Use of old satellite internet dish

[Mr Guppy]

Hello all. This is my first post, although I have been a keen reader of the forums for some.
I am in an area where I hope to access VAST later this year and have a now unused 90cm Gilat satellite internet dish sitting on my roof.
Does anyone know if I can put a 10.7 LNB straight into this and use it for VAST reception? (after reorientation and recabling of course).
If it is possible, is there any advantage to fitting a dual-output LNB or will a single one do?

[Bluedog]

it wont go straight in , but will be good enough.
unscrew the cables and remove the transmit and receive block off the dish leaving only the feed arm.
mark the receive cable with some tape or something so you will know what cable is the rx line in the house to plug your box into.
you can identify it as its the one you unplug from the small white box (receive LNB) hanging under the large white transmit box.
mount a single of dual output 10.7 lnb at the focus or as near as you can get and try applying the existing clamp, if it wont fit around the new lnb use some builders strap or even 3 or 4 heavy cable ties.
look at the neighbours austar dish and see where the output socket(s) are pointing and make yours look the same. thats the skew
swing the dish to the north and up to 45 degrees or so (looking at the angle indicator on the back of the mount) and start sweeping around a little bit with a signal meter. you should find several sats. it will work for Vast

have fun

[Mr Guppy]

Great! Many thanks Bluedog.
If I can pester you a little more -
Would I be right in assuming I could use a tape to measure the distance from the centre of the dish to the front of the old LNB, and duplicate this distance with the new one?
Also, would I be better off ordering a dual-output LNB?
Thanks again.

[toyboy11]

I'd order a new dish and an lnb, they are not that expensive.

[nbound]

swing the dish to the north and up to 45 degrees or so (looking at the angle indicator on the back of the mount) and start sweeping around a little bit with a signal meter. you should find several sats. it will work for Vast

These will vary greatly depending on your location. For example if Guppy is in WA, the VAST satellite is not North, and the angle will vary between say Cairns latitude and Hobart latitude.

[Mr Guppy]

Orientation is no problem folks.
As to buying a whole new setup: although I do not consider myself a "greenie", I fail to see why equipment already mounted on my roof and with suitable cabling attached should not be used, rather than pulling it down and dumping it.

[gordon_s1942]

Orientation is no problem folks.
As to buying a whole new setup: although I do not consider myself a "greenie", I fail to see why equipment already mounted on my roof and with suitable cabling attached should not be used, rather than pulling it down and dumping it.

Me too mr Guppy, I have a complete Ipstar Internet dish/mount and LNB (useless) in my yard from a user who went Wireless and I too would like to see it reused but its not feasible now for me to do it on my own.
I dont mean re mounting it on a roof, thats out but even on a ground base or pole would do along with a new suitable Ku Band LNB.
This one is Fibreglass and it should last for many years in any situation.
But like the requirements of the 'New' NBN satellite (to come) who wont use any old in place equipement (realigned as required) but want you to buy and use theirs which is ridiculous.