Will I lose my dish? (1 Viewer)

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this? I just bought a Hitachi 53" HDTV, and I want to get HDTV channels. I know you have to have the DISH 6000 box and a extra dish.
My mother had DISH Network and got rid of it over a year ago, the dish is still in her yard with all the cables hooked to it. My question is, can I take the dish from her yard to use for my HDTV setup? They tell me to get the 61.5 satt, I need another dish, can I swipe hers since they never picked it up? Seems like a good idea to me, so I don't have to buy another one.
Also, besides the extra dish and the 6000 box, what else do I need? Some kinda switch or something? How does this work? How do you switch channels? do you have an extra remote? Or does the same remote recognize what you are doing? I am new, and want HDTV, but I don't want a bunch of hassles with "this, that, and the other thing"! If I can use her Dish, how much will this cost?
I know I have a lot of questions, but all reply's are GREATLY APPRECIATED!

I’ll try to answer most of your questions:
1)Your mother’s dish will work fine for receiving Dish’s HDTV signals. (HBO, Showtime, PPV, and demo loop.)
2)The cables from the two dishes need to be combined. A regular old splitter used for cable tv will not work. I do not know what these are called, but I suspect somebody at RS will know, and they may even carry them.
3)There is no difficulty switching channels from one satellite dish to the other. The 6000 does it ‘on the fly’.
4)The remote that comes with the 6000 works for both dishes.
5)You do, however, need to press a button on the remote to switch the 6000’s output from standard to hi-def to get the benefit of the HD signal.
All the above is for satellite reception of HDTV, and you must subscribe to HBO or Showtime through Dish Network to get the respective channels.
For OTA HDTV from your local channels you need an antenna as well as the 8VSB module (which plugs into the back of the 6000.) You simply connect your antenna to the 8VSB module (adjust it for best signal strength), go through the setup procedures, and you’re good to go.
I don’t know what channels in Cleveland are broadcasting HDTV, you may want to check into this before going the 8VSB route.
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Tempus Fugit

Since your mother's system was older, I'm guessing it has an 18" dish (now called a Dish300). This is the type of dish you need. If it is a newer Dish500 (20" dish), then setup will be a little more difficult.
The switches to combine the satellite signals are a proprietary Dish product. Most local dealers carry them. The switch you need will depend on the type of Dish500 you have and how many receivers you want to connect to it. Does your Dish500 have one wide LNB on the end or 2 smaller LNBs? Answer that question and I'll let you know your options.
Your receiver is smart enough to switch between satellites. There is an internal table that maps each channel to one of three satellite postions and one of two polarities. When you switch to a certain channel, the receiver sends a signal to the switch and picks the correct LNB, then it sends a voltage to pick the correct channel polarity. All of this happens in a split second without you having to do anything.
Check out www.dishdepot.com for good prices (not the absolute lowest) and great customer service.
-Robert

The switch you need is the SW21.
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Link Removed Paul Warren
Hey fella . . . I bet you're still livin' in your parent's cellar . . . downloading pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar . . . and posting "Me too!" like some brain-dead AOL-er . . . I should do the world a favor and cap ya' like Old Yeller . . . you're just about as useless as MPEGs [sic] to Hellen Keller.