Is it really hard to point a 1000.4 dish on the east cost of NC?? I tried for 8 hours Sunday to aim a 1000.4 dish and the only thing I could get was a signal on satellite 119 but it said it was the wrong satellite, it said it was 110. I've aimed many DirecTV dishes and never had a problem like this. I recently switched to Dish Network and when I aimed the smaller dish I had a hell of a time but I finally locked down a decent signal in the lower 70's but whenever it rains or is cloudy I loose my signal. I never had that problem with DTV I had a signal reading in the upper 90's and the only thing that would know my signal out on them would be snow build up. I bought the bigger 1000.4 dish to hopefully get a little better signal but I'll be damn if I can hit the right satellites with it. Do I need a meter? I'm using the receiver and a small flat panel TV to aim it. Any pointers?
1000.4 dish pointing.
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The 1000.2 would be easier to start with, however since you have the 1000.4 just go with that. First of all, are you using the right LNB for western arc? Are the "eyes" evenly spaced or are there two together and one spaced out farther than the other two? Low 70s is fairly decent for what I am assuming is 119 on the single-LNB Dish 300. Dish and DirecTV use the same type of sat signals (except DirecTV HD is on Ka band which is actually MORE susceptible to rain fade) however the Dish boxes show the signal strength differently. You would be hard pressed to ever get a signal strength above 90 on 110/119. At your location, 129 is pretty low on the horizon, but if you have a clear LOS to it, you can use it. Otherwise you may be better off on eastern arc pointing at 61.5/72.7/77. As far as the rain fade you experienced with Dish, I'm pretty sure it was just coincidental. DirecTV also suffers from rain fade and I bet that in that same scenario DirecTV would have gone out as well, especially the HD.
Thanks for the reply. I have a 1000.2 dish up right now and I'm getting low 70's on 110 & 119 and mid to low 50's on 129. The first bit of clouds and 129 is gone. Rain and clouds and everything is gone. Right now I have no TV because it is raining. I could watch HD stations thru a hard rain when I was on Direc. I have the lnb's that the "eyes" are evenly spaced. That's why I can't understand why I can't hit the right satellite with the bigger 1000.4 dish. I have the same exact settings locked down on the bigger dish as the 1000.2 dish but I just can't get on the right satellite. The Slim Line DTV dish was way easier to aim. 10 to 15 minutes I was done. The smaller 1000.2 dish took me about 4 hours to aim and I still have yet to lock down the right signal on the 1000.4 dish after messing with it all day Sunday. Very frustrating. 
How hard it is raining doesn't really make a difference in the signal reception. I just checked the radar and it looks like the heavy cloud cover is covering from southwest to northeast in your area. Straight in the LOS of the sats. I can bet you that folks on DirecTV are are also losing reception in your area at this time. Your signal strengths on the 1000.2 are pretty decent, you could probably bring up 110/119 to high 70s, 129 to high 50s if you tweaked it enough, but as it is it's fine too.
As for pointing the 1000.4, do you know your azimuth/elevation/skew settings needed? You should make sure that you are getting 119 on the center LNB. If you're having trouble figuring out which LNB is picking it up, you can temporarily cover the outer LNBs with foil and pick up 119. Once you have 119, if your skew is set properly, 110/129 should fall into place, if not, a slight tweak to the elevation should do it. The 1000.4 has an elevation rod and an azimuth cam for fine tuning as well.
If your current Dish really is going out unusually often, are there any sort of obstructions that could be in the LOS? 129 is a lot lower on the horizon than the DirecTV sats. DirecTV also uses 110/119 so those sats are pretty much the same. DirecTV uses 99/101/103 primarily.
As for pointing the 1000.4, do you know your azimuth/elevation/skew settings needed? You should make sure that you are getting 119 on the center LNB. If you're having trouble figuring out which LNB is picking it up, you can temporarily cover the outer LNBs with foil and pick up 119. Once you have 119, if your skew is set properly, 110/129 should fall into place, if not, a slight tweak to the elevation should do it. The 1000.4 has an elevation rod and an azimuth cam for fine tuning as well.
If your current Dish really is going out unusually often, are there any sort of obstructions that could be in the LOS? 129 is a lot lower on the horizon than the DirecTV sats. DirecTV also uses 110/119 so those sats are pretty much the same. DirecTV uses 99/101/103 primarily.
The receiver numbers are: azimuth = 242 elevation = 32 skew = 130 with my zip code entered in it. Those are the numbers I am using with the 1000.2 dish. I set the 1000.4 dish to the same numbers and can't hit a signal. I messed around with all those settings on Sunday trying to get the signal to come in but no luck. The only thing I could get on the 1000.4 dish was a signal on 119 but the bar was red and it said it was the wrong satellite, said I was on 110. I parked it there and messed with the skew and elevation but could never get it to hit the right satellite.
I've messed around with satellite stuff for years I started out with C-band, still have the dish in the back yard, moved to Direct when C-band got real expensive and just this year switched to Dish to save a few bucks on my monthly bill. While I'm a newbie to Dish I'm not really a newbie to satellite pointing and stuff. I use to drag a tri-pod to the beach and set up my DTV with a little 600 watt Honda generator on Sunday's to watch the race while we hung out on the beach and jet ski-ed. That's why I'm so frustrated with trying to aim this 1000.4 dish. I just can't imagine what I am doing wrong.
