Self upgrade of D* dish

5457 Views 15 Replies 7 Participants Last post by flipptyfloppity, Sep 3, 2008

ArtChee

Discussion Starter · Sep 1, 2008

GREETINGS, ALL!
DirecTV was oh so very gracious last year to provide a NEW dish when we moved to our "vacation" home in NC (not so glamous - inherited 68-yr-old house). Since then we have upgraded to HDTV & the NC dish is not adequate for HD programming.

I HAVE an extra dish which appears to be a HD mulit-switch dish that someone gave me, which is labeled "DIRECTV Multi-Satellite KTI". It has the 3 "knobs" on the dish arm extension, BUT has 3 coaxial cables rather than the 2 that my HD set up has. The dish itself is slightly oblong (oval), and has a label that states, "California Amplifier, triple feed, Multi-satellite LNB. Compatible with DirecTV. Model # 150946. There is also a round "sticker" with "REV: 1 12303".

My question is: would I be able to replace the old, standard TV dish at the NC house with this Multi-satellite dish? How difficult is it to "aim" for HD-TV signals??

Thanks in advance!!

1 - 16 of 16 Posts

STEVEN-H

· #2 · Sep 1, 2008

My question is: would I be able to replace the old, standard TV dish at the NC house with this Multi-satellite dish? How difficult is it to "aim" for HD-TV signals??

Thanks in advance!![/QUOTE]

The dish you are asking about will not get you HD. You need a slimline which at this point receives five sattelites. Why not just call Direct and ask them what it would be to upgrade to a HD dish.

harsh

· #3 · Sep 1, 2008

This dish isn't going to get you what you need. There are currently two dishes that are readily available: AT9 (aka sidecar) and AU9 (aka Slimline). Both are much larger than your existing dish and often go by the nickname 5LNB because they see five slots. The "Slimline" dish is 22.5" tall x 32.5" wide and weighs well over 20 pounds.

The dishes have four outputs on them and they are considered much more tedious to aim and require additional support struts for a proper installation. If you aren't as good as you think you are, they can be difficult as well as tedious.

Note also that these dishes use a larger diameter mast than the other dishes, so you'll need to mount a new mast.

ArtChee

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 1, 2008

The dish you are asking about will not get you HD. You need a slimline which at this point receives five satellites. Why not just call Direct and ask them what it would be to upgrade to a HD dish.[/QUOTE]

The first thing I did was call DTV, and there is a $70 charge for the HD dish upgrade. Thought that unnecessary IF this extra dish would do the job. Also, will only have my HDTV in NC on extended stays when it worthwhile to "haul" it the 600 miles. Most of the time will not need the HD input.

What's the difference in KTI and Slimline??

harsh

· #5 · Sep 1, 2008

ArtChee said:
What's the difference in KTI and Slimline??

The Slimline dish will give you the 99W and 103W orbital slots which is where all but a handful of the DIRECTV HD channels are located. The dish you're considering will not give you those slots.

ArtChee

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 1, 2008

STEVEN-H said:
The dish you are asking about will not get you HD. You need a slimline which at this point receives five sattelites.

Here are the specs on the Cal Amp dish. Could not find a model #: "The Multi-Satellite dish is an 18-by-20-inch reinforced weather-resistant antenna with two dual LNBs, a single LNB and an integrated four-output multi-switch. The third feed location (LNB) affords DIRECTV customers the option of HDTV programming, such as SHOWTIME from the 110 orbital location. The California Amplifier three LNBs and a multi-switch are built into one unit, which minimizes the need for wire and saves installation time."

The dish that I have has the antenna (? the dish itself?); mast and base. It does not have the bracing arms that I have with my DTV provided dish.

Grentz

· #7 · Sep 1, 2008

The dish you have is for the OLD HD programming (~10 channels, MPEG2, being phased out very soon). To get any HD at all in the coming months, and all the HD channels that are out there, you will need to get the slimline or sidecar 5LNB dish.

