I'm not sure where to post this question, but say you had Canadian satellite, but it needed readjusting, who would you call in the US to do it? Are there independent contractors for that sort of thing?
Thanks
Thanks
readjusting dish?
- Thread starter Delif
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Which one.....Shaw or Bell?
By "readjusting", I presume you mean re-pointing or peaking the dish? If so, tell us what kind of dish you have. Is it the Shaw 60e or 75e that has the LNB with four coax outputs on a single box...or a Bell dish......?
There are plenty of independent contractors: there are satellite shops in every city that sell "free-to-air" equipment who would have installers; likewise, there are shops that sell/install one, or both, of the American Satellite Services. Finding any one of these who might have Canadian installation experience is another matter, especially in areas of the country where there are not a lot of Canadian snowbirds who have brought their equipment to the US. And there are NO "authorized" Canadian "independent contractors" in the US. You just need to ask them about their experience before letting them on your property. Be aware anyone who attempts the task with no expericence may charge you by the hour while they fiddle with it.
Having said all that, and to explain why I asked so many questions above, if all that is needed is "readjusting" of the dish, is it not possible you could do it yourself with a little help from posters on this forum? We need a little more info, though, such as:
(1) What currently is the problem that makes you believe it needs "readjusting"?
(2) Has the system ever worked correctly in it's present location?
(3) What model receiver are you using?
Perhaps a moderator might consider moving posts #14 & #15 to a new thread.....
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Hi Joshuals
Sorry for the delay in replying, and thank you for responding! The equipment would be StarChoice/Motorola. There has never been a STRONGSTRONG signal, gets lost in storms, but it's been in the 70's and no problem with the picture or sound. But I live near the marines and with regular munitions training(bombs) my house gets shaken. I believe that's why every once in a while the dish needs redirecting a tad. The man that used to come out has retired(number disconnected) When I looked in the yellow pages all I could find were big company affiliated companies(Dish Network hung up on me.) I spoke to customer service for mine and after I told her that I was not getting any reception during the hrs of 9-5? She told me it was because my signal wasn't strong enough and that eventually I would lose it completely if I didn't adjust the dish. I told her that I wasn't sure how I should do it, and asked for directions and she said it would be best to get a professional. I do have a SATfinder tool, but when I get up on the roof I'm not sure which bolts to losen and which scale I should be looking at, so I get off the roof again without doing anything but unscrewing the cable and rescrewing it, as that was a fix once when I wasn't getting a signal... I thought I might go to Radioshack to see if they knew of/recommend anyone, but haven't got to it yet. I would love to be able to do it myself and would really appreciate any direction you might give me! Thanks again
Sorry for the delay in replying, and thank you for responding!
The equipment would be StarChoice/Motorola. There has never been a STRONGSTRONG signal, gets lost in storms, but it's been in the 70's and no problem with the picture or sound. But I live near the marines and with regular munitions training(bombs) my house gets shaken. I believe that's why every once in a while the dish needs redirecting a tad. The man that used to come out has retired(number disconnected) When I looked in the yellow pages all I could find were big company affiliated companies(Dish Network hung up on me.) I spoke to customer service for mine and after I told her that I was not getting any reception during the hrs of 9-5? She told me it was because my signal wasn't strong enough and that eventually I would lose it completely if I didn't adjust the dish. I told her that I wasn't sure how I should do it, and asked for directions and she said it would be best to get a professional. I do have a SATfinder tool, but when I get up on the roof I'm not sure which bolts to losen and which scale I should be looking at, so I get off the roof again without doing anything but unscrewing the cable and rescrewing it, as that was a fix once when I wasn't getting a signal... I thought I might go to Radioshack to see if they knew of/recommend anyone, but haven't got to it yet. I would love to be able to do it myself and would really appreciate any direction you might give me! Thanks again Sorry I didn't answer your questions! I used to be with Bell now it's Shaw. I have a 75E Dual Satellite LNB/Feedhorn Clamp Assembly. 2 receivers.
