Bigger Dish for Expressvu

[DJ Rob]

Before I order a bigger dish and have a possible nightmare that duct tape and many wasted hours can only fix, I thought I would ask here...

Because the 82 sat is getting weaker and weaker here in the Denver area (and many other areas of southern Canada), I need to boost my signal and right now I'm using a Dish 500 for both 91 & 82. So I would use the 500 on 91 and the bigger one on 82.

Has anyone found a bigger dish (24-30") that has a mount that works with Dish Net LNBs?

I'm finding that the bigger dishes out there use a FTA LNB mount that is not compatable with Dish Network Dish LNBs.

My Expressvu system is using completely Dish Pro equipment; DPP44 and a Dish Pro Twin LNB, so I do not want to change LNB types (Dish Pro) if possible... I know I may have to buy a DP single for the new dish since a twin may not fit.

 

[digiblur]

Before I order a bigger dish and have a possible nightmare that duct tape and many wasted hours can only fix, I thought I would ask here...

Because the 82 sat is getting weaker and weaker here in the Denver area (and many other areas of southern Canada), I need to boost my signal and right now I'm using a Dish 500 for both 91 & 82. So I would use the 500 on 91 and the bigger one on 82.

Has anyone found a bigger dish (24-30") that has a mount that works with Dish Net LNBs?

I'm finding that the bigger dishes out there use a FTA LNB mount that is not compatable with Dish Network Dish LNBs.

My Expressvu system is using completely Dish Pro equipment; DPP44 and a Dish Pro Twin LNB, so I do not want to change LNB types (Dish Pro) if possible... I know I may have to buy a DP single for the new dish since a twin may not fit.

Like this?
WINEGARD 76CM SATELLITE DISH BULK - SatelliteAV, LLC.

go for the biggest your pocket book and mounting area can provide

 

[DJ Rob]

I've called a few places and was told the model of Dish you linked above would not work. I was told that Winegard only works with FTA Lnbs that will clamp on and does not have a the correct mount for a "D" LNB as they call the Dish Net type. Does it come with a mount that is not mentioned or pictured that does for sure work?

 

[digiblur]

I've called a few places and was told the model of Dish you linked above would not work. I was told that Winegard only works with FTA Lnbs that will clamp on and does not have a the correct mount for a "D" LNB as they call the Dish Net type. Does it come with a mount that is not mentioned or pictured that does for sure work?

Are you planning on just mounting one LNB on this dish?

If so you should be able to mount the lnb on an FTA dish. You will probably have to remove the plastic covering on the LNB though as the clamp holds the LNB's "neck".

 

[Mr Tony]

yep. If its a dual (to see one satellite) you can crack the housing off the LNB. This will give you a 20mm shaft and the FTA dishes (30" or larger) have an adapter to fit inside the 40mm holder for it. I use to have a 30" aimed at Nimiq1 (for one helluva rain fade)

Here is a post I had a while back and it shows the LNB's with the casing gone

http://www.satelliteguys.us/634257-post13.html

 

[rukus611]

Like this?
WINEGARD 76CM SATELLITE DISH BULK - SatelliteAV, LLC.

go for the biggest your pocket book and mounting area can provide

What 82 SD signals are weak? I have a 24" on 91 and get everything. I am in Denver also. Thinking of sticking up a dual lnbf to get the SD off 82. On the website that single price is $55. Didn't investigate shipping cost.

 

[DJ Rob]

I'll probably buy a Dish Pro single LNB to use with it then (unless another DP twin is cheaper)...I really appreciate the information digiblur and Iceburg!

rukus611, I don't think any of the SD signals are weak that I subscribe to...it's the HD stuff on the 82 satellite I'm having trouble with. I have a 20" Dish 500 for both 82 & 91 and a lot of the HD transponders have signal levels between 47-50 on my 9200 - just on the edge of not getting a good signal if it rains (like tonight).

 

[Mr Tony]

DJ Rob
A Twin wont work on a 30" due to the focal distance being different on a 30" versus the 20". You'd get one satellite but not the other and those Twins would be a bugger to mount on that larger dish.

Get a DP dual

 

[DJ Rob]

I ordered that 30" winegard from Satellite AV Friday night. Great price and shipping to me was under $20.

I'll let you all know when I get it and how much it improves my signal levels. There's a couple of transponders from 82 that totally dropped off here so it will be interesting to see if those come back. Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[rukus611]

DJ Rob
A Twin wont work on a 30" due to the focal distance being different on a 30" versus the 20". You'd get one satellite but not the other and those Twins would be a bugger to mount on that larger dish.

Get a DP dual

Can he use an old primestar 36"?

 

[digiblur]

Can he use an old primestar 36"?

Yep, you'll just have to work on getting the lnb mounted correctly.

 

[Mr Tony]

Can he use an old primestar 36"?

yep. Any larger offset dish would work. The DP Single or dual with the case cracked off would fit right in the LNB grove

 

[DJ Rob]

I wish I could've found an old Primestar dish around here...or any bigger dish. I couldn't even find a FTA shop in the Denver area.

