# Giant Dish - Worth Anything??



## chevyguy559

My grandparents had a HUGE dish system a long time ago since they live in the country before switching to Dish Network when it first came out They still have the dish up....is it worth anything? I kind of want to take it down for them as its an eye sore out back....any suggestions?? Here's a few pics


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## ImBack234

Be careful on that roof.


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## tcusta00

If you become a dbstalk Club Member you can post it in the "Buy Sell Trade" forum here and see if there are any takers. May be worth something but I'm not up on the FTA stuff.


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## Richard King

Probably not worth much, if anything. I have had people call me to have me haul them away before and I have passed on the offer. I have had others offer to pay me to take them down. It's a real shame because they were a great product in the good old days.


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## BattleZone

For all practical purposes, they are obsolete and the chances of finding someone locally who will want it is quite low. Shipping it anywhere is obviously out of the question due to cost. Most people have to pay someone to haul it away.


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## chevyguy559

Thats what I was thinking, I might post it up on the local craigslist for free....I just didn't want to give it away if it was worth something  Hardest part will probably be getting it down :eek2: Although since this house is located on a ranch, we have tractors and forklifts we can utilize  Actually that might be kinda fun.....:lol:


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## tcusta00

Just thought of something... a scrap metal dealer may offer you a few bucks for it, which would also eliminate your need to pay a tipping fee at a landfill.


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## TheRatPatrol

So you can't get anything with those big dishes anymore? My friend still has one and he seems to get stuff with it.


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## tcusta00

theratpatrol said:


> So you can't get anything with those big dishes anymore? My friend still has one and he seems to get stuff with it.


Sure you can. There's a whole forum here dedicated to them: FTA.

I don't think you need that giant dish anymore to get FTA - I think a 2-3 foot dish will do the job the old 6-8 footers did.


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## samhevener

chevyguy559 said:


> My grandparents had a HUGE dish system a long time ago since they live in the country before switching to Dish Network when it first came out They still have the dish up....is it worth anything? I kind of want to take it down for them as its an eye sore out back....any suggestions?? Here's a few pics
> 
> I was a member of SARA for a few years and some of their members are looking for these old large dishes. In fact a friend of mine had an old 4 ft dish and another member of SARA took it off his hands. The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers website is http://radio-astronomy.org/


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## roadrunner1782

I like the OP's idea of utilizing tractors and forklifts to take it down! Be sure to record that so we all can see!


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## TheRatPatrol

tcusta00 said:


> Sure you can. There's a whole forum here dedicated to them: FTA.
> 
> I don't think you need that giant dish anymore to get FTA - I think a 2-3 foot dish will do the job the old 6-8 footers did.


I guess what I meant to say is can you subscribe to anything using those old C-Band dishes? Imagine if you could subscribe to the HD channels you wanted using that?


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## karlhenri

Those dishes are probably not needed anymore for US programming, but if someone primarily wants international/global programming, aren't those dishes just the thing to have. And doesn't the larger the better logic still apply?

I am wondering if the OP could not find a seller who wants to supplement his domestic reception with all sorts of international stuff.


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## BattleZone

A mesh dish will only get C-Band signals, as Ku-band signals will go through the mesh and not get reflected into the LNB. There are still some unencrypted C-Band transmissions, but most of the mainstream TV content that's on them is encrypted, and I'm not sure you can even subscribe to it anymore. It's mostly used by the TV companies to distribute their signals to other offices and to sat and cable providers.

Most of the International FTA stuff seems to be on FSS-class Ku-band birds, which only need about a 36" dish.


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## Richard King

> A mesh dish will only get C-Band signals, as Ku-band signals will go through the mesh and not get reflected into the LNB.


That's not 100% correct. Later mesh dishes were designed with Ku mesh, a finer mesh than the older dishes. The dish in the picture appears to be Ku mesh. Just about any mesh dish made after 1990 or so should be fine with Ku band. I installed a bunch of them (including a c/ku system at my former house) between 1989 and 1995 that were used for both C and Ku band.