Here is the pointing data for your area, just in case you need it:
Azimuth = 168.7 (Magnetic)
Elevation = 50.8
Skew = 80.5
You can also go to dishpointer.com, select Anik F2/Wildblue-1. You can drag the icon around until you find your residence, and it will graphically indicate the direction that your dish should point, thus eliminating the need for a compass and the azimuth.
But honestly, if you are already getting a signal, you do not need use the direction data above because you are close enough as it is. At this point I think you need to be concerned more about the Ecb/No value rather than the signal strength value. Since you didn't give me the model of your receiver, I can't tell you how to find the Ecb/No. On newer receivers (209, 319, 5xx, 6xx), it's found by going "Options 6-4-7" and viewing line C. After a few seconds, the values will appear on line C. On older receivers, the value is buried in the diagnostic menus and not so easy to find. But it's there. The Ecb/No on line C is expressed like this "Ecb/No: 8.7db"; on older receivers it is expressed as a "signed" number like this: +9.2
The idea is to maximize the Ecb/No on one channel from each of the two satellites, Anik F1R and Anik F2. If you're into HDef, you might want to select channels that are HDef to do the maximizing. To determine which channels come from what satellite, use these 2 links:
Shaw Direct on Anik F1R at 107.3°W - LyngSat
Shaw Direct on Anik F2 at 111.1°W - LyngSat
Now you're going to need a helper...and a little patience. Optionally you can take your receiver and a small TV to the location of your dish and connect everything up if you can safely do so. But let's assume you're going to use a helper. The helper needs to sit by the TV and note change in the Ecb/No values. Begin by setting your receiver to channel 299 (from Anik F1R). You are going to go to the dish. Do not loosen any clamps at this time. Visually make sure you have a good line of sight by looking along the arm of the LNB; no tree branches or the like in the way. Verify that the skew value is set correctly. If it isn't, then reset it. If you're not sure what this means, use this link:
STAR CHOICE 75-E ANTENNA ASSEMBLY
Now with your hands on the edge of the dish, apply a gentle twisting pressure to the dish, forcing it against the clamps. Don't twist too hard; just moderate pressure. Do this first in the horizontal directions (east-west). Do the same in the up-down directions. Each time pressure is applied, your helper should tell you (cell phone helps sometimes) the effect on the Ecb/No. Twisting in some directions will make it worse; others will make the number increase. After you have determined which direction seems to improve the Ecb/No, set your receiver to channel 700 (Anik F2) and repeat the procedure. You should begin to see a pattern develop; once you have determined which direction improves the signal the most, partially loosen the appropriate clamp and TWEAK the dish the smallest possible amount in that direction. Retighten the clamp and repeat the twisting procedure again. Keep doing this until you have reached the maximum Ecb/No for both channels, or until you get sick of it. Note that this can be a very sensitive operation; even the action of tightening the clamps with a wrench may result in changes to the Ecb/No.
If you use the channels I suggested, you should have 8.0db or higher Ecb/No value for both satellites. Anything less than 7.0db is likely to lose signal from time to time. If you get 9.0db or above, I would suggest you call it good enough. If you choose to use HDef channels for the testing above, expect the Ecb/No values to be about 2.0db lower that for a SDef channel.
Just for comparison purposes, since we are at about the same latitude, here are my current figures for a DSR-319 with a 75e dish:
Channel 299 Signal Strength: 73 Ecb/No 8.7db
Channel 700 Signal Strength: 65 Ecb/No 7.8db
With the above numbers, I have no problems with signal loss except in a heavy shower.
Azimuth = 168.7 (Magnetic)
Elevation = 50.8
Skew = 80.5
You can also go to dishpointer.com, select Anik F2/Wildblue-1. You can drag the icon around until you find your residence, and it will graphically indicate the direction that your dish should point, thus eliminating the need for a compass and the azimuth.
