Dish 500 for free to air?

**cmcsocal74** · 03-12-2010 12:23 AM

hello all, first off im about two hour new to this fta stuff, a frend gave me a dish 500 about 25 in im guessing. what would be a good recever for that dish? or am i wasting my time. i would like to use it for camp trips .

**Tron** · 03-12-2010 07:43 AM

A Dish 500 is next to useless, especially now that they've encrypted the few free channels on the DBS Dish Notwork satellites. You could do a bit of fabricating and replace the original LNBF assembly with a linear Ku-Band LNBF for FTA, but the dish is very small, and generally won't perform well for Ku-Band. A dish 500 is 20 inches, you need at least a 30 inch dish with a linear Ku-Band LNBF for most Ku-Band FTA.

**tvropro** · 03-12-2010 09:56 AM

I tried messing with a Dish 500 last weekend with a fabricated lnb holder and a linear LNBF. I couldn't raise a signal on it. A good 75cm dish or larger is really needed.

**1ADAM12** · 03-12-2010 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by cmcsocal74

hello all, first off im about two hour new to this fta stuff, a frend gave me a dish 500 about 25 in im guessing. what would be a good recever for that dish? or am i wasting my time. i would like to use it for camp trips .

To be fair and balanced to the subject, some people hear have pretty good luck with alot of tech savy and effort. Some TP's on 97W are good with a linear lnbf. Some PBS. But rainfade will wash them out.

**hwm** · 03-12-2010 01:37 PM

I tried without much success to use a Dish 500 measuring 22 x 24 inches with a Linear LNBF attached for true FTA signals. With a good LNBF, a strong satellite signal painstakingly peaked, short run of RG-6, and no switches or couplers to weaken signal, I can get a few strong transponders on 97w and a few other sats near my true south. If a heavy cloud comes between the dish and satellite, signal is lost.

In my experience you need a 31 inch / 76cm or larger dish for a reliable all-weather signal.