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Thread: Uses for Satellite Dish on roof

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    Default Uses for Satellite Dish on roof

    Hi everyone,

    So I was talking on this forum:


    Then they referred me to this forum to ask my question, I have a satellite dish on my roof, which is not being used, It was their when I moved in and I assume it was used for foxtel before.


    The people at the other forum gave me the idea of making the dish a wifi antenna to either send signals or receive signal, the other option was to use a satellite receiver set top box that I picked up on the side of road, to receive channels, just for the fun of it.

    Could anyone help me with any of this?

    Thank you in advance



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    they make a good wok for large stir-fries

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    Welcome to the forum.

    If the dish was used for Foxtel then it will be pointed at Optus satellites C1 & D3 which are co-located.

    There really isn't much on them that is FTA (free to air).

    What brand & model number is the satellite decoder you found?

    Does the dish still have a cable attached from the wall socket to the LNB (receiving part of the dish)?

    There's a good chance it was thrown out due to it being useless/redundant as in not being able to access the current satellite signal type; DVB-S2, older Sat boxes were DVB-S. The model number will help clear that up for you.

    Hope that helps.

    EDIT; you really should have posted in the Newbie Satellite section, as admin advised in your introduction, or you'll get a few smartarse answers.
    Last edited by Tiny; 02-11-14 at 03:29 PM.
    Cheers, Tiny
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    What are the details of the Satellite receiver ..... make & model etc ...(picture might help)

    but if you picked it up on the side of the road ...... it may or may work .....

    What is the size of your dish on the house ..... (again picture might help)

    If it is a Foxtel pointing dish ..... there are not very many free to Air channels on Optus C1 & D3 Satellites (TVSN, Expo, Al Jazeera, & a couple of tuning channels & that's about it) & some occasional Network feeds .....
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tiny View Post
    EDIT; you really should have posted in the Newbie Satellite section, as admin advised in your introduction, or you'll get a few smartarse answers.
    I think your right, so I have moved it there

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    Forget Wi-fi as dishes are not commonly used for that purpose, so you'd need an antenna designed specifically for Wi-fi.

    You really need to decide what you want to do.... Wi-fi OR satellite.

    As the topic is satellite, a Foxtel dish will not give you many options for free.

    There's a lot of religious etc channels on Optus D2, which would require the dish to be re-aligned.

    As others have said... more info on the receiver is required.

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    I have attached photos of my dish, the satellite receiver and the socket on the wall.

    I cannot see a actual Model number for the receiver, but their is a barcode, which I have taken a photo of. The brand is Sonystar

    The dish has two cables coming out of it, and on the wall photo the bottom two sockets are for satellite, the top is just the tv antenna.

    Also the satellite receiver works, and turns on and shows the GUI. I d not know the size of the dish, but a photo is attached.

    Thank you in advance

    EDIT: The photos are attached to the next post

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    Your receiver is some sort of cheapy "yum cha" box thats under $60 new on ebay. If yours is the same as the description I just read, it has preprogrammed frequencies but most appear to be for C Band satellite.

    C Band is received via those big dishes like you see below :



    With your Ku Band dish, you are very limited as to whats available that isnt encrypted. On the Foxtel satellite, all you can expect free is Al Jazeera and some shopping channels.

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    Would I have to realign the satellite to get other stations, or is it possible to get stations in the position it is in now, if so what can I do to program my receiver?

    When I was playing around with my receiver I changed some frequency values trying to get something, so doesn't that mean that it is programmable?

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    Thanks for the pics.

    Apart from the cobwebs, the dish and dual LNB look OK.

    The wallplate shows rust on all connectors, which is of concern.

    The wall plate has not been installed by Foxtel, as it's a non-standard/compliant plate, so I would expect the installation has been performed by someone other than Foxtel, possibly a DIY job for an 'extra' decoder, or it could suggest the dish may also be pointing to a different satellite.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lachiepower0402 View Post
    Would I have to realign the satellite to get other stations, or is it possible to get stations in the position it is in now, if so what can I do to program my receiver?

    When I was playing around with my receiver I changed some frequency values trying to get something, so doesn't that mean that it is programmable?
    We don't know what satellite the dish is pointing at, but yes, you may have to re-align the dish, depending where it's pointing now and where you want it to point.

    Most satellite decoders are user programmable... apart from Foxtel/VAST boxes.

    Can you post some pics of the setup and frequency screens of the decoder?

    That may give us a bit of an idea of what it's set up for.

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    At least everything is up to standard, how would I go about measuring the angle and direction of the dish?

    I will post images of the GUI in about an hour as I am away from my house at the present time.
    Last edited by Lachiepower0402; 02-11-14 at 04:47 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lachiepower0402 View Post
    At least everything is up to standard, ....
    What do you mean by 'up to standard'?

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    When you said that everything looks ok expect for the rust.

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    Considering you've been playing with frequencies, it suggests you've discovered how to program the receiver.

    Looking at the LNB, the skew appears to be set for Optus sats and the dual outlets suggest it was installed for a Foxtel iQ box (but not installed by Foxtel).

    If that hunch is correct, the dish is likely to be pointed at Optus C1/D3.

    Try programming the decoder for Ku Band with frequency 12136 Vertical and the LNB setting is on 10700MHz (or 10.7GHz)

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    Does the box pick up any pictures at all? If so what channels? Your dish is a Ku dish that's probably pointed at Optus D1 or D2.

    Leroy
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    With the two ports, do I need to have two cables? Because I only have one, What I am doing is connection a normal tv coaxial cable from one side of the satellite ports with an adapter, then connecting the other side to the normal tv coaxial on the receiver, so I am not using the LOOP OUT or LNB IN, but I am using the RF IN, will this still work, also which side of the ports on the wall do I use if I need to only use one?

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    Quote Originally Posted by LeroyPatrol View Post
    Does the box pick up any pictures at all? If so what channels? Your dish is a Ku dish that's probably pointed at Optus D1 or D2.

    Leroy
    I couldn't manage to get any pictures, as I did not know what to do at the time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lachiepower0402 View Post
    With the two ports, do I need to have two cables? Because I only have one, What I am doing is connection a normal tv coaxial cable from one side of the satellite ports with an adapter, then connecting the other side to the normal tv coaxial on the receiver, so I am not using the LOOP OUT or LNB IN, but I am using the RF IN, will this still work, also which side of the ports on the wall do I use if I need to only use one?
    Your box only takes 1 LNB in cable & that is what you use for satellite & it must be connected to the LNB in connector/port, it doesn't matter which one of the 'F' cons on the wall plate you use; don't use the RF TV connector for any thing other than TV or TV tuner..
    Last edited by Tiny; 02-11-14 at 05:26 PM.
    Cheers, Tiny
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