newbie with hughesnet dish

[willie8605]

Sorry for posting a link to another thread on this site, but I found an old thread talking about this and apparently it is too old to post a reply to.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/133559-hughesnet-dish-can-used-c-ku.html

I have a Hughesnet elliptical dish (about 26" x 36") and it was suggested to bypass the transmitter to be able to use this for Ku band reception.

Can I just take the transmitter and waveguide completely off?

I am a newbie at FTA. This dish was given to me and I just bought a Viewsat Ultra Lite. I have a mounting point on a pole in my yard left by the previous tenants that used it for Dish Network. Hopefully I can get this up and running this week

 

[phlatwound]

Welcome to the forums, willie.

You can remove the transmitter from that dish, a few people here have that same setup and have done well with it. Here's another thread that should help you out:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/151457-but-will-work.html

 

[willie8605]

I took the waveguide off and there is now an open hole that is, I'm assuming, used for connectivity to the transmitter. Can I just tape this over with electrical tape or is there something else I need to do to properly cover the hole?

 

[turbosat]

I taped over mine, reminds me I need to look at that again lol. You could prob cut a small piece of plastic and glue it over the hole for something a bit sturdier than plastic tape. I'll get around to that soon too, i hope!

 

[GreatFTA]

What is the degree of the LNB on the Directway dish? Someone recently gave me one of those dish.

 

[MikeinBaja]

I took the waveguide off and there is now an open hole that is, I'm assuming, used for connectivity to the transmitter. Can I just tape this over with electrical tape or is there something else I need to do to properly cover the hole?

I cut out a piece of plastic - secured with liquid nails. Covered the patch with duct tape to help with water intrusion.

Works well!

(That's my DW dish in the picture)

 

[willie8605]

What is the degree of the LNB on the Directway dish? Someone recently gave me one of those dish.

I'm not really sure about this. I can take some pictures and post them later today.

Are Direcway and Hughesnet related? Seems like I've seen a lot of Direcway and Hughesnet talk related to each other on fourms, etc.

Also, when I have this mounted do I need to cover up the Hughesnet logo on the dish or does it not matter?

 

[turbosat]

LOL No I wouldn't worry about covering up the logo, unless you wanted to make one of your own. Direcway was the name of the service right before Hughes decided to call it Hughesnet (like that would make a new generation of suckers buy into it). I had it from 2003-2006, then finally we got dsl. There's scores of forum-space spent on complaining on their system, and lack of customer support. The dish does work pretty well for fta on most signals, for me anyway.

 

[willie8605]

LOL No I wouldn't worry about covering up the logo, unless you wanted to make one of your own.

hmm.....that sounds like a good idea! I'll have to look into that

Yeah I heard the same complaining from the guy who gave me the dish. He said he had it less than a year before just going with another ISP because it just wasn't worth the trouble to use hughesnet. great dish though!

 

[Anole]

word to the wise

... I have a mounting point on a pole in my yard left by the previous tenants that used it for Dish Network.

I don't recall the exact numbers (it's late), but most of the older Dish poles are much smaller than the Hughes pole.
So, your dish may not clamp to the existing pole, and may well be too heavy for it.
I believe the SuperDish had a larger mounting pipe, but don't have the numbers here.
Just inspect what you've got and let us know.
I'm sure others here can offer better suggestions.

 

[Tron]

Superdishes and Slimline D* dishes use a 2" pole mount, and I believe the DirecWays use a 2 3/8" pole. Regular Dish and DirecTV dishes (Dish 500, Phase III) use a 1 5/8" pole.

 

[willie8605]

So, your dish may not clamp to the existing pole

By 'pole' I meant a 3 inch wooden post. I believe 3 inch; could be 4 inch. I'll have to look after work.

 

[turbosat]

willie we will need a picture of that one! To go with the Pinestar pics from a few days back lol.
It'll prob work but it may be tough to align unless its very plumb.

 

[willie8605]

Hopefully I'll be working on it this weekend so I'll take pics of the whole process. I may have to fabricate something so it all fits on the wooden post.

The dish has angle marks on the back of it and rotates for easier aligning. I'm still not sure how to do all the aligning stuff; I have a lot of reading to do between now and then.

 

[willie8605]

I am thinking that I could just take the legs off the mounting pole that came with the hughesnet dish it to the wooden post. Does it matter which angle the pole is (if attached to the wooden post it would be completely vertical except for the top of the mounting pole, where the dish mounts, which is bent at an angle)? The dish has adjustments on the back so it shouldn't be hard to adjust its position.

Here is a link I found with a Direcway dish that has almost the same type of mounting pole with legs:
Free To Air Satellite | thenetbuilder.com

Later I will post pictures of me dish, mounting gear, and the wooden post.

 

[Anole]

The dish came with a J-shaped pole about two feet long.
It's got a slight bend toward one end.
The top of that needs to be perfectly plumb for easiest setup of the dish.

Also, whatever this wooden pole you have, it would be helpful to show us a picture of what you propose.
Generally, it's not wise to mount the dish to something as small as a fence post.
The dish 'n mount are heavy, and you want a stable base to support it.

... and we know Netbuilder. He's one of us!

 

[willie8605]

The dish came with a J-shaped pole about two feet long.
It's got a slight bend toward one end.
The top of that needs to be perfectly plumb for easiest setup of the dish.

Also, whatever this wooden pole you have, it would be helpful to show us a picture of what you propose.
Generally, it's not wise to mount the dish to something as small as a fence post.
The dish 'n mount are heavy, and you want a stable base to support it.

... and we know Netbuilder. He's one of us!

The wooden post is 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" and somewhere between 6.0' and 6.5' tall. I'm not sure how deep it is in the ground, or if there is concrete around it, but it feels sturdy and i couldn't move it by pulling on it with all my body weight (>=220).

What do you mean by perfectly plumb?

Also, I took pictures of it over my lunch break and will be able to post them tonight when I get home.

Thanks for the help!

 

[turbosat]

Plumb=perfectly vertical, straight up and down. Take a level and measure around the pole, to check plumb on 4 directions. That'll work with the j-pole, not sure how good it'd be with a wood fence post. If it's a machined post it might be pretty straight.

 

[willie8605]

Here's some pics. This is on the south side of my house.

 

[turbosat]

You can prob make that work ok. If the wind makes it flop a little, cut off a foot or two. Or brace if necessary. J pole would be rock solid if you find a place you want to put it, with the braces.