119 Reception Problems??

[cajun_man]

First off, this forum has been a big help in my effort to get my dish mounted and pointed. Thanks for all the help.

The problem is that the lazy installers who installed my dish used an old mounting location that I had for DirectTV. Only problem is that the settings for the Dish Network pointed it through the tree in back of my house. The ONE AND ONLY tree anywhere behind my house (I live on the water). I thought that was the cause of the low 119 signal strength (45-50). Instead of calling them back out I relocated the dish myself because they cancelled on us 3 times and it took 4 weeks to get my system. I didn't want to wait another month.

Even relocated with a clear shot I can still only get 45-50 signal strength on 119, but can get 90-100 on 110. I followed instructions found on this forum and covered both LNB's one at a time and they are pulling from the right satellite. I have a signal meter and have done extremely small adjustments on skew, azimuth and offset for 119 (with 110 covered with foil) and I can't do any better than 45-50.

Any suggestions? Dish Network will not come back out and point my dish because I moved it and voided my warranty. This even though the install was completely botched to start with.

I live in southern Louisiana, zip code 70458. I have a Dish 500 with double DVR receiver.

Thanks,
Stan

 

[Stargazer]

You are not supposed to adjust the skew for any reason whatsoever when trying to tune in the satellite signal because that just throws off one of the satellites when trying to peak the signal. You need to make sure your mast is level so that your numbers on the dish will be true.

You need to set the skew and not adjust it anymore at all whatsoever for any reason. It must stay at the setting it is supposed to be and if your mast/pole is not level then you will not be able to get a successful signal on 110 and 119 at the same time unless you like messing with the dish for several hours and still no guarantee of getting the signal in.

With the signal coming in at 45-50 on some transponders the other transponders could be receiving a higher or lower signal than that. If some transponders are receiving a lower signal strength then those channels will not come in. Rainfade will be a bit of an issue as any little shower or maybe even a sprinkle will cause the channels to go out. Also make sure the transponders you are checking are not spot beam satellites and that you do a check switch if needed.

 

[cajun_man]

Skew`

The skew is at 124 where it is supposed to be. I admit to playing with it a little when the angle and offset adjustments were doing nothing for me, but in the end I put it back to where it was supposed to be. I did my best to level the mast by putting a level on three sides when I mounted it. I think it might be time for me to call out a pro as long as they guarantee a 70+ signal strength.

Thanks for the help,
Stan

 

[SimpleSimon]

You haven't told us which transponders you're checking. As Stargazer says, it makes a difference - a BIG difference.

Please give us numbers for 110/119 transponders 11 & 12.

You should be able to bring in all 4 of those at roughly equal signal strengths and probably 100 or better.

 

[cajun_man]

Transponder 11 & 12

119 has signal strength of 45-50 on transponder 11 and 12. 110 is high 90's on 11 and 12.

When I exit the setup the reciever almost always puts 119 back on transponder 2. If I have even the slightest overcast (not even raining) I am constantly losing the signal and it starts thumbing through the transponders.

Stan

 

[Stargazer]

Are you sure there are no trees (or buildings) that are even close to where the dish is at, or that there is not an overhang blocking some of the signal? From what you said it seems like you are able to receive 101 and 110 just fine (due to them being higher up in the sky) but 119 is lower in the sky and is more likely to get blocked by a tree than 101 and 110 (at least in my area).

When you relocated the dish did you move it farther back away from the tree or just on over from where it was at in relation to the tree? Is the dish pointing towards a hill with trees?

If your mast is plumb and your numbers are set just right then you could have something blocking part of the signal preventing it from coming in any stronger. If there are trees it helps to get back farther away from the trees (as long as there are no other trees between where you want to set the new location of the dish and where you had it before.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Well, you can go hire a pro, but they're just gonna do the same thing - tweak the dish around until they get the best numbers they can. Try peaking the Dish on 119 and then seeing what happens to 110.

I think you should be able to get better numbers, but maybe that far south is the edge of the CONUS footprint.

Any southerner installers out there to confirm or deny that please?

 

[satelliteinstaller]

if it is all wide open it should be real easy.ok i asume you are using to cord. for your box.keep in mind those cords are worthless if you pole is not level.use a pole level to make sure your pole is nice in level.after that you should be able to get your signal real easy

 

[cajun_man]

I will pull the dish today and recheck the pole. As for the tree, the dish is physically closer to it, but the angle now puts the tree about 15 degrees west of where my dish points. If you look from the prospective of where the dish is mounted, the tree is no where near blocking the signal. And being in southern louisiana, the closest thing to a hill is a ant mound, so no problems there.

It is mounted about 5 feet down from the eave of my house, which is on ly 12" so I certainly cant see that being a problem unless the signal from 119 comes from almost straight up.

Thanks for all the help. I will keep all advised after repositioning the mast.

Stan

 

[SimpleSimon]

I will pull the dish today and recheck the pole. As for the tree, the dish is physically closer to it, but the angle now puts the tree about 15 degrees west of where my dish points. If you look from the prospective of where the dish is mounted, the tree is no where near blocking the signal. And being in southern louisiana, the closest thing to a hill is a ant mound, so no problems there.

It is mounted about 5 feet down from the eave of my house, which is only 12" so I certainly cant see that being a problem unless the signal from 119 comes from almost straight up.

Thanks for all the help. I will keep all advised after repositioning the mast.

Stan

Check your Elevation number - that gives you the exact angle above the horizon of the satellite. I can't see the eave being an issue - 5 feet down and 1 foot out is only a few (10? 20?) off of vertical, so your Elevation would have to be 70 or 80 for it to be a problem. New Orleans is less than 46.

Again I say, peak the dish for 119 (probably by changing elevation a touch) and see what happens. If you can get good numbers there, recheck 110. If still good you're done. If not, I'd have to think the post is not level of the skew is set wrong. The correct number is 116 for New Orleans.

 

[cajun_man]

Hey guys, I moved the satellite to the top of my roof as far away from anything as I could get it. I am now getting sat. 119 at 100+ signal strength and 110 at about 95-100. I think it was like yall said, the tree was ultimately blocking part of the signal. Even though the tree wasn't directly in front of the dish, it must have been blocking it anyway.

Either way, thanks for all the replies. You have all been a real help. I will definitly spread the word about this forum to others.

Thanks,
Stan