Newbie - Rain Fade

[Toyzruskid1976]

ok... I had Dish 5 years ago and I NEVER experienced Rain Fade. The most I ever had was 8 inches of snow on the dish and the picture got fuzzy... I knocked the snow off and it was back to normal.

Well I had the new install done 2 weeks ago, and we had our first rain.... boom picture lost on both dishes. (Locals were on in one room and they went first, and HD was on in the other room off the EA sat and lost that second)

Anything I can do personally to calibrate the sats myself? I need one for the 129 and one for the EA. I've looked on line for FAQs and haven't found anything.

It'll really piss me off if this is what I have to look forward to for the next 2 contract years. Last night's storm was NOTHING compared to some of the storms I've seen around here.

 

[KAB]

You've got to remember "rain" fade is a misnomer. It's cloud cover and moisture that is at an angle from your location (the direction your Dish is pointed at). Will not be directly over your head.

 

[Jimmerinwi]

ok... I had Dish 5 years ago and I NEVER experienced Rain Fade. The most I ever had was 8 inches of snow on the dish and the picture got fuzzy... I knocked the snow off and it was back to normal.

Well I had the new install done 2 weeks ago, and we had our first rain.... boom picture lost on both dishes. (Locals were on in one room and they went first, and HD was on in the other room off the EA sat and lost that second)

Anything I can do personally to calibrate the sats myself? I need one for the 129 and one for the EA. I've looked on line for FAQs and haven't found anything.

It'll really piss me off if this is what I have to look forward to for the next 2 contract years. Last night's storm was NOTHING compared to some of the storms I've seen around here.

What set up do you have? Eastern Arc, Western Arc.? What sats are you receiving. If you have the E.A., they tend to have lower reading than the western arc. If you are getting fade on light showers, it could be as simple as needing your dish adjusted slightly for optimum signal strength. If you had it installed recently, I would call Dish and have them send someone out to peak your dish or dishes. Good Luck

 

[Toyzruskid1976]

What set up do you have? Eastern Arc, Western Arc.? What sats are you receiving. If you have the E.A., they tend to have lower reading than the western arc. If you are getting fade on light showers, it could be as simple as needing your dish adjusted slightly for optimum signal strength. If you had it installed recently, I would call Dish and have them send someone out to peak your dish or dishes. Good Luck

I had it installed 2 weeks ago... I can't afford another 4 hour window waiting around for a tech who may or may not be able to do anything. I've spent collectively 21 hours in windows getting my sat installed :-(

I have 1 500 sat pointing at 129 for locals and another sat pointing towards the EA for HD and everything else.

Was hoping I'd be able to do the aiming myself

 

[Lord_Vader]

You could try tightening the connections first. When the guy came out to install my most recent system he barely finger tightened every connection. I took a pair of pliers and gently tightened everything from the dish to the TV. I gained quite a bit of signal.

I did have to get the system re-peaked after that to get it completely clean.

My previous house had issues because the guy used parts from a house he had upgraded earlier in the day. The switch was rusted and so were some of the connectors. The guy that came back to clean up the install told me.

 

[Juergen99]

I'm in a similar situation. I had DirecTV about 7 or 8 years ago and signal loss was extremely rare. I got Dish about a month ago and before yesterday I got momentary losses during 4 or 5 storms. Last night for about 2 hours the signal dropped out every 5 or 10 minutes (storm moving through the area, no rain but heavy clouds). I have a 722k and 222K. We were watching on the 722K. I eventually tried the 222K and there were no dropouts (at least during the few times I checked) I sure hope this is not a regular thing.

 

[kvnfl]

You could try tightening the connections first. When the guy came out to install my most recent system he barely finger tightened every connection. I took a pair of pliers and gently tightened everything from the dish to the TV. I gained quite a bit of signal.

I did have to get the system re-peaked after that to get it completely clean.

My previous house had issues because the guy used parts from a house he had upgraded earlier in the day. The switch was rusted and so were some of the connectors. The guy that came back to clean up the install told me.

That would be the first thing I would check, too. It's low hanging fruit and easy to check. Just caution if you are using pliers. You do not want to bend, wrap or disfigure your connections. A 7/16" box wrench is a perfect fit.

As KAB said, I live coastal SW FL and it is rain season right now. Rarely do I lose a signal while it is raining. Every now and then the picture starts to break up before it rains, but not always. Depends where the storm is coming from.

 

[Toyzruskid1976]

Thanks for all the responses... but is there somewhere i can look to find out exactly where I need to angle the dish? Or is it just a matter of listening to the audio on the TV... how do home install people do it?

 

[Toyzruskid1976]

NVM... stupid question answered... Dishpointer supplies the information Your LocationSatellite DataDish Setup DataLatitude: 39.6152°
Longitude: -84.1813°

Name: Dish 1000.4 (61.5W, 72.7W, 77W)​

Distance: 37586km
Motor Latitude: 39.6°
Declination Angle: 6.2°
Dish Elevation: °
Elevation: 42.6°
Azimuth (true): 162.3°
Azimuth (magn.): 168.1°
LNB Skew [?]: -13.5°

Dish Skew [?]: 76.5°

 

[Laddyboy]

NVM... stupid question answered... Dishpointer supplies the information Your LocationSatellite DataDish Setup DataLatitude: 39.6152°
Longitude: -84.1813°

Name: Dish 1000.4 (61.5W, 72.7W, 77W)​

Distance: 37586km
Motor Latitude: 39.6°
Declination Angle: 6.2°
Dish Elevation: °
Elevation: 42.6°
Azimuth (true): 162.3°
Azimuth (magn.): 168.1°
LNB Skew [?]: -13.5°

Dish Skew [?]: 76.5°

You are not going to be making big changes from where you are. Only change one axis at a time. You probably won't need to mess with skew, just elevation and azimuth. You can get some idea of the direction by gently flexing the dish to see if signal strength increases. Do not be very aggressive in the flexing or you'll permanently misshape the reflector and you'll never get a good signal. I barely loosen the nut just so the reflector will move and gently nudge it.

