Dish support called - Signal loss detected

[Tony S]

Today, I received a call from Dish technical support. The caller left a message stating that Dish has detected signal loss from my system. I checked some of my signal strengths, and they do look low.

I had a list that I saved showing the Minimum and Average transponder readings for the 61.5, 72.7, and 77 satellites (4 transponders per satellite listed). However, the list is old, from 2012. Does anyone know where I can get a more current list of the Minimum and Average transponder readings for the 61.5, 72.7, and 77 satellites? I live in Connecticut.

 

[Bobby]

Today, I received a call from Dish technical support. The caller left a message stating that Dish has detected signal loss from my system. I checked some of my signal strengths, and they do look low.

I had a list that I saved showing the Minimum and Average transponder readings for the 61.5, 72.7, and 77 satellites (4 transponders per satellite listed). However, the list is old, from 2012. Does anyone know where I can get a more current list of the Minimum and Average transponder readings for the 61.5, 72.7, and 77 satellites? I live in Connecticut.

I'm sure that they also left a number to call to get your issue fixed. These calls are legitimate. Why not just make the call and set an appointment and let them fix it?

 

[Tony S]

I'm sure that they also left a number to call to get your issue fixed. These calls are legitimate. Why not just make the call and set an appointment and let them fix it?

Yes, they left a number to call, but before I do that, I am just curious to check to see if it is really necessary. I have not actually had any signal loss problems that I know of.

Here are some of my current signal strength readings:

61.5
Transponder 04: 51
Transponder 05: 37
Transponder 10: 41
Transponder 14: 41
Transponder 15: 39

72.7
Transponder 15: 42
Transponder 17: 39
Transponder 19: 43
Transponder 20: 36
Transponder 21: 39

Does anyone know if these signal strength readings are normal for Connecticut?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Both are low.

 

[Bobby]

They want to fix it before you have signal loss and get upset...

 

[Tony S]

Thanks a lot guys! I will call Dish now.

 

[Tony S]

Just thought I would post a follow up...

The Dish technician came to my house this past Thursday to re-peak my dish. He had a cool app on his phone that he used to check my signal strengths. He hooked up his phone to my HWS receiver using the front USB port. The app then downloaded data to his phone. The display showed a chart with the signal strengths of each transponder along with the expected signal strengths. He confirmed that my values were very low.

The tech tried to re-peak my dish but he could not get acceptable signal strengths. I had the dish that looked at 3 satellites (61.5, 72.7, and 77). Since 77 was unnecessary, he replaced it with a dish that looked at the 2 satellites that my location uses (61.5 and 72.7). He was able to get good readings with the new dish.

Here a list showing the before and after signal strengths for the transponders that I posted earlier in this thread:

61.5
Transponder 04: 51 60
Transponder 05: 37 54
Transponder 10: 41 64
Transponder 14: 41 54
Transponder 15: 39 58

72.7
Transponder 15: 42 59
Transponder 17: 39 57
Transponder 19: 43 60
Transponder 20: 36 57
Transponder 21: 39 57

I think that it is pretty cool that Dish was able to spot the signal strength issue and called me to have it fixed before I even knew that I had a problem!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Thanks for the update!

 

[bmetelsky]

Quite an improvement! Thanks for sharing the follow-up.