Just Moved, A Couple Problems

[UnderEstimated]

I just moved a week ago and DirecTV sent out a technican to do the new install. Just to the S-SW, there are some large trees across the street. The technican said that they would be a problem and my signal quality would probably be low. He set it up and told me it was at 94%. He seemed shocked.

Anyway, I haven't had much time to play around with the channels, but I noticed that sometimes the picture freezes on a few HD channels. I never had these problems at my old location.

At 101 I have:

95-94-93-0-94-99-94-98
94-95-94-0-94-100-92-100
93-100-93-0-94-100-94-98
94-0-93-100-94-99-93-100

At 110:

8 is 94 / 10 is 92 / 12 is 94 (The rest are N/A)

At 119:

22 is 87 / 23 is 0 / 24 is 89
25-32 are: 94-94-93-94-0-94-49-94


At 99:

83-80-81-79-82-80-80-79
83-84-81-80-87-86

At 99b:

0-49-0-75-0-94
15 is 0 / 16 is 0
17-24 are 0.

Now are all these zeros normal? I'm assuming I'm having some reception problems, but I have only noticed the problem on ESPN2HD and a handful of local HD channels.


I'm not sure if I should just deal with the problem or try to adjust the dish myself, but I would like to make the best of the situation.

And yes, cutting down the trees isn't an option. They aren't mine and they're on "protected" city property.

Thanks in advance.

 

[UnderEstimated]

Would fine tuning the dish help with the 99(a, b, c) signals? I really don't want to mess with it and make it worse.

Also, if these trees are causing a problem, would my 101 signal suffer as well?

 

[Zynergi]

What is your 103c (or a) numbers at? yes the ZEROS are fine, they are Spotbeam transponders that don't reach the area you live in.

So far your numbers are fine but the 103 is the primary HD sat.

When your signal gets "choppy" is there a breeze outside? Easiest way to tell is to look from behind the dish look down the arm and to the right a bit (approx 20 degress) and if there seems to be a branch or even a leaf in the way you will have occasional issues with a slight breeze.

Options would be to trim the tree a bit, cancel service (Dish goes in the same direction with primary HD being about 10-12 degrees more to the right.) or deal with it. The numbers can be a tad bit higher but are well within acceptable ranges.

 

[UnderEstimated]

I will check out the 103 numbers as soon as I get home. I really don't want to cancel service because of Hotpass. It's almost a must for me.

Anyway, I will get you those numbers later this afternoon.

How could I tell if the trees are a problem? It would make more sense to me if the 101 signal was poor as well.

Also, the cut-outs tend to happen towards the early evening when the marine layer (fog) rolls in. There is normally a slight breeze when that occurs.

 

[Zynergi]

If it is occurring during drastic temperature changes like dusk and dawn then it could be an issue with a connector "stinger" not being long enough and the dielectric (white stuff in the cable) not flush with the inside of the connector. the stinger is metal and does move to some degree. Also the connectors should not be any "crimp" styles either.

If possible using a 7/16" box wrench take off and inspect the connectors.

 

[harshness]

If possible using a 7/16" box wrench take off and inspect the connectors.

An open end wrench would work better.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

I believe that 99b is spotbeams, as are some of the transponders on 101 and 119 so those numbers are probably just fine.

 

[Zynergi]

Also, the cut-outs tend to happen towards the early evening when the marine layer (fog) rolls in. There is normally a slight breeze when that occurs.

Exactly Bob... the signal readings are fine, which would lead me to believe there is a physical problem somewhere in the install.

 

[UnderEstimated]

Ok, here are my 103 numbers:

103(a):

1-6 are 0
15 is 0 / 16 is 100
17-24: 0-36-100-100-100-0-0-0

103(b):

1-8: 88-77-79-69-88-75-79-70
9-16: 88-78-81-73-88-82-N/A-N/A

Now when I previously mentioned the cut-outs occur in the early evening, it's just as it rolls in. Once it socks the area in, there aren't any cut outs. Like you said before, it could just be the breeze.

So are my 103's a problem?

Thanks for all the responses so far.

 

[jdspencer]

How far away are the trees? Remember, the sat signals come down at a higher angle than it appears from looking at the dish.

 

[UnderEstimated]

Maybe 100 yards or so... Let me take some pics.

I wish I didn't have to move into an apartment.

 

[charper1]

100 yards away? How tall are they? Based on the reading, these tress should not be an issue to me.

 

[UnderEstimated]

Here's the pics! Sorry it took so long! I had to get 15 posts before I could post links or pics.


Here is a picture right behind the dish (the shadow is the dish):

Here is the tripod and dish (the smaller dish is for the person below me):

Another angle of the dish location:

Another picture of just the trees about 100 yards away on the hill:

Thanks again for all the help so far!

 

[Zynergi]

do you have Flat cable installed?

And how thick is this fog?

 

[UnderEstimated]

What exactly is a flat cable? From the satellite, it's 2 cables bonded together, until it gets inside where it splits off.

The fog isn't too thick and now I don't think the fog is a problem. It was foggy last night and I didn't have any problems.

I'm a bit concerned with the signals though, especially the few below 60. I believe my Hotpass is on 103(b), so I'd like to try to improve that.

Thanks again.

 

[sat.ninja]

You might consider joining junior nation instead.

 

[UnderEstimated]

You might consider joining junior nation instead.

No thanks.

 

[Jimbo]

UnderEstimated,
I do not think the trees are in your way at all, as another poster mentioned, the signal actually comes in higher than the dish looks like it's pointing.

Jimbo

 

[MikeinBaja]

Easy way to eliminate or confirm the trees issue is to take a short (say 6 inch) piece of PVC pipe (or something similar) stand behind the dish and sight through the pipe around the edge of the dish keeping fairly aligned with the EL angle of the dish. Remember, the dish is a collector, so you need to check all the way around.

You may also be able to ID any branches that may sway into your line of sight in a breeze.