stumped: can't hit 110

[FredC]

Ok guys, I give up, time to ask the experts. I installed a Dish 500 with a DPP twin at a freinds vacation house in WS, near the Dells. He used RG6 cable (so he says, no markings on the cable I could see), leveled the mast, secured it etc. Now the problems begin.
He has a NEW (picked it up at Radio Shack) out of the box 311, all the cable is new, and the dish and lnb were new (out of a sealed box). The settings called for are AZ 213, El 34, SKW 114. Set the dish as required and hit the 119 sat without a problem.
The 311 still uses the old signal meter and shows between 119 and 120(bounces a little) for signal strength. I then ran a check switch, which showed the 311 using a DPP Twin, 119-ALL, 110-odd. Didn't sound right, so I changed the sat option on the tuning list and is shows "Wrong Sat 119 W" under the 110 selection. OK, hitting the wrong sat, right. Move the dish to the West, no signal. Moved East (just in case), no signal. Move back, 119 comes in at 120. Did another check switch, same thing. Cover the LNB 119 side, no signal. Cover the 110 side, no changes. Moved the cable from the Number 1 connection to the number 2 connection on the LNB, same thing. Changed the settings, either loses signal or gets better. Final settings, Sk 114, EL 35, AZ 213 (as far as I can tell with a compass).
Line of sight is good. Mounted on a pole overlooking a pond. Trees on the far end (mayby 300-500 feet away) so I don't think they are in the way (if I look from in front of the dish, I can easily see over them.
ANY ideas? would moving the skew help? Maybe the pole isn't perfectly level, although I used a pole level and all 3 bubbles were pretty much between the lines. Could the LNB be bad? Sorry to be so long, but I know the more info you have, the better your help will be. Thanks in advance! Fred

 

[boba]

Go back to your orginal settings where you had 119 and 110 odd. Shut off the receiver and let it take a software download 1/2 hour or less. You should be ok.

 

[digiblur]

Make sure you are checking the signal on 110 on a national channel transponder. Use the TheList link in my signature to find one.

 

[FredC]

Boba and Digiblur- Thanks for the responce. I'll have my buddy do the download asap. It never occured to me to use a national transponder. Ill try that also.

 

[harshness]

It also sounds like you may be shooting low if you're picking up 119W on the 110W LNB.

Using dishpointer.com for Wisconsin Dells, I come up with an azimuth of 208.1 (210 Magnetic), an elevation of 35.7 degrees and a skew of 109.9. The azimuth numbers are relatively far apart and the skew is about 4 degrees off too. If the numbers came from the 311, they probably aren't taking the current magnetic declination into account. I'm baffled by the disparity on the skew.

I'd bump the elevation up to 36 and give it another swing.

BTW, Wisconsin is WI, not WS.

 

[FredC]

I"ll try the new numbers. I got the others from the Dish site, but maybe my info is old. His zip is 53950


Sorry about the WS instead of WI, I know better, just screwed that one!