The Dish Network User's Resource
The Dish Network User's Resource
PRIMESTAR DISH TO DTV RETROFIT.
First before you rip everthing out check your signal. Note the signal strength for that channel. Now start the demolition, or mount the Primestar dish somewhere else. For the Primestar dish you need to have a very sturdy mount. It's very heavy and will catch the wind. Concrete or a strong mount will do.
To retrofit a Primestar dish with a DTV LNB you first need to remove the Primestar LNB and set it aside. "It makes a great conversational piece." Then you need to build two pieces to mount the DTV LNB on the old arm (p2dtv.bmp). Those pieces can be made out of anything lite and something that won't rust. Mine was made out of aluminum but it could have been plastic. Also you need to bore out the cradle of the arm section to the same diameter as the top bracket. Only to the depth stated. Then you need to get two long bolts (non rusting type) to attach everything. I bolted everything together and the spacer (used to keep the LNB horizonal) seemed to hold in place without the ty-wraps. I did however use ty-wraps to hold the spacer in place because the differences in temperatures may allow the piece to fall. See first two pictures (psbrkt2.bmp and psbrkt3.bmp). Then wire up the coax. You will need to aim the dish to the DTV satellite. Watch that signal meter. It will jump up much higher than the old signal ever could. My signal went from 60% to >90%!!! No more rain dropouts.
These are un-modified pictures of the conversion process that everyone has been interested in. keep in mind, you have to deviate from these instructions to use them with the newer RCA LNBs, as well as to use them with a Dish LNB because of the larger neck size.
Thanks to Seth for making this possible.
The Primestar dish and LNB may be used as-is in a legacy LNB/switch setup for the FSS slot at 105° or 121° (but not 118.75° which uses different polarization).