Need help installing dish & VIP211z

[sat119]

I'm having similar difficulties setting up a dish 1000.2 antenna and my current vip211z receiver,
but it's not a cable issue. I'm glad your problem is finally resolved.

The receiver is currently authorized + working OK with a VQ 2510 tailgater,
but when using installation/point dish from the menu screen
there are no signal bars whatsoever when trying to fine tune the 1000.2 antenna.
I also tried unplugging the receiver 1st and the going to install menu.
I know azimuth is dead on using a compass + the tailgater's compass angle,
skew shouldn't matter even though it's dead on, because I covered the 2 outer
LNB's with foil so it's pointing to sat 119 only.
It could be elevation but the antenna mast is square
and elevation is within 1* and I should get some kind of signal.
Dishpointer.com settings are being used.
Could antenna LNB's being offset lower than center mean a different elevation is required ?
I bought a signal strength meter, but it only reads voltage from the receiver, as far as I can tell,
no differences in signal strength. No frequency response from the vip211z receiver signal strength application.

Might be a software update issue since the receiver is looking for tailgater switches instead of 1000.2 switches ? ... no idea.

I wish there was a Dish installer for my area.
I've lost count of how many times I've been up + down the ladder and support here seems about my only chance
of getting a 1000.2 antenna signal ATM.

 

[harshness]

Did you execute a Check Switch when you hooked the ViP211 up to the dish?

I highly recommend setting yourself up in a situation where you can aim the dish without having to climb up and down a ladder. I have a small battery powered LCD TV that I use and it has paid for itself in time saved. The next best thing is to hook up some manner of sound system so you can at least listen for the tone.

The $8 satellite pointing meter I bought a long time ago is my go-to to get down to the fine tuning phase in a new location. There is a trick to using them (keep adjusting the gain down as you come closer) so they aren't "useless" as some assert and it can quickly (seconds) get you close enough that the receiver meter starts registering and you can assess if you have the right slot. I also discovered that my ViP211k works with the satellite meter in the line so that saves some time.

 

[JayStil]

They've got the software so screwed up that pointing a DISH is nearly impossible without a meter now. Spent over 2 hours trying to figure out why my mother's setup suddenly stopped working a couple of weeks ago. Had her temporarily using my RV tripod. Figured yesterday was a good time to try and get her back on the roof dish. Between the check switch function taking 20 minutes, the receiver taking 10 seconds to respond to any adjustment and automatically going off the point dish screen to "obtaining satellites" if you're lucky enough to briefly hit ANY satellite, the stupid "getting signal" screen that takes ANOTHER 10 minutes.

It's really a mess.

 

[JayStil]

It was nice of them to disable the off air antenna input once the receiver's gone a while without satellite signal too,

 

[the mack]

It was nice of them to disable the off air antenna input once the receiver's gone a while without satellite signal too,

bastards...

 

[harshness]

Between the check switch function taking 20 minutes, the receiver taking 10 seconds to respond to any adjustment and automatically going off the point dish screen to "obtaining satellites" if you're lucky enough to briefly hit ANY satellite, the stupid "getting signal" screen that takes ANOTHER 10 minutes.

It is best to do a check switch using a similar DISH that is already aimed but my process with a ViP211k didn't take more than four or five minutes (4 of 4 took half the time). Using a cheap meter to get the rough alignment can speed up the process a lot.

 

[JayStil]

It is best to do a check switch using a similar DISH that is already aimed but my process with a ViP211k didn't take more than four or five minutes (4 of 4 took half the time). Using a cheap meter to get the rough alignment can speed up the process a lot.

I have the same EA dish for my RV that she has on the roof. It still wants to do the 38 tests when swapping from one to the other. I setup my tripod dish several times each summer so I know the drill. My cheap meter lasted a few weeks, now it shows no signal even when hooked up to a working dish. It just shouldn't be this involved and frustrating. Maybe have dropdowns in the Pointdish Menu where you can preset the dish and switch type so it doesn't have to "Test" everytime you aim. I miss the simplier times of the 1000/2000/3000 receivers with instant aiming feedback and no switch checks.

