Spot Beam or Dish Alignment Issu

[skikt22]

Spot Beam Fringe or Dish Alignment

I have an issue receiving my HD locals coming from 103(s) and need to determine whether I have a dish alignment issue. Of if my ‘locals’ are just out of range.

First, I’ll be honest. I have a vacation house that I use 3-4 weeks a year and I am trying to get San Francisco locals in at Lake Tahoe. I have several friends who say this is not an issue, but I have not seen their set ups. I get the stations sporadically, then I get pixilation, and 771.

My readings are as follows:
101
1-8 94 95 91 96 94 97 91 97
9-16 94 95 95 95 95 98 94 98
17-24 95 0 95 98 5 98 95 98
25-32 95 60 95 096 98 95 94
99©
1-8 88 87 80 78 84 85 80 79
9-16 82 83 80 77 85 85 n n
17-24 All N/A
35-32 All N/A
99 S
1-8 0 0 0 0 0 0 n n
9-16 n n n n n n 91 0
17-24 100 99 0 0 76 74 99
25-32 All N/A
103 ©
1-8 88 92 86 83 82 88 83 83
9-16 82 86 84 85 83 85 n n
17-24 All N/A
25-32 All N/A

SWM

1-8 99 99 0 0 95 95 95 95
9-16 95 n n n n n n n

103(S)
1-8 0 0 0 0 0 0 n n
9-16 n n n n n n 26 0
17-24 97 97 0 0 0 0 0 74
25-32 All N/A

Now my specific questions:

1. On the 103 spot should I get good strength on the transponders 15 and 23, if the dish is aligned properly, even if those spot beams are not aimed at my location?

2. Or does the fact that I am getting 97 on 17 and 18 tell me that I am aligned correctly, but I am just too far from the coverage area to geet good strength on 15 and 23.

3. I would also like to confirm which transponders and satellites serve Sacramento and SF. I have looked at the tables but am not sure I am reading them correctly. I show all SF HD network channels on 103(S) 15, and Sacramento HD networks on 101W TP 4. Is that correct?
Remember I can get the SF channels that are broadcast on TP 15 at times, even with zero strength.

Is it worth re-aligning the dish or do I just need to cave in and pay for the Sacrament affiliates? This would not be an issue but my wife is adamant about seeing the Olympic coverage on NBC, which I currently do not get. I get ALL other parts of my package with great clarity.

Thanks in Advance

 

[raoul5788]

Your locals should be on 15, 20, and 23. It would seem your alignment is off, since you should be able to get a strong enough signal from Lake Tahoe. The signals won't be real strong, but they should be good enough. Have you checked to see if the mast is plumb? This is critical.

 

[texasbrit]

San Francisco HD locals are on 15/23 from DirecTV10 at 103s
Sacramento HD locals are on 15/23 on DirecTV11 at 99s.

You are too far from SF to get decent signals. If you are out of the spotbeams, you will see low or zero signals even with a well-aligned dish. Your 99c and 103c signals indicate your dish is aligned acceptably but not perfectly, the signals should ideally be in the 90s, but it's unlikely that even perfect alignment will give you acceptable signals on the SF spotbeams.