Future dish project

Went to the salvage yard looking for steel cable to make trellis wires, but no luck so far. I did come home with these though:

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Primestar dish is 40" wide x 30" high. Other dish is 30" wide x 33" high. Both have the mounts, but no feed holder on the Primestar. Don't know when I'll get around to fooling with them. Will probably shoot for 30W. (If the neighbors trees allow it) More Spanish channels would make the better half happy.

Also got the metal table frame. Just need to make a new top for it and it will be a good outdoor table..

$5 for the lot. :bigthumbup:

Will a standard ku lnb work ok on the 'other' dish? It's taller than wide.

EDIT: Don't know why pics posted sideways. Just cock your head to the side when viewing. lmao

FTA consumer lnbs will illuminate pretty much in a perfect circle with either a standard or universal lnb. Looks like both of your dishes will illuminate 30 inches or 76cm. This is small for liner ku signals but you should be able to find some channels that they will work on. Not having the feed arms will be somewhat of a challenge, and the general consensus on some forums used to be to leave a dish like that where it was laying if the feed was not included.

Anyway, Congratulations on the find for 5 bucks. You will have learned something once you get these two dishes operational. It is always good to see a project like this!

One dish came with a feed arm and lnb. I have no idea what kind of lnb or even what type of service it was for.
I have a feedarm from another Primestar dish that suffered from fiberglass damage. Also have the old primestar lnb, but probable bad. IDK.

Wonder if the old feedhorn parts could be mounted to a 'modern' style lnb to make use of the complete elliptical shape of the dishes?

I have an old car rim/tire with a 4ft pipe welded in the center that was previously mounted a large fan. It works as a portable stand to mount small dishes on. So I won't be spending money just to experiment. :th_thumbs20up:

The feedhorn is what illuminates the dish. Consumer FTA lnbs are usually designed to illuminate in a perfect circle. You will need a ku lnb with a customized feedhorn if you want to illuminate something else besides a perfect circle. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

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Originally Posted by armadillo_115 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

One dish came with a feed arm and lnb. I have no idea what kind of lnb or even what type of service it was for.
I have a feedarm from another Primestar dish that suffered from fiberglass damage. Also have the old primestar lnb, but probable bad. IDK.

Wonder if the old feedhorn parts could be mounted to a 'modern' style lnb to make use of the complete elliptical shape of the dishes?

I have an old car rim/tire with a 4ft pipe welded in the center that was previously mounted a large fan. It works as a portable stand to mount small dishes on. So I won't be spending money just to experiment. :th_thumbs20up:

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An elliptical shaped dish is normally used to receive more then one satellite, here state side we have elliptical dishes used to receive 3 satellites,(DISH 1000) used with the propper LNB you can get more then a 20 degree spread between satellites. (110W, 119W and 129W)

I found these on the 'bay in case anyone needs one. I believe that's what is needed for the old Primestar dish? I'm not buying anything now though. No telling when I will ever get around to playing with it.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/182681653669?_trkparms=ni_actn%3Anav%7Cni_nt%3AWATCHITM_GTC%7Cni_apos%3A1%7Cni_sg%3A1%7Cni_pos%3A1%7Cni_st%3ANEW%7Cni_wh%3A1%7Cni_nid%3A672959609366%7Cni_nsid%3A182681653669%7Cni_bn%3A1&_trksid=p2380424.m570.l5997

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Yep, that'll work for the Primestar elliptical dishes.

One thing to remember about offset ku dishes: The LNBs don't look squarely at the dish. They are offset so when mounted on that 33 X 30 inch dish they see a "perfect 30" circle"

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Originally Posted by Fearless [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

One thing to remember about offset ku dishes: The LNBs don't look squarely at the dish. They are offset so when mounted on that 33 X 30 inch dish they see a "perfect 30" circle"

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Understood, Fearless. Thanks.
Any ideas what that 33x30 dish was used for? I'm curious: What was the advantage for a dish that is taller than wide? Dual sats with one inclined higher than the other? (If there is such a thing) So far I have found no identification on the dish or lnb. The paper sticker on the lnb is faded/worn off.

I've been reading a bit about what ku is available. So far, I'm thinking a dual lnb setup for 30W and 34.5W on the Primestar dish would be great for the wife.
I see scant ku programing that interests me. I'd like to find Grit or Movies somewhere.

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Originally Posted by armadillo_115 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Understood, Fearless. Thanks.

What was the advantage for a dish that is taller than wide?

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That's what I was trying to explain. When you tip the 33" dish the offset 24° back it looks 30" tall to the LNB. The LNB sees it as a round dish, not one taller than wide. That's a normal 76cm (30") FTA dish.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by armadillo_115 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Understood, Fearless. Thanks.
Any ideas what that 33x30 dish was used for? I'm curious: What was the advantage for a dish that is taller than wide? Dual sats with one inclined higher than the other? (If there is such a thing) So far I have found no identification on the dish or lnb. The paper sticker on the lnb is faded/worn off.

I've been reading a bit about what ku is available. So far, I'm thinking a dual lnb setup for 30W and 34.5W on the Primestar dish would be great for the wife.
I see scant ku programing that interests me. I'd like to find Grit or Movies somewhere.

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A Dish that is somewhat taller the it's width is usually used in an offset LNB setup, (LNB located to the bottom of the dish, this gets the LNB mounting hardware out of the main beam.

