I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:08:45 -0800, Donna DeLong wrote:

I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I should mention I can call DirectTV to ask them to take them back but does
Direct-TV actually come to my house to get them (which is a pain) and will
they insist on removing the two antennas on the tile roof?

I don't see anything useful I can do with the four Direct TV satellite
receivers so they can have them but I don't want anyone crawling on the
tile roof to break even more tiles (I already have to get dozens of broken
ones fixed, presumably from their installers).

In summary, is there anything "useful" I can do with these four direct TV
digital satellite receivers (what would YOU do with them?)?

On Jan 1, 6:11*pm, Donna DeLong wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:08:45 -0800, Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I should mention I can call DirectTV to ask them to take them back but does
Direct-TV actually come to my house to get them (which is a pain) and will
they insist on removing the two antennas on the tile roof?

I don't see anything useful I can do with the four Direct TV satellite
receivers so they can have them but I don't want anyone crawling on the
tile roof to break even more tiles (I already have to get dozens of broken
ones fixed, presumably from their installers).

In summary, is there anything "useful" I can do with these four direct TV
digital satellite receivers (what would YOU do with them?)?

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Jimmie

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:27:06 -0800 (PST), JIMMIE wrote:

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Maybe someone can tell me what good these are.

Here are the four that were left, cordless, in the house (all with cards):
* Sony SAT-B55 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in rear slot)
* Sony SAT-B65 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H10 HD Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H11 Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)

What would a typical person do with these 4 boxes (and the two dishes on
the tile roof)?

On 1/1/2010 5:47 PM, Donna DeLong wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:27:06 -0800 (PST), JIMMIE wrote:

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Maybe someone can tell me what good these are.

Here are the four that were left, cordless, in the house (all with cards):
* Sony SAT-B55 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in rear slot)
* Sony SAT-B65 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H10 HD Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H11 Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)

What would a typical person do with these 4 boxes (and the two dishes on
the tile roof)?


Search "completed auctions" on e-Bay and you will find a bunch of them
that have sold. That should give you a pretty good idea of their value.
It appears that the majority of them bring somewhere in the neighborhood
of $20 each.

Don

IGot2P wrote:
On 1/1/2010 5:47 PM, Donna DeLong wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:27:06 -0800 (PST), JIMMIE wrote:

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Maybe someone can tell me what good these are.

Here are the four that were left, cordless, in the house (all with
cards):
* Sony SAT-B55 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in rear slot)
* Sony SAT-B65 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H10 HD Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H11 Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)

What would a typical person do with these 4 boxes (and the two dishes on
the tile roof)?


Search "completed auctions" on e-Bay and you will find a bunch of them
that have sold. That should give you a pretty good idea of their value.
It appears that the majority of them bring somewhere in the neighborhood
of $20 each.

Don




If you bother to post an ad, make sure you call the satt company and see
if they can be activated first- that is the first question the potential
buyer will ask. If the magic number off the box or card has money owed
on it, all it is good for is parts. I buy them for the hard drives, if
they are DVRs. I wouldn't go ebay, shipping is absurdly high for the few
bucks you will get. I'd go local ad paper or Craig's List.

--
aem sends...

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:47:39 -0800, Donna DeLong
wrote:

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:27:06 -0800 (PST), JIMMIE wrote:

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Maybe someone can tell me what good these are.

Here are the four that were left, cordless, in the house (all with cards):
* Sony SAT-B55 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in rear slot)
* Sony SAT-B65 Digital Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H10 HD Receiver (card in front slot)
* DirectTV H11 Satellite Receiver (card in front slot)


Good for nothing unless you subscribe to DTV service and activate the
units. Likely they would send a new card (?) for the boxes.

What would a typical person do with these 4 boxes (and the two dishes on
the tile roof)?


Acquire "satellite" signals from space, for your television viewing.

Are you certain the dishes are mounted on the roof?! They sometimes
need adjustment, so going on the roof is burdensome. In my town of 2
million people, I've never seen one on the roof.

Check to see if they are mounted on the fascia board with lag bolts,
and not on the roof. Simple to remove using a ladder and hand tools.

On Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:31:02 -0800, Oren wrote:

Are you certain the dishes are mounted on the roof?! ... In my
town of 2 million people, I've never seen one on the roof.

Check to see if they are mounted on the fascia board with lag bolts,
and not on the roof. Simple to remove using a ladder and hand tools.

I travel extensively between Omaha-KC-OKC-Dallas-San Antonio and very
frequently see dishes mounted on rooftops. I'm not sure I've seen them
on tile roofs, however. That does sound unusual.

On Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:31:02 -0800, Oren wrote:
Acquire "satellite" signals from space, for your television viewing.

