Hello from Northern Canada

[Yellowknife]

Hi Everyone from Yellowknife, I did a search but didn't find my answer. I am wondering a couple things. I have a Dish Network sub three dishes.
39" at 72
6' at 110
39" at 129
(no signal from 119 for a couple years now)

I would like to know which Directv sats I would point at to get the most HD. Not interested in SD tv at all. Also, would an old DirecTivo box work to see if proper signal is achievable to test signal wise before I start buying equipment. I used to get signal on 101 with no problem years ago.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys Yellowknife!

The hd beams don't reach far enough north for you to practically receive them. The older style Tivo box doesn't decode the hd signals being used now.

 

[jcrandall]

For HD DirecTV uses 99/103 KA band. You would need 101 as well for guide data. The old DirecTivo box is too outdated, it would only get SD at this point. They make a new Tivo that is HD, the THR22, or the regular DirecTV HD_DVRs that now are HR24. Obvious challenges of getting things in Canada apply.

 

[Yellowknife]

Yeah, I understand that the box I have now is outdated but I was hoping to use the signal meter on it to see if it see's the sats needed and signal level. I was told Dish network wouldn't work too but I even get a working signal from 72 for it to work. On rainy days signal is bad but the winters are clear,calm and cold so I have no issues.

Did the lnb's change in the last years? I am currently still using a directv lnb on a 39" dish for Dishnetwork I used on Directv in the past.

 

[raoul5788]

For some sd signals, the lnbs are interchangeable, but the hd lnbs are entirely different.

 

[NGeorge]

I highly doubt you'll be able to get HD from D*--you need to hit 99 and 103*, but they are KA band, not KU band which means they are a higher frequency, require a larger dish even in the US, and are generally more prone to rain fade -- you're just too far away from Alaska to make this happen.

That said, I think you could potentially get a full suite of Western Arc HD from E* -- you've already got 110* and 129* -- you just need 119... If you wanted to go HUGE -- I'm thinking 18' solid (There has to be some huge old solid C-Band dishes banging around up there), you might possibly be able to do this with one dish if you can come up with a creative LNB mount--dead point it at 119--you should be able to get something usable; pick 110* and 129* off the sides... it'd be huge -- but you'd be reducing your dishes to one. Have you thought about an 8 or 10' for 119 on it's own? I'd think if you were previously getting it, you should be able to go up a few feet and continue to get it--they may have adjusted their beams, but they still have to hit the US--and an extra 4+ feet that far out on the edges should do it. I'd really think an 18' would do it...

I may be totally wrong in my thinking, but I'm thinking it could work if you're creative in mounting your LNBs -- just make sure 119*... You'll get the entire Western Arc. Unless E* is now using KA from one of their Western Arc slots -- which in that case you're stuck (I'm a D* guy so don't keep up on E*--but I know 129 was all KU the last time I checked... although they cram a lot of HD in there for KU these days)...

N

 

[Yellowknife]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will stick to Dish since it is working ok. One 6ft dish is enough for my yard. I lost 119 when they fired up Echostar 14. With the 6ft I was only able to get 2 transponders so I pointed it back to 110 instead. I get in the 80's with it. I use a 39" dish for 129 and get in the 30-40's for signal which works fine. It hardly ever rains so it doesn't affect much.
Anyway's thanks again for the info. I guess Directv is out of the question.

 

[navychop]

If you can't get 119 as well as 110 & 129 then you might explore 61.5 with 72.7. Then you'll get it all, if you can receive decent signals. Yes on different LNBs.

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