Moving a Genie to a cabin

[Jimbo]

I had to leave for home before I could finish aligning the dish. I have a few questions:

1. Which bolts do you have to loosen to use the fine tuning azimuth and elevation knobs? I've looked at some videos on using these and none of them clearly show. Is it the main elevation bolts and the two underneath?
2. Can you use the signal strength meter on a receiver to perform the dithering procedure? I will have someone relay the numbers to me. Do the cheap (<$20) meters works OK for this?
   
3. I checked at home and my signal strength numbers on 99ca were only in the 70s. 101 is in the 90s. Did the installer do a poor alignment? Could this be causing dropouts on 4K programming?

2. Yes ... but give it time, it takes a few seconds to see a change. The cheap meters are just that, don't bother, the recvr will do just as good.
3. Your home is running in the 90's on the 101 is fine, the higher the better ... however, the 99 being only in the 70's is an issue I'd have looked at, what are the 103 numbers looking like ? All should be in the 90's, high 80's ...

 

[hokie74]

99 tuners are 80 on the signal strength meters. 103 is in the 90s. These are definitely better than my aiming but 99 should be higher.

I’m going back up to mountains this weekend. I’ll fine tune my dish pointing. That should solve the guide issue.

 

[Jimbo]

99 tuners are 80 on the signal strength meters. 103 is in the 90s. These are definitely better than my aiming but 99 should be higher.

I’m going back up to mountains this weekend. I’ll fine tune my dish pointing. That should solve the guide issue.

If this is something your using all the time, then Yes, I'd adjust it, if your only there once in a while its probably not an issue.
What it really comes down to is when it rains, how long it will go before losing signal ... thats why the numbers want to be as high as they can be ...
I had one set up last year for 2 week vacation, numbers were in the 90's for most, but some were only in the 70's, I knew I had all my channels so I didn't worry about it. It was only for a few weeks.

 

[hokie74]

If this is something your using all the time, then Yes, I'd adjust it, if your only there once in a while its probably not an issue.
What it really comes down to is when it rains, how long it will go before losing signal ... thats why the numbers want to be as high as they can be ...
I had one set up last year for 2 week vacation, numbers were in the 90's for most, but some were only in the 70's, I knew I had all my channels so I didn't worry about it. It was only for a few weeks.

As long as I can get the Guide data to download I will be fine. I think a little playing with the fine tuning screws should get me there. I can access it from a step ladder. I plan to spend about half my time there through the summer and fall.

 

[hokie74]

I got back to my cabin this afternoon. I redid the gross azimuth alignment and everything came in fine. 101 is 96-100. 99 is high 80's and 103 is mid 80's. The guide data is downloading and all the channels including locals are there.

Tomorrow I will check the fine tuning.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the equipment selection and installation suggestions .

 

[hokie74]

This is a photo of my installation. I still need to tidy up the cables.

 

[Claude Greiner]

You could do a bit better on 99 and 103 but the mid 80’s are fine.

If an installer put this in, they should have had a Directv AIM meter.

If they didn’t it’s likely not aligned correctly.

 

[hokie74]

You could do a bit better on 99 and 103 but the mid 80’s are fine.

If an installer put this in, they should have had a Directv AIM meter.

If they didn’t it’s likely not aligned correctly.

After peaking and using the dithering method I have these signal strengths here at the cabin:

101 - 97
99ca - 87
99cb - 92
103ca - 93
103cb - 91

We've had thundershowers the last few days and I have only seen a very brief LOS for less than a minute one night. When I get back home this weekend I will fine tune my dish there.

The installer at home was a contractor and I don't think he had the best meter.

 

[raoul5788]

Those are reasonable numbers. A trained tech could do better, but I don't see the need. BTW, LOS is normally used for line of sight, not loss of signal.

 

[hokie74]

Those are reasonable numbers. A trained tech could do better, but I don't see the need. BTW, LOS is normally used for line of sight, not loss of signal.

Thanks. I am happy with those. Not bad for using the HR54 signal strength meter.

I suppose technically loss of signal isn't correct. It is loss of whatever channel I happened to be watching at the time.