Test12345,
The best rule to remember is that LNBFs rarely fail. They are quite robust and it requires a lot of abuse to damage one either physically or electronically. A near hit or a direct hit from lightning will do it. Moisture entry that leads to corrosion damage or freezes inside can do it.
A frustrated installer with a 3 lb hammer can do it, too.
Typically the problem will be found to be with the cable connectors, the cables themselves, a switch or the dish alignment. Sometimes (and more frequently than we wish to acknowledge) even the receiver IRD. But, rarely does the LNBF itself create a problem. I have only had one fail in roughly ten years and that was a DN LNBF.
As for improving your reception and acquiring more channels, that is very doubtful. Unless you can prove that there is something defective with the currently installed LNBF, a new one or even a different style won't usually gain you anything noticeable in that regard. Not that it isn't a possibility, but it would be more akin to wishful thinking in most cases.
There can be lemons out there and the only way to prove it would be to replace it and compare the new results to the old. If you seem to gain or lose 1% to 5% signal quality, that isn't enough evidence to prove that one LNBF is better than another. An improvement of 5% - 10% might indicate something, but still not definite. An improvement of more than 10% begins to appear obvious.
Unless you have noticed a recent, dramatic change in your reception signal quality, there probably isn't anything wrong with the LNBF that you have and it may be more likely a cable or connection problem. If the signal degradation has slowly and continually been going downhill over a long time, it is probably a connection problem. Best thing you can do for your system is to get a small wire brush, about the size of a toothbrush and some good electrical grade contact solvent and clean up your connections (power the receiver down of course). Then apply some good electrical grade grease to seal out moisture. You might be surprised how much of a difference this will make if you have very old wiring outside in the elements. You might even consider cutting the old connector off and and stripping the line back a few inches and installing a new compression connector.
It is always good to dabble around and try new equipment, however. That's part of the hobby. I wouldn't go out and spend a lot of money, but you can buy very inexpensive LNBFs today and try many of them to compare.... BUT, you need to ensure that the cable and connectors are perfect first, otherwise you may obtain skewed and inaccurate results.
RADAR
Yikes! Definitely replace it. Check out the site sponsor links on the top of the page.
