authorized by the boss - but is it worth it?

[mastermesh]

My wife has given me the ok to buy a motor and dish if I need to to pick up fta... however, I'm really new to all of this am not sure if it's worth it right now. Just bought a Pansat 3500sd not long ago. I was trying to aim the little 18" dtv dish to get signals. I had 110 degrees earlier, but all that was on was worth watching was goltv, OLN, and a couple of radio stations. I have not yet been able to pick up any other sattelites with fta channels yet. I tried re-aiming the thing to get either 119 or 91 and am having trouble... It gets frustrating re-aiming by hand... I got a free Primestar dish the other day, but it's not been picking up anything at all yet - mainly probably because I'm directly across the street from a brick apartment house and there's quite a few trees around us. If I put the Primestar on the roof, I may get more stuff (we are on a hill, uphill from the apartment... apartment is only 2 stories. Our house is 1.5 stories (might as well say two stories. The upper room is tall enough to be a full story, but it's angled in the sides due to the slope of the roof). My wife really don't want the dish on the roof... She is ok with it on the front porch like the little 18 inch is now. Would it be worth it to buy a winegard dish (30 or more inches) + an SG2100 motor. I have read that you can put the sg2100 on the primestar, but that you have to do some welding to do so and/or risk damaging the motor with that heavy Primestar dish. I'd hate to buy a motor only to kill it with the weight of the PS... if the winegard is lighter and actually is the size meant to fit the motor, it'll probably be ok to do so, but is it worth it since I have no idea if I can even pick up fta sattelites besides the few fta channels floating around on the sattelites that the 18" can see? (I ordered a new lnb for the primestar... hopefully it'll be here soon. I tried putting the DTV lnb on the primestar at one point in time, but no luck getting a signal doing that yet... Part of the problem is that I don't have a proper way to mount the Primestar to get it totally steady... I'm more or less using pvc and plumbing pipes to do the job right now... but not getting much as far as a channel goes)... Also, where's the best place to buy a motor? I've been buying most other parts from ebay and/or getting free off of freecycle, but I really don't want a second hand motor as it'll have wear and tear - bad for actual moving parts, etc.

 

[techpuppy]

Before I invested more money I would work on getting a usable signal with the Primestar dish. Use a protractor and use it to sight your dish elevation for your location. That way you can get a better idea if there is something in the way. Likewise use a compass and try looking at various satellite angles. I'm afraid that until you get a steady plumb and level pole to mount your primestar dish that your attempts at getting a satellite are going to be disappointing. Aiming an 18 inch dish is a breeze compared to the very fine aiming required for the Ku band satellites you are after. If your support is not rock steady then just releasing the dish after positioning it would probably be enough movement to lose the signal.

 

[voomvoom]

The Primestar dish should work if you point it in the right direction. You definitely need at least a 30" dish to get what's refered to as FTA. When you play with your Primestar, make sure the LO setting (in receiver) is 10750. Using the sats already listed in the Pansat, it should be correct. Your plumbing accessories may be part of your problem, but I think it's a LOS (line of site) issue. It won't work if it's pointed in the wrong direction, no matter how many LNB's you try. What is your location, maybe someone can help with your angles, until you get a motor.

Al