Primestar dish found on junk heap. Worth it?

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comfortably_numb

Dogs have owners, cats have staff
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 30, 2011
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Kansas City / Las Vegas
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What’s the mold number on the back. I have an 84E that worked well when I was using it at my old house.

Not sure; it's near my house and I saw it laying on the lot of a house that burned down a long time ago. I'm not sure I should have even been on the property but it looks abandoned. If the dish isn't completely roached I'll try to find out who owns the property and ask them if I can have it.
 
The 84E dish has a special designed scalar. I see it in the pictures. I would suggest you use that if possible. There is a chance the LNB attached to it is like one I have that has a V port and a H port to use with a simple multi-switch. That dish may be FTA ready :)
 
The 84E dish has a special designed scalar. I see it in the pictures. I would suggest you use that if possible. There is a chance the LNB attached to it is like one I have that has a V port and a H port to use with a simple multi-switch. That dish may be FTA ready :)

Yep, if you don't use the special scalar, any offset lnbf you use in it's place will only see the middle/circle part of the dish. In other words, you won't be effectively using the entire dish, only a smaller portion.
 
So in other words, I need to cross my fingers that the original LNB still works or else the dish is trash?

No, the scalar has a c-120 flange mount on it. You can mount any c-120 flange ku lnb on it that you'd like. Even if the original one is good, AND is a H/V model (not all were) they were like .8dB noise level. So not all that good compared to newer types. The lower the better.
 
My 84E has the original version with combined H/V. My 1M has the separate H/V sides. Both worked well for my needs several years ago. I still hope to get a newer receiver and put them back in use this summer. My current house has much better view of the southern sky than my old house had.
 
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If this is an 84E, would it be a 1 meter?

.84cm, which means it's basically a 33 inch dish. A very good one however. Where these elliptical dishes excel, is in receiving multiple satellites at the same time. You can mount a bar in place of the center lnb, and mount multiple lnb's along it/ above /below to work for your location. Realize that the dish doesn't skew as it's built, you skew the lnb(f). Though in the past I have mounted a fishing boat seat ball-bearing mount between the dish and the mount, and used that to skew the dish. You have to drill a hole and thread it for a self-tapping screw, so you can lock it down in the best position after skewing. The boat seat mounting hole slots are almost perfect from the factory. You only have to ream them out a little bit.
 
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.84cm, which means it's basically a 33 inch dish. A very good one however. Where these elliptical dishes excel, is in receiving multiple satellites at the same time. You can mount a bar in place of the center lnb, and mount multiple lnb's along it/ above /below to work for your location. Realize that the dish doesn't skew as it's built, you skew the lnb(f). Though in the past I have mounted a fishing boat seat ball-bearing mount between the dish and the mount, and used that to skew the dish. You have to drill a hole and thread it for a self-tapping screw, so you can lock it down in the best position after skewing. The boat seat mounting hole slots are almost perfect from the factory. You only have to ream them out a little bit.

I've become pretty experienced in offset LNB's (not as much as danristheman!) so it sounds like this might be a good experimental dish for me. I'm tempted just to go out there and throw it in the trunk, as I have no idea how to determine who owns the abandoned property, but I suppose that's grand theft satellite!! :D
 
I've become pretty experienced in offset LNB's (not as much as danristheman!) so it sounds like this might be a good experimental dish for me. I'm tempted just to go out there and throw it in the trunk, as I have no idea how to determine who owns the abandoned property, but I suppose that's grand theft satellite!! :D

I watched the 84E I have, sitting on the ground with garage sale painted on it for several years. It was at a place abandoned across the street from my lake house, I finally just went and rescued it. My 1M was actually sticking out of an old trash bin at an old abandoned auto shop, I turned around and went back and pulled it out of the debris.
 
I think what I'm going to do is approach the guy who lives across the street from there, and see if he knows who owns it. If he doesn't know, then I think I'll just rescue the dish. At least then I will have made an attempt.
 
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I think what I'm going to do is approach the guy who lives across the street from there, and see if he knows who owns it. If he doesn't know, then I think I'll just rescue the dish. At least then I will have made an attempt.

Mine picks up PBS using a Maverick LNBF like this. My temporary test install is on a fence post from Hime Depot clamped to an old metal frame.
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