 

[delta_charlie]

Thanks for all the responses... but is there somewhere i can look to find out exactly where I need to angle the dish? Or is it just a matter of listening to the audio on the TV... how do home install people do it?

Unless the dish is completely off of the satellite you should be able to use a magic marker to mark the position on the mast/clamp assembly BEFORE YOU LOOSEN THE BOLTS then open a window if the dish is nearby and crank up the audio for the signal meter (menu - setup) Crank the volume way up so you can hear it at the dish then loosen the bolts and peak it.

Got to run, DC

 

[kvnfl]

Thanks for all the responses... but is there somewhere i can look to find out exactly where I need to angle the dish? Or is it just a matter of listening to the audio on the TV... how do home install people do it?

I have done home install once. It took a couple of hours and a set of walkie talkies. Wife watched the sat receiver meters inside while I adjusted the dish outside. Complete pain in the behind. Given the chance, I would never do it again. Check the low hanging fruit. If that does not fix the problem, call Dish and wait for an installer.

As posted above, very, very, very minute changes will lose signal completely.

And once signal is lost, good luck getting it back.

There are many professional installers on this board, who have been trained in installation and have the tools and experience to complete a successful installation who will refute its difficulty.

 

[cappy29]

Receiver meter.

I have done home install once. It took a couple of hours and a set of walkie talkies. Wife watched the sat receiver meters inside while I adjusted the dish outside. Complete pain in the behind. Given the chance, I would never do it again. Check the low hanging fruit. If that does not fix the problem, call Dish and wait for an installer.

As posted above, very, very, very minute changes will lose signal completely.

And once signal is lost, good luck getting it back.

There are many professional installers on this board, who have been trained in installation and have the tools and experience to complete a successful installation who will refute its difficulty.

I have done my own install once with direct and twice with dish other than recently when we moved i just didn't feel like doing it,but the dish installer that did mine claims you can't use the receiver meter to get a peak signal, now i don't know for sure if that's true because the installs i did that's what i used but dish installer says you need one of those $300-400 dollar out at the dish meters that identifies each satellite to get the job done right.

 

[delta_charlie]

---cut--- but dish installer says you need one of those $300-400 dollar out at the dish meters that identifies each satellite to get the job done right.

Hi all, that's interesting. After the installer used his expensive meter to peak my HD dish that is on 61.5 I had rain fade problems with it so I peaked it myself and picked up some much needed signal quality using just the satellite receiver. A note on installers - the ones I have seen are in a hurry to get the install done so they can move on to the next job. They are not likely to spend the time to peak the last little bit out of the dish. It is true that peaking the dish requires very small movements of the dish but there are tricks that can be done like using a bit of flex (push on one side then the other then the top and bottom) to see what direction the dish needs to go. I have never tried using a walkie talkie to peak a dish but it might work if you duct tape the mic button on and place the transmitter near the TV speaker and set the satellite receiver to audio signal meter then go to the dish and listen to the signal. On all my FTA dishes I simply take the whole receiver and a small TV to the dish to peak it. Having direct access to the audio signal meter is the key to peaking the dish. That is the only way to detect the small changes from flexing the dish. Hope this helps, DC

 

[kb2vgp]

I have done my own install once with direct and twice with dish other than recently when we moved i just didn't feel like doing it,but the dish installer that did mine claims you can't use the receiver meter to get a peak signal, now i don't know for sure if that's true because the installs i did that's what i used but dish installer says you need one of those $300-400 dollar out at the dish meters that identifies each satellite to get the job done right.

I'm a former installer for Dish, and I installed my own dish using a 301 receiver and a small B/W portable tv at the dish to peak it. I will have to say, I've probably got stronger signal than I ever got when I was installing using a super buddy meter! Not to say meters aren't good, but you CAN use use the receiver meter to peak the dish. My job is done right because I experience very little rain fade, only when it's red on the radar to the SW.

 

[cappy29]

Dish meter.

I'm a former installer for Dish, and I installed my own dish using a 301 receiver and a small B/W portable tv at the dish to peak it. I will have to say, I've probably got stronger signal than I ever got when I was installing using a super buddy meter! Not to say meters aren't good, but you CAN use use the receiver meter to peak the dish. My job is done right because I experience very little rain fade, only when it's red on the radar to the SW.

I believe that's what he used or something similar i wish i had one of those because been having trouble lately with 129 most of the rain fade i see with that satellite is when the rain has not come down yet but lingering up in the sky,that and i am going to check my coax connections to make sure their tight.

 

[Toyzruskid1976]

well the installer didnt show until 4:30 due to equipment issues. He couldnt get the box to register the satelite at first and about 45 minutes later and a call to tech support he finally did. Come to think of it, once he got the receiver connected he didnt go back out to peak it or anything. I actually asked him to skip showing me how to use the box because by then it was 9pm and I hadn't eaten all day due to a TWELVE HOUR WINDOW and frankly I was exhausted.

 

[MrDogDad]

I was having signal strength problems with my 61.5 wing dish. I tried peaking it using the receiver's signal strength meter but couldn't get it any better. It finally deteriorated to where I was unable to lock up on several transponders.

I bought a really cheap signal meter on Ebay, an SF-95, for $12.00. I found that its analog meter was very sensitive to any movement of the dish and I was able to peak the dish without any problems.