Never did get her roof dish working. I think she's going to call DISH today and get a tech. I could probably buy a good meter for what they'll charge her.

 

[sat119]

Thanks harshness, yes check switch did 4 tests for the 1000.2 antena instead of 3 prelim tests for the tailgater.
It's seeing all 3 LNB's as 1.2k from ports 1 through 3, and shows port 4 as unconnected, which is also correct, I think,
so the cable + 1000.2 LNB's seem to be working OK and visible to the receiver.

The DC operated TV is a great idea.
I would need to pick up a 50' HDMI cable if some portable TV's have this input type.

Since it's freezing here right now, I'll try connecting the signal stength meter to each
cable (the no signal 1000.2 antenna + good signal tailgater) at the receiver, and see if there is a meter voltage difference when connected to the receiver coax input.

Good to know about the Dish receiver software delay when checking for signal strength.
I may very well have had a good signal at some point and just kept moving in increments away from
signal strength, because I thought sound feedback from the receiver would be instantaneous.
as I got closer, rather than needing to wait with each movement.

Thanks everyone ... fingers crossed.

 

[harshness]

Did you adjust the gain on your meter (inadvertently or otherwise) and forget to dial it back?

Most tiny TVs still have a yellow composite input and white audio input and that's certainly sufficient for aiming purposes. The lack of an RF modulator in the ViP211z is why I opted for a ViP211k in my portable dish situation. On my last go-around I moved the receiver out by the dish and use RCA cabling to connect it to the TV.

 

[sat119]

Instructions say to connect signal strength meter to the receiver's HDMI recording input rather than the receiver's coax antenna input.
I don't have an HDMI cable that's long enough, or a COAX to HDMI adapter ATM.
I tried installing the signal strength meter inline using COAX input at the receiver with both antennas,
(tailgater + 1000.2 dish) and the receiver puts out a COAX voltage that may be higher than antenna signal voltage,
as there is a comparable signal strength reading drop with both antennas.
I will try attenuating COAX connector voltage next time I get a chance, to see if this makes a difference between
the two antennas.

I rechecked my dish angles using dishpointer.com and they appear to be well within a degree of posted angles,
so surprising I get no signal whatsoever using transponder settings higher than 11, and trying all 3 sattelites ? Weather hasn't been very cooperative, rainy or freezing, but if the tailgater works on all 3 sats, so should the 1000.2 I would think.

The last time I unplugged the reveiver then ran checkswitch, it saw the three 1.2k LNB's but the screen said
"there is a problem with your connection"
I don't know if that's a standard message when no signal is received or what it said last time I did this.
I wish this dish had a screw type vertical adjustment, because if any antenna setting is slightly out of range, I suspect it would be that one.

Thanks again.

 

[harshness]

You're way overthinking this. Setting the elevation and skew according to dishpointer.com is good enough to find the satellites (tweaking the settings may yield a point or two). At this point, I think you really need to confirm that all of your hardware is functional (obviously the receiver is working).

It sounds a little to me like your LNB assembly is faulty. You should be able to get some sort of signal as long as your within a degree or so. How much trouble have you gone to in insuring that the mast is plumb? I recommend using a bullet style level on the side of the tube rather than across the top. A level with a v-groove in the side will insure that your level is properly aligned with and straddling the tube. Assess level all the way around at 90 degree intervals.

This should be a situation where you set up the mast, set the elevation and skew and then drop the dish onto the mast and start slowly sweeping across where the compass indicates you should be pointing. Make sure the dish mount locking bolts are tight enough that the dish doesn't rock on the mast. If you never get a signal, your cable or LNB assembly is almost surely messed up.

If you have a multimeter, you should check for a short in the cable (making sure it isn't connected to anything at either end, of course). DO NOT tinker with the voltage coming out of the receiver. It is expected to be somewhere between 21 and 28 VDC. The actual voltage doesn't matter as the LNB assembly is internally regulated.

