Identify this part of a satellite dish

[Geek-9pm]

Can you identify this part of a satellite dish?
Attachment below. It came from the Direct TV thing on my roof.
Google images said it  might be a water gun. I am sure it is not. 

[Term_ite]

Geek,
That is your LNB (Low Noise Block Downconverter). It should be mounted in front of the dish. It collects and transfers the signals collected by the dish to your receiver.

[Geek-9pm]

Hey, you are sharp.    Two  techs pulled it out of my disk and replaced it.
What I don't understand is why it has two other things next to the part that does the work. I have not tried to open it up. But I wonder what the two other round gizmos do. It looks like heads for lower r bands.
Do they sometimes use this for places where the upper spectrum is not usable? Like maybe the north pole?
I am so curious. 

[Term_ite]

Your dish looks at 3 different satellites that are spaced fairly close to each other. It is actually a Tri-LNB - one for each satellite. In Canada we are only blessed with dual LNB's for 2 Sats. They were brought in when high def. signals began to be broadcast.

[Geek-9pm]

Wow! 
If you toil me that a week ago I would not have believed it. It sounds impossible. I was taught that parabolic reflector can only focus on a sing target. 

Checking on You Tube, there are tutorials for installers who install the new Direct TV stuff. Hard to belie. They confirm the new thing now is a three target dish which  gets the three out of four birds owned by Direct TV. It is documented in the You Tube tutorials. 

They use both Ka ans Ku band satellite feeds. The idea makes me dizzy 

This was not meant to be an endorsement of Direct TV. I found out this kind of stuff has been done for a number of years. Boy am I ignorant! Look at this:

LNB 2,3 & 4 satellite menu page.
The above is for people who a DIY gurus.
What next! 

[patio]

You don't need to endorse DirectTV...when it rains there's no signal so i would pass on doin that...

[Term_ite]

when it rains there's no signal so i would pass on doin that...

If the signal is lost whenever it rains the installer did a crappy job of pointing the dish.
(Or American rain is different than Canadian rain)

[Geek-9pm]

...
(Or American rain is different than Canadian rain)

When it rains in California, it rains, babe! 

[patio]

If the signal is lost whenever it rains the installer did a crappy job of pointing the dish.
(Or American rain is different than Canadian rain)

I'm just sayin from personal experience...and it ain't about antenna pointing

[Term_ite]

I don't know how many dishes you've installed but I've installed enough to know that losing the signal whenever it rains is all about aligning that dish to receive maximum signal (90 - 100) from all transponders on each sat. If you were losing your signal every time it rained your signal strength was probably in the 60 - 80 range on most or all transponders which would give you an acceptable picture on clear & light cloud days but it wouldn't take much to degrade your signal to the point of losing it.
Granted with consumer receivers heavy cloud with heavy rain can degrade the signal enough to lose it but speaking from personal experience that has happened 3 or 4 times in the 20 years I've had a dish and I've never received a call back for rain loss on any installation I've done.
Just sayin...

[patio]

I don't care about how many installs you have done but i'm happy about your luck...

When it happens here it is 7 or 8 locations that experirnce the same outages...
What are the odds 1 goofus placed all those dishes ? ?
Slim to none.

[Term_ite]

I don't care about how many installs you have done but i'm happy about your luck...

Sorry pal, luck had & has absolutely nothing to do with it. Just sayin...

[Geek-9pm]

The major satellite companies are all working on new ideas to improve service for customers in the USA and other areas.

The reason I got this thing from Direct TV was because they are during upgrades to the equipment and the techs found this LBN was weak.

This new technology is hard to understand. I am an old-school analog tech. This new digital stuff opens up some possibilities that are very clever and on the edge.

It just may be that soon satellite systems might become  choice for any kind of data.

The military people already have systems the work all the time out at sea,. No kind of weather stops it s long as the ship is not under water.