Should I sand it down and re-paint it?
2. If so, what paint should I use?


I will try and get some pics of it soon as I can.

 

[Anole]

Sounds like a 1 meter Primestar (or Andrew, Channel Master, etc. - all the same)
They should have a pebble-like surface, and be dull (not highly reflective)
You don't want to sand it.

Wonder if you got the mount and LNB with it?
Should be a fine performer.

edit:
Here's the official word on how to paint a Primestar
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/105645-how-paint-clean-your-primestar.html
Here's a thread on satellite de-branding (taking off the logo)
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/107497-satellite-debranding.html

 

[Khandurian]

Ok, I looked closer at this dish, it appears its a 1m PrimeStar dish.

I don't think the LNB is the original that came with it. Heres the pics I promised. Would you pay 30$ for this?

The last Pic states it's a Channel Master. Mold # 1.0m 3.

As you can see in the second pic, it's in pretty rough shape. Or so I think. What do ya'll think?

 

[Khandurian]

Oh and before I get bombarded with questions about the fish tank. It's a 55 gal tank that is in the process of drying before I can re-silicone the tank.

 

[Larry1]

You don't want to be too quick at cleaning up that dish. Some of the fiber dishes have a painted on surface that acts as the reflector. If you remove that coating of paint, you remove the refective surface. Cleaning the surface and applying a coating over the reflective material should be ok. My StarChoice oval dish by Channel Master uses a reflective coating on the surface.

 

[Mr Tony]

the LNB is not stock. Thats a DSS/DBS LNB

Just clean it up first with soapy water...that's what I had to do with one of mine

 

[Tron]

Like Iceberg said, that's a circular DBS LNBF. The dish was probably used by someone with DirecTV to combat rain fade. That LNBF will be useless for 99 percent of the FTA channels, so you will want to replace it with a linear Ku LNB(F), either universal or standard (standard preferred if you will possibly be expanding your setup to include more dishes in the future, since it allows for 22k switching).

You may also consider hunting down the original feedhorn assembly with separate LNB which is made for that dish, seen in the attached picture. Note: Since this picture was taken, I have replaced the single-polarity Norsat with a stacked FSS LNB from a Superdish.

 

[olliec420]

damn, nice, wish i could score one like that, all i get from craigslist is a buncha old Dish and a ton of DTV phase 3s, had some offers on BUDs but i dont know how to take em apart and transfer them

 

[Mr Tony]

most buds can come apart in pieces. I had an old 10 footer that came apart in 6 pieces

 

[Khandurian]

Ya I had a feeling it wasn't the original LNB. No biggie, it can be replaced. I also keep TSP around for when I have to clean the roof of the house so thats not a problem either.

Now I just gotta go out and get a 2inch pole and shove it in the ground and level it up.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mr Tony]

I think those are 2 5/8" masts, not 2"

 

[Tron]

Yes, they are 2 3/8" (or 3", the 1.2M came with either size AZ-EL mount). I have a spare 3" mount laying around that will probably never get used