Primestar Feedhorn Lenscover (Eye)

[Gray1]

Most of us have seen these before. Its a feedhorn off a Primestar 84E. The lenscover (eye) is missing. I know some of the members here have used plastic bags to go over them. What do you think about this idea. The feedhorn is aluminum so it wont rust in the weather. The cap is off an Ice Mountain water bottle.It just covers the hole or the center section. Do you think it would block the signal? All you would have to do is put silicone on the outside edge of the first ring, stick it on and poke some small holes in it. Anybody tried this before?


Thanks
Allen

 

[turbosat]

Signals should go right through it, neat job. I've tried a few pieces of plastic before, the tupperware bowl lids , flat ones that is, are good. But you'll get into a world of #! for cutting
one up lol.

 

[phlatwound]

Great idea! :up

I just got my first Primestar dish (w/P* LNB) a couple weeks ago, the original eye cover was just hanging on there by a thread, I'll be looking for a plastic cap now to fit the opening.

 

[Smith P.]

Put it microwave for 20 seconds if it will cold then it's OK.

 

[sidha]

For the sake of curiousity, you may want to compare for a percentage difference in quality, with the cap either on or off. And make sure it's bone dry. I once used some unknown type of plastic that surprised me because it did make a difference.

I've been leaving one of my Primestar feeds unprotected because that goofy shaped cover deteriorated from UV. There should be a clear disc of thin plastic inside the throat at the entrance of the LNBF, where it mates to the feed. I know I shouldn't rely on just that for a guard, but the feed look angle doesn't encourage water to enter. One of these days... I'm not in a really big hurry, because I got my hands on a discarded full case of new cylindrical aluminum 'bullet' Ku LNB's with dual coaxial outputs for H or V. Wish they were all a more convenient single output, voltage switched type. But still nice to have 20 pounds of these things. I'm the kind of person who likes to collect 50 of everything. I'm learning differently, though.

 

[rv1pop]

Well, if you decide to get rid of some, I could use them! I got several P* dishes and 2 or 3 have non-working LNBFs. I'll PM you.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Well, if you decide to get rid of some, I could use them! I got several P* dishes and 2 or 3 have non-working LNBFs. I'll PM you.

The 121 superdish DSS lnb's bolt right up to your feedhorn, and work great.

 

[sidha]

The 121 SuperDish LNB's work really nice like that. I have one on a 1 meter Primestar dish dedicated to G10, it works fantastic.
BTW, those bullet aluminum Primestar type Ku LNB's, like the picture in the first post, can be put to good use another way. I set up a fiberglass 10 foot dish for G10 Ku this summer. The feed was the common Chaparral type that uses set-screw adjustment on the throat tube to scalar assembly. I tried an experiment where I removed the C-band feed tube from the center of the scalar ring mount, leaving a hole that was a bit larger than the diameter of a Primestar bullet LNB. I filled the space with a few strips of metal, so that the set-screw could secure the LNB. Before final tightening, I skewed and aligned the LNB at the focal point.

The C-band scalar rings are part of the casting of the base ring. Maybe it helps some for Ku. The quality readings are 100% on at least one of the TV channel transponders. I don't think any are lower than 90, but I'll have to verify that. That style of Ku LNB adapts very well to the Chaparral C-band feed. When looking into the open throat, you can see the business end of the Ku LNB with its thin plastic cover over the waveguide entrance. This adaptation works perfectly for anyone wanting just Ku from a C-band feed/dish. Those Primestar silver bullet LNB's are very handy.