1. i have a direct tv dish on a tripod in our rv. we have a satalite finder to find the correct satalite for tv service. how can i have tv service and hook up my wifi laptop using the same dish (not in a hot spot area).

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by VALERIE

2. Here's my project - Using a dish antenna like this one, I'm trying to build an auto-tracking wifi dish antenna. Unfortunately, I have zero experience with motor control so it's something of a learning process. For auto track, I'm trying to interface a Netstumbler script's output of SNR strength with the motor controller to coordinate where the dish points. I've got it planned out in my head, and somewhat on paper, but getting my grubby paws on motors, a controller, and a chassis for the dish is proving to be somewhat difficult... without shelling out several hundred dollars.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by b36

3. i probably missed something talking about this, but i was wondering if there was any way to directly connect the satellite to the computer without needing a wireless card or adaptors or anything that needs configuring? i'm new to connecting certain things to my computer and i'm too broke to actually buy any equipment. the place i'm staying in now came with a satellite dish on the roof even though i've never used it. is there a way to directly connect the satellite to the computer without extra equipment?

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by grim_reaperx21

4. I'm in the same situation as John Tetreault with the Direct TV dish I've got a friend with 7mb cable internet 4 miles away I want to connect to but I also have a 16foot tv ant I could use for something as well perhaps I will boost my cell phone reception

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by David Buckbee

5. I'm in the same situation as John Tetreault with the Direct TV dish I've got a friend with 7mb cable internet 4 miles away I want to connect to but I also have a 16foot tv ant I could use for something as well perhaps I will boost my cell phone reception

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by David Buckbee

6. Just to set the record straight on a few things here (In the interest of productivity, Not rather than argument): People who are asking about uplinks and 2-way internet, This conversation is about receiving WIFI internet from a LOCAL access point (not in space--nothing to do with satellites) that is out of your range of a regular WIFI antenna VIA satellite dish, Pointed directly towards the signal's location (access point). (and yes, dishes are 1-way-- common ones at least) Dishnet LNB's receive signal from 950 MHZ to 2,150 MHZ, NOT 11.7 to 12.4 GHZ!! Satellite receivers supply the LNB with 13V and 18V, Depending on the polarity, Satellite, and Transponder it is looking to receive the feed from. No, You wont get anything (useable) from a non-powered LNB. An LNB (LNBF) stands for low noise blocking feedhorn, It is essentially a bandpass filter, Allowing a RF signal within that set band to ride ontop of a steady DC voltage, To the receiver to be decoded. I know this because I have been a satellite (dish) technician for a long time and have a detailed knowledge of almost all aspects of it and related to it. It's kind of funny, I had the idea one night of putting up a dish and rigging it to my wireless because I cant quite get the neighbors internet from my house (But around the corner in my truck I do fine). I thought I had come up with the greatest clever hack idea of all time, Been thinking of the best way(s) to do it... Then I was looking up some wifi info on the net, Found out (LOL), To my amazement the idea certainly wasnt original. With my knowledge of all aspects of a satellite system (here on earth) I plan to test this soon with a great many dishes/lnbs/and configurations. If I have any really great results, I'll be sure to post them.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Joe M

7. l.n.b.s need to be powered. Satellite receivers send around 12 volts D.C. down the cable to them. i wonder if you would get something out of an unpowered l.n.b., but you'd do a lot better if you powered it. Also, I don't know what all you can grab off satellite these days, but an ordinary satellite dish can't talk back to a satellite. directPC used to use a dial up connection for the upstream path.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Deprogram

8. I still dont get how the thing transmits. I only understand this thing from a recieving standpoint. Don't I need to enhance

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by angelo

9. I got an old Primstar dish and put a can for feed. Using a Linksys wireless-b adapter and 16 feet of usb cable, i was able to drastically improve my signal just by making a slit in the can for the dipole. It still needs fine tuning. What I need to know is this...can i get an mc connector and remove the one from my adapter and hooking to it with a pigtail. weather is a problem with my current config. Thx

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Donna bowen

10. this is quite the nifty project! detailed instructions and the like are in "hardware hacking projects for geeks" by scott fullam. everybody should buy this book.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Ryan

11. I've heard of some using an old Direct TV dish, AND its feedhorn with no modification, just hooking up co-ax direct, and having good results, even though the dish network feedhorn is designed for an 11.7 to 12.4 Ghz signal. Has anyone heard of doing this ruining your wifi equipment? For that matter, I've got an old 1 meter C band dish, which is has a feedhorn designed for 3.7 to 4.2 ghz.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by John Tetreault

12. I've heard of some using an old Direct TV dish, AND its feedhorn with no modification, just hooking up co-ax direct, and having good results, even though the dish network feedhorn is designed for an 11.7 to 12.4 Ghz signal. Has anyone heard of doing this ruining your wifi equipment? For that matter, I've got an old 1 meter C band dish, which is has a feedhorn designed for 3.7 to 4.2 ghz.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by John Tetreault

13. can i capt internet without phone direct through satellite?

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by hyacer

14. How could you make this track a ground vehicle? It would be killer for some cheapo telemetry.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by strider_mt2k

15. It's like using backbone cable, depends on the equipment you hook it up to...the commercial equivalents we use (4' and 2' Harris digital dishes) give us at least t3 speeds, our 6' and 8' dishes give us DS3.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by flash

16. some crazy speculation here.. what kind of performance could you get with 2 of these dishes pointed at each other?

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by drew

17. im sure i missed this, but how do you connect your internet connection to the dish? you can contact me at computerkid1212@verizon.net

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by mike

18. There is a better feed at trevormarshall.com that uses an easy to build biquad feed.

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Larry Creech

19. The thumb-sized USB adapters are universally terrible. The actual "antenna" inside is more like a surfacemount choke that might almost resonate at 2.4GHz. It's essentially a dummy load. The older Lucent "USB client adapters" were just PCMCIA cards in a special socket with a cover. (All the Lucent cards had USB electronics on them, so other cards won't work in that socket. I know you were thinking it.) Removing the cover gives you access to the MC connector. Throw the adapter behind the dish, run a 24" pigtail out to a biquad feed, and you'll get stellar performance. Another idea would be to use one of the dipole-equipped USB adapters. Some have two antennae (the belkin f5d6050 comes to mind) and I'm sure with research, you could find one that lets you select between them. Mounting such a dual adapter so that one is right at the focal point and one is a bit off would give you a "sharp" and "broad" focus, which might be handy. Mounting it so they're both in the focal plane but one is left and one is right would give you a "stereo" dish, and by switching between the antennae you could tell your target's relative direction. A quick hack to Netstumbler's audio RSSI feedback, and stereo headphones on your laptop..... (Why does this bastard thing strip my capitalization? Here I thought all the commenters were just lazy.)

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Myself

20. I've wanted to try the usb mod on my primestar (scroll down on my page to see it) http://www.binarywolf.com/249/pringles.htm, but have yet to try it. Here's a ZyXEL ZYAIR G-220 USB adapter that might work well, http://www.slcentral.com/g-220-wireless-usb-stick/index.php Any recommendations for USB adapters?

Posted at 3:33PM on Sep 3rd 2006 by Binarywolf