Combining Phase III With Ka Band Dish

[mrdbdigital]

Is there any way to add a single Ka band dish to an existing phase 3 dish (3 lnb) to add access to the 99 satellite? (Assuming the Atlanta HD Locals are on the 99 satellite?)

The reason I'm asking this is due to the way I have my dish mounted. I'm on the top floor of an apartment building with my dish located 6 feet out from my balcony railing, with it looking back over the roof of the balcony. I had to build a custom mount from electrical conduit, and there is no way I can support the 35 pound AT-9 dish in this manner.

I thought maybe I could install a second, dedicated dish for the 99 satellite and integrate it into the system through the use of the "flexiports" on the new AT-9 multiswitch?

If this is possible, can anyone supply a source of a compatible Ka dish/lnb? Can this be made to work though the use of the "flexiports" on the new multiswitch?
I guess I could use a regular dish and build a custom LNB mount if I could find the correct LNB?

Any input would be appreciated!

db

[litzdog911]

The Phase III dish might be challenging because of the internal electronics involved. See my thread here ....
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=62223

I'm planning to something similar by combining my existing SatC/110-deg and SatB/119-deg dishes with a new AT9.

[mrdbdigital]

litzdog911,

It was the reading of your thread that got me to thinking about my problem. I thought I remembered reading somewhere that one could use the flexiports on an added external multiswitch to incorporate additional dishes when not using the AT-9.

I could probably build another mounting system to hold that heavy AT-9, but since I have to go out 6 feet from the side of the building balcony to see back over the roof (my balcony faces north), it would be a real problem to adjust the dish, especially the fine adjustments for the Ka stuff. MAybe I could rent a bucket truck. <g> I'm on the third floor.

I'm hoping that I can integrate a separate dish. Unfortunately, as you say, the LNB assembly on the 3lnb dish has no external connections to integrate an additional signal as the AT-9 lnb. I have a couple of spare lnb's for the phase III dish, one a California Amplifier, and the other a WDC brand. They don't look like they have an obvious way to open them up to take a look at their innards without breaking the cases.

Being a television engineer, I wouldn't mind having to build up something to make this work. Unfortunately, most all of my experience is in the production studio, and not in satellite technology.