Are the old Primestar dishes any good for FTA?

[gabshere]

You know. I thought a while back about printing up some business cards saying that I was with the primestar removal company. You wouldn't believe how many folks think they are still using those dishes Back on topic. The fees horn mated to the dish pulls in usually just as good as one of those newer lnbfs Although the pll conversion would be interesting. I mated mine up with those Hughes type single output lnbfs and they work great. Although. If you plan on expansion in the future the dual output. H & v. Would work better than single output ones

 

[kodaz]

i bolted an fss up to the original feedhorn and aftermarket feedhorns designed for that dish. both work great and better then plain ones

 

[toucan-man]

Any data?

 

[Bob2011]

I removed the failed original LNB from my Primestar and used a zip tie to hold a $8 ebay special in its place. I get everything on 97w just fine.

 

[toucan-man]

I removed the failed original LNB from my Primestar and used a zip tie to hold a $8 ebay special in its place. I get everything on 97w just fine.

Most of my Primestars have mis-matched lnbfs strapped on, but my 97W 75E dish also has 1/5 of its surface obscured by an eave and still gets a booming signal so 97W maybe isn't the best test of this. I'm not doubting the comments about the superiority of the original feedhorn, but am wondering about the real world penalty of strapping something else on. It seems to me there is not much downside to jettisoning the original lnb, but it might make a big difference on some weaker signals -- for all I know. I'll try a PLL unit straight out of the box strapped on and report back. My original single output Primestar lnbf on an 84E which is used for 30W has trouble on the Salta channels at times, would maybe be a good test to see if the PLL can do any better. Also the Canal Luz HD channel won't lock this morning.

 

[WTguy]

97w is not really a challenge, when I point out west to 121, 123, and 125, my original equiped dish pulls in some signals that my adapted dish is not able to pull in.

 

[toucan-man]

I haven't done a proper experiment, but will report that the Geosat PLL lnbf vs. the original Primestar unit on an 84E in this one case is no contest, the PLL wins. Boosted quality 10 points on the MicroHD scale on KTEL @ 87W, and The Florida channel is perfectly viewable now despite a quality fluctuating between 0 and 14 yesterday. The original Primestar feedhorn may be the best design for this elliptical dish, but without it it appears you can surpass the performance of the original equipment by a good margin. I haven't even tried yet to peak the lnbf by repositioning it in or out, just blindly attached it yesterday and got a useful improvement.

 

[Anole]

best of both?

I'm delayed while my machinist is on Xmas holiday through new years, but I have a plan afoot to graft the SatAV PLL to a Primestar horn.
... along with finding other places to stick it.

Film at 11.

 

[toucan-man]

I got 5 more on the quality scale, the elevation of the dish needed a tweak. The Florida Channel is crazy reliable on the 84E, now if it only had something interesting to say.

 

[Anole]

Yea, Florida may make a great test case, but I'd sooner watch paint dry!