61.5 vs. 129 Reception

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cummingsje

cummingsje

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
607
43
Been a member for over a year but still fairly new to Satellite technology but I've got a question / comment.
I just recently added a 61.5 wing dish. My original equipment is a 1000.2 aimed at 110 / 119 / 129. Just because I was a little bored tonight I checked some of the channels i normally get from 129 and noticed I was getting them off of the 61.5 satellite. I put up the 61.5 dish for my newly activated HD locals in Flint, MI. I never experienced some of the issues others have had with signal dropout on 129 although the signal level has been fairly low (around 30-35) on most TP's. Over the course of reading threads for the past year I've seen where most receivers pull the 129 signal over the 61.5 the majority of the time. I did double check FSND HD to make sure I was getting it and sure enough it showed 129, while all the other channels showed 61.5. Sorry for the length of the post but was just curious.:)
 
61.5 should have very strong signals compared to 129 although that may depend on your location. In the east it should pick up really well.
 
It's not exactly random, I think the algorithm is something like this.

Code: 
If (ChannelSelectedExistsOnBoth129And61.5) Then
    If (ItsCloudyOrRainingOutside="True")
      or (SignalLevelFrom129 < SignalLevelFrom61.5)
      or (ResolutionOn129 < ResolutionOn61.5)
      or (BandwidthAllocationOn129 < BandwidthAllocationOn61.5)
      or (ZipCode in ListOfZipCodesWhere129SignalIsKnownToBeFlaky)
      or (WeJustFeelLikePreferring129Today="True") Then
         prefer(129)
    else
         prefer(61.5)
    End If
EndIf
Or at least it sure seems that way. :(

Maybe they are changing the priority concurrent with getting "Eastern Arc" up and running. That would be nice.
 
Last edited:
Just curious...

I understand that 61.5 is optimized for folks in the east, but is anybody hitting 61.5 from the midwest? Specifically Oklahoma.

If it rains even slightly, I lose 129 & HD.:confused:

Thanks in advance.
 
You can buy a 30" Dish from Solidsignal.com for $50. It's fitted for Dish Network LNBs. Point that at 129. Works great.
 
gkjdc24 said:
Just curious...

I understand that 61.5 is optimized for folks in the east, but is anybody hitting 61.5 from the midwest? Specifically Oklahoma.

If it rains even slightly, I lose 129 & HD.:confused:

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Here in Central Texas I had a lot of trouble even during clear weather with 129 for the first few months. HGTV would pixilate badly and often we would not be able to see HGTV at all. I had the installer come back out and re-point the Dish 1000 to optimize 129. I sat by the screen and called the shots using the bars and sounds. We lost a little signal level on 110 and 119. But they were already strong. The reuslt was 15 months of solid performmance on all three sats :)

Of course last week when they installed the new Dish 1000.2 and wing dish for 61.5 the Dish tech just aimed both dishes using a dummy LNB held on with twist ties. My first thought was... Oh well, I'll re-point them tomorrow when 129 starts dropping out. But everything is still working fine. So maybe Pepper's code is correct :)

FWIW as long as the dishes are even close, re-pointing is not that hard with two people.

Talon Dancer
 
gkjdc24 said:
Is this the dish that you're referring to?

Winegard DS 2077 30" Dish Network Satellite Dish (DS2077) | DS-2077 [Winegard] | DS2077 DS 2077 DS-2077 Dish Network 61.5 international

Would this replace the 1000.2, or is this in addition to the 1000.2?

Sorry for the newb questions, but I'm just learning this stuff:cool:
Click to expand...


That's the one. You could use it for 129 only so it would be in addition to the DISH1000. Basically pull off the single LNB you've got on the 1000 Dish and put it on the 30".
 
gkjdc24 said:
Just curious...

I understand that 61.5 is optimized for folks in the east, but is anybody hitting 61.5 from the midwest? Specifically Oklahoma.