And trying to mount two LNB's to receive two satellites 4.5 degrees apart (30W and 34.5W) may be difficult as the the LNB's may be too close together to be mounted next to each other, the casings may be too wide and they may hit each other. In this case a motorized system would work better.

Can you post a photo of the dish and LNB?

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Originally Posted by Fearless [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

That's what I was trying to explain. When you tip the 33" dish the offset 24° back it looks 30" tall to the LNB. The LNB sees it as a round dish, not one taller than wide. That's a normal 76cm (30") FTA dish.

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Ok, got it now. I'm not familiar with ku dishes and though they were normally round. My bad.

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Originally Posted by Terryl [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

A Dish that is somewhat taller the it's width is usually used in an offset LNB setup, (LNB located to the bottom of the dish, this gets the LNB mounting hardware out of the main beam.

And trying to mount two LNB's to receive two satellites 4.5 degrees apart (30W and 34.5W) may be difficult as the the LNB's may be too close together to be mounted next to each other, the casings may be too wide and they may hit each other. In this case a motorized system would work better.

Can you post a photo of the dish and LNB?

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A photo of the Primestar dish is on the original post. I broke down and ordered an lnb from the link on post #6 for the central lnb.
For the side mount: I have another ku lnb that I won a while back in a giveaway. Seems like it is a standard maverick(?) lnb. I'd have to dig it out of storage to say for sure. It's never been used.

If anyone has an 84E dish, I need to know the length of the feed arm. My feed arm came off a smaller PS dish (75E?) and I'm not sure if the lengths were the same. Fits the same anyway. Won't need it before Friday at the earliest, so no rush. Thanks in advance!

I was getting tired of pulling weeds and working on the blackberry trellis...
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So I piddled with the dish this afternoon. Made a steel plate so I could attach a skew-able mount from an old DishPro(?) mount I had.
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The fiberglass is broken where the bolt attaches the feed arm as shown with red arrows below...
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So I cut and bent a strip of scrap metal to reinforce the feed arm. Bolted it to the rim. It is longer on one side than the other to reinforce a broken section on the rim. If the dish performs ok I will fill the feed arm bolt attachment with epoxy later...
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And here's the dish mounted to the old fan stand temporarily. Skew and elevation not set. It ain't pretty but it beat pulling weeds!
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Measured from the bottom of the arm on the old primestar dish here 21".

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Originally Posted by armadillo_115 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Understood, Fearless. Thanks.
I'd like to find Grit or Movies somewhere.

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Those aren't available anywhere FTA on KU. Movies is only on 101w C-band, and Grit is on a few different sats, but always C-band.

I know....

I meant that as in .... I'd like to find a million dollars somewhere. lol
Slim pickings on ku as far as I'm concerned.

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Originally Posted by Megatron817 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Measured from the bottom of the arm on the old primestar dish here 21".

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Mine is only 19" from back of arm to yellow arrow in photo.
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by armadillo_115 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Mine is only 19" from back of arm to yellow arrow in photo.
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Need to fab it up somehow. Maybe chop it in half and use some scrap angle with some sheet metal screws or weld. Might find a short small pipe to fit inside and bolt it in.

If you go by your yellow arrow in the picture it is about 20 and 5/8".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Megatron817 [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

If you go by your yellow arrow in the picture it is about 20 and 5/8".

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Megatron, I wasn't sure exactly which points you measured from. I measured from back of feed arm to where feed arm ends and the lnb bracket begins. (Bracket is another 3/8" approx at the BOTTOM)

I get 20" when I measure a straight line from notch in feed horn to dish. LNB is 1.75" further back.

Jus for kicks.... I temporarily taped in the maverick lnb this afternoon. (Without feed horn) Of course it was too big for the holder and set a bit high. I have not extended the feed arm yet either. So wasn't expecting much.

Tried for 97W or 99W. No luck... trees probably blocking in at the test location. I started panning and found a bit of signal further west. Played with elevation, skew, and wiggling the lnb around. Got a maximum lnb signal of 77. Scanned in 10 transponders (plus one double) but no locks. Freqs match Anik 3. SR's do not match though. Presume Sr's have changed since last lyngsat updates.

Waiting for the correct lnb/feed horn to arrive before doing anything else. :Smiley_wink:

Still waiting on lnb. Ebay shows it hasn't even shipped yet. If correct, this seller needs to get his act together. No big deal since I don't feel much like messing with it right now anyway.

I'm only interested in a stationary dish at this point. But, I believe I will install a C band sized pole. (with adapters) That way I have the option to mount my old polar mount to motorize the ku dish in the future. On the lookout for a cheap pole.

Installing an offset dish onto a polar mount for a prime focus type dish and having it track the arc correctly can be a headache.

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Originally Posted by el bandido [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Installing an offset dish onto a polar mount for a prime focus type dish and having it track the arc correctly can be a headache.

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So are women.... but I ain't give up on 'em yet. :rofl:

LNB arrived today. Too windy to play with before tomorrow at the earliest. Temp stand blew over yesterday but luckily didn't damage the dish. Pole laid over an old riding lawnmower frame.And that was with a solid bottom foundation cinder block on top of tire base. Don't want to risk damaging the new lnb.

Update: Have not had time to mess with the ku setup. Hope to get to it before long after some of the landscaping work is completed. Haven't even broke up my garden yet, but plan to start tilling today. :rolleyes:

Need another load (or 2) of composted horse poop and some straw. Yeah... I'm almost full of crap. lmao