Tips for a 5LNB install.

[igator99]

I know a pro should do it but none of the Bruister and Ass kids would even try. The local guys are to busy making easy money on easy installs. I currently get 90+ readings on 101,110 & 119. The reason the Bruister kids ran when they pulled up is that I did the 3LNB install on a long pole (About 8feet above my roof line to get some tress out of the way. My original plan was to setup the new dish about 15 feet back from that setup and mount it on a much smaller pole. I've done a sight survey and have from various areas of my yard that I might have a better view of the Southern sky ( Gaps between trees and branches ) would my best bet be to use the original install sight as my point of reference although I've thought the 3lnb might block me out. Also it is in the front of my house and you know I have those types of neighbors. I would like to try the backyard. Would I be wasting my time you think? Also I will not be using a signal meter. If I lock on to original three sats with great strength shouldn't I be able to fool around with the dish a bit to hit the new ones?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The 5 LNB Slimline arrives Saturday.

 

[JamesJ]

http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/at9_install_videos.asp

if you havent already those videos are a good place to start, check them out...alot of good information in there..also watch your pole size as the mast for the AT9 is bigger (I know you are getting the slimline but I believe they take the same mast). and if you enjoy doing this stuff its never ever a waste of time, I am sure you will be able to get it, just remember to peak the 101 sat, then the 119, and tweak the 101...its all in the videos.

 

[igator99]

http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/at9_install_videos.asp

if you havent already those videos are a good place to start, check them out...alot of good information in there..also watch your pole size as the mast for the AT9 is bigger (I know you are getting the slimline but I believe they take the same mast). and if you enjoy doing this stuff its never ever a waste of time, I am sure you will be able to get it, just remember to peak the 101 sat, then the 119, and tweak the 101...its all in the videos.

Thanks for the information. I haven't been able to get that solid signal video work for me lately. The pole mast needs to be 2" right? Thanks again.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Igator99,
Here is one I use..........once you have the 2.0 mast or pipe plumb and the dish ready & wired. Set the signal meter for 101 to transponder 23....this is common to the 101, 110 & 119.............if you get one the rest will be there.TRurn up the TV volume & tune.
RE the other two birds..........if they are turned on in your market they should be close.
I have dibbled them in without trouble.

And for other guys........no I have not purchased a Bird Dog......I am sure they work but do you care to guess how many HDs with Slimline (AT 10s?) you would have to get paid for to cover a meter that costs around $450. Twenty bucks extra above the standard ird is an amusement; a tip for being a nice boy. Twist & Shout!
Yeah, I know.

Joe

 

[igator99]

Igator99,
Here is one I use..........once you have the 2.0 mast or pipe plumb and the dish ready & wired. Set the signal meter for 101 to transponder 23....this is common to the 101, 110 & 119.............if you get one the rest will be there.TRurn up the TV volume & tune.
RE the other two birds..........if they are turned on in your market they should be close.
I have dibbled them in without trouble.

And for other guys........no I have not purchased a Bird Dog......I am sure they work but do you care to guess how many HDs with Slimline (AT 10s?) you would have to get paid for to cover a meter that costs around $450. Twenty bucks extra above the standard ird is an amusement; a tip for being a nice boy. Twist & Shout!
Yeah, I know.

Joe

Thanks a bunch Joe. That sounds like it will work for me. My locals are not yet up in HD but will be soon. Will there be anything on the 99 and 103 for me? Will I even get a signal from those? Would it be better just to peak 101, 110 & 119 and wait for the new sat to tune into the 99 & 103?

 

[texasbrit]

Thanks a bunch Joe. That sounds like it will work for me. My locals are not yet up in HD but will be soon. Will there be anything on the 99 and 103 for me? Will I even get a signal from those? Would it be better just to peak 101, 110 & 119 and wait for the new sat to tune into the 99 & 103?

If your locals are not up in HD then you may not see anything on 99/103 - anything you do see on 99 and 103 will be spotbeams directed at other cities and so it will not tell you very much. You are almost certainly going to have to do a realignment when DirecTV 10 and 11 launch and start transmitting national channels, or when you do finally get HD locals.

