Dish will not lock on all 3 satellites

RV-Dish

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Original poster
May 19, 2012
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Ottawa
I am new to dish and have set up my satellite dish myself but I only receive 119W and 129W. I am missing 110W. I have a VIP-211K receiver and a dish 1000.2 with 3 LNB's. I have good signal on 129 at 71% a 63% on 119. The satelite screen shows a checkmark for 119 and 129 but only "conn" for 110W. I have made sure the mast is plumb all the way around. I have aldo done a check switch test and all appears to be fine. I have even tried aligning the dish onto each individual satellite 110, 119, and 129 and I can receive them all indivdually with signal strength in high 70's. I am located in a campground near ogdensburg, NY along the Canadian border so the signal is diverging quite a bit but Dish support tells me it should still work and to adjust my skew more. Still having trouble. Can anyone help me on this? Thanks!
 
Exactly what do you see on the Switch Check when you think the dish is aligned?

1 2 3
129 119 Conn?
 
Agreed with above... sounds like you're not getting the correct sat's with correct lnb's.... co-ords below from dish pointer for Ogdensburg...
If the mast is perfect plum, your skew should be exact to dishpointer info...
Start by setting skew and elevation to below, then you rotate dish till you get it.

Dish Setup Data
Latitude: 44.6942°
Longitude: -75.4863°
Name: Dish 1000.2 (110W, 119W, 129W)
Distance: 39259km
Elevation: 23.0°
Azimuth (true): 233.5°
Azimuth (magn.): 247.0°
Dish Skew [?]: 124.8°



Just to clarify.. by 'rotate' dish... I meant adjust azimuth... twist the dish on the pole.... leave the skew.
 
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Cover the center feed horn with foil and see which slot disappears. If it is 129W, here's your sign. If it is 119W that drops out, you've probably got a faulty LNB assembly (though it is still possible that your skew is WAAAAYYYY off).
 
1) The info robstudio provied me for Ogdensvurg is what I have and it is not working for me.

2) The Point dish screen shows that am locked onto the Echostar 119 West satellite. with a signal strength of 50% at transponder # 21. checking 110 and 129 both indicates they are locked onto a wrong satelllite; Echostar 119 West.

3) The check switch "satellite Input" screen shows the following:
1 2 3 4
119 Conn Conn X
OK X X X
1K.2 1K.2 1K.2 N.C.
Reception verified
DPP 1K.2

I think all LNBs work as I can lock onto all 3 sats individually. They are all at minor azimuth differences but elevation is significant when I lock onto them indiviually with about 80% signal. Elevation for me is:
110W Elev=35
119W Elev=30
129W Elev=25

I tried the skew at 120, 125 and as far as it will go and played around with the elevation and azimuth to try and get all 3 sats ans now I cant even lock on to more than 1 sat at a time now. I used to be able to lock omto 119 & 129. Now I am stumped (and tired). I have to be missing something (or maybe there is a defective LNB?) so I will have to start fresh tomorrow and try all of your suggestions. Hopefully I will ge this sorted out.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Make sure the mast is vertical again and set the skew to 125 and leave it. Assuming you are only using the receiver meter, then set the receiver on satellite 19 and a high transponder like 11 or 13. Than swing the azimuth for best signal.

If you are using a separate meter, then still set the receiver to 119 and high transponder and have the separate meter in pass-thru mode.
 
make sure the skew plate is centered
I have seen were they have slipped off the pin that centers them thus throwing everything off.
If the dish has been bent out of shape you may still get one or two sats but not all three
look for a "ripple" in the outer flange as a tell if its been tweaked.
 
Make sure the dish is tipping down on the West side. If you skew the dish the wrong way, there will be no end to your troubles.
 
Cover the two outer lnb's with tinfoil and find the 119 satellite with the center lnb. Set the skew according to the zip code chart fro your location, remove the tin foil and run a check switch. If your hardware is good you should see all three sats and just need to tweak the settings a bit.
 
Cover the two outer lnb's with tinfoil and find the 119 satellite with the center lnb.
That works only if the multiswitch in the head is selected to 119. If the multiswitch is selected to 110 and there is foil on the LNBF, you get nothing.

No need for the tin foil if 119 is selected. I use a meter that generates a 22KHz tone that selects 119 to the cable the meter is attached to.
 