When I first put the dish up I had it mounted on a pole but it was shooting thru trees and I couldn't get a lock on 129 at all. I could get a good enough signal on 110 & 119 to watch TV but nothing on 129, so I moved it and mounted it on the side of my house on the eave of my roof to get a clear LOS.
I've messed around with satellite stuff for years I started out with C-band, still have the dish in the back yard, moved to Direct when C-band got real expensive and just this year switched to Dish to save a few bucks on my monthly bill. While I'm a newbie to Dish I'm not really a newbie to satellite pointing and stuff. I use to drag a tri-pod to the beach and set up my DTV with a little 600 watt Honda generator on Sunday's to watch the race while we hung out on the beach and jet ski-ed. That's why I'm so frustrated with trying to aim this 1000.4 dish. I just can't imagine what I am doing wrong.
When I first put the dish up I had it mounted on a pole but it was shooting thru trees and I couldn't get a lock on 129 at all. I could get a good enough signal on 110 & 119 to watch TV but nothing on 129, so I moved it and mounted it on the side of my house on the eave of my roof to get a clear LOS.
How are you mounting the 1000.4? If its on a pole or mast, be sure it's plumb and level. May sound simple but if your off on level, you'll have a very hard time getting signal to lock in.
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I think you'd better go to dishpointer.com and check the setting for your area instead of going with the receivers setting on elevation and skew.
Jimmerinwi - I am using the mounting pole that came with the dish, it is mounted to the side of the house. I've checked several times and it's plumb.
papalittle - I will give that a try.
Thanks for the tips fellas.
papalittle - I will give that a try.
Thanks for the tips fellas.
The numbers on dishpointer.com are: azimuth = 237 elevation = 28.6 skew = 132.4 a little different than what the receiver gives me "receiver numbers are: azimuth = 242 elevation = 32 skew = 130" maybe this is my problem. I will give these numbers a try, the next time I get a chance.
Thanks for the help!
Thanks for the help!
Eastern Arc( 61.5 72.7 77) or western arc 110/119/129...quite a significant difference in signal strenghts
Ok..you are on western arc...
Next time I will read all replies before asking questions.
Now, here are some tricks. Read carefully.
Set the skew on the recommended setting. Set the elevation a degree or slightly more than the recommended setting. Reason, the 1000.4 arm is quite heavy once the lnb is attached. The weight throws off the setting. So I always set it a bit higher to compensate. Snug the three bolts on the mast clamp until the dish will no longer "rock". Start sweeping from right ot left( west to east). Do this SLOWLY...Once the meter jumps, continue on until the signal starts losing strength. STOP....Sweep back to the right. Once you get peak signal STOP.....Now, tighten the three mast clamp nut all the way. Grasp the dish on the left and right. GENTLY tug the dish right, then left. If the signal drops off in BOTH directions, you have acquired the proper azimuth. Now grasp the top and bottom of the dish. GENTLY push down from he top and push up from the bottom. Again if the signal drops in both directions, you have the proper elevation....Of course this is all predicated on the mast being plumb.
ONce you believe you've hit all the birds go inside and run a check switch.. Menu 6-1-1..The result will show green bars for all three birds.
Signals on the 119 TP's 14, 15 16 and 21 should all read in at least the low to mid 70's..on the 110..same tp numbers....these should all read in the mid 70's to around 80.....for the 129 TP's 10. 14 29 and 31..These should read from the mid to upper 50's with TP 29 reading as high as the low 70's
Thank you very much for the pointers, dishcomm. I am going to attempt to try again this weekend to get the 1000.4 dish aimed and will try your tips.
Been at it since noon and it's the same story. When I'm on satellite 119 it says it's 110. That's with the new numbers from dishpointer.com and the old numbers from the receiver and everything in between and even outside of those numbers. I CAN NOT hit the right satellite for some reason and I have NO IDEA what it is. I took pictures of the screens. I have good signals in the mid to upper 70's they are just the wrong satellites. I can't get any signal on 110 at all, NOTHING. Does anyone see anything wrong in these pictures? Are their different dishes for different areas?? I'm at the end of my rope here.
Looks like you are actually picking up 110 on the 119 LNB. This means that you need to move the dish to the right by 9 degrees or so and probably lower your elevation a tad.
Have you ran a check switch? If so what is showing up in the matrix? It should be 119/110/129. If you are getting 110/conn/conn then my previous suggestion should do the trick.
Also make sure wherever this dish is located actually has LOS to 119/129 as they are lower in elevation than 110.
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Have you ran a check switch? If so what is showing up in the matrix? It should be 119/110/129. If you are getting 110/conn/conn then my previous suggestion should do the trick.
Also make sure wherever this dish is located actually has LOS to 119/129 as they are lower in elevation than 110.
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Here is a picture of my check switch screen.
I definitely have a clear LOS. I may have to give up for the day I am running out of day light here.
I definitely have a clear LOS. I may have to give up for the day I am running out of day light here.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you I had to break the 1000.4 dish down and put the 1000.2 dish back up before it it was completely dark.
Where do you go to look to see if the 1000.2 dish is still the one in the lineup. I searched everywhere.
Here are the pictures I got when I ran a couple other test with the 1000.4 dish still hooked up.
Where do you go to look to see if the 1000.2 dish is still the one in the lineup. I searched everywhere.
Here are the pictures I got when I ran a couple other test with the 1000.4 dish still hooked up.