But do the satellite dishes do anything for me (perhaps in the future)?

Are you certain the dishes are mounted on the roof?!
Check to see if they are mounted on the fascia board with lag bolts

Oh. You're right. Both are mounted at the corners (two opposite corners) on
the wood vertical boards. A 28' ladder might get to them w/o walking on the
tile roof so your suggestion is a good idea.

I'm inclined to leave them (in case I need them in the future, but, w/o the
receivers, I'm not sure what good the satellite dishes are).

On Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:31:02 -0800, Oren wrote:

Likely they would send a new card (?) for the boxes.

I checked each of the DirecTV cards in the 4 receivers.

They seem to be the latest DirecTV "P4 ISO7816 smart access cards" (which
came after 2002) as shown in the picture on this web page.

http://www.topbits.com/kinds-of-dire...ess-cards.html

On Jan 1, 6:27*pm, JIMMIE wrote:
On Jan 1, 6:11*pm, Donna DeLong wrote:





On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:08:45 -0800, Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I should mention I can call DirectTV to ask them to take them back but does
Direct-TV actually come to my house to get them (which is a pain) and will
they insist on removing the two antennas on the tile roof?

I don't see anything useful I can do with the four Direct TV satellite
receivers so they can have them but I don't want anyone crawling on the
tile roof to break even more tiles (I already have to get dozens of broken
ones fixed, presumably from their installers).

In summary, is there anything "useful" I can do with these four direct TV
digital satellite receivers (what would YOU do with them?)?

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Jimmie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yep Engadget has a build your own bi-quad using the dishes picks up
wifi 30 miles away and using this bi-quad as digital antennas for tv
are ten times more stronger because of the huge surface area of the
collector concentrating the signal to a focal point verse an array!

Hooked to rotor you can get local stations twice as far away ,as an
array,without pixelization!

On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:28:56 -0800 (PST), joeturn wrote:

Engadget has a build your own bi-quad using the dishes picks up
wifi 30 miles away and using this bi-quad as digital antennas for tv
are ten times more stronger because of the huge surface area of the
collector concentrating the signal to a focal point verse an array!

Interesting. Do I understand this right? You're saying I can "repurpose"
the two spare satellite dishes and 4 receivers as a "regular" TV antenna
(and a WiFi antenna too)?

That would be wonderful!

There is no cable or DSL up here in the mountains so it would be useful to
pluck "regular" TV right out of the air (just like in the olden days).

Is this the article you're referring to?
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/h...-dish-antenna/

You can "repurpose" a DirecTV dish as a TV antenna and/or a WiFi antenna
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/h...-dish-antenna/

I'm beginning to realize I should just throw away the 4 satellite receivers
and concentrate on finding a use for the 2 dish antennas.

I noticed there is something called "Free To Air" satellite reception.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-to-air

Do you think I can use the existing 18" circular DirecTV dishes and just
buy a FTA receiver to replace the 4 DirecTV receivers in the house (as
suggested here)?
http://www.topbits.com/what-is-free-to-air.html

Do I understand FTA correctly that all I need is one FTA receiver and I can
get free television signals from an existing DirecTV dish?

On Jan 2, 2:28*am, joeturn wrote:
On Jan 1, 6:27*pm, JIMMIE wrote:



On Jan 1, 6:11*pm, Donna DeLong wrote:

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:08:45 -0800, Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I should mention I can call DirectTV to ask them to take them back but does
Direct-TV actually come to my house to get them (which is a pain) and will
they insist on removing the two antennas on the tile roof?

I don't see anything useful I can do with the four Direct TV satellite
receivers so they can have them but I don't want anyone crawling on the
tile roof to break even more tiles (I already have to get dozens of broken
ones fixed, presumably from their installers).

In summary, is there anything "useful" I can do with these four direct TV
digital satellite receivers (what would YOU do with them?)?

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them.
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Jimmie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yep Engadget has a build your own bi-quad using the dishes picks up
wifi 30 miles away and using this bi-quad as digital antennas for tv
are ten times more stronger because of the huge surface area of the
collector concentrating the signal to a focal point verse an array!

Hooked to rotor you can get local stations twice as far away ,as an
array,without pixelization!

Direct TV dishes are marginally better than the biquad antenna by
itself. Pose the question to alt.wireless.internet. You really need a
big Primestar dish for wifi. Primestar is defunct, so getting the dish
for nothing isn't all that hard, but finding the dishes is something
else. I've seen Primestar dishes on abandoned houses, but the thought
of spending the night in some podunk jail keeps me from swiping the
dish.

Also, that biquad design in Engadget is not good. The feed to the
element needs to be coaxial rather than two wires. The loops can be
round too, which makes construction easier. This is really OT to
sci.geo.satellite-nav. On alt.internet.wireless, you will find the
gurus.

