Can hd tv receiver use a regular tv satellite dish?

[MrsHenkel]

Hello, we have an older 'round' type satellite for direct tv. we now have a new hd tv receiver. Will the new hd tv receiver work with our old 'round' satellite dish?

 

[anwaypasible]

depends on two things:
1. does the hd receiver have an option to switch to 'antenna'
2. does the horn on the tip of the satellite receive the same frequencies that are used to broadcast over-the-air television.

wikipedia says digital over-the-air television uses the same frequencies as the old analog over-the-air television.

i dont know what frequency range your satellite dish has.. but one person on a forum said theirs is 12.2 to 12.7 ghz
those frequencies are way higher than over-the-air digital/HD television.
you would need a new piece on the tip of the satellite.

VHF is 30 MHz to 300 MHz
UHF is 300 MHz to 3 GHz (3,000 MHz)

they call the actual antenna of a satellite a 'LNB'
you can read something about them here:
http://www.satsig.net/lnb/explanation-description-lnb.htm
(i didnt read it.. but did look at the graph)

you would need to find one that works from 30 mhz - 3,000 mhz
i dont know if they are available to the general public.