Got it!
:popcorn
I went up today and covered the 2 outside LNB's with foil and followed Jim5506's instructions. It worked. I now have all 3 Sats. I just have to teak the settings since there is low signal strength on 110. The elevaton is about 5 degrees more at 129, the skew bang on at 125 and the azimuth is approimately what it should be. Its impossible to get an exact fix on the compass reading as its distorted when I place it near the metal antenna.

Now that I finally understand the relationship between the LNB's, Port #s and the Receive Test Switch Screen and when to run a test switch, it will be easier to set up the Antenna the next time.

Thanks to everyone who helped.:)
 
seems like the same exact problem im having ive tried everything to get 129 with no luck. gonna try the tinfoil thing and see if it works. there is nothing obstructing the view it will just not find 129. oklahoma 74074 with the skew at 117.
 
The elevaton is about 5 degrees more at 129, the skew bang on at 125 and the azimuth is approimately what it should be.
If you're getting 119W and 129W but not 110W, your skew is not "bang on". Your skew is precisely what's wrong.
 
Hi everybody,
I have been reading this thread, because I am installing a new 1.2K dish antenna and I dont know what was my previous intensity when locking the 3 satellites.
But now that I am installing the new one, I cant get more that 75 on sat119 and 50 on sats 110 and 129 on transponder 21. I have been 3 days trying to align it and It looks that I can not get more than that. This is my first time instaslling an antenna.
I dont have any obstruction between the sats and my antenna.
My question is....
What transponder should I use when alligning the antenna?
The lower the transponder used to allign... is it better?

My problem is that I downloaded the guide and there are alot of channels that I cant see. and some of them it takes time to get it.

Suggestions, advices will be appreciated.
thanks
 
75 is a very strong signal and 50 is good.

About 2 years ago Dish reset the span on their meters so 80 is about the max anyone will ever get.

It will not hurt for the 70 to drop some if you can get the other two up a little in tweaking.
 
Here are your 1000.2 settings by zipcode.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...J5dGVjaHRyYWluaW5nfGd4OjUxN2UyMzU2Y2MyODM5NGU

Looks like we don't have minimum signal strengths posted up, I will contact my guy to see if we can get them posted.
However in southern part of the states I typically get 85-90 for 119 (transponder 16 or 21), 78-83 for 110 (transponder 11), and 75-80 for 129 (transponder 21).

Your transponder will likely be different depending on your area. To find out what transponder a channel is on, watch the channel, then hit menu-6-1-1 to get to point dish screen. The satellite and transponder listed is what your channel is on. But be sure it is set to tuner 1 for TV 1 and tuner 2 for TV 2.
 
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i am having similar issues. when I run the check switch I have 129 port 1, 119 port2, connect x for port 3. when covering the lnbs with foil I have determined that 119 is the far right from looking behind the dish. 129 in the center. wen covering the two outside lnbs I only receive 129. I have tried moving the dish further east with no luck. I have one cable from port 1 connected to my receiver. dish hd black dish and a dp plus lnb 3 eye. port 1,2,3, lnb in port . Anyone have any advice n setting up this dish? I am losing all my local channels and more from not having sat 110. I am in eastern nc 28432 zip. I have all my angles and skews set correctly and the mask is plum. About ready to beat this thing to pieces with a baseball bat. 73 signal strength on 119 and 61 on 129. 110 says wrong sat and is locked in to 129. Pleaseeeee help me with this.
 
i am having similar issues. when I run the check switch I have 129 port 1, 119 port2, connect x for port 3. when covering the lnbs with foil I have determined that 119 is the far right from looking behind the dish. 129 in the center. wen covering the two outside lnbs I only receive 129. I have tried moving the dish further east with no luck. I have one cable from port 1 connected to my receiver. dish hd black dish and a dp plus lnb 3 eye. port 1,2,3, lnb in port . Anyone have any advice n setting up this dish? I am losing all my local channels and more from not having sat 110. I am in eastern nc 28432 zip. I have all my angles and skews set correctly and the mask is plum. About ready to beat this thing to pieces with a baseball bat. 73 signal strength on 119 and 61 on 129. 110 says wrong sat and is locked in to 129. Pleaseeeee help me with this.
I'm not a tech and there are others here who are, they will help you. That said, 110 should be on the left, 119 in the middle, and 129 on the right. I think they will tell you to cover the two outside LNBs and point the middle to 119...
 
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