 

[Mark Veit]

So I too inherited a DISH HD and have a VIP211z receiver. In trying to find signal it asks, zip, then dish. The options are 300, 500, and super. What is an HD Dish? what do I choose. Also it has a triple LBN. Does it matter which of the three left ports I plug into?

 

[HipKat]

So I too inherited a DISH HD and have a VIP211z receiver. In trying to find signal it asks, zip, then dish. The options are 300, 500, and super. What is an HD Dish? what do I choose. Also it has a triple LBN. Does it matter which of the three left ports I plug into?

It's a 500. And no, all three outputs are the same. The 1000.2 LNB has a built in switch

 

[ChadT41]

Use dishpointer.com and get the angles there. The 500, although can be right, just as easily can be incorrect too.

 

[HipKat]

Use dishpointer.com and get the angles there. The 500, although can be right, just as easily can be incorrect too.

True but in the check switch screen, if someone tries to change the dish type, you use 500, which is typically set by default

 

[ChadT41]

Agreed. Never understood why Dish never loaded the 1k.2. The 300 and 500 are almost completely obsolete.

 

[Mark Veit]

You're way overthinking this. Setting the elevation and skew according to dishpointer.com is good enough to find the satellites (tweaking the settings may yield a point or two). At this point, I think you really need to confirm that all of your hardware is functional (obviously the receiver is working).

It sounds a little to me like your LNB assembly is faulty. You should be able to get some sort of signal as long as your within a degree or so. How much trouble have you gone to in insuring that the mast is plumb? I recommend using a bullet style level on the side of the tube rather than across the top. A level with a v-groove in the side will insure that your level is properly aligned with and straddling the tube. Assess level all the way around at 90 degree intervals.

This should be a situation where you set up the mast, set the elevation and skew and then drop the dish onto the mast and start slowly sweeping across where the compass indicates you should be pointing. Make sure the dish mount locking bolts are tight enough that the dish doesn't rock on the mast. If you never get a signal, your cable or LNB assembly is almost surely messed up.

If you have a multimeter, you should check for a short in the cable (making sure it isn't connected to anything at either end, of course). DO NOT tinker with the voltage coming out of the receiver. It is expected to be somewhere between 21 and 28 VDC. The actual voltage doesn't matter as the LNB assembly is internally regulated.

So I bought another dish HD but 2 LBN instead of three, I have the dish aimed as the website says and get really spuratic information. It suddenly picked up 110 at 20% signal, then it disappeared. I switched 119 and got max 12%. Any time I ran a connection test, etc. the signal would disappear. Do I have too much interference, trees, etc. Also the dish is pointing near the main power line going into the cabin. Would that make a difference?
End result is I always get the same message- Activate your account- which I thought I did weeks ago- they billed me- so what the hell do I do. Very frustrated.

 

[boba]

So I bought another dish HD but 2 LBN instead of three, I have the dish aimed as the website says and get really spuratic information. It suddenly picked up 110 at 20% signal, then it disappeared. I switched 119 and got max 12%. Any time I ran a connection test, etc. the signal would disappear. Do I have too much interference, trees, etc. Also the dish is pointing near the main power line going into the cabin. Would that make a difference?
End result is I always get the same message- Activate your account- which I thought I did weeks ago- they billed me- so what the hell do I do. Very frustrated.

2 LNB HD Dish is for Eastern Arc it picks up signal from 61.5 & 72.7. IT DOES NOT SEE 110/119 & 129.

 

[Jim5506]

EA lnb can get 61.5 and 72.7 but the signal wil never be optimal since the spacing is off (11.2 degrees instead of 9 degrees), just as some have used a Dish 500 to receive EA but the spacing is off in the other direction.

 

[NYDutch]

EA lnb can get 61.5 and 72.7 but the signal wil never be optimal since the spacing is off (11.2 degrees instead of 9 degrees), just as some have used a Dish 500 to receive EA but the spacing is off in the other direction.

An EA LNB aimed at 61.5 and 72.7 does have the correct spacing for those satellites. Trying to use it for the WA would be problematic...