Primestar found in the bushes

[voomvoom]

Hi Fred, thanks for the incouragement, but I'm not Brave. Stupid maybe?? It took me about 2-3 months to get up the nerve to get up there and do it. My biggest fear was maybe the wind catching one of them dishes as I was carrying them (one at a time) up the ladder. I had the poles ready, and all I needed to escape the fear was get the dish on that pole. It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be, and I managed to not fall off the roof. But, I had someone with a phone, ready to call 911 if needed. Lucky for me, that wasn't necessary.

Al

 

[linuxman]

It is still quite a feat!

Whether brave or stupid, you manged to do it. I would have never been able to.

At least I am over my dreams of falling off. When I first started this hobby and was working with the dish on the side of the building, I would go to sleep and dream I was falling off. The more I did it, and I did it because I love this hobby, the dreams finally went away, and I have overcome the fear pretty well. But I have limits.

Fred

 

[voomvoom]

I can actually stand on the roof and work with the lnbf's on the T90. They are about chest high. The Primestar is totally different, I can't reach those lnbf's without turning the P* in the opposite direction. I can however, turn the dish on the pole, or adjust the elevation up or down. What I did was, I got it dead on with it on a pole at ground level. So then, when I took it up to the roof, it was very close. It's not perfect, but it's close enough.

Al

 

[Mr Tony]

AWESOME pictures Al :clap:clap:clap:clap

I have to give you credit...you wouldnt see me putting my T90 on my roof
(mainly because it probably wouldn't work due to the low elevation and I'd be on the roof working on it too much

 

[Anole]

O M G !

You couldn't find some place less friendly to put the Primestar?

That's one heck of a job.
Quite some bracketry, too. You come up with that yourself?
Very imaginative.

Ya suppose we should open a new forum section??
Dream Registry, and other Psychological Conditions ?

 

[linuxman]

Ya suppose we should open a new forum section??
Dream Registry, and other Psychological Conditions ?

Maybe we should!

If you get hooked on this hobby, it can help you overcome almost anything!!

Fred

 

[Tron]

Amazing pics Al! Finally we get to see your setup I like how you mounted the LNBFs on the side arms of the 1M CM I might have to dabble with mine a bit, that was inspiring...

 

[Corrado]

WOW! What a setup! Those beautiful pics inspire me.

 

[stogie5150]

Very nice! :up:up:up

 

[GreatFTA]

Here in the Mississippi Delta, there's lots of Primestar of all sizes dotted all around . I got 4 dishs, a .75m, 2 1m, and my favorite, 1.2m. They are all Channel Master, and I got 2 of the oval shaped.
Funny thing is, some folks don't want to part with them...
Keep a keen eye out for the dish you want. Sooner or later you will strike gold.

 

[gabshere]

Funny thing is, some folks don't want to part with them...

yep here they act like "were still using it." even one of these was pointed 180 degrees from where it should be pointed ( it was pointed almost due north).... had one tell me the "It Was Primestar's dish" ..... well like they went out of business in 1999 , almost like they think someone is going to come out and get it after 8 years.

Guess i should make me a patch and go knock on doors "yes I'm with Primestar and were here to get that dish and everything else plus a $39 pickup fee" ......

 

[tvropro]

Here in the Mississippi Delta, there's lots of Primestar of all sizes dotted all around . I got 4 dishs, a .75m, 2 1m, and my favorite, 1.2m. They are all Channel Master, and I got 2 of the oval shaped.
Funny thing is, some folks don't want to part with them...
Keep a keen eye out for the dish you want. Sooner or later you will strike gold.

In the Chicago area there non existant. The one 90cm I have I found about 6 years ago. It sat here for a long time till I did something with it. I can remember seeing them all over the place in the late 90's.

Talking about Primestar I was watching an old video tape yesterday recorded in the 90's sometime and it had a Primestar commercial in it. They showed I think a 90cm or 1 meter dish and they said "satellite tv for about a dollar a day", was kinda cool.

 

[Tron]

There are very few of them in New Orleans, however I have seen a few around, almost all atop office buildings or businesses. Most residents have probably gotten rid of them by now, unfortunately

I hope I never see one being used as a birdbath

 

[GreatFTA]

Well, some folks must like to use the old Primestar dishes as some kind of yard arnament or something like that...
My uncle gave me some old Popular Mechanics magazine a few months ago and one of them have a big article spread about Primestar system when it first came out and boy, it was really interesting reading!
I will find it and see if I can copy the article into PDF format so if any of you guys want to find out what it was like in its heyday. Might give you more insight on using these oldies...

 

[GreatFTA]

Wow...
I went to town to mail a letter at the post office.
Right in front of the post office is a cish much like a Channel Master 1.2 meter dish but it was BIGGER!!! The lnb on front of this dish tripod holder looks like one of those internet satelite lnb but it is big.
The next time I go there I will find out from the postmaster what that dish is used for. I wanted to get up close to see the actual size of this dish but was afraid I would get arrested for trespassing.
I would LOVE to get my hands on this one.
It look like it is slightly bigger than my 1.2.

 

[Tron]

Sounds like it may be a 1.8M (6 foot) VSAT dish This is not the first time I've heard about such a dish on a post office. I wonder what they're using them for...

 

[stogie5150]

Yep, there's an Andrew 6 footer laying in the parking lot at my Post Office, the roof mount is all bent and twisted, dish is pointed north so I know they aren't using it, I asked about it, I got a HUGE NO. Quite negative in fact.

It is a danged nice dish though. Been there since Katrina 2 years ago, in the same place.

 

[Tron]

Katrina did quite a number on dishes around here. Unfortunately, most of the molded fiberglass dishes were damaged beyond repair I did get some roof mounting hardware and miscellaneous parts by scrounging around, though.

 

[GreatFTA]

Tron, I Talked to the postmaster at the post office and she told me the dish is part of the satellite internet system designed for the postal system.
She said the service is "so-so" but better than dailup. I can relate to that since I am on the Wildblue Internet Satellite services...
Stogie, the federal government is very ticky about giving ANYTHING away, even if it is obsolete and not working. So don't waste your time trying to find used dishes from any government offices or property.

 

[stogie5150]

Tron, I Talked to the postmaster at the post office and she told me the dish is part of the satellite internet system designed for the postal system.
She said the service is "so-so" but better than dailup. I can relate to that since I am on the Wildblue Internet Satellite services...
Stogie, the federal government is very ticky about giving ANYTHING away, even if it is obsolete and not working. So don't waste your time trying to find used dishes from any government offices or property.

Yeah I know I used to work for at a NASA facility....I saw all kinds of unspeakable waste, believe me.

I swear though, as bad as I want a 1.8/6-foot dish for cband, that Andrew that I pass almost every day is TAUNTING me...