Dish Aiming & Eastern Arc Received on WA DPH LNB????

[Jurrens]

Hi guys. I am a new bee. I live in an RV. I move every 1 to 2 months. I have a 1000.2 antenna with a DPH WA LNB on a nice tripod connected to a Hopper 3 via a hybrid solo hub.

At my last location (SE Minnesota), I used WA EL, AZ & SK and after about three hours of reading, aiming & re-aiming, I nailed 110W, 119W & 129W with a sig strength of 50-55 with my compass & a bubble level. Good enough.

I just relocated to Western South Dakota and tried aiming with WA nums (after ensuring plumb mast, clear line of site, etc for zip 57745 (EL 22, SK 127, AZ 2510) & could not get a lock on anything.

After several frustrating hours, I looked down the row at other RVs who had rooftop (Dish) antennas pointing a lot farther east than mine, so thought I'd try the EA nums for this location just for grins (EL 40, SK 87, AZ 190 per Dish manual for 10000.2) and I locked onto 110W & 119W but not 129W! Huh?

So why am I receiving EA birds with a WA? Also, I did chat with Dish to change my service address, but not getting any networks/locals. Must be on the 129W bird?

Second thing: I'm tired of trial and error by moving the dish, doing a switch check, trying again and again, so I convinced the wife that I need a good meter. Looking at a refurbished Birdog meter from Satellite Oasis on eBay for $189. Can't justify much more than that, so a USB Plus, Ultra, Superbuddy, etc. just doesn't make sense for my limited use. I have two different $15 cheapies and they're crap.

Besides, I like this refurbished unit since it has new battery, new case, Dish sats list already installed, OA's pretty good rep... all this in addition to the price. What are your thoughts given my limited budget but need something to make it easier to repeatedly (re) aim this thing?

Thanks guys. Feel free to redirect my post if useful.
Gene the newb...

 

[Brussam]

Where did you get you numbers from?
From dishpointer.com for zipcode 57745:
WA SK 194 (mag), EL 37, SK 105
EA AZ 131 (mag), EL 31, SK 62

From the DPP 1000.2 manual the settings for 577xx are:
WA AZ 191, EL 36, SK 106
EA AZ 126, EL 29, SK 61

At 57783, I finished at AZ 191, EL 33, SK 106
At 57730, I finished at AZ 196, EL 36, SK 106

 

[Tampa8]

Hi guys. I am a new bee. I live in an RV. I move every 1 to 2 months.

Who are you hiding from?

Just kidding. Aside from making sure you are pointed correctly, unplug the dish from the receiver, do a check switch to clear it out, then hook it back up again. Locals are on 119 and 110 I think for Rapid City, SD only. You need the WA to get the locals if Rapid City.

 

[Jurrens]

Where did you get you numbers from?
From dishpointer.com for zipcode 57745:
WA SK 194 (mag), EL 37, SK 105
EA AZ 131 (mag), EL 31, SK 62

From the DPP 1000.2 manual the settings for 577xx are:
WA AZ 191, EL 36, SK 106
EA AZ 126, EL 29, SK 61

At 57783, I finished at AZ 191, EL 33, SK 106
At 57730, I finished at AZ 196, EL 36, SK 106

OK, so in my defense (although I've never been actually diagnosed as dyslexic), in the DPP 1000.2 manual which I've faithfully printed out, I found my nums in the row for zip 057XX instead of 577XX (doh!). I'll try these correct numbers next time the DW isn't watching or recording anything (probably on my next move in two weeks).

So since I'm currentlyaimed at AZ 190, EL 40 & SK 87 (to the best of my ability), I've apparently accidentally snagged 110W & 119W (but not 129W). Any idea what the heck I'm actually watching right now? I can see AZ could be close enough, and maybe EL too seeing as where you ended up for zip 57730, but SK isn't even close (maybe that's why no 129W bird?).

I'm anxious for my new Birdog (old refurbished V2.5) meter to show up in a few days so I can putz around with that, but curious if you have any thoughts on this based on your experience, Bruss.

Thanks for helping me diagnose my own ineptitude on table look-ups, pointing me to dishpointer.com and possibly any thoughts how I've accidentally captured a bird (sometimes better to be lucky than good, huh?).

Cheers. Gene

UPDATE: I used the correct numbers, and guess what... I locked onto all three sats first time. Huh. I guess when you do things right, they work. I still took credit with my wife for being her hero for finally getting it to work, and all the extra screwing around DID justify the expense of a reasonably good meter, after all. Just between us guys, though, OK? ;-)

Life is good, I have my local channels, and I'm better prepared for next time. thanks again, guys

(yeah, I figure if I just keep moving around, "they" won't be able to find me - nah, just checkin' out North America for a few years)

 

[Jurrens]

Who are you hiding from?

Just kidding. Aside from making sure you are pointed correctly, unplug the dish from the receiver, do a check switch to clear it out, then hook it back up again. Locals are on 119 and 110 I think for Rapid City, SD only. You need the WA to get the locals if Rapid City.

Yikes. Well, color me confused. I'll try that. I also screwed up on my table lookup in the DPP 1000.2 manual (see my reply to Brussam). I may have more than one issue, but definitely heading in the right direction with guidance from you guys. Thanks!

Cheers. Gene

UPDATE: got it working, Tampa, thanks for the input. Not really hiding - is that even possible these days with ever present digital footprint? I don't have a darn thing to hide anyway, not even money! Later!

 

[Tampa8]

Hope it works out.