Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Discussion of large prime focus satellite dishes used for C-Band signal reception.
realistic
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Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by realistic » Wed Apr 19, 2017 12:00 am

I want to get into c-band but after having a look around, it seems a 10' dish will set you back $3,000 to $5,000. :verysad I looked at Viking, Dhsatellite and a few others. Why so expensive? :noidea:

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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by Snowman » Wed Apr 19, 2017 12:34 pm

I know it sucks! It took me a lot of looking and asking before I found a free 10' mesh 8-)

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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by jess76 » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:25 pm

Check out the site sponsor TK2000 or go "hunting" for a free[or lo cost] one. They are still out there. Take a drive and knock on some doors. Some people will be glad to have it removed from their yard. Jess out in california
9' mesh with c/ku feed horn,lnb's w/polorotor. Recievers hooked up: AZ prem hd., Pansat9500,and Manhattan. I have a few others in my colection including an old Satcruiser and a Captiveworks3000.

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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by fatso » Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:12 pm

realistic wrote:I want to get into c-band but after having a look around, it seems a 10' dish will set you back $3,000 to $5,000. :verysad I looked at Viking, Dhsatellite and a few others. Why so expensive? :noidea:
You've been looking at commercial dishes for cable headends and like you found out, they come with a hefty price tag! It isn't only the price that is the problem, but those dishes are big, heavy and require a massive post (usually 7" OD) to install. The other problem is they are almost all AZ/EL type which means you need a $4000 controller to go with it. :verysurprised

Ever since the backyard satellite tv industry collapsed in 1987, it has been all down hill. Companies like DH had to gear their production towards the commercial side of things or go extinct. Since they sell a lot fewer dishes, the price goes way up. I think just prior to the TVRO business collapse in 1987, DH was selling over 5000 dishes per month with an average price tag of around $1000. Nowadays they sell perhaps 100 dishes per month, but the price is closer to $5000. Paraclipse tried to keep things going for a few more years after 1987, but demand for home satellite systems ground to a halt in the 90s and they shuttered their doors. A real shame too because they made the best :chaplin damn mesh dish around. Since then, the home c band satellite industry has been almost non-existent. During these dark years when there were no more than a few hundred cbanders left, most hobbiests had to either salvage an old dish or buy an underperforming 6 foot dish from sadoun or fortec. I think the home c band hobby hit rock bottom sometime around 2009. At that time sami tried to get back into the business but they quickly folded as 4dtv subs were being cannibalized at an alarming rate by Charlie Ergen and hobbiest weren't stepping up to the plate either.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The cord-cutting revolution got under way in 2010 and OTA terrestrial went fully digital and HD around this time too. No doubt, there is a connection here. People figured out they could get dozens of good quality HD channels for free and started cancelling their cable subs. Some of these folks also made the connection that a c band satellite dish also delivers FTA programming like OTA, but only more of it and also countless sports wild feeds which aren't available on OTA.

I think our numbers as cbanders have started to climb again since 2010. We probably number over 2000 strong now, even with the demise of the HITS subscription service last summer. No doubt some of this has been due to Charlie Ergen's crazy stunt of making Dish programming available to cbanders, albeit in 16 APSK for over a year, and the brief piracy problem that plagued some programmers before they started changing keys and upgrading their security. Overall though, I believe cord-cutters are driving this mini cband revolution and our ranks will probably swell to over 5000 in the coming years. :bigsmile

All that being said, if people are looking for an inexpensive cband dish, they should look at the sponsors who advertise on this forum. Amazon is also a good place to check for new cband gear.
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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by jess76 » Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:46 pm

I like your post Fatso. There is still a lot of good programming on C band. Along the same thought as the orginal poster, I thought I had found a sweet deal on a 6' solid dish the other day! $89! then I saw the shipping[from China] $800! Ricks site has had a discussion on TK 2000. It takes a lot of money and work, but there are new dishes to be bought at a reasonable price. Part of the problem with C band dishes is the 1996 FCC rule. There are Cities and HOA'S that won't allow a home owner to install anything over 1 meter[39"] Jess out in California
9' mesh with c/ku feed horn,lnb's w/polorotor. Recievers hooked up: AZ prem hd., Pansat9500,and Manhattan. I have a few others in my colection including an old Satcruiser and a Captiveworks3000.