On Jan 4, 9:41*pm, " wrote:
On Jan 2, 2:28*am, joeturn wrote:





On Jan 1, 6:27*pm, JIMMIE wrote:

On Jan 1, 6:11*pm, Donna DeLong wrote:

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:08:45 -0800, Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I should mention I can call DirectTV to ask them to take them back but does
Direct-TV actually come to my house to get them (which is a pain) and will
they insist on removing the two antennas on the tile roof?

I don't see anything useful I can do with the four Direct TV satellite
receivers so they can have them but I don't want anyone crawling on the
tile roof to break even more tiles (I already have to get dozens of broken
ones fixed, presumably from their installers).

In summary, is there anything "useful" I can do with these four direct TV
digital satellite receivers (what would YOU do with them?)?

I see them all the time in second hand stores. Someone must want them..
Actually I think electronic hobbyist buy them.

Jimmie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yep Engadget has a build your own bi-quad using the dishes picks up
wifi 30 miles away and using this bi-quad as digital antennas for tv
are ten times more stronger because of the huge surface area of the
collector concentrating the signal to a focal point verse an array!

Hooked to rotor you can get local stations twice as far away ,as an
array,without pixelization!

Direct TV dishes are marginally better than the biquad antenna by
itself. Pose the question to alt.wireless.internet. You really need a
big Primestar dish for wifi. Primestar is defunct, so getting the dish
for nothing isn't all that hard, but finding the dishes is something
else. I've seen Primestar dishes on abandoned houses, but the thought
of spending the night in some podunk jail keeps me from swiping the
dish.

Also, that biquad design in Engadget is not good. The feed to the
element needs to be coaxial rather than two wires. The loops can be
round too, which makes construction easier. This is really OT to
sci.geo.satellite-nav. On alt.internet.wireless, you will find the
gurus.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hog wash!

Satellite navigation has nothing to do with modifing a dish for wifi
for ota tv.

You must be trying to discourage the use of DTV dishes for practical
means!
THE ELEMENT works just fine the way engagit describes.You tell the
gurus
over at alt.wireles that a circular element will not improve anything
but looses db!

The Primestar dish was fiberglass and not as good a collector as a
metal DTV dish of a smaller size!

It too is a two wire connection(shield and center tap) and coax is
used on the engadget design.

They are either trying to sale you their gimmic or take advantage of
Trevor Marshal's expertise.

On 1/1/2010 15:08, Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I'd be on the lookout for an E-waste recycling event. With most DBS
subscription services the equipment is included, which diminishes the
value of old equipment. It may be of some value to hackers to engage in
criminal activity.

Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and
four things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55
with an "Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

Forget about the roof stuff. Anything attached to real property becomes part
of the property.

If I were you, I'd carefully remove them - If you do it yourself, you can
make sure no further damage is done and removing them will curtail any
temptation to further fiddle with them.

To echo what another poster said, don't mount sat dishes on the roof,
chimney, etc. (unless necessary to clear an obstacle). better is to mount
them on a deck railing or on a post anchored in the ground.

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 19:24:42 -0600, HeyBub wrote:

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

Forget about the roof stuff. Anything attached to real property becomes part
of the property.

Interesting. Are you saying the two dishes attached near the roof are mine
by virtue of being sold with the house while the four receivers are not
because they are not attached to the house?

What about the propane tank that was attached to a concrete slab. When I
called around, nobody could tell me who owned it but I didn't call all
suppliers. There is nothing in the paperwork about the attached propane
tank.

On Jan 2, 1:48*am, Donna DeLong wrote:
Interesting. Are you saying the two dishes attached near the roof are mine
by virtue of being sold with the house

That's what he's saying. I can't personally verify whether that's
true, but it sounds reasonable.

while the four receivers are not
because they are not attached to the house?

Since the receivers are not part of the property, it depends on who
they belonged to before. If they were leased from DirecTV, they belong
to them, but they may not care about getting them back (used boxes
probably aren't worth what they would pay someone to go pick them up).
If they belonged to the previous owners of the house then I guess they
are yours and as far as I know you can sell them. Probably most useful
to someone who's box has failed so they don't have to buy a new one.

Donna DeLong wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 19:24:42 -0600, HeyBub wrote:

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

Forget about the roof stuff. Anything attached to real property
becomes part of the property.

Interesting. Are you saying the two dishes attached near the roof are
mine by virtue of being sold with the house while the four receivers
are not because they are not attached to the house?

That is true of thing like light fixtures, doors, windows, etc. The dishes,
though, could come under the accessory category, not a permanent mount. You
don't get pictures hanging on the wall.

