Eastern Arc upgrade poll.

[n1wbd]

How many of you have upgraded to the Eastern Arc Dish and are you happy with it? I am in NH.

I personally don't don't like the much lower signals on 72 and 77. 61.5 leaves alot to be desired. Before anyone asks. I have a perfect LOS here no trees in the way.

 

[lparsons21]

The EA works great for me in southern Illinois. The signal levels are not an issue for me since the 129 was becoming an issue for with a neighbor's pesky tree that refused to quit growing. I've had almost zero rain fade and snow hasn't been an issue due to the location of the dish. The LOS for me is much better on EA than WA ever was.

 

[whatchel1]

I can't answer this question. I have EA but I use 3 converted FTA dishes to pick up the 3 sats. I don't have lower signal levels.

 

[KAB]

When I had 61.5, I had better signal than I now have with 129.

 

[n1wbd]

Makes me want to do the same thing here. Average signals on 77 even after a 2nd realign by a Dish Tech 35-40, on 72 signals average 43-50 and 61.5 averages anywhere from 60-82 or so. I believe I have 1 transponder on 61.5 thats close to 90 but spotbeams 9 and 13 on 61.5 is only about 60 or so about 25-30 points lower than my old 61.5 wing dish.

What do you get for average signal using the 3 separate dishes?
Bob

I can't answer this question. I have EA but I use 3 converted FTA dishes to pick up the 3 sats. I don't have lower signal levels.

 

[KAB]

Makes me want to do the same thing here. Average signals on 77 even after a 2nd realign by a Dish Tech 35-40, on 72 signals average 43-50 and 61.5 averages anywhere from 60-82 or so. I believe I have 1 transponder on 61.5 thats close to 90 but spotbeams 9 and 13 on 61.5 is only about 60 or so about 25-30 points lower than my old 61.5 wing dish.

What do you get for average signal using the 3 separate dishes?
Bob

With those readings, you need a re-peak. Your 61.5 is just fine and dandy. 77 and 72 need tweeked. Remember, there are no 100's anymore. 80 is stellar.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

EA is great for me too, in CT. My LOS is far better now. To get 110/119 before I had to shoot between two trees which was becoming a growing problem each year. (pun intended).

EA dish is a straight-shot for LOS, no impediments at all and rain fade is much less of an issue than with the two dish setup.

 

[n1wbd]

KAB, according to the last 2 Dish Techs that came here in NH these signal levels are right for the area. The last tech retweaked the dish last week and was able to squeeze 4-5 point more out of 72 and 77 there is no more to get. According to my tech I have no LOS issue and was looking at 40 ft above the pine trees. Elevation for the EA dish here in NH is about 40 degrees.

 

[n1wbd]

I had a 110/119 and a 61.5 wing dish and signals were fantastic!! Very seldom had rain fade and rarely had snow fade. My dishes was over 10 yrs old although the lnbs were upgraded to DPP

EA is great for me too, in CT. My LOS is far better now. To get 110/119 before I had to shoot between two trees which was becoming a growing problem each year. (pun intended).

EA dish is a straight-shot for LOS, no impediments at all and rain fade is much less of an issue than with the two dish setup.

 

[boba]

KAB, according to the last 2 Dish Techs that came here in NH these signal levels are right for the area. The last tech retweaked the dish last week and was able to squeeze 4-5 point more out of 72 and 77 there is no more to get. According to my tech I have no LOS issue and was looking at 40 ft above the pine trees. Elevation for the EA dish here in NH is about 40 degrees.

The further north you go in New England the worse your signal becomes off the Canadian and Mexican locations at 72&77. If you aren't happy invest in 24 or 36 inch dishes as KAB has done. The foolish poll you posted would only apply to VT.ME and NH customers where DISH already know there is a loss of signal.

 

[whatchel1]

My 3 dish set-up

Makes me want to do the same thing here. Average signals on 77 even after a 2nd realign by a Dish Tech 35-40, on 72 signals average 43-50 and 61.5 averages anywhere from 60-82 or so. I believe I have 1 transponder on 61.5 thats close to 90 but spotbeams 9 and 13 on 61.5 is only about 60 or so about 25-30 points lower than my old 61.5 wing dish.

What do you get for average signal using the 3 separate dishes?
Bob

The .9 m (36") comes in at 70 or a bit better for the spot (tp 15) for Dallas. The conus beams come in upper 60's to above 80. The spot that covers my area to the S is 94. The .77 m (30") primestar oval dish on sat 72.7 is low to mid 60's. The .61 m (24") primestar dish on 77 (which I no longer get any service from) but put up just to have all 3 sats (at one time got locals off it) comes in at the mid 30's to 40's. I might could get more out of the 77 dish but since I don't get anything off it didn't really try to peak it. All 3 dishes just have a standard E* DP dual on them so no special feed that illuminates the entire elliptical dish. So I'm really only getting the center round section on the primestar dishes. The .9 m is a round offset dish that I took out of service years ago when I was a commercial sat dealer/installer. It's made by Channel Master and is mounted on a non-penetrating roof mount that I have sitting on the ground and weighted down. The Primstars are mounted on metal fence post attached to my fence. I've only had "cloud/rain fade a couple of times when there were some really nasty thunder boomers. To me that is the main reason that I have the larger than normal dishes. I live in an area that nearly all rain we get is from mean nasty thunderstorms.