ArtChee

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 1, 2008

Grentz said:
The dish you have is for the OLD HD programming (~10 channels, MPEG2, being phased out very soon). To get any HD at all in the coming months, and all the HD channels that are out there, you will need to get the slimline or sidecar 5LNB dish.

Gotcha... makes sense. The ONLY reason I have this KTI dish is that someone discarded it for their own upgrade (presumably). I NOW understand that the dish I NEED is the Slimline KA/KU. Is that the only dish that will provide current DTV HD signals??

bobnielsen

· #9 · Sep 1, 2008

ArtChee said:
Gotcha... makes sense. The ONLY reason I have this KTI dish is that someone discarded it for their own upgrade (presumably). I NOW understand that the dish I NEED is the Slimline KA/KU. Is that the only dish that will provide current DTV HD signals??

Yes. There are both 5 and 3 LNB versions, but the 3 LNB type is not widely available yet (it does not have LNBs for the 110 and 119 satellites). If Directv will supply and install it for $70, that is probably the way to go as you would pay more than that to buy a dish and then you would still need to install and align it.

Grentz

· #10 · Sep 1, 2008

and for the technical reasoning:

The standard 18" dish sees 101
The triple LNB (old-HD dish) sees 101,110,119
The sidecar 5LNB sees 99,101,103,110,119
The Slimline 5LNB sees 99,101,103,110,119
The Slimline 3LNB sees 99,101,103

Those are the orbital slots. All the standard SD programming and more popular DMAs (local channels) are on 101, so everyone gets that. With the old HD package (~10 channels, MPEG2) the signals came from 110 so you needed to see that to get HD. Also some locals are on 110 and 119 for some DMAs.

Currently and in the future, Directv has moved and is using 99 and 103 for HD programming. 110 and 119 will be used for international and some local channels. So for many people in the future they will only need to see 99,101,103 which is what the Slimline 3 dish is designed to see.

Another note, feed horns are the white caps you see on the LNB arm. The number of LNBs does not always line up with the number of feed horns as some feed multiple LNBs.

The standard 18" dish = 1 Feed Horn
The triple LNB (old-HD dish) = 3 Feed Horns
The sidecar 5LNB = 3 Feed Horns
The Slimline 5LNB = 3 Feed Horns
The Slimline 3LNB = 1 Feed Horns

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ArtChee

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 2, 2008

THANKS, ALL for the "education". Gone are the days when I turn the antennae and holler into the house to ask the wife, "How's it look now?"

Grentz

· #12 · Sep 2, 2008

ArtChee said:
THANKS, ALL for the "education". Gone are the days when I turn the antennae and holler into the house to ask the wife, "How's it look now?"

Those days are still here, just you get quite a few less channels with it :lol:

flipptyfloppity

· #13 · Sep 3, 2008

Grentz said:
The standard 18" dish = 1 Feed Horn
The triple LNB (old-HD dish) = 3 Feed Horns
The sidecar 5LNB = 3 Feed Horns
The Slimline 5LNB = 3 Feed Horns
The Slimline 3LNB = 1 Feed Horns

"para todos dish" = 2 feed horns, hits 101 and 119 I think. 3 LNBs?

curt8403

· #14 · Sep 3, 2008

flipptyfloppity said:
"para todos dish" = 2 feed horns, hits 101 and 119 I think. 3 LNBs?

the two horn dish no longer exists now they use the 3 lnb 101, 110, 119

curt8403

· #15 · Sep 3, 2008

Grentz said:
Those days are still here, just you get quite a few less channels with it :lol:

antennaweb.org works better

flipptyfloppity

· #16 · Sep 3, 2008

curt8403 said:
the two horn dish no longer exists now they use the 3 lnb 101, 110, 119

Two other of the dishes in the list are no longer used either (AT9, old 3LNB). I thought the list was supposed to be exhaustive, regardless of obsolescence. So I tried to make it so.

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