Wish Me Luck-Morning Salvage Ops Ahead!

[stogie5150]

I have lucked into being able to peruse a whole PILE of used satellite dishes...I have a 'contact' at the local cable company.....I asked him if he knew if they had any 1m dishes that they weren't using that needed to be hauled off...he called me back and said they had a storage yard full of dishes that they got in their "Turn In Your Dish To Get Cable" program. I'm after Primestar dishes especially...and I'll have as many as he'll let me take.....

 

[jayelem]

Geez I wish I had your luck.

I just got an instant message from a local freecycle group.
Hopefully they reply back.
At this point , I wouldn't mind adding a dish or 2 to my setup, then I could use my switch.

But I admit that your find is tops , good luck.

 

[stogie5150]

Goodness gracious I couldn't have been more lucky. When I got there he brought me to a 50X50 area that was ALL Primestar dishes...ALL OF THEM. The must have been over 1000 of them there. Told me to have my pick, so I got three 84e dishes and all the goodies to go with them. I only got two lnb sets though, I wan't sure I could use the P* LNB's. They were all taken apart though, so I am sure I'll be missing some bolts and such, But I was going to change the hardware out to stainless anyway. I think I am going to build a little platform out of wood and mount it just to learn what this FTA stuff is all about. :

Now to pick a reciever and order that..I have 175.00....any suggestions? I like the looks of the Viewsats and the Sonicviews...I defintely want blindscan and component outs for my plasma TV.....

 

[WyrTwister]

Goodness gracious I couldn't have been more lucky. When I got there he brought me to a 50X50 area that was ALL Primestar dishes...ALL OF THEM. The must have been over 1000 of them there. Told me to have my pick, so I got three 84e dishes and all the goodies to go with them. I only got two lnb sets though, I wan't sure I could use the P* LNB's. They were all taken apart though, so I am sure I'll be missing some bolts and such, But I was going to change the hardware out to stainless anyway. I think I am going to build a little platform out of wood and mount it just to learn what this FTA stuff is all about. :

Now to pick a reciever and order that..I have 175.00....any suggestions? I like the looks of the Viewsats and the Sonicviews...I defintely want blindscan and component outs for my plasma TV.....

I like my Viewsat Extreme .

Wyr

 

[Tron]

Goodness gracious I couldn't have been more lucky. When I got there he brought me to a 50X50 area that was ALL Primestar dishes...ALL OF THEM. The must have been over 1000 of them there. Told me to have my pick.....

WOW! Great find Are they going to ditch the rest? Those are excellent dishes. The best ones would be the "round" 1.0 or 1.2 meter dishes, after that would be the 40 x 30 oval model. The LNBs will work fine regardless, and I believe some of the newer ones were voltage-switched.

I live in New Orleans, and would gladly take a trip across the lake to grab as many of those dishes as they want to part with! I believe there are other members of this forum that would love a few Primestars who live in the metro area or close as well, if they don't want the others!

 

[stogie5150]

He told me he didn't know what they were going to do with them...he gave them to me because I knew him. Without going into too much detail... let's just say he was in the position to let me have them and not have to answer to anyone. He said that the lot of them would probably sell to a firm that recycles electronic stuff in Hammond,LA.
BUT I will say this, if I talk with him again and he offers me some more of them I WILL go get them. And you guys in the N.O. area will certainly have first choice.

Sorry Tron, no round dishes. I checked. I know where a round primestar is, though, but the house was mostly destroyed by Katrina and no one was there when I went there. But this weekend I might take a ride and see if anyone's there on a Saturday, or maybe their neighbors might know how to get in touch with them.

Stay tuned, it might turn out....

 

[Mr Tony]

nice find and welcome to Satelliteguys

I drove by a subdivision the other day and saw 4 houses in a row with P* dishes on them (at the time of P* there was no cable there). Stopped at 2 of them and one said I could take it away this spring after the snow melts
(the other person looked at me like I was an alien and slammed the door in my face)

 

[Anole]

I drove by a subdivision the other day and saw 4 houses in a row with P* dishes on them

That would drive me crazy!

...the other person looked at me like I was an alien and slammed the door in my face

Maybe you should try this approach:
"Sir, we're in the neighborhood to meet potential new customers for our lawn/handyman service.
Normally we charge $25 to remove unsightly/unused dishes like yours.
Today, as a promotion, we're only charging $5."

Or maybe this one:
"We're raising money for the local school/charity/whatever.
That unused satellite antenna is worth $25 to the kids/orphans/etc.
We'll give you the money so you can make the donation in your name."

Not that I ever pulled either...

What kills me, is that all the Radio Shack stores had them on the roof about 8 - 10 years ago.
When Primestar shut down, all those dishes were trashed.
I was offered one, and didn't have the sense to take it.

 

[Mr Tony]

Our local Rat Shack still has one (I was there when it was installed) but the mall maintenance guy wont let me get on the roof to take it.

As for the 4 houses with P* in a row, there was more (I remember seeing the whole subdivision had them) but lots have been trashed and the mast is being used for D* or E* now

 

[Anole]

Yea, roof access to malls for outsiders is a no-no.
However if Radio Shack needs to access the roof to fix/replace their Dish dish, or the phone company, or the air conditioner guy needs up there, they're allowed.

You could try to get tight with the Radio Shack manager to let you know next time someone is up there.
...and make sure you know all the store managers for that section of the mall.
If any need access, at any time... (you can see where I'm going).

OR, you could make friends with the Mall guy.
Find out what brand of beer he likes and take him a case!
Or maybe a nice gift card to the local pizza place?
He's permitted up there, and might just quietly do you a favor.

