Slimline 3 alignment - tried everything I really need help

[AndyE]

Hi,

I have a slimline 3 dish in my main home in Phoenix with 1 H24 and 3 H25 receivers, I bought a slimline dish kit and installed that in my weekend home in Payson Arizona. This came with a power inserter, 8 way switch, etc. So a few weeks ago I installed this, hooked up a H25 receiver from my main home and I cannot get it working. I have aligned the dish to where it says the satellites should be for my location (85541) Azimuth 151, Elevation 50, Tilt, 105.

I spent all last weekend on it - I had a cheaper meter but nothing I did could increase the signal on the meter. I figured there might be something wrong with the cable, so I bought a brand new 100 ft cable and tried that - no progress always giving a 771 signal.

I took the LNB and power inserter down my main home, plugged them in and they worked first time.

I bought KU / KA meter (DSF120+C) and tried to align with that, when I plug it in I get it to go to 99% and then I press att (to attenuate) to get it down to about 60% but no matter what I do to further align the dish, I cannot change the signal strength.

Running the system info & test fails with a diagnostic code 41-732 (Satellite Dish alignment or distribution problem)

I hear these dishes are difficult to align, but surely I would get some movement.

Until a few weeks ago I knew nothing about Satellite TV, but I am learning. Should this simple setup work?

1. Dish aligned to the approximate azimuth, elevation & tilt.
2. New 100 foot cable going directly from the LNB to the power insert port named (power to SWM)
3. Short cable going from the power inserter port named (Signal to IRD) to the H25 receiver.

The Power light is on the power inserter.

Do I need the 8 way switch if I only have one receiver?

Does anybody have any advice for me?

Many thanks,

Andy

 

[schneid]

You say the LNB and PI were taken home and work?

You do have them wired correctly.

My best guess is that the alignment is off.

You do not need the splitter. It is not a switch.

100' is a pretty long run. Is it RG-6?

How is the dish mounted? Mast plumb? How are establishing the Azimuth? Compass?

 

[AndyE]

Hi Schneid, thanks for your reply.

Yes, the LNB only has one connection so impossible to wire this up incorrectly, and the PI is the exact same one as in my main home, I wired it the same way as that, where the port labelled Power to SWM is connected to the LNB on the dish and the port labelled signal to IRD has a coax going to the H25 receive.

the cable is RG6U - 75 ohms.

I have tried everything for about 8 hours on the alignment and I cannot get the signal meter to move at all wherever I tried to align the dish.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[AndyE]

Also, it is on a mast. See below from what I bought.

I aligned it the following way.

I adjusted the tilt to 105, I adjusted the elevation to 50 (using the markers on the dish), I then used a compass to align at 151 for the azimuth. I have made dozens of variations on all of these but still cannot get anything on any signal meters.

Thanks,

Andy

Slimline SWM 3 LNB SINGLE WIRE (sats 99,101,103) ONE output ​

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ONE POWER SUPPLY 21 VOLTS (GREEN LABEL)​

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ONE SPLITTER 8 WAY (GREEN LABEL) or 4 WAY DEPENDENT ON INVENTORY.​

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ONE AZ/EL BACK ASSEMBLY WITH HARDWARE PACK (SCREWS NUT & BOLTS)​

[h=1]ONE NEW MOUNTING MAST.[/h]

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys AndyE!

How are you setting the elevation? Make sure you are using the bracket behind the scale and not the bolt. Are you getting any signal strength at all, particularly on 101?

 

[AndyE]

Hi Chip,

Thanks for your suggestion. Yes, the elevation is set at 50 degrees as measured from the bracket behind the bolt. When you ask about signal strength I presume you mean on the receiver. If so, on Sat. 101 all I get is 0's for all transponders, and when I go to the signal meters I get Tuner 1: Not acquired.

A question - if I was out by a few degrees would I still get 0's or something else?

Here is another bit of information, the date on the receiver shows 12/31, at some stage last week I looked up and saw that day's date. I presume this would indicate that I got close at some stage or is this just a red herring?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[raoul5788]

I don't know what you mean referring to the date. Sorry. You are using the right settings, so something else isn't right. How are you setting the skew? With a skew of 105, you should have a tilt to the left of 15 viewing from behind the dish, which ish't very much. Is that what you have?

