PrimeStar Dish Conversion (Historical Archive)

This page is preserved as a historical archive. Many of the original images were hosted on ImageShack, which has since removed free hosting. The broken images have been removed, but the technical information remains for reference.

What You Can Do With a PrimeStar Dish

A PrimeStar dish can be repurposed for several uses:

1. Telstar 5 FTA system
2. Multi-satellite FTA system
3. X4 Ku add-on to a C-band 4DTV system
4. SuperDish add-on for Dish Network
5. DirecTV rain-fade resistant replacement (requires custom bracket)

PrimeStar Dish Types

PrimeStar dishes came in two main styles:

• Elliptical dish with bottom-mounted LNB arm (Channel Master)
• Tripod-style dish with long-neck feedhorn

Known models include:

• 84E series (approx. 39.5" x 29.5")
• 75E series (approx. 35.5" x 26")
• 1.0M series (1-meter offset dish)

If you have a different model number, you can still use the dish — larger dishes generally perform better for Ku-band FTA.

HITS System Dishes (Historical)

Cable companies reused leftover PrimeStar dishes for the HITS system (now discontinued). These dishes often came with:

• Single or dual LNBs
• Flat LNB arms compatible with DSS-style LNBFs
• Built-in skew adjustment

Dual-LNB versions were especially useful for multi-satellite setups.

Using PrimeStar LNBs

Three common H/V LNB models were used:

• NJR2119F
• NJR2212F
• Unmarked variants

These can be converted to LNBF format by connecting the H and V outputs to a DirecTV multiswitch. Use:

• 17V input for Horizontal
• 14V input for Vertical

Set your FTA receiver LO frequency to 10750.

Multi-Satellite FTA Setups

PrimeStar dishes can support multiple LNBFs for multi-satellite reception. Important notes:

• Some receivers can power only two LNBFs at once
• You may need a switch that cuts power to unused LNBFs
• PrimeStar LNBFs are heavier and harder to mount than modern ones

1-Meter Dish Notes

The 1-meter PrimeStar dish performs well for weak satellites such as G10 (historical reference). However, adjacent strong satellites can make tuning difficult without a high-quality meter.

Additional Resources

• Multi-LNB mount example
• Using PrimeStar dishes for 802.11 WiFi
• How to paint a Channel Master dish

Channel Master is now owned by Andrew, and all CM dishes are sold under the Andrew brand.