direct tv dish

[godskidz]

Hi to all.
Has anyone tried a tv satellite dish as a antenna with any results?
Thanks.
GOD BLESS

 

[k8tmk]

Bear in mind that DirectTV and Dish Network satellite dishes operate at a much higher frequency than do the services you likely want to monitor. Also, the pickup unit at the dish needs a voltage to operate. Since this is a DC voltage (about +18 volts for one polarity and -18 volts for the opposite polarity), it can be sent up the same coaxial cable as the digital signal coming down to the receiver.

Randy

 

[wyldman]

I was wondering ..........

Could the dish be used as a shield to block out unwanted signals,and a reflector to pull in weak ones ?

I have a few local cell\pager towers that kill my reception of distant 800 Mhz stuff.I was thinking of taking an old sat dish,and mounting a small 800 Mhz antenna in place of the LNB.I can then aim the dish toward the weak signal I want,and maybe the dish itself will help shield the antenna from some of the nasty intermod from the nearby towers.I will try to line it up so the towers are behind the dish.

Any idea if this will work ? Anyone tried it,or something similar ?

 

[prcguy]

The basic 18” Directv and Dish Network dish uses 13v and 18v to switch polarities. The LNB picks up 12.2 to 12.7 GHz (circular polarity) and downconverts this to 950 to 1450MHz. There is nothing useable in the Directv or Dish system that can be viewed or heard without an authorized receiver from one of these companies. If you had a Ku free to air dish (11.7 to 12.2GHz liner pol) you might find some narrow audio feeds that can be received with a scanner or VHF/UHF receiver. These small dishes are too small to shield from anything you would pickup on your scanner.
prcguy

 

[yukon]

Quick question for the techies. what if you take the dish and replace the LNB with a yagi or other antenna .keeping in mind the dish has a focal point that you want to be at for maximun signal. wouldn't this be a highly directional antenna with possible high gain carictaristics?? especially for those Distant signals!

 

[lowboy654]

The disk "directv" is for receiving celestial not terrestrial, and as far as a focal point the disk would be reflecting the signal to the wrong end of the antenna, antennas are all about math x amount of wire = what frequency one would receive.you need optimum length of wire to receive the frequency that you want, now the above facts given if you want to rewrite the physic of an antenna please let us know so that we may do the same. or just send that disk to the junk yard. Now I like to be Pruvian wrong but we are not talking about some parabolic ear are we.

 

[DickH]

I will try to line it up so the towers are behind the dish.

If you want to try something that should have a good chance of being successful, Radio Shack makes (2 or 3 years ago) a UHF TV antenna that should be close enough to the 800 freqs. you want. It has 17 elements, so the front to back ratio should be quite high. In my old catalog it was only $20. RS number is (was) 15-2160.
It is 40" long with pre-assembled, fold-out elements. You will need to mount it so the elements are vertical, not horizontal.
Dick

 

[proquist96]

I use a coat hanger and bang on the side of the scanner for best reception.

 

[ReceiverBeaver]

Original question: "Has anyone tried a tv satellite dish antenna with any results?"

Yes, I have. Mine works great as a tv satellite antenna.

 

[DickH]

I use a coat hanger and bang on the side of the scanner for best reception.

The reception will be much better if you bang it on the top.