AMC 10 is at 135-degrees west longitude ( about 15 degrees futher west than DN.119, & lower in the sky, & is a strictly c-band satellite, with all kinds of channels using Digicipher technology & not much for Free-to-air receivers, apart from Video Game TV, if it even is an active channel. There are a couple of shopping channels in clear analog format & some Videociper II+ channels, & the only channel of any value, for those of you wanting to see some governmental procedings, etc., is C-SPAN2, clear, analog format...that's it, need a big, ugly dish 6-ft. or more in diameter...Check the channels for yourself at Lyngsat's site, Frequencies, America & find the satellite.
Sometimes when they update telephone towers, they have two meter dishes that are replaced. This is rare, but if you can get one, they have the hottest signal I have ever seen. They are generally aluminum, and I saw a guy polish one like a mirror and use it to make a two by four burst into flames in less than 3 seconds. If you can get one, by all means do so. Check with tower companies, they sometimes sell them for aluminum scrap.
The focus of the dish is so precise, that when pointed directly at the sun, the focus is visible as a blue glowing spot in the air. And yes, it is dangerous. There is a reason dishes are painted matte or black. My friend made his like a mirror, and could probably melt metal with the focus.
Hey Bob, the problem you will find with the dishes that come off of communications towers is that they are not designed for C-band LNBs. They are made for rectangular wavetubes & also, not at all suited for mounting onto any kind of post. You should be looking for a dish that fits onto a 3-1/2" OD pipe, that has what is called a polar mount, so that when it is setup properly, it can be rotated from the satellites like AMC 10, all the way to the eastern satellites like AMC 6, where the NASA channels are. The dish mounts have a built-in declination adjustment, which is settable for your area, so that it can track each of the satellites exactly, not just getting some at each end, but missing the ones in the middle, or vice versa. I can explain to you exactly how to setup a c-band dish, if you wish, if you can name the general area that you are in ( lat / long ).