If you plan to get service, it may be good to have them there to avoid the
hassle of a new install. I have no idea of their life though.



What about the propane tank that was attached to a concrete slab.
When I called around, nobody could tell me who owned it but I didn't
call all suppliers. There is nothing in the paperwork about the
attached propane tank.

The propane tank is possibly the house property, but that is rare. State
laws may vary, but it is typical that the tank cannot be filled by anyone
but the owner, making it tough to change suppliers. Most will have a
sticker on them by the company that supplied it.

On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 07:32:31 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

If you plan to get service, it may be good to have them there
I have no idea of their life though.

I don't know how old the two dishes are but the owners who were foreclosed
on bought the house in July of 2006 so they are probably of that vintage
since wires below them are painted but not these dish cables.

It seems the 2 dishes are more repurposeable than the 4 receivers.

is typical that the tank cannot be filled by anyone but the owner
Most will have a sticker on them by the company that supplied it.

I'm sorry I took this OT, but to respond, it's a 1,100 gallon tank but it
has no sticker on it.

I called around to find out who owned it but gave up after waiting on hold
at several companies. Everyone I called said they'd fill it after an
initial inspection. They asked for a "bill of sale" and I gave them the
title papers to the house (none of which mention the propane tank other
than it's working).

The propane inspection cost $125 and they checked that the earthquake
straps, concrete pad and roll-down-the-hill posts were all to code. Then
they filled it to 80% at $2.49/gallon (my first home owner shock!).

Back to the dishes, since I have no money (anymore), I am going to see if I
can "repurpose" the satellite dishes as a TV or WiFi antenna as suggested
to pluck free signals out of the air as suggested at
http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/15/h...-dish-antenna/
http://ubuntu-utah.ubuntuforums.org/....php?p=7417904
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/...p/t-87523.html

Donna DeLong wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 19:24:42 -0600, HeyBub wrote:

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

Forget about the roof stuff. Anything attached to real property
becomes part of the property.

Interesting. Are you saying the two dishes attached near the roof are
mine by virtue of being sold with the house while the four receivers
are not because they are not attached to the house?

What about the propane tank that was attached to a concrete slab.
When I called around, nobody could tell me who owned it but I didn't
call all suppliers. There is nothing in the paperwork about the
attached propane tank.

That's the general rule of Real Estate law. There are, obviously, exceptions
but the exceptions have to be raised by someone other than the (new) real
property owner. The presumption is that if it's permanently attached to the
property, it's part of the property. Some exceptions, possibly involving the
propane tank, may be covered by local law. In the case of the propane tank,
one resource to check is a local real-estate agent. You are probably not a
pioneer regarding this issue.

Myself, I can't see much practical difference between a propane tank bolted
to a concrete pad and a buried oil tank. Or a car port.

Even IF the original owner maintains some claim to the satellite dishes or
the propane tank, you can reasonably assume he's abandoned them.

In the case of the satellite dishes, again, I'd remove them, doing it
carefully.

My son found a dual-lnb dish set out for heavy trash. He scooped it up, took
a picture, and sold it on Craigslist. Got twenty-five bucks for the thing.

On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 07:25:05 -0600, HeyBub wrote:
Even IF the original owner maintains some claim to the satellite dishes or
the propane tank, you can reasonably assume he's abandoned them.

I wonder how long abandonment lasts?

The foreclosed house was empty for two years.

In the end, none of the doors even locked anymore yet nobody took the
receivers or the dishes (although they did take the glass microwave dish
and the grill, all the pool equipment, and the fireplace burners.

It seems the dishes and receivers aren't all that useful unless they are
used for DirecTV subscription (which I'll never get) or if I repurpose
them.

It seems the 2 dishes can be repurposed as free-to-air TV and WiFi antennas
and the 4 receivers can basically be sold to someone who does have a
DirecTv subscription (assuming there's no money owed on them).

I would like to have TV up here in the hills. Should I just put up a really
good TV antenna hooked to the 10,000 gallon water tank instead?

In article ,
Donna DeLong wrote:

I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I'd trade the lot of them for a decent running back.

"Donna DeLong" wrote in message
...
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and four
things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55 with an
"Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

I take the stuff off them, and use them for bird feeders and bird baths.
Maybe a "water feature" with cascading water from one to another.
Electronically, they are worthless. Maybe a buck's worth of copper in all
of them.

Steve

Donna DeLong wrote:
I bought a foreclosed home and it came with two satellite dishes and
four things called "Digital Satellite Receiver", e.g., Sony SAT-B55
with an "Access Card" in the slot in back.

What would you do with these four satellite receivers?

List them on Craig's List or ebay and hope you make a few bucks.



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