Losing Satellite 119 on Dish 500

[brucel]

I have been having problems getting Satellite 119 channels on my Dish Network setup and am thinking of changing to Directv if I can't solve the problems. But before I take such a drastic step (LOL) , I thought I'd bounce this off some friendly satellite gurus.

I live in south-central Michigan (Lat 42.12 N, Long 84.4 W).
I have a dual LNB Dish 500, and receiver DP301.

The system is setup to receive programming from Satellites 110 and 119.

For my location the settings are: Azimuth = 226, elevation = 32, skew = 119.

The channels coming from 110 have always come in fine. We used to lose the signals from the 119 channels only when the weather was bad. But, now it is happening on beautiful, sunny days with no clouds in the entire USA.

So... it must be the trees - the really tall trees on the hill just west of our house. And yep, they all have leaves this time of year.

Well, I have the dish mounted at the highest point of the roof and as far away from the hill as possible. Its about 25 feet off the ground and 100 feet away from the trees.

Since the 119 satellite is farther west than the 110, it is lower on the horizon(30.1 vs 34.9 degrees elevation). It seems I am clearing the trees at 34 degrees but not at 30 degrees. I could get a bit more elevation by using a chimney mounted bracket and a 6 foot pole.

The other thought is to switch to DIRECTV. They use the satellites at 101,110 and 119. So I called them up and asked what channels were beamed from which satellites. Since the 101 is closer, it has an elevation of 38.5 degrees and should be easier to pick up.

Well, the story I got from DIRECTV is that if you can see any one of the satellites you can get all of the channels.

1. Can anyone tell me if this is correct?

2. If not, how do I find a list of the channels are sent from each satellite?

3. Does it make sense to switch?



Thanks in advance for any and all comments.


Bruce

 

[SimpleSimon]

A1. No.
A2. www.lyngsat.com
A3. No.

 

[ncgrl]

Bruce, I'm having the same problem. Only I keep losing my satellite signal. And when i DO get it back, I am missing a bunch of channels, like GAC, SOAPnet, and others that are in the 180 package. On Sunday it went out for good and even resetting it didn't bring my signal back. The techs came out yesterday, said it was receiving a signal, finally found that the cable had been chewed under the house, changed the cable and since my old receiver didn't work they told me the damaged cable had damaged my satellitte receiver so they gave me one to borrow until I can get a new one. But guess what? Satellite signal went out again today and won't come back. I guess something else must be damaged too...

 

[webbydude]

Bruce, before you make the switch, I'm rather curious as to what your signal stength on on both the 110 and 119 is. Ideally, transponders 11 and 12 are what is needed for signal strength please

 

[Van]

I'm in the detroit area, I work for dish as a senior technician and could possibly swing by to look at your problem, granted this would be on my off time as your most likely out of my shops service area so we would have to make arangements.

 

[brucel]

webbydude,

The signal strengths for 110 are: 90 & 88 on transponders 11 & 12.
The signal strengths for 119 are: 53 & 50 on transponders 11 & 12.

All the 110 channels come in strong. The 119 channels are iffy.

Bruce

 

[brucel]

Van,

Thanks very much for the generous offer. I live in Concord which is about 2 hours west of you. But, after seeing the channel line-up for Sat 101 on Directv , I'm thinking even more seriously about switching.

Bruce

 

[brucel]

Simple Simon,

Thanks for your succinct response.
Your link gave me exactly the right info.

I'm curious why you said not to switch, though. Sat 101 looks like it has a strong channel lineup and better elevation than Sat 119 (38 vs 30.1 degrees).

 

[Dish Dude]

53 & 50 on transponders 11 & 12., horrible signal strength you should be over 90 on that one as well, have you tried a new lnb, is there any switches in line you say you have a "dual Lnb" are you sure it isn't a twin, and if so have you tried replacing the twin?

 

[Mr Tony]

with signals that low, that's the reason

Have you tried to tweak the dish (moving it a little bit can make a HUGE difference)

otherwise it might be a bad LNB

 

[Van]

I know the area he is in, Ive been out there quite a bit for install work. Concord is a small village town and in the village itsself it is heavily tree'd while north of spring arbor road its more wide open and doesnt open up to the south till you get outside of the village limits. His signal strength on the 119 is indicative of tree blockage definitely, sounds like he does not have the superdish for locals either.

Offer stands, I may be able to get out there on a work day with all my tools and a work vehicle if I can swing it to get routed out there, earliest would be monday unless you want something sooner wich would have to be friday or saturday on my off time.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I also suggest doing the dish-nudge dance.

Go to the point dish screen and select 119-11. Make sure you can hear the tone from the dish location. Gently nudge the dish with your hand in each of the four directions. Remember that the response from the receiver is delayed by 3-4 seconds.

 

[brucel]

Van,

It would be great if you can get routed out this way and take a quick look at my location. It would be very nice to play with a signal strength meter. Anytime next week would be fine. Send me an e-mail and I'll give you my address. Perhaps there is something else I've missed.

By the way, I have played nudge-nudge, tweak-tweak with the dish. I hooked up a tv and receiver on the balcony underneath the dish and adjusted it for maximum signal strength. I probably didn't use transponder 11, though.

Yes, this is a wooded area. I'm surrounded by 100 foot tall oak trees...

Bruce

 

[Liquidforce88]

Bruce,

I am out of the Kalamazoo RSP area. So if Van can't get to ya I am not that far away.

 

[Van]

Ok, I will have to work this out with my supervisors and hopefully pull a string or two, our office does go out that way but not often, so keep your fingers crossed. If I cant routed out to the jackson area ( love the country better than detroit any day ) I will let you know. Sending you an email.