[riversisblue]

Here is the situation. I had been planning to have directv installed at my vacation home up north so in doing so I thought it would be cool to have satellite on my dock. So the setup was simple, two standard receivers, one in the house and one on the dock. Knowing that there was no possible way that directv would run a line down to the dock without it being a huge issue I went ahead and had an electrician run the coax cable the same time he was running the electricity to the dock. So the faithful day came and the directv installer showed up and mounted the dish to the house hooked it up to the living room and the newly ran line out to the dock. Well moment of truth came and when the installed went out to the dock with his meter and said that the signal from the dock to the dish was so weak that there was no possible way to get a signal. Obviously he wasn't going to run a new line and said to try and have it replaced but it was pretty far from the dish. He took off and so the fun began. I have tried amplifiers and everything which brought it up a little bit but not enough. Moving the dish away from the house is not an option so I was wondering since the 2nd receiver is activated could I just buy a 2nd dish and mount it to the dock and everything would work? So I would have 2 receivers, 2 dishes not linked in anyway and have it work as if they were 2 receivers with one dish and not have to deal with directv. Please advise!

 

[Mertzen]

Yes.I don't see any problem with that setup.

 

[riversisblue]

Would they treat this as a separate account because I don't want to have to double my bill for the exact same content just for it being too far from my house. I just want it to be as if it were the 2nd receiver in my house.

 

[Mertzen]

If they don't know they don't care. But I doubt they would really see a problem in it.

Either DIY it or call D* for a relocated dish and I am sure a tech would have little problem with installing a second ODU for you.

 

[riversisblue]

Perfect! All I need to do now is find the dish! Any advice on where to find just a standard dish? It can be used! I am bummed because I have an old Dish Network dish500 on my house at home and no longer use it!

 

[Mertzen]

Try ebay, craigslist I do believe a DN500 with a single D* LNB would work. not sure how much time you want to spend here.

 

[veryoldschool]

Perfect! All I need to do now is find the dish! Any advice on where to find just a standard dish? It can be used! I am bummed because I have an old Dish Network dish500 on my house at home and no longer use it!

"That might work", as a "good guy" that came out to see where I could mount a dish, told me the LNBs were the same, but the switches were what wasn't compatible.
My "old Dish 500" had two LNBs and external switches. The LNBs with on a plastic "adapter" that went on my old arm for a single LNB.
If yours is like this, then removing the adapter and mounting just the one LNB on the centerline, "should" give you a dish for the 101 SAT.

 

[Jables]

If you weren't all the way in SoCal I'd give you the 18" dish I have in storage.

Might try asking around the neighborhood. I see lots of D* dishes on poles with the cables clearly cut - might try asking someone with an obviously unused dish if you can take it off of their hands.

 

[Mertzen]

If yours is like this, then removing the adapter and mounting just the one LNB on the centerline, "should" give you a dish for the 101 SAT.

Yup, that's the way. And single LNBs are plenty on ebay and cheaper to buy/ship then a while dish.

 

[riversisblue]

My 500 has Dual LNBs in a single plastic shroud. So what I am hearing is that I have to remove one and this "SHOULD" work.

 

[veryoldschool]

My 500 has Dual LNBs........Any thoughts?

Are they in one unit/package or do you see where there is a "y" coming off the arm and they're connected to that?
Are there switche(s) with two or four cables coming from the dish?

 

[Mertzen]

You have to make it look like this. Pretty much take off the Y adapter and place a single LNB straight on the arm.

 

[veryoldschool]

You have to make it look like this. Pretty much take off the Y adapter and place a single LNB straight on the arm.

"Bingo!"

 

[riversisblue]

Last question.......
I am a noob (this is my first posting) if you can have several receivers on separate dishes are you telling me I could have had my home in southern california with my primary directv setup, activated an additional receiver unhooked it and then take it up to my vacation home in northern california purchased a second dish and it would have worked for just an additional $5 a month! If so I really really blew it!!!!

 

[Mertzen]

No. In order for it to be 'legal' they have to be at the same service address. Even though some say here it can be done with waivers or so.

 

[riversisblue]

Got it! I definitely want it to be legal, I have no problem paying for the 2nd address I would just really want the dock to work! Thanks for all of the help. I think I am going to try and find a new directv standard dish and lnb. Do I need a particular model? I dont need hd or anything like that.

 

[Mertzen]

If your locals come from 101 bird this is all you need for SD.

 

[BattleZone]

I do DishNetwork work, so I can help here.

A DishNetwork 500 dish will work fine for DirecTV 101, but the LNB might not. Old "legacy" Dish LNBs would work fine, but most Dish LNBs in use today are either "DishPro" or "DishProPlus", with integrated DisEqC switches, and aren't compatible with DirecTV. If you look at the front of the LNB, if it is blank or just says Dish Network, it is legacy. If DishPro, you'll see that logo. Also, you need the single LNBs, and not the "Twin" LNB, which is two LNBs together with an internal switch.

Legacy "dual" LNB. This will work. No logo on the front (see Mertzen's pic).

DishPro "dual" will *NOT* work.

But... a DirecTV single LNB will fit in a DishNetwork Y-adapter and will work fine. It will also work with the I-adapter (the single-LNB adapter) shown above, but one or the other adapters is needed. If used with the Y-adapter, the dish will be pointed a bit off-center, but again, it will work just fine.

 

[GTS]

Last question.......
I am a noob (this is my first posting) if you can have several receivers on separate dishes are you telling me I could have had my home in southern california with my primary directv setup, activated an additional receiver unhooked it and then take it up to my vacation home in northern california purchased a second dish and it would have worked for just an additional $5 a month! If so I really really blew it!!!!

The bottom line answer is yes. The catch is that to do it legally you can only have the account active at one service location at a time. In other words, when you go to your summer home there can't be someone back at the original location who will also be using the Directv service.

You can even have Directv install the service at the summer home using the movers connection. They will install the dish and any associated cabling. There are no wavers or complicated hoop jumps that need to take place. You merely call Directv and inform them that you will be moving to the summer home. Remember that to keep it legal you should be taking all your receivers with you. This provides the customer with two advantages. First, you only have to set up and pay for one account. Second, when you switch locations, you will get the locals, if any, associated with each particular location.

Hope this helps.

 

[riversisblue]

Just in case anyone was wondering........
When I got home I checked my Dish Network dish and it is a dual LNB with the Dish Pro logo on it, so that was out. I did however find a retailer about 15 miles from my home selling a new directv 18" with a single lnb for $25. Can't beat that! So I am going to pick it up then go up to the home next weekend! Wish me luck. Any useful tips in aiming this thing. Never installed one, just adjusted one. Thanks!