 

[Joe Diamond]

igator,
I missed something from your earlier post. "eight feet above your roof line" is going to be tough. There is an adapter you can get....I am going to try some automotive shops.....anyhow..a way to bump the od of the existing pipe to the required 2.0.

But even if that is accomplished you will have a problem with windage and signal lock.
Then guy wires might come to mind but we are going down a tricky road here.

Also note that the training video was done on a non penetrating roof mount on the ground. If you lean a ladder against your eight foot pole while you tune you will possibly loose your signal as the ladder is removed and the dish moves.

Any way you could mount that pig on the ground? or there are towers that assemble in ten foot sections.......about eighty bucks per section.....or phone poles$$$$$.

Glad the tuning tips helped but you gotta find a dish location you can live with.

Good luck,

Joe

 

[JamesJ]

Joe thats a great point about the ladder being leaned onto a 8ft pole, that would be very tough, and something to keep in mind--I didnt even think about that after reading through his post......its going to be tough period to keep this dish stabilized on a 8foot pole

 

[igator99]

igator,
I missed something from your earlier post. "eight feet above your roof line" is going to be tough. There is an adapter you can get....I am going to try some automotive shops.....anyhow..a way to bump the od of the existing pipe to the required 2.0.

But even if that is accomplished you will have a problem with windage and signal lock.
Then guy wires might come to mind but we are going down a tricky road here.

Also note that the training video was done on a non penetrating roof mount on the ground. If you lean a ladder against your eight foot pole while you tune you will possibly loose your signal as the ladder is removed and the dish moves.

Any way you could mount that pig on the ground? or there are towers that assemble in ten foot sections.......about eighty bucks per section.....or phone poles$$$$$.

Glad the tuning tips helped but you gotta find a dish location you can live with.

Good luck,

Joe

I'm not planing on using that same mount and pole. I was hoping that by going back about 12 feet and planting it in the ground I would be able to use a much smaller like 6 foot pole? I have to clear a group of trees. Will going back 12 feet or more help or not really?

 

[igator99]

Joe thats a great point about the ladder being leaned onto a 8ft pole, that would be very tough, and something to keep in mind--I didnt even think about that after reading through his post......its going to be tough period to keep this dish stabilized on a 8foot pole

I originally tuned it in the area I'm planing to plant the pole with a 6 foot pole. I put it on the house with that huge pole to avoid digging a trench etc... Believe it or not but that setup has lasted three years and survived Katrina. However I want to move it back on a much smaller pole.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Ok igator,

You are on the right track. Glad about loosing that high dish location. You can use a transit or a string or eye ball a line that goes from the satellite through your current dish and hits the ground. Anywhere along that 23,000 mile run will work. Ten degrees above, below and on each side is suggested for tree clearance.
I once listened to a center manager state that "OUR policy. . " was to allow for three years tree growth. When I asked what kind of trees he took the next question.
An advanced tree adjustment involves a 10 or 12 ga shotgun and BB or buckshot rounds. Shoot them limbs off! Rural locations only,plz.
As mentioned elsewhere, trees and their stumps are? A. always a cool spot for a dish. B. never a cool spot for a dish C. Will work but look less professional than bolting to an abandoned car or pack animal D. none of the above.

Joe

 

[igator99]

Ok igator,

You are on the right track. Glad about loosing that high dish location. You can use a transit or a string or eye ball a line that goes from the satellite through your current dish and hits the ground. Anywhere along that 23,000 mile run will work. Ten degrees above, below and on each side is suggested for tree clearance.
I once listened to a center manager state that "OUR policy. . " was to allow for three years tree growth. When I asked what kind of trees he took the next question.
An advanced tree adjustment involves a 10 or 12 ga shotgun and BB or buckshot rounds. Shoot them limbs off! Rural locations only,plz.
As mentioned elsewhere, trees and their stumps are? A. always a cool spot for a dish. B. never a cool spot for a dish C. Will work but look less professional than bolting to an abandoned car or pack animal D. none of the above.

