# NEC Nextar Rf Unit?



## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

I got up on the roof of my office building today and took the LNB(?) off of a 9' dish that hasn't operated in about 10 years. We once used satellite communication for our mainframe computers until the satellite went down and we were without computers for about a week until we went back to land lines. Our business is Industrial Sales so the computers going down is a Major issue and we'll never go back to the satellite again.

So, I thought I would get up on the roof and see what we had and if I could use it for FTA.
There is a 4' dish and a 9' dish. Neither dish has any kind of motor. The small dish has degree adjustments and can be moved manually. The 9' dish has no adjustments and is on a huge stand that seems to have been put there and not meant to be moved or adjusted. They are both fiberglass BUD's and I have taken pictures of the LNB, or Feedhorn (whichever the proper name is) off the 9' dish.
The 4' dish has the same type apperatus just smaller. The 4' LNB has a label:
Hughes Mini Earth Station. 

I'll include pictures of the unit I took off the 9' dish. The writing on the tag you see in the pictures is:
Manf. = NEC
Model = Nextar 
Tag Info:
RF Unit 
C3575B 1.5W/225K
Nov1989
Serial = 5778H

Would someone please tell me if this equipment is of any use for FTA? In the meantime I'll do some searches online to see if I can identify the part in the pictures.
The 9' dish and stand could be disassembled on the roof and lowered with a forklift. The roof is about 3 stories tall. The small dish would be very easy, the large dish would take a couple of people to maneuver. It seems the small one could be used since it has adjustments, but I am unsure about the large dish. 
I need to advice of some professionals with BUD experience.

Also, when you are looking at the picture that shows the rear view 
the left hand side has a large coax connection that is labelled IF
There is a normal RG6 connection on the right labelled POINTING
At the top where the 4 screws hold a small square plate on it says REG
There's the big screw that adjusts the unit 90 degrees right or left, and a ground connection.
Right now it's set at about 9 degrees to the right.


Thanks


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

What you picture is a 1.5 Watt transmitter, not a receive lnb. The larger dish was probably used to communicate through a c band satellite and was later replaced with the smaller dish which communicated through a ku band satellite. A receive lnb would be considerably smaller than the item that you show in the pix.


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

Richard King said:


> What you picture is a 1.5 Watt transmitter, not a receive lnb. The larger dish was probably used to communicate through a c band satellite and was later replaced with the smaller dish which communicated through a ku band satellite. A receive lnb would be considerably smaller than the item that you show in the pix.


The other smaller one is almost identical, just smaller, same shape, ridges on the body, same front piece...probably 1/2 - 2/3 the size of the large one.
Does that sound like a Ku receiver or just a smaller transmitter? 
Is it possible to transmit and receive with the same unit like this?

I just don't understand how the computer system would have worked if we were only able to transmit. We have to be able to look at inventory in realtime and place orders. That requires recieving and transmitting.

I just got off the phone with my dad. He's been with the company for 30 years. What you say makes sense because he said that when they first installed the satellite equipment he ran the coax throughout the entire building. Then a few years or so later he had to run the cable all over again. He said it looked the same to him. But the big dish had the large coax and the small dish had RG6 that we use now. That would mean that the big one was there first and the smaller later. Eventually the satellite crashed and we went to the land lines.

Is the transmitter in the picture of any use at all? I guess it wouldn't be of use for FTA since you have to be able to receive the signal.

Sorry for all the questions but you are the only one that's been able to help me at all. I'd like to correspond back and forth to learn something about this equipment and even if it doesn't apply to FTA it's still very interesting to me.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> ridges on the body


This is pretty much a sure sign that it is a transmitter. The ridges are for cooling the transmitter. A smaller one *with fins* might be of lesser power or newer electronics, but still most likely a transmitter. There has to be a way to receive though. It looks from the picture that there may be two connectors on the item you show, but I can't quite tell. Are there two connectors? If so, one is transmit, the other receive. I have never seen one unit containing both sets of electronics before though. If there is only one line to each dish then they are transmit only. If there are two lines to each dish, then the dishes were transmit/receive. As for the transmitter having any use, probably not unless you can find someone else who needs it as a spare for an older system.



