What to do with old Dish TV equipment in garage

[kbuhagiar]

Hello folks.

I'm doing some spring garage cleaning and I need to make a decision about some old Dish TV equipment.

When I bought this house four years ago, it had (and still has) a Dish TV satellite dish installed on the roof, plus two Dish TV receivers.
The previous owner had a subscription, but I've never used it, as I've had streaming TV services the entire time we've lived here. The dish and all wiring is intact; I spent some time one day hooking up a receiver and confirming that everything works (but with no service, obviously). I'm completely happy with all of my streaming TV services, and even if I was interested in one of the satellite TV services I'd recieve it over the internet.

My question is, what to do with all of the equipment? The dish is mounted in such a brilliant way on the roof that it is almost totally obstructed by the chimney, so you can hardly see it from the ground. The installation itself appears to be top notch, which is why I'm in no great hurry to remove it. Nonetheless, if the opportunity presented itself (roof repair or replacement) I may consider it. I've actually contacted Dish and they confirmed the service history, and also that the receivers were purchased outright and not rented from them, so they are mine to do whatever with. Is there still a demand for the receivers? If I thought there was any chance I would ever fire up the service I'd box 'em up and stash them in the attic, but I don't see that happening. So the other options are Ebay but if the return is not worth the effort I'll just give 'em to our local charity (we have one close by that gratefully accepts all working small electronics).

The receiver model numbers are VIP 211Z and VIP 722K.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance.

***UPDATE 2-6-26***

The receivers have been donated for recycling, and the dish is scheduled for removal.

 

[mrb1]

So the other options are Ebay but if the return is not worth the effort

Boxes going for $40-$60 used. Up to your effort level. Regarding the dish itself...use it to make a birdbath.

.

 

[rsanter]

Sell the receivers locally if you can.
the rest of it is scrap

 

[M.Brane]

I had a dish here too from the PO. I took it down, disassembled it, and saved the useful hardware. Scrapped the rest.

 

[finn]

Fought my Direct tv setup to electronics recycling. Two sets, 5 receivers.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Scrap. Remove the dish from the roof if desired and leave the mount base until later roofing. Not worth the effort selling unless you like dealing with FB marketplace flakes. Streaming has kicked dish units to the curb.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Scrap or trash.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Not sure what kind of a mounting system you have for the Dish, but I repurposed an old DirecTV mount when I installed Starlink.

 

[reader2580]

I would recycle the receivers. There was a dish attached to a deck when I bought my house. I removed it, recycled the steel and electronic bits, and the plastic bits went into the trash.

 

[Specracer]

Recycle.

As mentioned above, i also put up a starlink at our garage, and used an old Directv mount i had sitting around, vs buying something new.

 

[mike93lx]

Craigslist/fbmp for a couple weeks then trash/recycle

 

[jives]

A bit of a thread change, but my buddy picked up a free satellite dish (10 or 12' diameter) and turned it into a roof for a shed. I reckon the Direct TV dish ain't that big.

 

[OccupantRJ]

A bit of a thread change, but my buddy picked up a free satellite dish (10 or 12' diameter) and turned it into a roof for a shed. i reckon the dish ain't that big.

It would be about the right size to cover a 5 gallon bucket to make a cathouse.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

Since I have so much extra storage space in my attic, it would be so easy to just box them up and stash them up there, but I am really working hard to stop saving stuff just because I have room for it.

After checking our local CL and FBMP listings, I'm pretty sure they are destined for recycling or scrappage. And the dish will be coming down, too. From everything I've read, it sure sounds like traditional satellite TV is becoming obsolete, at least in those areas well served by terrestrial ISPs. And the existing providers (Dish TV & Direct TV) seem to be moving to streaming service.

Curious as to what's going to happen with all of those satellites up in the sky, I wonder if they can be reprogrammed for other uses?

 

[micromind]

Mix up some tannerite, take it out in the desert and blow it to bits..........

Seriously, the dish could be useful but the rest of it is most likely scrap.

 

[reader2580]

There are seemingly less than 30 satellites for satellite TV. There is unlikely to be a way to easily reuse them if the service is shut down.

 

[mikedodge]

People used to use them for free to air setups but these days there's no point with streaming and everything you can get online. Try to sell it or junk it. At the very least the receivers are probably out of date.

 

[Smilodon]

My Dad installed systems for a while. I threw away tons of stuff as part of cleaning his shop after he passed. Best thing to keep is the dish mounts, which are generally useful for a bunch of stuff and very adaptable and robust.

I used a couple (so far) for bird house mounts.

 

[Fav Onefour]

I left the dish mounts on the roof and ran a straight pole for a weather station. Same diameter.