But honestly, if you are already getting a signal, you do not need use the direction data above because you are close enough as it is. At this point I think you need to be concerned more about the Ecb/No value rather than the signal strength value. Since you didn't give me the model of your receiver, I can't tell you how to find the Ecb/No. On newer receivers (209, 319, 5xx, 6xx), it's found by going "Options 6-4-7" and viewing line C. After a few seconds, the values will appear on line C. On older receivers, the value is buried in the diagnostic menus and not so easy to find. But it's there. The Ecb/No on line C is expressed like this "Ecb/No: 8.7db"; on older receivers it is expressed as a "signed" number like this: +9.2
The idea is to maximize the Ecb/No on one channel from each of the two satellites, Anik F1R and Anik F2. If you're into HDef, you might want to select channels that are HDef to do the maximizing. To determine which channels come from what satellite, use these 2 links:
Shaw Direct on Anik F1R at 107.3°W - LyngSat
Shaw Direct on Anik F2 at 111.1°W - LyngSat
Now you're going to need a helper...and a little patience. Optionally you can take your receiver and a small TV to the location of your dish and connect everything up if you can safely do so. But let's assume you're going to use a helper. The helper needs to sit by the TV and note change in the Ecb/No values. Begin by setting your receiver to channel 299 (from Anik F1R). You are going to go to the dish. Do not loosen any clamps at this time. Visually make sure you have a good line of sight by looking along the arm of the LNB; no tree branches or the like in the way. Verify that the skew value is set correctly. If it isn't, then reset it. If you're not sure what this means, use this link:
STAR CHOICE 75-E ANTENNA ASSEMBLY
Now with your hands on the edge of the dish, apply a gentle twisting pressure to the dish, forcing it against the clamps. Don't twist too hard; just moderate pressure. Do this first in the horizontal directions (east-west). Do the same in the up-down directions. Each time pressure is applied, your helper should tell you (cell phone helps sometimes) the effect on the Ecb/No. Twisting in some directions will make it worse; others will make the number increase. After you have determined which direction seems to improve the Ecb/No, set your receiver to channel 700 (Anik F2) and repeat the procedure. You should begin to see a pattern develop; once you have determined which direction improves the signal the most, partially loosen the appropriate clamp and TWEAK the dish the smallest possible amount in that direction. Retighten the clamp and repeat the twisting procedure again. Keep doing this until you have reached the maximum Ecb/No for both channels, or until you get sick of it. Note that this can be a very sensitive operation; even the action of tightening the clamps with a wrench may result in changes to the Ecb/No.
If you use the channels I suggested, you should have 8.0db or higher Ecb/No value for both satellites. Anything less than 7.0db is likely to lose signal from time to time. If you get 9.0db or above, I would suggest you call it good enough. If you choose to use HDef channels for the testing above, expect the Ecb/No values to be about 2.0db lower that for a SDef channel.
Just for comparison purposes, since we are at about the same latitude, here are my current figures for a DSR-319 with a 75e dish:
Channel 299 Signal Strength: 73 Ecb/No 8.7db
Channel 700 Signal Strength: 65 Ecb/No 7.8db
With the above numbers, I have no problems with signal loss except in a heavy shower.
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Delif,
Joshuals is absolutely right about this being a relatively simple do it yourself type job. As long as you can physically handle the 75e Dish adjustment part on the Roof. Or you may consider getting someone else to do the Dish part, while you do the `ground`work, if putting the reciever / small TV nearby is too precarious to go solo.
I`ve set up a dish a bunch of times solo and really it`s a paint by numbers just like described (well done I might add :up) by joshuals.
My only change would be to take a fine sharpie marker and mark the present position of the dish (a line across from the indicator points) the before loosening any adjusting bolts. That way, you`ll always know where you started from in case you get confused or want to start from the begining again. (I bit of insurance...)
Good luck and please post back how you progress.
Joshuals is absolutely right about this being a relatively simple do it yourself type job. As long as you can physically handle the 75e Dish adjustment part on the Roof. Or you may consider getting someone else to do the Dish part, while you do the `ground`work, if putting the reciever / small TV nearby is too precarious to go solo.
I`ve set up a dish a bunch of times solo and really it`s a paint by numbers just like described (well done I might add :up) by joshuals.
My only change would be to take a fine sharpie marker and mark the present position of the dish (a line across from the indicator points) the before loosening any adjusting bolts. That way, you`ll always know where you started from in case you get confused
or want to start from the begining again. (I bit of insurance...)Good luck and please post back how you progress.
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