It really -IS- a lot of fun.
2). see the first thread in the
FAQ section,
What can I get on an 18" dish?
That's with a circular LNB, as is on your DirecTV dish.
With a linear LNB, and a little bracket to mount it, you might get a
few other channels with a small dish, on some of the linear birds.
Iceberg mentioned in an
old thread, that some of the hotter transponders could be received pretty well:
129º W Whitesprings old movies
101º W KUIL, 3ABN, Hope Network
.95º W CCTV
.93º W Doc Scott
See my pictures on
page 3 of this thread for an example.
Obviously, a 30..36" dish is required for all the rest of the programming, but if this whets your appetite, it serves its purpose
1). LNB = Low Noise Block converter.
It's actually the front end of your satellite receiver.
It converts the Ku-band 12ghz frequency down to a manageable range (1ghz) to pass down the coax to your receiver.
It converts a wide band (block) so it doesn't need to be tuned.
LNBF = LNB with Feedhorn.
Technically, this is what -most- all the Ku LNBs really are.
The term LNB is just short hand or slang for the proper term: LNBF.
The feed horn is located under the white cap on any Dish or DirecTV LNB(F), so it's not visible.
If you had a real LNB with no feedhorn, it'd have a flange to bolt it to the feedhorn.
The feedhorn collects the reflected single from the dish, and funnels it down the throat of the LNB.
Round feedhorns are for use with round dishes; oval feedhorns (and other strange shapes) are for oval dishes.