what should I do with this dish

[easyk]

My house in Arlington Texas, that I bought in 2004, has a 10 foot wire mesh satelite dish in the back yard. The dish is wired to the house with the wire bundle comming out in the living room where the previous owners left a receiver box with remote. When I bought the house I remember I plugged everything in and was able to watch "Nuns in the Snow" i.e. nothing.

When I toured the house while the previous occupants were still here they were watching arab language TV but I cannot say that if came from this dish. There are two of the smaller modern dishes on the house as well. The dish is in good condition with one small 6 inch tear in the mesh near the bottom edge.

Since then I have not touched the equipment. A large shrub has grown to 10 feet in height directly in front of the south facing dish and my neighbor has build a metal roofed shed that obscures probably 80% of its sky view.
I'm an electrical engineer and I'm intruigued by this thing but I don't have a great deal of time and already have an expensive hobby (autocross). Add to that I don't watch much TV, nor do I susbcribe to cable or other satelite services.

Well I think by the act of writing this missive I have decided to let the dish go. How do I go about unloading it and is it worth anything?

easyK in Arlington, TX

 

[stogie5150]

Look around here on the site, if you are a bit mechanically inclined, you can get her going again, lots of good stuff still up there...take a pic of your dish and post it here and one of us can tell you what you have.

As far as what it is worth, probably not much more than scrap. Unless you are one of US, then its worth more than that. :up

 

[gabshere]

i love tinkering with both c band and ku dishes
i don't have a lot of time to watch and enjoy TV but i really think i enjoy tweaking the dishes just as much lol
so just tinkering around and if you have all the equipment ... have a little fun and try it

 

[Anole]

welcome

We'd be happy to talk you through getting it going again.
But since you've decided to spend your hobby time on other projects, we understand.
Post some pictures of it, both from the front and the back side.
Maybe we can find someone in your area who'd like to remove it for you.
Hiring someone to do it is silly, if it could go to a good home where it would be well appreciated.

And you know, there are other sections on this forum, so maybe one of 'em would be of interest to ya.
Hope you continue to hang out with us. - :up

 

[rv1pop]

I was up in Newark a short time ago... I could have used another dish! I will not be back there until Mid to late January. There are others who are closer to get it -- or help you get it working. I do not consider myself hooked on the hobby, I just want to get some good TV. Once I have good signal I tend to leave the dish alone (- then add another dish or 2 or 3 or ...6.) I am quite sure there is autocross on some channel -- and most likely on C-band!
As others have said, we are here to help - to get it running or out to someone else.
POP

 

[easyk]

good idea... now where did I put my camera...

 

[easyk]

The box in the house is a Toshiba TRX 2200.

 

[rv1pop]

I told my wife I was going to Texas to get a new dish, she said, "not without me, and I'm not going to TX until winter!". So we will have to see if we can help you get it going. Is the post leaning or is the canmera angle tilted? If you really do not want it that dish lookes to be in very good condition, The actuator looks very good also.

 

[turbosat]

Thats a nice receiver if its still working, they were very popular. Not a whole lot left on analog now, since most of the signals have switched to digital (DVB) broadcast, but you can still find stuff to watch.
Dish does look ok too, and if that picture has it pointed at your due south satellite, you prob are ok, none of that greenery seems to be tall enough to block the signal.
Fix 'er up, get yourself a cheap free-to=air reciever to use with it, and you can find tons of free tv if you're interested.