 

[AndyE]

Hi Chip,

The date I was referring to was the date on the TV screen when I power everything on. The date shows Weds 12/31 and at some stage last week it showed the correct date and time which I am presuming that the satellite signal came through at some stage - how else would it know the correct date and time?

The angle of 105 is set for the skew, in fact I have a protractor / angle locator and this confirms it. An odd thing is that when I measure the angle by placing the protractor on the arm that holds the LNB is only measures 42 degree, where as the indicator on the dish shows 50. However if I move it to 50 (as measure on the arm that holds the LNB) it still gives no signal. I don't know if measuring on the arm is a valid thing to do though.

Many thanks again,

Andy

 

[raoul5788]

The angle of the arm relative to the dish stays the same regardless of the skew setting. Standing behind the dish, how far is the dish tilting? Maybe about 11 O'clock?

 

[AndyE]

Yes, 11 O' clock would be about right.

 

[raoul5788]

You should be close then. Did you check to be sure the mast is plumb? That's important. Tighten the dish enough so that it will spin on the mast with some effort. Check the signal strength numbers for 101 first. Point the dish as best as you can. If you have no numbers, then move the dish slightly one way or the other, but only a little, and give it about 10 seconds for any change to register. Do this until you get decent numbers, hopefully in the 80s at least. Tighten the dish so it won't move. By pushing lightly on the back of the dish and checking what happens to the numbers, you can tell which way it needs to move to improve the numbers. Once they are in the mid 90s at least, then concentrate on the 99c and 103ca and 103cb numbers. The only difference is you may need to adjust the skew. Good luck, and don't give up!

 

[AndyE]

Thanks Chip,

I am about ready to give up - this is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever done. I even just the dish down placed this in a parasol holder on a table, moved this to a wide open space, brought the TV, Receiver, PI down outside, made sure everything is level (with a spirit level) and aligned again and still absolutely zero. I have the most basic of set up with cable, no splitter, etc. Again nothing, the only thing I did no do is wait about 10 seconds for the numbers to see if they will budged from zero, not even my satellite finder meter will make any different level when I make the change. I know the LNB, etc are working, but this is close to beating me.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[raoul5788]

I wish I had some other advice to give you.

 

[ZandarKoad]

Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner. Everything he's tried (and continues to try) using his meter is a waste of time. I sent a PM with my phone number to the OP, hopefully he will call... He should be using the signal meter on the screen exclusively.

 

[AndyE]

Solved! Alex you are a star! and thank you so much for your help. He guided me through the signal meters on the DirecTV screen and was able to get this going. I was messing around with an external meter and nothing ever changed.

Thank you again Alex you made me and my wife very happy, if you ever come to my neck of the woods dinner is on me!

Andy

 

[cspiteri]

Forum members like Alex is what makes Sat Guys the Best!!
Thanks to him for sharing your knowledge with us members.

 

[raoul5788]

:up Alex! So what was the actual problem then?

 

[ZandarKoad]

:up Alex! So what was the actual problem then?

I don't know! LOL

He did have his elevation off by about 1.5 degrees or so, but I think the root of all his problems was using a satellite meter. Anything less than a Bird Dog, Super Buddy, or AIM, and you're asking for headaches. Those meter screens on the IRDs work great and should be used whenever possible (unless you drop $400+ on a meter).

 

[Hutch1814]

I don't know! LOL

He did have his elevation off by about 1.5 degrees or so, but I think the root of all his problems was using a satellite meter. Anything less than a Bird Dog, Super Buddy, or AIM, and you're asking for headaches. Those meter screens on the IRDs work great and should be used whenever possible (unless you drop $400+ on a meter).

Problem is the older birdogs don't power SWM LNBs. Other than that, I agree completely!!

 

[hoggyz3357]

I tuned a cupple with just a reciever, one day i had my aim go on me and i used the receiver, do the same thing, make sure your mas is level set skew and elevation, just turn slowly till you see the number go up, when start going down again back up alittle and then do same for elevation, i got it anough to activate receivers with dtv witch means i must of been in mid 80s on all transpondors