Hard Time Aiming Slimline Dish!!!

Status
Please reply by conversation.

ryanlange1

Member
Original poster
Mar 6, 2007
5
0
Hello everyone. I just got my slimline dish in today and was trying to get it set up. I set up my 3 lnb dish with no problem and found a signal right away. I got my slimline one mounted already and wired into my H20 reciever. I tried aiming it to the 101 satellite and wasn't able to pick anything up. It sucks because I don't have a signal meter (and can't afford a nice one just to set up 1 dish). Is there any trick to this that anyone can tell me? I set the tilt to 0 and pointed the azimuth to about 189 degrees which I calculated from a website. My zip code is 51240. My view is the southern sky is clear as day with nothing in the way so that is not the problem. I am just finding that this dish is much harder to find the signal. It got dark tonight and will continue tomorrow. Again, any advice would be great. If anyone has a signal meter that I could borrow, that would be awsome as well. I can give a deposit for it and send it back when complete.
 
I'm not sure why you're using a website to give you az information if you have nan H20. The guided setup for the H20 will give you exact tilt/elevation/heading for your zip code. Even if you don't have the dish ready, go ahead and plug the receiver in and it should be the first thing in setup.
 
...sorry for the typo. I mean that "I will continue tomorrow" not "it will continue tomorrow". I was trying fast
 
D* will give a free AU9 and installation with purchase of H20 so why do people try to install them themselves? Too many professional installers have trouble with the 5 LNB dishes why do amatuer home owners insist on trying to do it.
 
Hello everyone. I just got my slimline dish in today and was trying to get it set up. I set up my 3 lnb dish with no problem and found a signal right away. I got my slimline one mounted already and wired into my H20 reciever. I tried aiming it to the 101 satellite and wasn't able to pick anything up. It sucks because I don't have a signal meter (and can't afford a nice one just to set up 1 dish). Is there any trick to this that anyone can tell me? I set the tilt to 0 and pointed the azimuth to about 189 degrees which I calculated from a website. My zip code is 51240. My view is the southern sky is clear as day with nothing in the way so that is not the problem. I am just finding that this dish is much harder to find the signal. It got dark tonight and will continue tomorrow. Again, any advice would be great. If anyone has a signal meter that I could borrow, that would be awsome as well. I can give a deposit for it and send it back when complete.


you can use the reciever just fine to aim one of these things. all a signal meter is is a reciever thats convienient to move and doesnt need a tv.

first off you need to ditch the azimuth you got from the website. the azimuth from the website and even the one on the screen for the h20 is irrelevent. your azimuth will be wht it will be when your all said and done.

you do in fact need to set the dishs correct elevation and skew as per the aiming instructions on the h20. if you do not set the elevation and skew or even just the skew alone your most likely not going to get anything. this is what your current problem is, you have your skew/tilt whatever you want to address it by set at 0. i know for my area (pittsburgh) the skew is 67 an its almost dead perfect. once you get those two set correctly then start swinging it back and forth to look for 101. your basically going backwards right now. the fine tuning part comes later, dont even worry about it for right now. and i you have a d10 or d11 your better off using that meter to point the dish over te h20. the h20's read alot lower by nature and your going to end up thinking your screwing it up when your really not.

look these things are easy to setup if you dont let them scare you. you may be thinking i say that because ive done a hundred of them but i got my first one done way back when in about 10 minutes. it'll take joe homeowner longer cause he's using his tv but all the same principles apply. if ya have anymore questions just come back and post them, i'll help ya as much as i can.
 
you can use the reciever just fine to aim one of these things. all a signal meter is is a reciever thats convienient to move and doesnt need a tv.

Obviously you do not have a H20 or HR20 as you don't know how they work compared to past IRDs - they do not show signal changes in real time.

If the OP cannot find 101W, then its ridiculous for him to try installing a 5lnb - as noted - even those who are supposed professionals have issues getting them properly aligned.
 
Obviously you do not have a H20 or HR20 as you don't know how they work compared to past IRDs - they do not show signal changes in real time.

If the OP cannot find 101W, then its ridiculous for him to try installing a 5lnb - as noted - even those who are supposed professionals have issues getting them properly aligned.


i've most likely seen and installed more h20 and hr20's then you have so i am well aware of what they are and are not capable of. in fact they are capable of showing alteration in signal strength numbers assuming you know how to highlight the + button and cycle through the satellites and back to 101 again. is it a pain in the ass? of course, but very possible.

besides i told the guy to use a d10 or d11 or d12 to tune it in if he has one. have they done anything to those in the past couple hours since i did an install that i should know about?

i know this may be hard but you have to realize this guy isnt you, and obviously he would like to attempt to install his dish himself which is entirely possible. this is not rocket science and anyone with a little patience and some wit about himself can install one of these things. so if he continues to attempt to install the dish himself i will continue to attempt to help him. there may come a point where it becomes obvious he is unable to do it and i would reccomend he contact someone to do it for him but untill then your comments are not needed nor justified.
 
Hello everyone. I just got my slimline dish in today and was trying to get it set up. I set up my 3 lnb dish with no problem and found a signal right away. I got my slimline one mounted already and wired into my H20 reciever. I tried aiming it to the 101 satellite and wasn't able to pick anything up. It sucks because I don't have a signal meter (and can't afford a nice one just to set up 1 dish). Is there any trick to this that anyone can tell me? I set the tilt to 0 and pointed the azimuth to about 189 degrees which I calculated from a website. My zip code is 51240. My view is the southern sky is clear as day with nothing in the way so that is not the problem. I am just finding that this dish is much harder to find the signal. It got dark tonight and will continue tomorrow. Again, any advice would be great. If anyone has a signal meter that I could borrow, that would be awsome as well. I can give a deposit for it and send it back when complete.

I used one of my standard def receivers to pickup 101, 110 & 119. I'm getting awesome signal strength on those but I have nothing to look at right now for the 99 and 103 so I don't know if I will have trouble picking those up when they come online. I found the slimline much easier to tune than the the 3lnb. I can't afford laying down 500 on a signal meter and if I can't hit the 103 I will simply call in a pro for much less than a signal meter. Perhaps you should do that?
 
Thanks for all the help and advice. I got it alligned correctly, was just a little more touchy than the 3 lnb dish which only took about 10 minutes.
 
good work.... i just installed my slimline today at my new house and must say it wasnt as simple as the at9 or 3lnb. good work, it only takes a litle patience. The only diff between someone like you and me to a 'professional' is they get paid. Dont ever be scared to try something yourself and dont let the 'professionals' here tell you otherwise.
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Extra Innings/Sports Pack

Directv in my apt

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)