Question about Satellite Signal

[redgixxer]

Well, I just finished setting up a Directv Slimline satellite and am getting some weird results.
I'm also using an Acutrac 22 pro mk11 meter to peak the satellite. A couple of days ago it was
kinda overcast and tried peaking the satellite for both 101 and 119 birds. When I used the
Acutrac 22 it showed 100 % for the peak number for 101 sat and 100% for the peak number for the
119 sat. I then tried to use the HR20-700 reciever to see what it gets for the 101 sat and it
showed me 98% which is a hair lower then the reading from Actrac 22. All channels including HD
channels looked really good and ended up just tighten everything up.
We are going into the winter months and wanted to try out the Kings Control rain shield/ fade spray on the satellite to see if keeps the ice and snow off. After spraying the rain shield on the satellite my numbers dropped from 98% to 91 on sat 101 transponder 1 using the HR20 and all the other transponders on that sat were also much lower. The 103b sat transponders are now running in the low to mid 80's and before were in the 90's. The only satellite still showing strong reading across the board is the 119 with all transponders running in the mid to high 90's.
I then decided to plug in the Actutrac 22 meter into the satellite and see what it has for signal strength and both 101 and 119 had 100% signal. So, I started scratching my head and decided to connect the HR20 to the sat to see what it gets for signal on the 101 sat. It was still showing 91% on the 101 number 1 transponder with all others still lower then before. I tried peaking the 101 sat with the reciever, but it wouldn't go passed 91% even though the Acutrac 22 meter shows the 101 sat peaked at 100% . If I move the satellite you do see the signals on both HR20 and Acutrac move up and down as normal. It's just strange that I could move the satellite and get a locked reading of 100% on the Acutrac , but the reciever would only peak out at a reading of 91% now. Any help would be greatly appreciated....

Questions:
1. Which reading should be trusted the HR20 reciever or the Acutrac 22 reading?

2. Should the Kings Control rain shield spray cause a drop on the 101 sat transponder 1 from 97%
to 91% ?

3. Does it really matter if a satellite is peaked with cloudy weather or is it recommended to
wait for a perfect clear day?

Thanks
redgixxer

 

[Hemi 6.1]

As far as I know that spray is like Oily, which means glossy,I wouldn't use it. Gloss is to reflective, and most likely somewhat overshooting your signal to the lnbs. But it doesn't sound that bad of a signal. It doesn't matter if its cloudy or sunny to peak a signal. Peak is peak. I just wouldn't do it while storming.

 

[redgixxer]

Hemi 6.1,

Thanks for the quick reply. So, the numbers on the Acutrac 22 are the numbers that should be trusted or should I go by the numbers that the reciever is giving?
I wonder why the reciever is effected by the spray and giving that low reading , while the Acutrac 22 is giving high readings during peaking of satellite with spray on the satellite...
My worry is that the 103b numbers are in the low 80's and bad weather will drop those puppies down into the 70's and maybe high 60's . This would suck if it happen during a good game....

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I think you'll be OK. You may lose your signal a second or two before you used to ,but I don't think its going as bad as you might think.I've had signal as low as 42 on the 103 before it started breaking up during the last storm.and that transponder is normally 94. So a lot of leeway IMO.

 

[harshness]

Thanks for the quick reply. So, the numbers on the Acutrac 22 are the numbers that should be trusted or should I go by the numbers that the reciever is giving?

Because it is the receiver delivering the programming and not your signal meter, it really doesn't matter what the signal meter says. Apparently the meter isn't as sensitive as it should be (or you're not using it correctly).

I'd suggest that you not spray anything other than the dish face itself. If you've put a coating on the LNB "lens", that might be why the signal dropped.

 

[Bigguy]

There is an attenuate function on the acutrac 22 that will display numbers lower when the bar hits the 100% mark. I used this to fine tune my dish.

 

[redgixxer]

Yeah, I just followed the Slimline instructions and peaked the 101 sat setting the meter to 13v and no 22k tone. I did this and then rotated the sat till the number on the meter reached 99.9 then moved it a hair to get higher reading and the meter shows HI for 100%. I do still have room on the bar even after it showsHI. To find the 119 sat the instructions say to set the meter to 13v and 22k tone. I did this and peaked the 119 satellite without a problem. I followed the fine tuning and everything was fine with a end result of 98% on the 101 #1 transponder. I checked the sat the signal was pretty close for both reciever and meter. The reciever was just off by a small percentage and figured the meter was doing it's job. It's just after spraying the LNB and Dish with the rain fade the numbers on the receiver wouldn't go up any higher t 91% even though the meter still shows a HI for both 101 and 119 . I guess the rain fade stuff is causing the reciever to think that the signal is lower for some reason. I check and the sat is plumb using both the level in the pole and a small carpenters level. I have trying playing with all the setting again on the sat and still the reciever can only get up to 91 for the 101 first transponder.
I guess I'll just have to wait till it wears off the LNB's to see if the numbers change , which will be like 12 months according to the spray can .


RedGixxer

 

[redgixxer]

I just took a look a the manual again for the AcuTrac 22 MKII and it says " The signal level reading indicated on the acuTrac22 will NOT be the same reading as you get on the satellite reciever. These two readings can compliment each other (when one increases, the other increases) but the number will not be the same. The sat receiver indicates interpreted data reception (forward error correction info) while the Acutrac 22 indicates overall gain of the LNBFs." So, reading this both should be pretty close,but after the spraying the numbers dropped. Wonder if there is a easy way to remove that stuff off at least the lnb for the 101 to see if it's really the rain fade stuff. Heck, it would be a good test anyway