I did pull the wires from the roof and siding.

 

[andyvh1959]

I still have a DISH on my roof, may get around to removing this summer, but leave the mount where it attached to the house until roof work is needed.

Some use the DISH mount to install a digital antenna for free channels:

Saw another youtube video where a gadget guy used the DISH as a reflector to direct broadcast signals to a digital TV antenna. With some aiming he was able to find strong signals for almost 50 channels. May be something for a remote shop TV system?

 

[jives]

It would be about the right size to cover a 5 gallon bucket to make a cathouse.

Satellite dish. . .10-12 FEET in diameter.

 

[mrb1]

Once the FTA thing died out years ago, repurposed two of my old Dish mounts for OTA channel antennas. They are very strong and last forever. These have been up there for 20 years or so. Still look new.

 

[Overboost44]

Make sure you aren't paying a rent fee on the old receivers. I imagine that 722K would be worth it to someone. I used to have one that I loved and then DISH replaced it with the Hopper **** when the HD failed. If you were closer, I would take it to put into my garage, but I think I will stick with streaming up there.

 

[mike93lx]

Make sure you aren't paying a rent fee on the old receivers.

Reading is tough

 

[Innovate1]

Use the dish as a reflector and put your cell phone at the focal point set as a hot spot to get data in fringe areas. Thought about something like that when RVing but haven't tried it - it should be a substantial gain.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Satellite dish. . .10-12 FEET in diameter.

@jives. Look at your last sentence in post #12.

 

[jives]

@jives. Look at your last sentence in post #12.

Ahhh, yes, corrected for clarity.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

Line it with foil and make a solar oven.

 

[driftpin]

Likje others, I scrapped a set left-over from a tenant. I have enough material around that I don't need to keep more which I'll probably never use. Into the scrap pile it went.

 

[kbuhagiar]

***UPDATE***

Thanks for all of the suggestions.
The receivers have been donated, and the dish will be removed, but I'll be leaving the mount in place.
I may use it for a digital antenna, or maybe something else - Starlink, perhaps.

 

[Overboost44]

Reading is tough

No, reading is easy. Comprehension is tough.

 

[csp]

Dish network doesn't utilize receivers that someone else previously used. I found this out when I cancelled my account. They didn't want the receivers that were less than a year old and informed me that they would be permanently disabled.

 

[micromind]

Dish network doesn't utilize receivers that someone else previously used. I found this out when I cancelled my account. They didn't want the receivers that were less than a year old and informed me that they would be permanently disabled.

And to further ensure that they are indeed permanently disabled, take them out in the desert and use them for target practice........

 

[mike93lx]

No, reading is easy. Comprehension is tough.

At least you know what to work on

 

[larry4406]

And to further ensure that they are indeed permanently disabled, take them out in the desert and use them for target practice........

And make sure to pick up all of the detritus and dispose of it properly.

 

[mrb1]

Dish network doesn't utilize receivers that someone else previously used. I found this out when I cancelled my account. They didn't want the receivers that were less than a year old and informed me that they would be permanently disabled

Apparently somebody out there is reusing (hacking) them for something? Always will be. If they can "permanently disable" a unit, why are there pages of them on the ebay? There was a small town, brick and mortar Dish Network office I used to frequent thirty some years ago. Just a good sized room with boxes and boxes of receivers and dishes stacked to the ceiling. At first, he wouldn't sell me just a new dish outright. Needed a contract, a box ...yea, yea, yea. He knew what we were up to. Fifty bucks cash money changed his mind Ended up getting five more over the next few months to hook up family and friends...edit: damn that sounds like that Seinfeld episode.

 

[micromind]

And make sure to pick up all of the detritus and dispose of it properly.

Actually, when I do go out in the desert to target practice or just blow stuff up, I always clean up. Often I don't take anything with me, just use what other 'people' have dumped there.

When I'm done, it's cleaner than when I arrived.

 

[csp]

Apparently somebody out there is reusing (hacking) them for something? Always will be. If they can "permanently disable" a unit, why are there pages of them on the ebay?

The ones you see on eBay are old. I should have been more specific that it's the more recent line of receivers that they disable. Mine were circa 2022. They didn't even want it back and told me I could turn it in to any electronics recycler to get rid of them.

 

[BMWBOB2]

A bit of a thread change, but my buddy picked up a free satellite dish (10 or 12' diameter) and turned it into a roof for a shed. I reckon the Direct TV dish ain't that big.

I’ve seen those big ones used for hot tub/deck shades: and looked great

 

[dave*99]

Save the dish in case you need to phone home.....