DISH Receivers, 129 and 61.5 sats

[aaron12]

I'm a longtime reader of the forums, but decided to register to post about an issue I'm having.

I currently have a DISH 1000.2 system pointing at 110,119, and 129. I also have a DISH 300 pointing at 61.5. All those run down to a DPP44 in this order: 110, 119, 61.5, 129.

110 and 119 give great signals, but my beef is with 129. The highest signal I've ever seen on 129 is 30 and on transponder 6 it's even worse, peaking at 20 at the highest.

Now on 61.5, I'm pulling in a signal strength that hits 70 at times, just about perfect.

What I want to know is how the receiver decides which satellite to get the channel off of. For example, today I was watching the Big 10 network in HD, and the signal kept pixelating and crapping out every 5 minutes or so. The same thing happens with TBS which is also on transponder 6. I can watch a program for maybe 5 minutes before it dies and doesn't come back for 20 or 30 minutes.

What I want to know is WHY the receiver can't just switch over to the perfect signal it's grabbing from 61.5 for those channels. There has to be a way to get it to work. And yes, I know I could just drop 129, but my locals are unfortunately on it, so I need to keep it.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Stargazer]

129 has a weaker signal strength due to the satellite being weak. They plan on replacing that satellite soon. I've read in the past that if there are two satellites with the same channel numbers then having both of those satellites up at the same time will not work. For example 61.5 and 148, most people should not be able to pick both up but there are a few out there that can.

 

[Jim5506]

The dish receiver uses a table that tells it where you SHOULD be getting the signal.

Unless you are in the northeast, south Florida or deep south Texas, you are in the 129 reception area and 129 is automatically used.

The only way to force it to use 61.5 is to disconnect 129.

I recommend you peak your dish to enhance 129 while slightly detuning 110 and 119.

I did this about 6 months ago and recently discontinued the 61.5 dish swinging it to 148 for my SD locals.

 

[aaron12]

Aw, that's disappointing. I have the signal on 129 tuned as good as it's going to get, most people in the area that get 129 also get terrible reception.

Getting a better signal for HDs was just a perk of 61.5, I also am using it to get internationals, so I'm going to keep it pointed there.

I know my receiver sometimes decides to use 61.5 for HD channels instead of 129, I'm just not sure what causes it to do so. For example, it was pulling RAVE off of 61.5 instead of 129, but had no reason for why. The only channels that really suck on 129 are just the ones on transponder 6, and those are the only ones I really want it to grab off 61.5 instead, but I guess I can live without Big 10 and TBS.

 

[vegassatellite]

There is a 24" dish kit you can get to point just at 129. Another possibility is to try and find a 121 Superdish and just aim it so that you pick up 129 through the 119 eye. You should get great gain as the SD is 36x20 versus the 1k2 at 19x24.

Another thing you might do is to get someone with a birdog or better meter out there to peak the 129 using c/n instead of signal. Digital signals can work great even when weak as long as the noise levels are down.

 

[Jim5506]

Superdish is no better than 1000.2 because it is not parabolic either (made for 3 sats). If 61.5 has all you need (no RSN's), unplug 129 and use 61.5.

the single 24" or 30" dish will be the highest quality option for 129.

 

[dewar]

Another stupid question.....How exactly do you "unplug" 129?

 

[aaron12]

Well in my case, since I have the DPP44, I just remove it from the switch. If you still just have the receivers connected directly to the built in switch in the 1000.2....I'm not really sure, honestly.

 

[MikeD-C05]

ON a dish 1000.2 sat dish I put aluminum foil over the lnb for 129 . Works great and the aluminum foil lasted through Hurricane Humberto last September.

 

[vegassatellite]

They also manufacture a "W" bracket for the 1k2, so you could just install dual lnbs for 110/119 and not put one in at the 129 slot. You would need an externa switch though.