If it rains even slightly, I lose 129 & HD.:confused:

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Echostar 3 and Echostar 12 works all the way in CA and even Washington State. Echostar 12 even has spotbeams in CA and WA.
 
I had a spare Dish 500 and had the installer use that for 129 instead of the 1000. Signal are pretty good and NO LOSS during pretty good rain the last few months. Signal strength still good during rain.
 
gkjdc24 said:
Just curious...

I understand that 61.5 is optimized for folks in the east, but is anybody hitting 61.5 from the midwest? Specifically Oklahoma.

If it rains even slightly, I lose 129 & HD.:confused:

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

61.5 works good for Illinois area by the St Louis area.
 
Cool...Thanks for the info, folks!

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Cummingsje. Back to your post...

Been a member for over a year but still fairly new to Satellite technology but I've got a question / comment.
I just recently added a 61.5 wing dish. My original equipment is a 1000.2 aimed at 110 / 119 / 129. Just because I was a little bored tonight I checked some of the channels i normally get from 129 and noticed I was getting them off of the 61.5 satellite. I put up the 61.5 dish for my newly activated HD locals in Flint, MI. I never experienced some of the issues others have had with signal dropout on 129 although the signal level has been fairly low (around 30-35) on most TP's. Over the course of reading threads for the past year I've seen where most receivers pull the 129 signal over the 61.5 the majority of the time. I did double check FSND HD to make sure I was getting it and sure enough it showed 129, while all the other channels showed 61.5. Sorry for the length of the post but was just curious.:)
 
gkjdc24 said:
Cool...Thanks for the info, folks!

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Cummingsje. Back to your post...

Been a member for over a year but still fairly new to Satellite technology but I've got a question / comment.
I just recently added a 61.5 wing dish. My original equipment is a 1000.2 aimed at 110 / 119 / 129. Just because I was a little bored tonight I checked some of the channels i normally get from 129 and noticed I was getting them off of the 61.5 satellite. I put up the 61.5 dish for my newly activated HD locals in Flint, MI. I never experienced some of the issues others have had with signal dropout on 129 although the signal level has been fairly low (around 30-35) on most TP's. Over the course of reading threads for the past year I've seen where most receivers pull the 129 signal over the 61.5 the majority of the time. I did double check FSND HD to make sure I was getting it and sure enough it showed 129, while all the other channels showed 61.5. Sorry for the length of the post but was just curious.:)
Click to expand...

No problem!! We have a great community here!
 
Pepper said:
It's not exactly random, I think the algorithm is something like this.

Code: 
If (ChannelSelectedExistsOnBoth129And61.5) Then
    If (ItsCloudyOrRainingOutside="True")
      or (SignalLevelFrom129 < SignalLevelFrom61.5)
      or (ResolutionOn129 < ResolutionOn61.5)
      or (BandwidthAllocationOn129 < BandwidthAllocationOn61.5)
      or (ZipCode in ListOfZipCodesWhere129SignalIsKnownToBeFlaky)
      or (WeJustFeelLikePreferring129Today="True") Then
         prefer(129)
    else
         prefer(61.5)
    End If
EndIf
Or at least it sure seems that way. :(

Maybe they are changing the priority concurrent with getting "Eastern Arc" up and running. That would be nice.
Click to expand...

The "Easter Arc" thing is kinda what I was wondering about.
 
I actually have about the same signal strength on both 61.5 and 129. If you are in the center of the country you should have about the same strength. 61.5 and 129 satellites operate at about the same power level. 129's problem is that the satellite wobbles in orbit since its momentum wheels are out. If you are in the center of the country it does not wobble past you, so you do not notice.

E3 at 61.5 has always been broken. It overheats if it operates in high power mode, so it has always been in the normal power mode. E12 is in normal power since it is running spots.

129 appears weaker to a lot of people because they tend to have a dedicated dish pointed to 61.5 and 129 is shared, so a compromise with 110/119. That combined with the wobble cause a lot of problems in some areas.
 
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