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## sat4r

You are right RICHARD my BUD does receive both C and KU. My insurance replaced mine last spring after not surviving baseball size hail but where it is located it saved my skylite. I do keep a little programming on it such as STARZ east and west coast feeds plus HD


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## chevyguy559

Also here is the receiver they have... General Instruments 4DTV-920
_Google Images Pic_









Is that unit worth anything? Could it be used for FTA?


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## Richard King

With that receiver he should be able to subscribe to some (many?) channels and have an EXCELLENT picture. That makes the dish much more desirable.

http://shop.ebay.com/sis/_W0QQ_kwZ4dtvQ20920Q20922Q20GIQ20motorola


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## ImBack234

Richard King said:


> With that receiver he should be able to subscribe to some (many?) channels and have an EXCELLENT picture. That makes the dish much more desirable.
> 
> http://shop.ebay.com/sis/_W0QQ_kwZ4dtvQ20920Q20922Q20GIQ20motorola


God they need to drug test some of those people on flea-bay. :eek2:


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## jclewter79

tcusta00 said:


> Just thought of something... a scrap metal dealer may offer you a few bucks for it, which would also eliminate your need to pay a tipping fee at a landfill.


More like a few cents. Scrap metal is in the toilet just like everything else right now.


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## waynebtx

Still have a 10 1/2 dish and a General Instruments 4DTV-920 with an HD side car that still works. dont use any more but give me a great picture when i did.


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## LOCODUDE

This brings back a lot of fond memories............


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## Richard King

My old C-band system consisted of a 10' Unimesh Perf dish (perferated sheet rather than expanded aluminum) with a Toshiba TXR-2200 receiver. I was set up for C and Ku band and enjoyed it much. The last time I went past the house, about two years ago, the dish was still up in the air pointing to the arc.


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## lee635

Your 4 dtv receiver allows you to subscribe to satellite programming with the big dish. Check out NPS for subscription prices http://www.callnps.com/packages.htm

That's a nice dish setup. My favorite package would be the movie lovers, it beats both D* and E* hands down:

Movie Lover's Pack #125 (Digital)

HBO
14 Digital Feeds

Cinemax
12 Digital Feeds

Showtime
16 Digital Feeds

Sundance
1 Digital Feeds

Starz!
14 Digital Feeds

Encore
17 Digital Feeds

The Movie Channel
4 Standard Definition Feeds

Flix
2 Standard Definition Feeds


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## TheRatPatrol

lee635 said:


> Your 4 dtv receiver allows you to subscribe to satellite programming with the big dish. Check out NPS for subscription prices http://www.callnps.com/packages.htm
> 
> That's a nice dish setup. My favorite package would be the movie lovers, it beats both D* and E* hands down:
> 
> Movie Lover's Pack #125 (Digital)
> 
> HBO
> 14 Digital Feeds
> 
> Cinemax
> 12 Digital Feeds
> 
> Showtime
> 16 Digital Feeds
> 
> Sundance
> 1 Digital Feeds
> 
> Starz!
> 14 Digital Feeds
> 
> Encore
> 17 Digital Feeds
> 
> The Movie Channel
> 4 Standard Definition Feeds
> 
> Flix
> 2 Standard Definition Feeds


Are those HD feeds?


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## Davenlr

I use my 10m dish like the one you pictured, to watch PBS-HD, ABC-HD, all the NASCAR races with no commercials, NASA HD coverage, and LOTS of Fox stations during football season to save me the cost of Sunday Ticket (although the Foxes are all SD).

A new 10' like that one costs upwards of $1000 now, plus shipping, so you should be able to sell it locally fairly easily if priced right. A FTA receiver for it runs about $100 for SD or $400 for HD.

List of channels available at gofastmotorsports.com, and ftalist.com.


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