Dish 1000 no 129 lock signal in Ohio/WV

[Tom Bombadil]

While it may be good enough that the whole system would work, I don't consider an 87 off of 119 to be a particularly strong signal. I get 104 off of transponder 19 from 119 and I am a couple hundred miles north of you, shooting at an elevation of 33 degrees, which should be about the same as you. If you are off a bit on 119, it could affect you getting a lock from 129.

 

[Stargazer]

I agree with Tom. If your signal is already weak on 119 then 129 will just be weaker because the best I can get is 70-80% around here whether it is on a Dish1000 or a dish to itself dedicated to 129. I can get 110-125% on 119. Try to peak 119 the best you can so that your odds of 129 coming in will be greater.

 

[Kandiru]

Thank you guys, good pointers, i have actually 30.3 degs of elevation, will play with that to see what comes out.

 

[Kandiru]

It is this biaxxh of 811 that does it i can betya on it.
Now, after countless check switches it decided to get its act together and show me that i have "119-110-129" instead of the 119-110-LNB" and have 40% signal on transponder 17 on 129. And i have not even touched the dish these past two days.

I feel like crying with joy, at least now i can tweak it and get decent signal later on. I have to go to work so this will happen later.

The 811 and the DPP Plus Twin switch definitely have a difficult relationship. Spent two weeks before the 129 even showed up recognized as such. How i did it i still don't know, but i know for sure that if this receiver was like the others it would have at least shown me the measly 20-40% signal and recognize the location as 129 if i had decent signal on 119. I followed your instructions to the tee, had receiver off for at least 30 min after each check switch. All in all i must have done at least 30 check switches so far.

I THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, now its time to tweak the 129 and enjoy $15/mo worth of 16 channel HD.

BTW Stargazer how was the "grass" this year. I heard your county is famous for the leafy produce. I can bet OU's proximity only helps distribution Sorry, this is meant as a joke of course:devil:

 

[webbydude]

40 percent is still pretty weak for your area. Like Stargazer said, it should be around 70 to 80 percent. When you get an opportunity, check to see how plumb your mast is and if you have any line of sight issues.

 

[SimpleSimon]

The 811 and the DPP Plus Twin switch definitely have a difficult relationship.

No they don't.

However, it sure seems obvious now that your 129 signal is bad because of aim, LOS, or bad LNB. A 40 is almost the same as nothing.

All things considered, my vote is on aim.

 

[Stargazer]

A neighbor that lives closeby got caught a while back. I see helicoptors fly over a good bit during the summer time. They do seem to bust a lot of people around here huh. No wonder why this county does well lol.

If the check switch shows all on 129 then there is no need to do a check switch anymore, just need to peak it. By the way all the Charleston/Huntington locals except channel 42 comes off of transponder 18. If you are getting 40% then you just barely got a signal lock. It is highly recommended to NOT adjust the skew in order to get a better signal strength. Start by moving the dish up and down then after you get the highest you can get that way then adjust it left and right. If the mast is perfectly plumb then the skew should be set on the settings as it indicates in the booklet. If you adjust the skew to try to increase the signal then you may increase the signal on 129 but you will decrease it on 110 and 119.

My vote is also on aim. One should be able to tune in on 119 for the best signal and be able to get 110 and 129 in good as well.

 

[Kandiru]

BINGO!!!!

Guys, forgive a total newb's failures, and sorry for the time you spent educating me. In fact it was a TREE

See i always thought in my NEWBIE brain that the 30.3 degrees of inclination for the dish also represent the angle for the sat beam. Not true, the beam bounces off the dish at a degree and then into the LNB (bummer) so the real elevation is much higher. High enough that a tree's branches hanging about 15 ft above and a few feet in front of the dish will interrupt the signal.

How i learned it? Wind blew the branch away and signal on transponder 10 off 129 went to 80% . I cried out and ran for the hacksaw. Now i have perfect signal and an angry wife. Actually, a concert on RAVE helped her understand the new TV reality in our home. Then i was soo moved listening to a jazz quintet on Gallery, the sound on my 7.1 DDES separates system is awesome.

I am psyched and very happy. Goodbye Charter Communications

Thank you all for your patience with me, what a terrific bunch of people on this forum.

 

[BrettTRay]

I knew it had to be some kind of obstruction if you were getting 110 and 119 and weren't getting nothing on 129. Thats really all it could be except for a bad lnb and you proved that to be wrong yesterday. Glad we could help.

 

[Stargazer]

That is a really good indicator that a tree branch is in the way when the signal changes with the wind blowing. I've seen it happen a number of times and have managed to see the batch of branches that would cause the issue. I have had people cut trees down to get the signal in a couple three times.

Glad that you got the signal in. Most of the time people do not have problems until the springtime when the tree leaves out.

 

[Kandiru]

This is weird tree. It is some high altitude species from the Andes that is very fragrant and keeps leaves on until late in winter. To add to it the snow melted then froze on the leaves which are now perfectly aligned in the direction of the dominant winds on our ridge, making a perfect shield.

Again thx Xfiles man for correctly pointing out the obvious to the dummie newb (reminder to self: hit head on concrete wall until synapses fall in place). I feel so embarrased for failing to see the obvious in the middle of the whole install.

 

[BrettTRay]

no problem. Those trees can be a booger, eay. I'm glad someone recognized my avatar. When I put it up i wondered if people would think it was me and my wife or something like that!!!!!!!

 

[SimpleSimon]

Stargazer: Your comment about not changing the skew certainly applies to D500.

However, there appear to be several errors in the D1000 booklet. Sometimes adjusting skew IS going to be the right answer. Of course, that's a difficult thing to do if you don't have a twin-meter.

I'm building one myself just for that reason. Yeah, I could lay out $120 for one, but I'm cheap. I'm just going to mount up a pair of my favorite cheap meters, and while I'm at it, hook in some battery power, too.

 

[Stargazer]

I'd love to have one of those Dogbirds but I do not do enough service calls or installs to be able to afford one.

 

[Kandiru]

D1000 (new) $55 shipped on ebay. D811 (used) $190 shipped same place.

 

[Stargazer]

Thats a pretty good price, below dealer cost on the D1000.