61.5 for 129
I came here to ask the same question! I already have a Dish 300 looking at 61.5 and connected to the LNB IN on my 1000.2
I've had a LOT more dropouts and rain fade since the 1000.2 replaced my Dish 500. I would love to go back to the Dish 500 and use 61.5 instead of 129. But how?
I have the following equipment currently:
1000.2 Dish
61.5 Dish with DPP LNB
622
508 x2
I'm considering replacing one or both 508's with a 722.
I have a Dish 500 reflector, but only legacy LNBs for it at present. Also have a SW64, but I don't know if that will work with the DPP stuff, my guess is not.
I've had Dish since '97 and the technology has gotten way ahead of me! Someone help me out here with what I need to make the switch.
Thanks!
I have used satellite technology since 1980 both consumer & commercial...have done many alignments of the ol C-Band dishes, and several small DBS dishes, mainly Directv or radio station data services. With over 40 trees on less than an acre where I live, setting up a small dish and getting multiple satellites clearly without a steerable dish becomes a challenge. We lose as consumers with these cheap dishes with no prime focus lnb mounts & are not steerable for a more direct alignment. I was very underwhelmed by the alignment guide scales on the Dish Network dish...if you try to make an adjustment in elevation, the dish flops down immediately upon loosening the nuts (which you are forced to do). AT least with the Directv dish (slimline) they had a nice fine worm screw adjustment dial for both elevation and azimuth.
The 1000.2 dish is supposedly around 2" inches bigger in diameter both X & Y axis than it's predecessor the 1000. I currently only watch NASA TV for the short time being until I make the a final installation of an additional dish on the 61.5 satellite. After that, I will subscribe to the HD programming package. Every night I have enjoyed either NASA or the Angel network, besides channel 101 only mounted on a simple tripod with an 8' water pipe holding the 1000.2 high enough to clear some distant trees. I have not had any troubles with 110 & 119 satellites so far. 129 is out of the question, but 61.5 will be a clear shot on another mount.
The issue you describe about "more dropouts" could be caused by many factors. My first thoughts would be, which satellites are your new subscriptions truly coming from, and have you changed birds from what you used to have. Could it be that one of your LNBs has an issue (low signal levels) but the others don't. Is your rain fading only happening on HD channels? Does your fading only happen during storms (which is normal)? It's hard to say whether this 1000.2 gives us a net gain compared to a 500 dish since the 1000.2 was designed to pick up 1 additional satellite, my guess is that it is nearly the same. Your dish may not be peaked up completely (as before with the 500)...my text readings have concluded mixed results..some people swear by the alignment charts, others say they are off a couple of degrees. Mine looked very close to the chart.
Dish has a compatibility issue between the years of equipment. DPP seems to be only compatible to itself, but, there is also DP....is that really compatible with DPP? Then I just saw on ebay a dish being sold saying: that if you only have legacy equipment, there is a converter one can install between legacy & DPP?! Fortunately the 1000.2 has a built in switch, so unless you need more than 3 receivers, it makes it pretty nice not to need an external switch.
Sorry if I'm not much help from here. I'll see if I win the DPP 500 dish on ebay in a couple of days, then add it to the LNB in No. 4 my 1000.2 and let you know if your still around.....
Mike