Sat 101 Signal Strength Question

[JD Hogg]

Set-up: SWM8
Location: Los Angeles, CA

I just had my DTV installed about 1 month ago and running a "signal strength" on Sat 101.....almost ALL of the Transponders are showing up at 99-100%.

The exception being:

TP 4 - 43%
TP 12 - 33%
TP 20 - 0%
TP 26 - 0%

Is this NORMAL or does my dish need tweaking?

Also where can I find WHAT channels are on those TPs?

Thx

 

[Mr Tony]

yes that is normal

There are spotbeams on 101W for locals. So they may show 100, 0 or anything in between

101 spotbeams are transponders 4, 12, 18, 20, 26 and 28

 

[JD Hogg]

Pardon my ignorance but can those "spotbeam" signals be improved by tweaking the dish alignment or is this not doable?

Thanks Iceberg. You have been very helpful with all of my questions. Much appreciated.

 

[BobStokesbary]

Well you are doing better than me. I live just east of LA and I get zeros on 4, 12, 20, and 26. While most of my others are 95 and above I have a couple at 88 and 91. I haven't had any problems in over 18 months so I would say things are good. If I were you, I would leave well enough alone. You can only make matters worse if you touch anything.

 

[texasbrit]

Those TPs are spotbeams delivering locals to cities other than yours. Think of them as flashlight beams coming from the satellite. If you are in the middle of the beam, you will see strong signals. Anywhere else, weak or zero signals. Since they are not delivering channels you can receive, their signal level is not relevant.

 

[Mr Tony]

Pardon my ignorance but can those "spotbeam" signals be improved by tweaking the dish alignment or is this not doable?

no. As noted above the spotbeam transponders are used for specific markets. If you're not near any of those markets you will show a 0 for signal. As example Tp20 Minneapolis, MN locals are on there

Tp20 has
Columbus, OH
Dallas, TX
Detroit, MI
Greensboro, NC
Minneapolis, MN
Mankato, MN
New York
Paducah, KY
Phoenix, AZ
Roanoke, VA
San Francisco
St Louis
Tampa
Wichita Falls, TX

So as you can see the closest spotbeam to you is San Francisco but its far enough away so there would be no signal in southern California