slimline will not lock onto 101

[KenStomski]

Here is a good one (of course this is happening when we are 3 hours away from our shop) - using both an aim and a birdog meter we can get a phase one (legacy reflector) to lock onto 101. when we use a slimline neither meter will lock. we have tried two sl5 and sl3 lnbs (we cannot use swm for this install because we are going to go into a swm16 switch because we need 11 tuners). the jpole is plumb. we have aimed hundreds of slimlines. we have tried all combinations of azimuth, elevation, and skew. the LOS is perfect. we are STUMPED! any ideas out there? Directv's ISS tech support has no clue.

 

[Jimbo]

Are you not locking on to,the 101 or not locking on to ANYTHING ?

 

[KenStomski]

Hi jimbo,

the aim wants you to peak 101 first before any fine tuning, so we didnt try to lock onto any other bird. i should also mention we watched the signal strength on a d-12 hooked directly up to the lnb and we dont see any activity whilst sweeping the dish....

 

[Chewza]

Can you confirm that the LNB isn't dead?

 

[KenStomski]

Well, tried 4 different lnbs - all four cant be dead...

 

[lsantana81]

The reflector may have a slight bend... Rebuild the dish and check for los

 

[KenStomski]

Driving out to get another reflector and back piece. this HAS to be the problem... of course the reflector is miles away from the job we are at

 

[Hutch1814]

The reflector may have a slight bend... Rebuild the dish and check for los

Stole my idea! Lol I have had this issue, swapped the reflector and bingo! Locked right on

 

[KenStomski]

New reflector did it! what is irritating as all hell is that i cannot SEE anything wrong with it! Thanks for all the input!

 

[Hutch1814]

I had 2! One wouldn't lock 101 at all and had no visible damage and the other wouldn't pass EIV on the AIM, kept failing the 103. It's odd but it happens

 

[Jimbo]

Wow ....

I think the reflector would have been the LAST thing I would have expected.
With the shape of the reflector and the edge that is put on them, you would think that it would be easy to see if it had been dropped or messed up, but if no kinks are obvious ....

 

[Hutch1814]

Wow ....

I think the reflector would have been the LAST thing I would have expected.
With the shape of the reflector and the edge that is put on them, you would think that it would be easy to see if it had been dropped or messed up, but if no kinks are obvious ....

Yeah you would think! But it seems to happen, not a lot but I see it prolly once a month in my market, not from me but just random techs having an issue

 

[Jimbo]

Yeah you would think! But it seems to happen, not a lot but I see it prolly once a month in my market, not from me but just random techs having an issue

Quitew possibly could be from the people shipping them, tossing them and whatnot.

 

[Hutch1814]

Quitew possibly could be from the people shipping them, tossing them and whatnot.

Or the way us techs store them in our vans. I keep mine in a large 30 gal. Tote but I've only had the 2 be weird to me. Had the old side car dish give me fits before, now when I get to a service call with 1 I leave with them getting a new slimline