1000+ and 129 Problem; Need to Check Switch?

[luckycat]

Hello everyone, happy 09.

I've had a 1000+ for quite some time with no major problems on 129..signal strength usually 15-20, not stellar but not bad. For the past few months it's been dropping very low, to the point where signal is lost. In addition, I noticed 119 dropped to the 60s where before I think it was in the 70s.

So I figured I'd do some re-pointing, not fun in 15 deg F weather. Put foil on left & right LNBFs, focusing on 119, peaked at 71-72... 110 was about 70 when removing foil, 129 was..ZERO!

Skew was not at 123 as Dish indicates (48381, in Michigan), it was about 9-10 degrees off.. so I'll try that tomorrow..

BUT is this normal, or another question: Do you have to Check Switch before counting 129 out, or just adj. skew?

 

[Spize]

Hello everyone, happy 09.

I've had a 1000+ for quite some time with no major problems on 129..signal strength usually 15-20, not stellar but not bad. For the past few months it's been dropping very low, to the point where signal is lost. In addition, I noticed 119 dropped to the 60s where before I think it was in the 70s.

So I figured I'd do some re-pointing, not fun in 15 deg F weather. Put foil on left & right LNBFs, focusing on 119, peaked at 71-72... 110 was about 70 when removing foil, 129 was..ZERO!

Skew was not at 123 as Dish indicates (48381, in Michigan), it was about 9-10 degrees off.. so I'll try that tomorrow..

BUT is this normal, or another question: Do you have to Check Switch before counting 129 out, or just adj. skew?

I have learned with Dish that all roads lead to a check switch at the end... it's like a toll booth.

Sounds to be like you are heading in the right direction (The foil is a new one on me though) and if the skew is off by 10 degrees then that may just be the problem... IF

IF your mast (the mounting pipe) is plumb (straight up and down and level... use a level) then the settings the box gives you should not do you wrong... if it isn't then I wish you luck with the geometric equations needed to find the correct settings without a tuner at the dish!

 

[mikeyachi]

in ordee for you to go off the the specs that someone gives you, you want to take a little level and make sure the mount is flush or the front and side of the arm where the dish sits, then you make adjustments.

 

[digiblur]

No need for a check switch if it was working before and all you did was repoint. Once you check switch again without 129 it willl delete it from the matrix making it difficult to find again.

I have seen times before where rain cause an outage and they did a check switch which deleted 129 and now their channels were gone. They didnt know how to get them back.

 

[Spize]

No need for a check switch if it was working before and all you did was repoint. Once you check switch again without 129 it willl delete it from the matrix making it difficult to find again.

I have seen times before where rain cause an outage and they did a check switch which deleted 129 and now their channels were gone. They didnt know how to get them back.

True... but if you run another check switch after you get the signal back it should find it... yes?

I would listen to this gentleman over myself because I am honestly not very good a E* and I am sure he knows far more than I do... I am replying to ask him a question myself and not to doubt his word.

P.S. Ned's Navy > Bubba's Army

 

[luckycat]

No need for a check switch if it was working before and all you did was repoint. Once you check switch again without 129 it willl delete it from the matrix making it difficult to find again.

I have seen times before where rain cause an outage and they did a check switch which deleted 129 and now their channels were gone. They didnt know how to get them back.

Yeah that's what I was afraid of... doing Check Switch with no signal on 129 and screwing myself over.

I did check the mast for plumb when I first installed, will check again..

 

[luckycat]

Tonight was the night to recalibrate the dish. I tried adjusting skew, which yielded just a bit of iimprovement (from 0 on 129 to 5 or so), so then went back to adjusting elevation to tweak..and wound up with the following:

129 TP 17 Anywhere from 18-25 (was 25 when I was calibrating, now it's 18)..
119 TP 17 or 15 = 32 (used to be in the 70s)
118 TP 16 = 38 (but TP 15 is 10-11)

So I'm not too pleased with my attempt..bright side is I can get my HD channels but I screwed up 119 apparently to do it..which seems to indicate that my mast perhaps is NOT plumb, even though I checked it and it seemed fine... Do these readings seem generally low or should I not screw around any more with it?

Since it is around -8 F outside I likely won't mess with it anyway, as long as now I'm able to receive a lock without a lot of drops (well, we'll see).
110 TP 15 = 60s

 

[vampz26]

I'm having the same problems here in chicago...it varies though....I figured it was just too much snow on my Dish...now I'm not so sure...