Scored a Primestar dish

[lownote2]

Ok....... so I'm halfway (or close to halfway) there to my FTA hobby that has consumed me the more I look into it.

So I was driving past a house today and noticed an old primestar dish out in the yard. Of course I had to stop and see if they wanted to get rid of it. It was a real nice older couple and he asked me what I would give him for it. I told him that if it worked I'd be glad to give him $30 for it, but I didn't want to give anything for it if it ended up not working. He really didn't care because he was just happy to get rid of it and told me that he'd been meaning to get rid of it anyway because it was a pain to mow around.

Anyway.. it's the big Primestar dish with only one arm.. not 3 and for as old as it is it looks to be in really good condition.
If I was only wanting 1 satellite it wouldn't be a big deal, but I really want a motor. There are some old posts on here I have checked out and it does look possible but I didn't know if anybody had come up with anything new. The biggest thing I see is that the arm it has to sit on is much larger than the 1 5/8 normal size. I'm gonna be racking my brain on that one.
Also I'm of course really concerned with the weight. It's not super heavy, but it is heavy... about the weight of a super dish or so. Would hate to ruin a motor if I could get it to mount ok because of the weight.

like I said though.. I'm halfway there. Still haven't picked up a receiver.. but now that I'm this close I gotta get one quick because that big dish is outside just waiting for a partner. Looking at either one of the fortec (dynamic or mercury II) or perhaps a viewsat, but I really like everything I've read on the fortecs so far.

Any help with what has worked for you all with mounting these with a motor would be really helpful. I may just get it going on G18 for now when I get the receiver, but with all that's out there I know I want a motor too.

Thanks all.

BTW: I have another friend who does installs who may be getting another primestar dish taken out for somebody this weekend. It's the single arm as well. I won't need 2 of them and if he picks it up for me and somebody's looking for one let me know. I'm not looking to charge anybody for it if he gets it, but I'd like to see it go to good use.

 

[lownote2]

Just found this link

Free To Air Satellite | thenetbuilder.com

What do you all think? Looks like it should work to me.

 

[Mr Tony]

Anyway.. it's the big Primestar dish with only one arm.. not 3 and for as old as it is it looks to be in really good condition.
If I was only wanting 1 satellite it wouldn't be a big deal, but I really want a motor. There are some old posts on here I have checked out and it does look possible but I didn't know if anybody had come up with anything new. The biggest thing I see is that the arm it has to sit on is much larger than the 1 5/8 normal size. I'm gonna be racking my brain on that one.
Also I'm of course really concerned with the weight. It's not super heavy, but it is heavy... about the weight of a super dish or so. Would hate to ruin a motor if I could get it to mount ok because of the weight.

[
the primestar mounts are HEAVY and in most cases would burn out a simple motor pretty easily. I know the HH100 & 120 should work fine but the smaller (SG2100) motor wont. Best thing to do is tot ake the weight off and fabricate something.

like I said though.. I'm halfway there. Still haven't picked up a receiver.. but now that I'm this close I gotta get one quick because that big dish is outside just waiting for a partner. Looking at either one of the fortec (dynamic or mercury II) or perhaps a viewsat, but I really like everything I've read on the fortecs so far.

If those were my only options...Fortec hands down. Coolsats are good too and I noticed a couple for sale in the classified section here

BTW: I have another friend who does installs who may be getting another primestar dish taken out for somebody this weekend. It's the single arm as well. I won't need 2 of them and if he picks it up for me and somebody's looking for one let me know. I'm not looking to charge anybody for it if he gets it, but I'd like to see it go to good use.

why not keep them both? I have 3 of them and one isnt used. I havent found a spot to mount it yet

by the way, what are the dimensions of the dish? There is one that is 40x30 and I think 37x27

 

[Anole]

There's at least one old thread on the forum, with words like "Primestar" and "2100" in the title.
You'll know it when you see it.
Quite large.
Maybe two or three years old.

It's a compilation of the creative juices of many clever fellows, all of whom did what you're about to do.
Read it and any similar ones, to get a good clue, then dive off the deep end.

hint: sometimes you can order a motor with an optional larger than normal shaft.
That's handy with Primestars which want a big pole to clamp onto.

 

[lownote2]

yeah, I looked at Sadoun's site and they have the HH100 which looks like it would be a pretty close fit.
I may try it soon and just point it at G18 for now and save up for a few weeks for the motor.

quick question though.. the lnb on the primestar is skewed just a bit, (like about 2 degrees if I remember while sitting here)
Do I need to put that back to 0?

also, the LNB has two outputs... I'm guessing one V and one H.. but they aren't labeled that I can see. Anybody know which one is which or how to tell?

 

[Mr Tony]

2 degrees aint much on skew...skew for optimum signal

yes the 2 outputs are V & H...to see which is which there are 2 long screws on the case to remove and that shows it

I think (key work is think) that if standing in front of ther dish facing it that the left one is V and the right is H

 

[turbosat]

#off the lnbf

lownote, post the number off the label on the lnbf, and I'll check which is which. Got a list here someplace...
I think if you'll turn the lnbf until the outputs are at 3oclock and 6oclock positions, the one on the 3 will be the vertical. But like iceberg, I would have to go outside and look at one to be positive. I'll edit this tomorrow and tell you for sure.
Most of them have the v or h stamped into the metal casing.

 

[lownote2]

Will check later today.. Thanks a lot. Pulled the trigger last night on a coolsat 6000 premium. Seems to be a good choice so now I can't wait for it to get here.

 

[Cadsulfide]

For what it's worth, I'm pretty happy with one of my Primestars at 123, was having a little interference from 125 on my superdish. Put a sd fss lnb on the original feedhorn.

 

[Mr Tony]

I have a P* on 123W too and it works great

 

[lownote2]

Ok, so I'm impatiently waiting on the receiver to arrive but had some time this afternoon to piddle around. I hooked up the birddog to the Primestar dish just and did the whole balance the dish on my knee thing just to see what I could pick up and see if the LNB was good. ( won't know for sure until I hook it up) By the way, from behind the dish the H was on the left and the V on the right. You all were right, I had to take apart the cover of the LNB and it was labeled.
Anyway, is Galaxy 18 weak or do I need to skew the LNB? I set it back to 0 too "aim around"
I picked up AMC3 and AMC 4 really well according to the birddog, but eveytime I locked onto Galaxy 18 I could find it, but couldn't get it to peak. Granted I was balancing it on my knee, but I didn't have a problem maxing out the other 2 I found. So I guess my question is wether or not I need to keep the skew at 0 or not and if Galaxy 18 is just a really weak bird for the birddog to read. Everytime I found it I couldn't get the Q meter to go up from 0.

I take that back.... memory fading on me but I believe it was AMC3 and Galaxy 25 I was able to find and really peak, not amc4. not that it may make a difference.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Take your time, & use your reciever to blind scan when it arrives. Get it on a post first .
These are not DBS birds you can hit with a butter bowl. If you keep that lnb, get a switch to pick up both polarities. After you get used to tuning for the linear birds, it will become 2nd nature.

 

[lownote2]

Thanks. Been reading around on here and apparently G18 is pretty weak lately. Maybe that's why I couldn't get it to peak. Already have the switch... just waiting like an impatient kid on Christmas eve for that coolsat to arrive in the mail.

 

[osu1991]

You do need to skew the lnb. I would have to go outside and look, but here in Oklahoma i think mine is skewed to +30 or +32 on my Primestar 84e dish for G18