Where would you guys begin? (newbie with lots of free stuff)

[Brabo]

Hello everybody I've been reading your notes for a couple weeks and you seem like a great group. I'm glad you don't tolerate theft or hostility. This is my first post, tell me if I'm in the wrong forum. Anyway, I got a bunch of free equipment by posting a request on my local freecycle yahoo group. I've got a President 900 analog C and Ku receiver that I can't find any info on, a 7' smallmesh Winegard dish, mount and Zarl 3018 motor, an offset 40" channelmaster dish w/Ku LNB, and a DSS 18 dish with LNB. I bought a signal meter and am getting hits across my horizon. My question is, what setup would you guys pursue to get the most out of my free equipment? Thanks

 

[drhydro]

Personally i would set up the 7 foot winegard, that should give you fair c and ku band reception. Then i would puchase a DVB reciever, there are a lot of good ones out there, take a look in the reviews section.

 

[Brabo]

Thanks, would you try to use the existing C band LNB on the Winegard dish and rig a newer Ku LNB next to it or look for a combo C/Ku LNB and replace the old LNB? Would the old dish motor work with the DisEq(sp?) switch and DVB receiver?

 

[drhydro]

i would look for a c/ku combo such as the Chapparel Corotor. If all you are looking for is FTA (not subscription) then pick up a pansat reciever such as the 2700 or the 3500 and a V-Box II. The Pansat can control the polarotor, and the vbox will control the dish movement via diseqc commands from the pansat. Very slick system for c/ku band FTA ;-)