Primestar Dish question

[iafirebuff]

WOW! That's alot of lnbs! What are they good for besides Directv? I am gonna take the power washer to the dishes - I did'nt know they were fiberglass They seem built pretty good. I will set one up, and keep the other as a spare.

 

[Mr Tony]

A lot of them I have collected from Dishes that I have picked up

What are they used for? Nothing right now. We have had Dish Net for a long time between me, my dad and the cabin. All 3 of us originally had 2 dual LNB’s (like you have on yours) so when we upgraded to the Twin LNB’s, they came with me.

Some of them were used for putting next to an existing dish for DBS (like 119 next to 123 or 91 next to 95). I’ve cracked a couple open to see the guts. There are various types of DBS LNB’s

-singles
-duals
-square type (DirecTV)
-“D” type (Dish Network)
-stacked
-unstacked

But they’re in a box in the closet (along with enough parts to build 10 or so Dish 500 or DirecTV single).

The single DirecTv LNB's will work for Direct, Dish or FTA.

 

[iafirebuff]

Thanks! I learn something new everyday on here I will throw them in a box and put it on a shelf for a rainy day But, If anybody wants them, the offer still stands

 

[iafirebuff]

I got the dishes cleaned up tonight They say Channel Master on the back - but you guys probably allready know that I just picked up a Fortec Universal LNB off of ebay from Sadoun for it, so just need to figure out where to put it now. I saw a while back that someone was using a bucket full of cement to put a pole in. ANy recommendations on what size bucket, etc that I should use for a temp mount? I sure can't wait

 

[Tron]

A 5 gallon bucket (available at Home Depot) should work well. Sounds like you got a great deal! The shipping on dishes is what makes them expensive, so when you can get them locally, you save a ton of money

 

[iafirebuff]

I will get a bucket and some cement tonight. And a pipe of sorts. LNB is on its way

 

[iafirebuff]

Here is my newest FTA project:

I am going to mount one of the Primestar dishes to a pole that is in a bucket of cement. I am going to aim the dish for IA5, but before I do that, I am going to stop by G10 and see if my signal is any better on the Primestar dish. If it is, then I am going to leave the Primestar at G10 and use my 80cm for IA5. Now, since I will have another Primestar lying there, I might get another "bucket mount", and aim that one at another bird. Any suggestions to what bird? I am doing the bucket method, as I would like to hide the Primestars behind my house, out of site, but am not sure if I have a good line of site. I figure this way I can move the dish. Once I confirm it is good, I can put in a perm. mount. I have a couple of more questions, but will take a breath now

 

[Mr Tony]

If you already have IA5 & G10 setup, I’d go with one of these

Newsfeeds on IA6 (93W)
PBS on AMC3 (87W)
Ohio News and feeds on SBS6

Depending on the size of the P* dish, it should be better for G10. But make sure you get a good signal before moving the other dish

 

[iafirebuff]

Looking at the Primestar elevation settings, I see the bolts hold it at the proper elevation. Now I see what looks like a "fine tune" bolt? Am I correct? If so, that would be a good feature! My last question has to do with switches - I have a Diseqc switch out at my shed. 1 cable runs into my house. Now, can I take another Dsieqc switch or a 22khz switch and be able to run a line from my Primestar (behind my house) to the point where the 1 cable comes into my house? Or, will I need to have the Primestar line run out to my shed into that switch? I am trying to get as few cable runs as possible. Thanks for and advice. My fingers hurt now

 

[iafirebuff]

I should be able to do IA5 and IA6 from the same dish with 2 lnbs, correct?

If you already have IA5 & G10 setup, I’d go with one of these

Newsfeeds on IA6 (93W)
PBS on AMC3 (87W)
Ohio News and feeds on SBS6

Depending on the size of the P* dish, it should be better for G10. But make sure you get a good signal before moving the other dish

 

[iafirebuff]

I know a motor would have been cheapier, but this will be more fun, as I will have to tinker more

 

[Mr Tony]

Looking at the Primestar elevation settings, I see the bolts hold it at the proper elevation. Now I see what looks like a "fine tune" bolt? Am I correct? If so, that would be a good feature!

Best part of them dishes. Loosen the elevation bolts and use the bolt at top to raise & lower the elevation. I think they take ½” socket

My last question has to do with switches - I have a Diseqc switch out at my shed. 1 cable runs into my house. Now, can I take another Dsieqc switch or a 22khz switch and be able to run a line from my Primestar (behind my house) to the point where the 1 cable comes into my house? Or, will I need to have the Primestar line run out to my shed into that switch? I am trying to get as few cable runs as possible. Thanks for and advice. My fingers hurt now

Crap…have an issue…that LNB is a Universal which doesn’t work with 22k switches. If you put a standard LNB on the Primestar dish then you could use a 22k switch. And you can’t daisy chain Diseqc cables…only way to do it with a Universal LNB is to run it to the Diseqc switch

 

[Mr Tony]

I should be able to do IA5 and IA6 from the same dish with 2 lnbs, correct?

should be able to
or 97 & 101 (101 has a few Religious channels and KUIL Fox)

 

[hantu]

and KUIL Fox

Well, at least MOST of the time

 

[iafirebuff]

I was just playing with the Primestar antenna - WOW! I LOVE the elevation setting bolt! That is slick! It will be so much easier to tweak the elevation! I wish all my dishes were like this! And the markings seem to be better also!

 

[PSB]

Don't trust the elevation markings too much, let the signal quality be your guide there

 

[iafirebuff]

Will do! I LOVE that elevation bolt!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PSB]

That elevation bolt (to one side) is good for rough tuning but it kind of pushes the dish to one side, so for fine tuning I slacken it off slightly and lift the dish by hand.

This way there is no 'squint' in the dish elevation.

 

[iafirebuff]

Thanks! It seems like the Primestars would be easier to tweak than the smaller dishes, just a guess though.

 

[Tron]

The 1 meter and 1.2 meter Channel Master dishes have this type of mount as well, it IS very slick! I found G-10R first time I set out to get it in only 5 minutes with that type of dish mount