> But the big dish had the large coax


Probably RG-11


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Looking at the item in my Paint Shop Pro program and blowing it up a bit, it looks like it is quite old. If it is as old as it appears, I doubt that you could get much off of FTA, especially digital programming, which pretty much requires a relatively new LNB. It's amazing the changes that they went through from the late '80's to the mid '90's as far as noise figures, etc. goes. That change really made digital satellite practical. If I am seeing right, it looks like that thing has a date of Nov. 198_ something stamped on the back.


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

All the tag information is listed in my first post.
Also, there are 2 connectors.
The large connector says "IF" and the RG6 says "POINTING".
Any idea what "POINTING" means? It definitely didn't move the dish.
The small unit did have more wires connected but I don't think it was 2 coax lines.
Maybe one was a ground but it sure looked like some type of power to it.
Did these things require a power source?


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

Thanks for your help. I haven't been able to get anyone else to even touch this on AL7Bar. My post has been on there since yesterday afternoon. 
As soon as you said it was a transmitter that made perfect sense. Anything that size and weight has to need to produce something. It reminds me of an electric motor from the body style.

Also, I guess if these things are worthless for FTA I won't be needing them. That brings me back to the question about the dishes. The big 9' dish is on a huge steel stand that can be disassembled, but it wasn't meant to move around. So, I guess that pretty much makes it useless for FTA also?
The 4' will move manually just like my 30" Winegard. So, I could use it but I really want a BUD. I want to get into C-Band and start a real hobby. Even if DN wasn't going Nag2 I still wanted to do it. Only difference is that when DN goes Nag2 I'll sub to 4dtv.
Do you see any use for those other 2 dishes or should I just start looking for something more up-to-date and designed for C-Band?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> The large connector says "IF" and the RG6 says "POINTING".


IF= Intermediate Frequency... That is the frequency sent by the box "downstairs" to the transmitter. This is a frequency that can be sent over cable rather than ridgid waveguides. The IF is converted into the frequency that is uplinked to the satellite in the transmitter.

"Pointing" I would guess is some kind of output that can be hooked to a meter to show receive strength and is used for aiming.



> Even if DN wasn't going Nag2 I still wanted to do it.


The fact that they are going to Nagra2 should have no bearing on your going FTA or not since it is not legal to receive Dish by FTA, with few exceptions. By the way, discussing ways to receive Dish illegally is not permitted here, so don't go there.

The 9' dish would probably make a good BUD if it has the proper mount behind the dish and the proper mount for the LNB at the focal point. It was probably designed for C-band though and may or may not be proper for Ku band. You should post a picture of it here also.


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

The 9' dish would probably make a good BUD if it has the proper mount behind the dish and the proper mount for the LNB at the focal point. It was probably designed for C-band though and may or may not be proper for Ku band. You should post a picture of it here also.[/QUOTE]


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

It might take me a week or two, maybe longer to get pictures of the dish. It's quite a hassle to get on the roof. I intended to get pics this time but forgot the camera. That's the only reason I removed the transmitter instead. I had someone on the ground throw me a pair of pliers.
Thanks for the help but I don't think any part of this dish was designed for ku. As I said the big dish mount is fixed. The focal point is like this _______ and the transmitter you see mounts right on top of that plate. No other mounting area other than a flat plate for the transmitter to sit on and bolt down.
I'll take pictures anyway just to be sure.


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

Thanks for your help.


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## satfiles (Apr 17, 2005)

Richard King said:


> This is pretty much a sure sign that it is a transmitter. The ridges are for cooling the transmitter. A smaller one *with fins* might be of lesser power or newer electronics, but still most likely a transmitter. *There has to be a way to receive though. * It looks from the picture that there may be two connectors on the item you show, but I can't quite tell. Are there two connectors? If so, one is transmit, the other receive. I have never seen one unit containing both sets of electronics before though. If there is only one line to each dish then they are transmit only. If there are two lines to each dish, then the dishes were transmit/receive. As for the transmitter having any use, probably not unless you can find someone else who needs it as a spare for an older system.[END QUOTE]
> 
> Also, this brings us back to the earlier topic; how did they receive?
> Before the computers they used the phone to call and the orders were handwritten. Doesn't seem of much use to invest in the satellites if you can't receive information, like the inventory from our major Dist. Centers.
> ...


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