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Finding Dishes for 802.11b Service?

Posted by Cliff on from the roof-ornaments-of-the-eary-2000s dept.

toygeek2002 asks: "With the proliferation of 802.11b, plans like this one are popping up all over. Where is the best place to FIND such dishes? Numerous Google searches have led to dead-ends, and calls to some local satellite TV shops tell me I'm gonna pay a lot for a 2-3' dish. Where's the best place to find old Primestar or other such dishes?"

6 of 29 comments (clear)

  1. Hrmmmm... by terpia · · Score: 4, Informative
    How 'bout Ebay?


    For the paranoid: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPIC ommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&eba ytag1code=0&query=sat%25+dish

    --
    .sig wanted: Must be concise, funny, and display my cleverness.
  2. old dish, eh? by doooras · · Score: 3, Funny

    that's a tuffy

  3. you didn't look very hard by elfkicker · · Score: 3, Informative

    These guys look pretty damn good... Hyperlink Technologies

  4. Re:Dishes are $50! by zenyu · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yep, I just bought a 2ft one for less than $50 with the Yagi feed. It was a group buy, but even if you buy one it's not too bad. I got mine from dbiplus.

    If you look long enough you might find one on the street on trash pickup night. Just put a 2.4 Ghz Yagi on it and you have a high gain antenna...

  5. Why build? by clark625 · · Score: 3, Informative

    At first it might seem that building your own dish is the cheapest solution--but I really question that. I considered building two antennas for my shot that's about a mile. If you really want something to work, consider getting a real (professional) antenna. They aren't that much more expensive when you factor in your cost in time plus they are almost guaranteed to work.

    I just ordered a couple of PacWireless parabolic dishes (21 dBi) and pigtails. Sure, I'm paying roughly $175 all said and done--but that's much cheaper than my time right now. If you want to buy, look at NetNimble and Electro-Comm Wireless.

    Obviously, it's much more "cool" to have put together your own antenna with a pringles can, a primestar dish, or aluminum foil. I can't doubt that one bit. But my neighbor's aren't going to complain about a (relatively) tasteful dish up on my roof compared to a hacked-up job that's rusting away. Add to that this guy's story, and I was sold: 300-400Kbps for the homemade deal compared to 3.5Mbps with a dish. I can feel comfortable knowing that my link will need to experience a huge amount of interference before it goes down.

    --
    Long, cute, or funny Sigs are just another form of over compensation, used by geeks, nerdz, etc.
  6. Make Me an Offer by InitZero · · Score: 3, Informative

    Where is the best place to FIND such dishes?

    When we moved into our new house, the last couple had PrimeStar (one meter dish complete with lnb and receiver), wireless digital cable (from BellSouth, now defunct; 28db gain yagi, 2.4 ghz) and TimeWarner cable. I kept the cable. Everything else is in my shed.

    If you'll pay shipping and a token finder's fee, you're welcome to the dish, lnb and receiver.

    InitZero