Anyone Experiencing 129 Issues?

[jmjunkin]

Just thought I would add that now an hour later I am getting much better signal. Lowest is now transponder 7 and that is a signal strength of 22. It was a 5 an hour ago. 129 must be getting worse cause this fluctuation is ridiculous. I might get a better signal with a repoint but this bird is dying fast I think.

 

[levibluewa]

Where RU tpautler?

 

[vegassatellite]

My installer appreciated the hand-radio when he was tweaking peak gain off of E5 @ 129.

You mean he didn't have the meter to do this himself?

Damn, they'll let any moron with a wrench do this job.

 

[wizard604]

I was so happy today after getting 110, 119, 129 all setup on a 33" dish. But quickly starting running into problems with signal loss & lockups on some of the channels on 129. Now that I've read this post, I know why the problems. Short of installing a separate dish for 129, I wonder if using something like an inline amp might help?

 

[FitzAusTex]

I was so happy today after getting 110, 119, 129 all setup on a 33" dish. But quickly starting running into problems with signal loss & lockups on some of the channels on 129. Now that I've read this post, I know why the problems. Short of installing a separate dish for 129, I wonder if using something like an inline amp might help?

What dish and LNBF assembly did you use? I'm not aware of a single 33" dish that supports 110,119 and 129, but am very interested.

 

[harshness]

Short of installing a separate dish for 129, I wonder if using something like an inline amp might help?

Unless your cable run length is well above specified limits (or your cable performance is well below spec), an inline amplifier is useless. The signal that comes down your coax isn't the same signal that comes down from the sky. Once the satellite antenna picks up the signal from the sky, it translates it (using the LNB) down to a much lower frequency. If the LNB isn't getting a good signal, you're toast and the only solution is a better (either much better aimed or bigger) antenna.

 

[dlsnyder]

Out here in the Inland Empire just east of Los Angeles, 129 has been solid for me ever since I repointed my 24" dish there over a year ago. Now there are noticeable signal dropouts, with levels varying from the low 20s to low 40s in a few minutes. I have had no total signal loss yet, but the picture starts getting pixelated when signal drops down in the low 20s. Since I am on vacation this week and doing other household repairs, I think I will take the time to repoint back to 61.5. I get all my locals OTA anyway and never watch the RSNs, so it should make things better for me until the new sat is in place at 129.

 

[tpautler]

Where RU tpautler?

Directly east of Spokane on the Idaho border

 

[vegassatellite]

I was so happy today after getting 110, 119, 129 all setup on a 33" dish. But quickly starting running into problems with signal loss & lockups on some of the channels on 129. Now that I've read this post, I know why the problems. Short of installing a separate dish for 129, I wonder if using something like an inline amp might help?

Garbage going in to an amplifier equals amplified garbage going out of the amplifier.

 

[RandallA]

I was watching the SS on TP31 on 129 the other day and normally for me it's at 55. (Yes, I have nothing else to do since I'm on disability at the moment).

That day I looked at it, it was at 41 and it was at 41 for a while. That's a loss of 14 pts and it was sunny outside. Imagine someone with a SS of 20 or less losing 14 pts. from time to time, yeap no HD channels for a while.

I'm in Northern California with a D500 for 129 (I bracket for the dual lnb).

 

[jmjunkin]

I was watching the SS on TP31 on 129 the other day and normally for me it's at 55. (Yes, I have nothing else to do since I'm on disability at the moment).

That day I looked at it, it was at 41 and it was at 41 for a while. That's a loss of 14 pts and it was sunny outside. Imagine someone with a SS of 20 or less losing 14 pts. from time to time, yeap no HD channels for a while.

I'm in Northern California with a D500 for 129 (I bracket for the dual lnb).

I have noticed the same thing and I use a 1000.2 and I have lost my signal because of the fluctuation in Sunny Weather. I am still waiting to have my DISH repeaked as they screwed up the work oreder on the 5th tuner I was getting. I have to talk to the guy at the CEO office on Monday to get that straightened out and rescheduled. Hopefully a repoint will get me a better signal. The worst for me is Transponder 7. It has been as low as 5 and as high as 30.

 

[levibluewa]

Wizard604...

You're too far North. Not sure any size separate dish will save ya! Not sure how accruate this image is, but Seattle area techs and installers have indicated to me that the signal (footprint) drops off rapidly at Arlington. Add that to the sat falling out of the sky 2x an hour, the further N of Arlington your dish is the less chance of curing and incurable condition. Just look at all the posts recently from locations all over the US. Probably one reason the new 129 is scheduled for launch in November. Charlie knows he's in deep s***!