 

[DishTechPA]

I'm in SW PA, changed to EA from WA, less fade with EA, but unlike WA, it has to be precisely peaked.

 

[n1wbd]

You might consider it a "foolish poll" but I don't and I'm sure there are others here that don't. Anyway not all of us are/were aware that EA has less signal here in New England. I've had the same 110/119/61.5 setup for over 10yrs with no problems at all. I can see where EA is no where as good as the old setup was. Should have left well enough alone instead of telling us to get the free upgrade. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Oh and BTW I found out and Dish Network Tech confirmed that if you have EA and subscribe to Hunting Trails game on ch 100 you'll find it's gone in fact alot of the "choices" that were available on ch 100 are gone if you switch to EA dish.

The further north you go in New England the worse your signal becomes off the Canadian and Mexican locations at 72&77. If you aren't happy invest in 24 or 36 inch dishes as KAB has done. The foolish poll you posted would only apply to VT.ME and NH customers where DISH already know there is a loss of signal.

 

[DishTechPA]

Yeah, some dish games are not on EA. I don't get why they wouldn't have put them on there. The biggest problem with EA is getting it properly peaked. They are very sensitive to peak properly.

 

[dwarren2]

As an old C-bander, signal strength means nothing if you are receiving the signal with no loss. Since my conversion last summer. I've had no complaints. I seem to have less of a problem with rain fade and I only lost signal due to snow once this past winter and that was early on when we had a very heavy wet snow. As I said earlier, my installer warned me that the signal strength would be lower, but it didn't matter as long as I was receiving the signal with no loss. Don't get hung up with numbers.

 

[AntiMoz]

77 will be low so it doesnt interfere with Canada. Besides, I wouldnt worry about the 77 sat unless you are getting internationals. The 61.5 and 72.7 signals look about the same as mine with no problems here. I agree with dwarren2....don't worry, be happy.

 

[n1wbd]

Well last week we had some snow only 1 inch or so 3 days after the upgrade to EA and I lost service from all 3 birds for over an hour. I was not happy. I can count on 1 hand how many times I lost service from snow in the last 10 years. Thats why I'm not happy. They sent a tech back out to retweak and got an extra 4-5 points more signal after the retweek. We're expecting snow tommorow so we'll if it goes out again. I'm not hung up with numbers I just want service plain and simple and not have to put up with service going out everytime I have a snow flurry or a sprinkle. I have no problem with losing service for a few mins or so due to a thunderstorm or heavy rain or blizzard it's the nature of the beast.

We shall see.

As an old C-bander, signal strength means nothing if you are receiving the signal with no loss. Since my conversion last summer. I've had no complaints. I seem to have less of a problem with rain fade and I only lost signal due to snow once this past winter and that was early on when we had a very heavy wet snow. As I said earlier, my installer warned me that the signal strength would be lower, but it didn't matter as long as I was receiving the signal with no loss. Don't get hung up with numbers.

 

[Tampa8]

n1wbd, not a foolish poll at all. I had 119/110, now have that and 61.5/72. There are two differences, three remarks;
1. I very rarely lost my signal off the WA in a rain storm. The rare times I did, it was for a very short period. Now, I lose it a little more often, and for a little longer time. Judging from posts, and that my installer was very good, I would say my signal strength is as good as it is going to be for the EA.

2. One time in the many many years of Dish service did I have to clean snow off the WA dish. Because of the higher angle of the EA, it does accumulate snow sometimes and I have to clean it off.

3. On the very huge plus side, if were not for the angle of the EA, I would not have HD, or at least not much of it. I can not see 129 because of trees. If the angle needed for the EA was the same as the WA I would not be able to see those Sats either. But being that high, they are above the trees. Because of this I answered "yes."

 

[whatchel1]

You might want to get like 3 24" dishes to get the gain higher. They are easy to install and point.

 

[david_jr]

We were upgraded to EA about three months ago and here in NW Mass we got a lot of snow this winter. Only lost reception twice that I recall due to snow. First time deep snow piled up on the roof and over the bottom of the dish and a thick crust of ice accumulated on the LNB. A trip up on the roof, trudging through waist deep snow to the peak of the roof and shovel around the dish and clear the ice and it is good to go. Second time was a few weeks ago and it was wet and heavy, not much accumulation, but wet and heavy and stuck to the dish and knocked it out. Another trip up to the dish and cleared it and it was good to go. Haven't had it long enough to test for rain fade though. Overall I think it is a bit more susceptible to snow fade, but I love the idea of one dish on the roof. Also we have had some pretty fierce winds this winter and wind has not affected our signal at all that I have noticed.