Dish out of alignment. How often is too often?

[Fgsilva]

So I got DTV back in November. Dish was out of alignment in December; guy come over and re-aligned. got out of alignment again! I did the CE download last night and now because it won't see a bunch of transponder as well as sat 99c it wont' download the guid (at least that's what I think). Tried download the old software version but still won't do it. So, I am wondering if it is "normal" for the dish to get out of alignment this often (twice in three months). We did have some really heavy windy storms last month but that didn't happen during the storm. Seems that slowly it loses the alignment, then I start noticing pixelation in some channels. Did I get a crappy install? Second question: is there a way to bipass the guide download and watch something since I"m getting most transponders from 101, 103, 110 and 119?? My other receiver, a D10 is working fine.

 

[Larry]

My other receiver, a D10 is working fine.

That leads me to believe that your dish is not out of alignment. I don't remember which sat. the guide comes from, but I'm quite sure it isn't the 99. I do know from personal experience that without the guide...you get nothing.

It sounds like something went wrong when you took the CE update. You could verify this by replacing the non-working receiver with the D10. If it works in that location, at least you'll know where the problem is. BTW, what kind of receiver is giving you problems?

 

[Buzzdar]

If you are getting ONE receiver working good and it must be something wrong with the other receiver.

 

[iwc5893]

The guide comes from the 101 sat.

I agree that it sounds more like an issue with that receiver or cabling/connectors. Have you tried swapping the receivers around?

 

[Pepper]

Is your dish mounted to a really sturdy tree, or a flimsy tree that blows in the wind?

seriously, alignment should never be an issue unless there is something variable such as the tree I was joking about or a pole mounted in sand.

 

[Fgsilva]

I haven't tried it. The installer is coming tomorrow anyway. I don't want to mess up with the other receiver because it is working now. I do see that it is getting 101 but for a bunch of the transponders I am getting 0. Now, when I run the "system test" it failed for the LNB output. last time the guy came over he did say it was out of alignment. Just wondering if he is doing a crappy job putting the dish up. It's been the same guy all times. I got an HR21 by the way.

The guide comes from the 101 sat.

I agree that it sounds more like an issue with that receiver or cabling/connectors. Have you tried swapping the receivers around?

 

[iwc5893]

I haven't tried it. The installer is coming tomorrow anyway. I don't want to mess up with the other receiver because it is working now. I do see that it is getting 101 but for a bunch of the transponders I am getting 0. Now, when I run the "system test" it failed for the LNB output. last time the guy came over he did say it was out of alignment. Just wondering if he is doing a crappy job putting the dish up. It's been the same guy all times. I got an HR21 by the way.

When you say a bunch of transponders, what do you mean? Is it the odd number transponders or the even number transponders? If you could post your signal strengths, we might be able to give you an idea of what is wrong with the system.

 

[Fgsilva]

I don't have the exact numbers with me. At work now. Roughly, lots of them were in the 50s or 70s. for 101, I remember that 15, 17 and 18 (?) were all 0. But then if I check them individually it says like 50. I may not be able to get those numbers cause by the time I get home the installer will be there already. I'll try it . Just pisses me off that this is now the second time it is happening. Now, does the failure of the LNB test mean anything?

Oh yeah, and thanks to everybody for helping out and answering my questions! You guys are great!

When you say a bunch of transponders, what do you mean? Is it the odd number transponders or the even number transponders? If you could post your signal strengths, we might be able to give you an idea of what is wrong with the system.

 

[Joe Diamond]

I put my dish up in about 2000 and it has not moved. Never did. Your numbers (50s) are low. You should expect mid 90s in good weather.

Joe

 

[Buzzdar]

I put my dish up in about 2000 and it has not moved. Never did. Your numbers (50s) are low. You should expect mid 90s in good weather.

Joe

You will not always get that high but yes 50 is low.

 

[Ace68]

FGSilva-

I had the same problem with my dish, I had the "BIG" 5lnb 1st generation dish. The alignment was such a problem for me that D* sent out a tech with a "slimline" dish and the installer put self drilling screws into all of the parts to stop the movement (mast, side bracing arms, dish post collar,etc.). The problem was I guess the side bracing arms were as tight as they could be, and when a wind came around it would push the arms in and out and then hold the dish out of whack. We had close to 50mph gusts yesterday and no issues, solid as a rock...(I had the dish replaced last week) Good Luck!

 

[Fgsilva]

Bad install

Another installer came over. He said the guy who did the install before did a bad job. The arms had not been tighten and also screws on the dish were loose! He also said that the previous installer was now gone. He wasn't very happy about "cleaning up somebody else's mess". He said that now I should not have that problem anymore. We'll see. Thanks everybody for the help and suggestions!