Big Dish Introduction
Before Dish Network and DirecTV there was Analog C-band and the BUD (Big Ugly Dish). Sure, there were some Interim technologies prior to the minidish digital mush revolution, however, Analog C-band subscribers were once the norm.
The Television Satellite Dish Reference has examples of various minidish, Ku band dishes, and large C-band dishes. It is easy to see why the minidish has become so popular when considering the small size, easy installation, and low initial cost to the consumer.
Bigger is Better
The dish size is very important in the C-band world. There are many reasons to avoid any C-band dish under 10ft in size.