I once had power company folks set a telephone pole in my back yard for payment of multiple cases of soda (and a lot of good will).

 

[Mr Tony]

our rat shack gets a new manger like every month it seems. The mall maintenance guy I know pretty well (he was there when I worked in the mall) but he said its not his say its the mall management company and they actually have to be there when someone has to get on the roof (which seems retarded in my mind).

 

[WyrTwister]

our rat shack gets a new manger like every month it seems. The mall maintenance guy I know pretty well (he was there when I worked in the mall) but he said its not his say its the mall management company and they actually have to be there when someone has to get on the roof (which seems retarded in my mind).

Thank the lawyers for most of this , it is a liability issue .

And after 9-11 , may be somewhat of a security issue , especially if any of the stores have roof hatches , HVAC units large enough to gain access through the ductwork or maybe even skylights .


Wyr

 

[linuxman]

Hey there,

I love Primestar dishes and the original LNBs that come with them.

I have managed to get two brand new in the box 84e's from an old P* dealer, two used 84e's, one 75e, and two DirecPC dishes from homeowners since last September.

Here's the pitch I used:

Hi there! I'm Fred. As I was driving by, I noticed that you have an old P* dish on your roof. I know that P* went out of business at least 10 years ago, and that thing is probably a nuisance you would like to get rid of. I have been doing some experimenting with dishes like that, and would be happy to take it down for you if you would let me have it. When would be the best time for you, I can do it now, or come by tomorrow morning?

A good salesman never asks a question that requires a direct yes or no answer. Always ask the question in such a way that any answer will be in the affirmative.

I have used almost that exact pitch to get my free used ones. It works.

To get the new ones, you have to make friends with any satellite guy, cable installer, or electronics repairmen you might come across. They all have contacts, and some of the DirecTV guys were P* dealers at one time. If they weren't, they all know someone who was. They will give you the name, and sometimes the phone number. Most of the old dealers just want to get the stuff out of the garage, warehouse or storage shed, but just couldn't bring themselves to throw it away.

I like hunting for them almost as much as actually getting them.

Fred

 

[Das Hammer]

Now to pick a reciever and order that..I have 175.00....any suggestions? I like the looks of the Viewsats and the Sonicviews...I defintely want blindscan and component outs for my plasma TV.....

Coolsat 5000 has a pretty good blind scan and also component output.

 

[stogie5150]

Looking real close at an Extremeview Magnum....

I see gosatellite is one of the sponsors here...so I assume they are good folks to deal with?

EDIT: Well, Rob at gosatellite.com has just infomed me that due to many returns and problems they are no longer selling the Extremeview Magnum. He recommended the Coolsat 5000.

Back to the drawing Board.

 

[jayelem]

Back to the drawing Board.

I really like my Coolsat 5000 , and I know of no new receiver that's leaps and bounds ahead in the FTA game.

In my opinion Coolsat 5000 was the latest and greatest receiver to come out, and it's been over a year since it's debut.

Not to put down newer fortec models , Fortec is established and has been making great receivers for awhile , and their blindscan is very accurate.

I kid you not , no receiver has impressed me as much as the CS 5000, look at my signature, I have oodles of new toys, and I still would not replace my Cs 5000.

Important for me is ..... Motor Control .... Blindscan....... and some good editing at the ease of my remote, I have not met the perfect receiver , I give CS 5000 a 9.7 on the scale of 1-10.

 

[stogie5150]

I really like my Coolsat 5000 , and I know of no new receiver that's leaps and bounds ahead in the FTA game.

In my opinion Coolsat 5000 was the latest and greatest receiver to come out, and it's been over a year since it's debut.

Not to put down newer fortec models , Fortec is established and has been making great receivers for awhile , and their blindscan is very accurate.

I kid you not , no receiver has impressed me as much as the CS 5000, look at my signature, I have oodles of new toys, and I still would not replace my Cs 5000.

Important for me is ..... Motor Control .... Blindscan....... and some good editing at the ease of my remote, I have not met the perfect receiver , I give CS 5000 a 9.7 on the scale of 1-10.

Thanks for the info...I feel better now...because...

I called back and ordered a Coolsat 5000. Ships tomorrow.

Now if it will stop raining long enough I can get a temporary platform cobbled together and get one of those Primestar dishes assembled, get some aiming info...I think I'll go get an inclinometer tomorrow, some cable and get ready for when it DOES stop raining...:up

I read on another forum that D* is going up AGAIN....and with all the problems with the new HDDVR that I am having....I can see a motor being bought pretty quickly, watching a LOT of wildfeeds and music channels fed into my house FREE.

 

[Tron]

I don't think you can go wrong on the CS 5000.

Good luck on the install, and if you need any help, PM me!

 

[stogie5150]

I noticed that that P* LNB has seperate inputs on the LNB for H/V. Does the Diseq switch combine that or do I need some other kind of combiner? I hope the danged things still work after being in the weather all that time, if they don't there's a whole stack of them over there I'll call my buddy back and ask to swap them out...

Is dual shield coax okay or do I need to spring for quad? Run will be under 100 feet. I use dual for everything else I have ( D*, ATSC OTA) and it works fine.

 

[Tron]

The best way to combine the H/V outputs is to use a 2 x 4 (or 3 x 4) DirecTV multiswitch. You hook H up to 18V and V up to 13V and you're good to go with four outputs

Dual shield should work well, as long as its RG-6. Quad might be needed if you're particularly close to a major airport or military facility.