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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by realistic » Fri Apr 21, 2017 10:37 pm

Thanks for the info guys. I will be getting my first c band dish very soon. :bigsmile

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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by mux » Thu May 04, 2017 3:15 pm

My 10 foot dish was free all I had to do was take it down. I found mine listed on Craigslist. Watch craigslist or take a drive in rural areas and knock on a few doors. IMO the best CBand dishes are the free ones. :)

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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by silky459 » Sun May 07, 2017 5:36 pm

Fatso wrote "Ever since the backyard satellite tv industry collapsed in 1987, it has been all down hill."

Why did the satellite industry collapse in 1987? I am trying to install a C-Band dish and am finding it very difficult to find an installer. The collapse is why I hear that most C Band installers are retired and you cant find them. Just curious.
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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by fatso » Sun May 07, 2017 9:32 pm

silky459 wrote:Fatso wrote "Ever since the backyard satellite tv industry collapsed in 1987, it has been all down hill."

Why did the satellite industry collapse in 1987?
Cable companies were losing revenue due to all the big dishes being sold. Prior to 1987, there was no scrambling. After 1987, the cable companies and programmers conspired to encrypt most c band feeds. The c band industry wasn't yet big enough to fight off cable and offer subscriptions by the millions directly themselves. Although some small outfits did offer subscription c band services thereafter, it was too little and too late. Big names in the industry like Bob Cooper who could have been effective (as a spokesman) at fighting the cable cartels were labelled pirates, sued and chased out of the USA. Guys like Dave Johnson who made millions from manufacturing antennas decided to throw in the towel and go into hiding. See this article about how programmers were harassing him

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985 ... hise-areas

Others like Frank Weeks saw the writing on the wall and abandonded the consumer TVRO market after making a deal with the devil (i.e. cable companies) to supply only them with antennas.

The industry then entered into a steep decline. It would have been worse had in not been for Charlie Ergen and his pals who started trafficking in black market VC2 chipped decoders. Word has it that Charlie had hundreds of trailers full of decoders all over the USA and sold millions of these pirate decoders by 1990. But times were a changing and word was getting around that directv, ussb, primestar were only a few years away from launching a 'pizza' dish service that would eclipse c band. Charlie then jumped ship and started working on his own small dish company. Some say he got pinched by the Feds and FCC for piracy but there is no proof of this. Then as now, Charlie was too sly :wink for those idiots at the FCC. :retarded

Everybody knows the rest of the story. Dish and Directv emerged as the leading dbs providers and gradually cannibalized the remaining c band users.
silky459 wrote: I am trying to install a C-Band dish and am finding it very difficult to find an installer. The collapse is why I hear that most C Band installers are retired and you cant find them. Just curious.
Silky
Most of those guys are either dead or retired. There is just no business for them. You will have to either do the install yourself or look for a dtv/dish installer who has some clue about c band.
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Re: Why are c-band dishes so expensive???

Post by jess76 » Mon May 08, 2017 2:56 pm

I think the real "clincher" came with the 1996 FCC ruling[in the US] limiting dish size to 39"[1m]. Some Cities, counties HOA's ect apply this rule and some do not, but it is there never-the-less. If you are a city dweller or live in an HOA community you might run into problems if you want to install a "Big" dish. Jess out on California
9' mesh with c/ku feed horn,lnb's w/polorotor. Recievers hooked up: AZ prem hd., Pansat9500,and Manhattan. I have a few others in my colection including an old Satcruiser and a Captiveworks3000.

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