Cutting off DISH for good, can I use my existing coax cable line?

[Simple Abundant Living]

I put my DISH on a 9-month hold to try out just using antenna and roku.  My dh, who loves college football season, has agreed to take one for the team and shut it off for good.  Can I use the cable from the ex-dish to a new antenna?  It's currently connected to three tvs.  I wanted to build my own like this.

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/how-to-make-a-cheap-'n'-easy-hdtv-antenna/msg51077/#msg51077

Thanks for any help, I am new to this!

[MikeBear]

Yes, you can use the Dish coax for an antenna, but be aware that there might be special Dish switches hidden in-line somewhere, and those would most likely have to be removed (and maybe replaced with ones (powered 3-way splitter, for 3 tv's) that work for OTA systems) if going to just an OTA antenna you install on your roof. Those Dish switches operate at frequencies outside of OTA tv broadcasts, and will cause problems if left inline.

OTA = "Over The Air" IE: broadcast tv.

[Roots&Wings]

I did exactly this with an old direct tv dish.  I was able to use the old arm to mount the antenna as well.  It was super easy.
http://m.imgur.com/a/5ORVZ

I didn't actually mount the antenna to the dish like this guy did... I removed the dish from the arm that is attached to the house and slid the antenna on to that



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is amazing!  What channels do you get?  Does it vary by location?

[Simple Abundant Living]

I did exactly this with an old direct tv dish.  I was able to use the old arm to mount the antenna as well.  It was super easy.
http://m.imgur.com/a/5ORVZ

I didn't actually mount the antenna to the dish like this guy did... I removed the dish from the arm that is attached to the house and slid the antenna on to that



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd love to see those pictures.  Is there any reason why they won't load for me?  Did you have your cable going to more than one TV?  Did you need an amplifier?  I've read that you should try it without first, because the amplifier can cause problems of its own.

[Simple Abundant Living]

Yes, you can use the Dish coax for an antenna, but be aware that there might be special Dish switches hidden in-line somewhere, and those would most likely have to be removed (and maybe replaced with ones (powered 3-way splitter, for 3 tv's) that work for OTA systems) if going to just an OTA antenna you install on your roof. Those Dish switches operate at frequencies outside of OTA tv broadcasts, and will cause problems if left inline.

OTA = "Over The Air" IE: broadcast tv.

I'll look for those switches.  Would they be outside or inside near the splitter?

[MikeBear]

Yes, you can use the Dish coax for an antenna, but be aware that there might be special Dish switches hidden in-line somewhere, and those would most likely have to be removed (and maybe replaced with ones (powered 3-way splitter, for 3 tv's) that work for OTA systems) if going to just an OTA antenna you install on your roof. Those Dish switches operate at frequencies outside of OTA tv broadcasts, and will cause problems if left inline.

OTA = "Over The Air" IE: broadcast tv.

I'll look for those switches.  Would they be outside or inside near the splitter?

They could be at the dish itself, OR behind the receiver, OR if you have a wiring closet that the cables go into first, they could be there. Or there might not be any at all, as some newer ones are built into the dish's lnb unit. If you hook up an antenna in place of the dish, and hook the coax that goes to your Dish receiver directly to your tv set, AND then can't get any channels (do a channel scan from your tv set!), there's probably a switch hidden somewhere that you have to find.

[Simple Abundant Living]

I did exactly this with an old direct tv dish.  I was able to use the old arm to mount the antenna as well.  It was super easy.
http://m.imgur.com/a/5ORVZ

I didn't actually mount the antenna to the dish like this guy did... I removed the dish from the arm that is attached to the house and slid the antenna on to that



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd love to see those pictures.  Is there any reason why they won't load for me?  Did you have your cable going to more than one TV?  Did you need an amplifier?  I've read that you should try it without first, because the amplifier can cause problems of its own.

I would try again- not sure why you can't get them to load!

We have it going to 3 TVs.  No amplifier needed.  I did have to replace some splitters with with a coax connector though or change a 3-way splitter to a 2-way splitter.  You really want to cut down on the amount of times it is split because I believe each time it is split it weakens the signal.

I got them!  That is so awesome!  I'm excited to be getting better reception than my rabbit ears provide, along with more simple elegance of using the coax cables!!  Thanks for sharing!