# Can I use existing dishes/switches with FTA?



## archer75 (Oct 13, 2006)

I no longer have Sat service through any company. I was thinking of going FTA and have 2 Dish Network dishes and switches on my house. I was wondering if I can use those? 
From the 2 dishes I have one line coming in my house and then it was split at the Dual Tuner Dish receiver I used to have. So if I can just plug that in to a FTA receiver and then align the dishes to whatever legal sat content i'm wondering if this would still allow me to hit multiple satellites?


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## bruin95 (Apr 23, 2006)

The Dish Network dishes and lnbs are no good for legal FTA. You need at least a 30" or larger dish and a linear lnb to receive a signal on Ku band satellites. Also, if you want to hit more than one bird, you're going to have to get a motor with your system.


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## archer75 (Oct 13, 2006)

Hmmm, the folks over at the [redacted] forums told me it would work so now i'm confused.


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## jumpin jack flash (Aug 14, 2008)

Depends on which type of dish it is. I think some have a linear LNBF on them with their circular ones. Also some are borderline "big enough". And like bruin said, You should look into a 31" or larger dish(depending on your location) and a linear LNBF. If you want to manually find a bird to your liking you can do without a motor setup for now, but motorized is the way to go. I just got a few good deals on e-bay. Geosat 36"dish, and Invacom LNBF. This gets circular and linear sats so you can keep a subscription to a provider, and get FTA on the same dish. The dish even came with a "universal" linear LNBF for FTA only, but I mounted the Invacom anyway. Dish and little "geosat"bullet" LNB was 94.00 shipped!


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

archer75 said:


> Hmmm, the folks over at the [redacted] forums told me it would work so now i'm confused.


That's because that's a forum that allows discussions of piracy. For true, legitimate FTA, you'll need a bigger dish.


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## ddrea (Jul 18, 2008)

jumpin jack flash said:


> Depends on which type of dish it is. I think some have a linear LNBF on them with their circular ones. Also some are borderline "big enough". And like bruin said, You should look into a 31" or larger dish(depending on your location) and a linear LNBF. If you want to manually find a bird to your liking you can do without a motor setup for now, but motorized is the way to go. I just got a few good deals on e-bay. Geosat 36"dish, and Invacom LNBF. This gets circular and linear sats so you can keep a subscription to a provider, and get FTA on the same dish. The dish even came with a "universal" linear LNBF for FTA only, but I mounted the Invacom anyway. Dish and little "geosat"bullet" LNB was 94.00 shipped!


Not to crash this thread, but same question for me. I have a DirecTV elliptical dish (18"x24") with 3-LNBs. I hear you that 30" is minimum recommended, but have any of you messed with this configuration in your past travels. Thanks.


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## jumpin jack flash (Aug 14, 2008)

ddrea said:


> Not to crash this thread, but same question for me. I have a DirecTV elliptical dish (18"x24") with 3-LNBs. I hear you that 30" is minimum recommended, but have any of you messed with this configuration in your past travels. Thanks.


Yes. And it won't get true FTA birds. Their signal is weaker than the DTV and dishnet birds. Thats the reason for the bigger dish. And beleive me they are not as easy to hit,(point at), than the DSS sats. Its a little more work to have FTA as a hobby, but a lot of interesting stuff out there. Im starting out stationary, but once I get better at where things are in the sky, and IF I will be able to aim for most, not all sats up there, I'll be getting motorized setup. Just gotta make sure the treeline I have on my property does'nt interfere. It shouldn't as I am mounting the dish up on a shed roof.


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