How to determine unused satellite dish?

[aviation76]

How can I determine which satellite dish on my house is no longer in use? I have 3 satellite dishes and I believe we are only using 2 of them. Would I have to go on a ladder and disconnect cabling and see which channels go black? Is there an option in the menu that would state which dishes are being utilized?

One is a Dish 500 pointing approximately due south. The others (1 Dish Network "Plus" and 1 Dish Network 1000) are mounted on the side of the house are pointing approximately due southwest. I have a Hopper w/ Sling and two Joey receivers. I subscribe to America’s Top 250 and international programming. I recall that the international language channels moved over to a new satellite some time ago. I suspect that one of the dishes (maybe the Dish 500) was previously utilized for this service and is now obsolete. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[boba]

FOR DFW you should be looking to the South West so the dishes on the side of the house are probably active on the Western Arc. On the receiver go to menu 6-1-1 and run a switch test. That should tell you what the receiver is connected to.

 

[TimberWolf]

on the western arc, 1 dish can get you everything
the plus dish is capable of getting 119 118 110 and 129 with the right equipment

 

[primestar31]

You could cover the lnbs with a piece of aluminum foil, and see if you lose satellite signal.

 

[Jimmerinwi]

Seeing you have international programming, that would likely come off the 118 satellite off of the "Plus" dish. The 1000 dish and "wing" dish are most likely not being utilized.

 

[sca]

but a checkswitch will tell you.

 

[3HaloODST]

On your Hopper press YELLOW - GREEN and look in field "g" to see which says you are utilizing. Field "h" will tell you the type of dish/switch you are using.

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[aviation76]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.

I performed a checkswitch and I am using 119, 110, 129, and 118 satellites.

The device field states: DPP, 1K.2, 1K.2(1), 1K.2(2), 1K.2(3), and Dbnd(4)

From your replies, it appears that my channels are coming from the Dish Plus and/or Dish 1000 dishes. These are pointing Southwest.

As a sanity check, I will try to cover the LNB on the Dish 500 just to make sure that it is no longer being used.

 

[osumike]

It should be just the plus dish, that gives you the four orbitals you mentioned. How many lnb's or "eyes" are on the plus dish?

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[aviation76]

I believe there are two LNBs on the "plus". I'll have to take another look today.




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[boba]

From your picture I would guess at 110, 118.7 & 119 off that dish but it is only a guess from what is visible.

 

[aviation76]

Would anyone venture to guess what the Dish 500 is (or was) pointing to? In the attached pictures, it is pointing approximately due south.





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[boba]

Would anyone venture to guess what the Dish 500 is (or was) pointing to? In the attached pictures, it is pointing approximately due south.

View attachment 97605
View attachment 97606


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That looks like a DISH 300 with a single LNB. Was there ever a Directv customer at that address South could be there 101 satellite.

 

[3HaloODST]

Would anyone venture to guess what the Dish 500 is (or was) pointing to? In the attached pictures, it is pointing approximately due south.

View attachment 97605
View attachment 97606

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Based on your switch results you appear to be using all dishes except for this one.

 

[aviation76]

@boba--I purchased my home new and this dish was probably the first one that was installed when we moved in.

Thanks to everyone for their expert opinion! I will proceed removing the Dish 500 since this is likely the one not in use. I'll perform a quick test to make sure this dish is null Looks like I have some work ahead of me this weekend!


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[3HaloODST]

That looks like a DISH 300 with a single LNB. Was there ever a Directv customer at that address South could be there 101 satellite.

Looks like a 500 with a single LNB. Notice the Y-yoke.

 

[osumike]

It's possible that's pulling the 129 sat.. Is there a switch installed anywhere? If there is, I bet that 500 dish is pointed at 129

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[agentc13]

I believe that the 1000 dish is getting the 110/119/129 and is getting the 118.7 feed from the plus dish. You're probably fine to remove the 500.

 

[3HaloODST]

It's possible that's pulling the 129 sat.. Is there a switch installed anywhere? If there is, I bet that 500 dish is pointed at 129

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It definitely wouldn't be pointing so far south if it were pulling in 129. As boba stated, it was most likely at some point used for DirecTV reception @ 101.

OP, your installation is a little odd, no doubt. It shouldn't be hard to fix, at least by a Dish technician, or even yourself if you have the safety/time/willpower/expertise to do it yourself.

It looks like the 129 LNB is missing from your Plus dish, effectively making it a 500 Plus dish. All that is needed to turn it into a 1000 Plus, would be adding another LNB (DP Dual) to the other side of the center (118.7/119) LNB. It could be that trees were blocking LOS to 129 for the Plus dish, hence the 1000.2 would be pulling in 129. Based on the picture, neither the 110 nor 119 LNBs are connected to anything. So that dish appears to be picking up only 118.7.

Obviously, the installer took shortcuts. The problem with the older Plus dishes, is that they did not have built-in switches, therefore they required a DPP44 to be installed inline (which requires a power outlet.) The installer got around this limitation for the old dish by connecting the 118.7 (FSS) LNB to the built-in switch of the 1000.2. So he took three different shortcuts (and I wouldn't be surprised if he took more shortcuts elsewhere.) Not only did he not have to bother with installing a switch, but he also didn't need to move any dishes. On top of such, if the 129 LNB on the Plus dish was having issues with LOS due to blockage/interference, then the 118.7 LNB probably doesn't need to be there either. Was this a recent installation or upgrade or is this an old installation/upgrade?

At any rate, there is a new 500+/1000+ LNB that has a built-in switch. It saves the installers from the trouble of having to install external switches versus the older design. Based on the appearance of the dish and your Device results under System Info, you are utilizing the 1000.2's built-in switch/LNB assembly (110/119/129,) with the 118.7 orbital slot being pulled in by the Plus dish.

Depending on when everything was installed, the installer could have just moved the Plus dish and swapped the old LNBs on the Plus for the new, simpler LNB plus the DP Dual for 129. Even if this was done before the new LNB was released, he still should have moved the Plus dish and used a switch.

As far as the 500 dish, not really the installers responsibility to remove old dishes, but most do.

So basically looks like you have had some bad luck with installers.

 

[jerryez]

Just leave the base plate, to avoid a roof leak.