I got an email this morning from Satellite AV saying my dish is shipping today so I hope to have it by the end of the week and I'll post a before and after signal report. The boss (err my wife) is getting really impatient with all of the searching for signal messages so I'm hoping it gets here soon.

 

[comcast]

Iceberg, please enlighten us...our Savior!!!

Hi there, I truly want to learn how to crack those plastic covers off of dose DN LNBFs. What kind of tool(s) did you use to remove the plastic housing from the LNB. I do & will appreciate any feedbacks concerning this issue. Please post some pictures too when you have time.

Merci beaucoup
Merci pour votre offre d'aide.

 

[SatPhreak]

I just used a slot srewdriver. Put it in the grove in the middle of the housing and pry slightly, then move to a different spot in the same slot and repeat. Once it starts to open you can see the tabs that hold the two havles together. If you are gentle with it it wont break the tabs off, and you could simply snap the halves back on to the lnb if you ever wished to.

Check Ice's link on the first page of this thread for pictures. Mine took less than 2 minutes to remove the covers.

 

[Mr Tony]

yep...what satphreak said

Or in the case of one of them, I dropped it (accidentally) off the roof and it busted open

 

[DJ Rob]

Here's my update in my quest to get a good signal from the 82 satellite...

I got a DP LNB from Iceberg for a great price. Thanks again man!

And I ended up buying the 30" Winegard dish from NewEgg.com instead of Satellite AV.
Brian from Satellite AV emailed me Monday afternoon and said that they could not process my order for the Winegard I ordered Friday (I ordered the one in the link in this thread) because it was only for bulk pallet orders or if I was going to pick it up. This was a little confusing to me since I had been charged shipping in the order and got an email from another person there earlier in the day that the order was processed and shipped.

He said I could reorder it and pay $15 more if I wanted it shipped to me. I emailed him back and told him to forget it since I found the same dish cheaper from NewEgg.com for $60 including 2-day shipping.

I got the dish today. It was shipped directly from Winegard. I opened the box to find that none of the screws were included or LNB brackets. New Egg told me to call Winegard about the problem. I called winegard and kept getting the dreaded "All agents are busy...leave a message and someone will call you back within 20 minutes" message. I never got a call back.

So I wait in my quest for a good signal from 82 until I get the proper hardware...

 

[DJ Rob]

I was hoping to play with the dish over the weekend. But I got called out of town on Friday and also had to wait for the missing dish hardware to arrive from Winegard.

So tonight I finally got it all setup. I am able to pull in the 82 satellite with an improvement of about 15-16 points on the 9200 signal meter over what the old Dish 500 did. Enough to hopefully get everything I subscribe to without dropouts.

After getting the dish up. I was thinking I really didn't want 2 dishes for Bell though. So after reading some of the threads here about mounting 2 lnbs on one FTA dish, I ran over to Home Depot and bought a conduit hanger and an L bracket. A neighbor offered me an old Dish 1000 Dish that had a Dish Pro Single on it.

So with the help of a cheapie signal meter I have, I was able to mount the 2nd LNB for 91 to the side of the main 82 LNB. And it works! The signal levels seem to be the same or maybe a tad higher for 91 as they were on the Dish 500.

So I got both 91 and 82 on a 30" Winegard dish with improved reception thanks to this site!I'll try to post pics of the LNBs in the next few days.

 

[digiblur]

I was hoping to play with the dish over the weekend. But I got called out of town on Friday and also had to wait for the missing dish hardware to arrive from Winegard.

So tonight I finally got it all setup. I am able to pull in the 82 satellite with an improvement of about 15-16 points on the 9200 signal meter over what the old Dish 500 did. Enough to hopefully get everything I subscribe to without dropouts.

After getting the dish up. I was thinking I really didn't want 2 dishes for Bell though. So after reading some of the threads here about mounting 2 lnbs on one FTA dish, I ran over to Home Depot and bought a conduit hanger and an L bracket. A neighbor offered me an old Dish 1000 Dish that had a Dish Pro Single on it.

So with the help of a cheapie signal meter I have, I was able to mount the 2nd LNB for 91 to the side of the main 82 LNB. And it works! The signal levels seem to be the same or maybe a tad higher for 91 as they were on the Dish 500.

So I got both 91 and 82 on a 30" Winegard dish with improved reception thanks to this site!I'll try to post pics of the LNBs in the next few days.

Yes, please get some pics.

As a comparison, well somewhat..we are in different locations, a friend of mine is supposed to be dropping off his old Bell ExpressVU receiver. I want to hook it up to my 90cm and check the signal numbers on 82 and 91. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Mr Tony]

So I got both 91 and 82 on a 30" Winegard dish with improved reception thanks to this site!I'll try to post pics of the LNBs in the next few days.

COOL!! I use to have a 24" dish set up that way and it worked pretty well. Glad you were able to get the parts for it

Yes please pictures (always like to see the setups some of us do)