Definitely worth locating a big dish. Look around while you are driving and you can probably locate one not in use. Will be pointed somewhere obscure like north
or at the ground (no
actuator). You could also try a local sat
installer I paid $125.00 for my 8.5' mesh with both C and Ku lnbs. That was from an installer. You can probably find one for free. May not have the Ku though.
Once you get it going I highly recommend dumping the Uniden for a Motorola DSR922
If you do not want to install a big dish I would be interested in what your friend gave you. I have a spare dish that needs a box to steer it with. I plan on installing a
C Band circular LNB and using the dish for FTA C Band off some of the birds out over the Atlantic.
Have a great day
Steve