 

[jldhawk]

I have posted my problems on another thread, didn't know this one existed.
I have a 1000.2 that has been peaked to 129 TP5 at 27 on a 0-125 scale.
My neighbor is a dish installer, so he tried a new LNB, that didn't help, so he tried a new Dish antenna, that more or less DOUBLED my signal stregth on all transponders. Then he went home thinking we had teh problem fixed.
NOW, I am back to all original LOW signal strengths, I can't even lock in on 129 now. I called Dish, they can't send out a tech until 8/10, so I said I am NOT paying for this kind of low quality service, they said they would suspend my charges until the tech gets here in two weeks.

 

[jldhawk]

My other question were in this thread:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...hat-can-i-do-about-lower-signal-strength.html

 

[levibluewa]

Bad, not as bad, more bad, back to not as bad...

Original install was an 18" pointed at the 129. Drop-outs 2x an hour 1-6 minutes each depending on transponder. Replaced the 18 with a 24" and a "low-noise" lnb pointed directly at the 129...not as bad, drop-outs still 2x an hour, 1-3 minutes each depending on transponder. Tried a 1000+ thinking larger dish would trap more signal. That proved to be false, perhaps because it can't be peaked as well. Back to the 24" with drop-outs, again 2x an hour 1-3 minutes each event depending on transponder.

The 1-3 minute signal loss is really a minimum. If it goes into searching for satellite you can be playing around looking for a signal for 10-15 minutes, cause the stupid software, or something, goes to the 105 satellite looking for a signal, Hello!!! They should come out with new software that instead of looking at the 105 satellite just switches to Directv!

Good luck to all of you!

 

[foghorn2]

We had strong thunderstorms last Saturday and was watching CNN from 129 t11.
When the signal fell below 11, that was the only time signal lock loss messsage would come up.

T11 is pretty weak but can range from 14-29 throughout the day.

 

[Kumacho]

and low noise lnb

1=23
2=16 yellow
3=22
4=35
5=32
6=13 yellow
7=23
8=32
9=38
10=32
11=22
12=35
13=39
16=30
17=33
18=12 yellow
19=20
21=30
22=14 yellow
23=21
27=21
30=27
31=37
32=24

The CSRs and techs must be advised to deny a problem. The situation is now so widespread I don't know how they'll survive till that new sat (Ciel2) is operational in what April 09? Charlie usually has an alternate plan...where could he move all the HD if the 129 croaks? 61.5 is too low in the sky for alot of us. Would have been there in June 06 if it were an option.

I was having problems with pixilation, loss of signal and lock up as well. I called to report the problem and they said they would send out a service tech to troubleshoot the problem.

I have 2 dishes and one is aimed at 129 while the other is for 110 and 119.

I have consistently lost signal on 129 and had another service call where the tech stated the dish had been "blown" out of alignment by a strong gust. They charged me $ 29.99 for the call out.

I have the warranty being charged to my account so I guess the service calls are less expensive...

On this second call out they said there would also be a $ 29.99 charge and I explained this was an ongoing problem and that I had already paid to have it fixed but it wasn't done properly. Since I was still having issues with LOS and Pixilation, it obviously (at least in my ignorance) wasn't fixed properly.

After speaking with 3 different CSR they finally agreed to not charge me for the service call.

The tech that showed up sat on my floor and explained that where I am (North of Seattle) I am on the edge of the footprint for 129 and that this is a problem.

WOW! Somebody told me the truth! Well at least part of it.

He still didn't offer up that 129 E5 is in big trouble and has been having problems since 2001 when it lost one of its three momentum wheels. Then in June 2001 it lost 3 of its travelling-wave-tube amplifiers. These are not a problem as the satellite has 16 spares (well now 13). The final blow seems to be the loss of 8 solar arrays which lowers the life expectancy of E5 to 2 years. E5 is expected to be a dead satellite in June of 2009.

Too me the greatest irritant is that those of us in the NW are paying the same as everyone else and we have huge problems that will only get worse as E5 dies. On top of that, Dish charges us to troubleshoot what is already a known problem! They know the situation with 129 E5 and yet they send out technicians to troubleshoot and charge the customer for it. This is dishonest at best and possibly even criminal.

 

[tomcrown1]

I do not get it is dish dumb and trying to go under?? Iam sure Dish is aware of the poor signal folks are getting from 129. Why not be truthfull and explain what is going on. By playing games Dish will continue to see customer churn


DISH GET BACK TO CUSTOMER SERVICE WERE THE CUSTOME IS #1

 

[mountnbykr]

I've been having the problem with losing the 129 signal for several weeks now. I'm in Tucson, AZ. I spoke with tech support online and they told me to check all my connections from the dish to the receiver. I'll have to contact them again...I guess the best that could be done is see if the dish can be re-peaked.

 

[dlsnyder]

I had to take down my dish after I got my roof done last October. When I put it back up I thought I had it set as good as it could get for 129. Now today I repeaked it and gained as much as 10 points of signal strength across all transponders. Either my house moved over the last 8 months or the satellite did.