Joe

Thanks for the input. Do you really need a two inch in diameter pole? I picked one up at Lowe's today and that thing is huge. Is the dish really that much bigger than the 3lnb? No wonder those Bruister guys ran away. BTW I live in a subdivision so blowing off tree limbs and having them crash into a neighbors house might make for bad blood.

 

[raoul5788]

Thanks for the input. Do you really need a two inch in diameter pole? I picked one up at Lowe's today and that thing is huge. Is the dish really that much bigger than the 3lnb? No wonder those Bruister guys ran away. BTW I live in a subdivision so blowing off tree limbs and having them crash into a neighbors house might make for bad blood.

Yes the pole must be 2". Check the actual diameter as 2" may be a nominal measurement. If it is a little smaller, make sure the bolts holding the dish are good and tight. BTDT!

 

[igator99]

Yes the pole must be 2". Check the actual diameter as 2" may be a nominal measurement. If it is a little smaller, make sure the bolts holding the dish are good and tight. BTDT!

Damn I got the Slimline today and the thing is huge. Screw the neighbors. They will have to get use to it.

 

[Jimbo]

igator99,
Mines on a 16' galvinized pole, but it's only 4 ft above the roof line.
I have it supported just below the roof line.

Jimbo

 

[EricS]

It would be a good idea to use a sat finder, preferably one that can be set the ber to log format for fine tuning...........ka band requires precise pointing..........get your mast level and plumb, be sure you catch a truss line with your center holes......this is not optional! Also be sure you use both monopoles for added support........tighten collar bolts enough to take the play out of it but loose enough to still easily turn, set elevation, and tighten inside nut on elevation adjustment, leave two outside nuts loose.....rotate back and forth to find your high point, and then lock down collar bolts......turn elevation adjustment on dither with 1/2 inch nutdriver to obtain highest strength, once you peak, set tick dial to zero and then make two full rotations counter clockwise.....record what your signal is......then begin rotating dial clockwise, carefully tracking number of turns down to the tenth, passing your original start point and stopping when you get to exact low point you hit when making the first two rotations counter clockwise, now take the number of turns it required to reach this point (for example maybe you went two to the left, and then had to go 5 to the right to get to the same low point, 5 would be the number we want) now divide that number in half and after setting dial back to zero again, turn counter clockwise until you get to that half number of rations, 2 1/2 by my example........lock down elevation bolts....then follow same process for azimuth after loosing two nuts under front of dither mechanism........hope this helps.........skew can usually be preset, but may need to adjust to peak out 119.....

 

[igator99]

igator99,
Mines on a 16' galvinized pole, but it's only 4 ft above the roof line.
I have it supported just below the roof line.

Jimbo

I have it on the 2' pole getting the three big sats but It doesn't fit the slimline.

 

[Jimbo]

I have it on the 2' pole getting the three big sats but It doesn't fit the slimline.

It should, the slimline and the original each use the 2" pole (2" OD).
It should sit right on top of the pole and slide over it. (obviously)

Jimbo

 

[igator99]

It should, the slimline and the original each use the 2" pole (2" OD).
It should sit right on top of the pole and slide over it. (obviously)

Jimbo

I'm having to stretch out the clamp to get it on the pole. Can the HOA stop me from doing this? I just read my deed rules and it states I need written permission from all the neighbors that can see it. I tried to place it between two tree minimize the so called eye sore. It is the only spot I can hit the sats. I've walked my entire property with a compass and there are way to many trees in the southern view.

 

[goofygal]

Hi Guys (and Gals???),
I'm a "do-it-yourself" sort of gal, and I have a question about aligning a 5 lnb slimline dish.
It's installed, level mast & all, and I've got the azimuth, elevation & tilt all adjusted.
I am using a cheap SF-10S Satellite Signal strength Meter (same as SF95 but different p/n) and am getting a STRONG signal from the LNBs,
BUT, I am getting only a 25% signal strength reading on the HR10-250 receiver, and that reading is on only 1 of the transponders (I think it was transponder #18).
This is the ONLY transponder and ONLY satellite that I'm getting a reading on.
I've also run through all the different configurations in the "Guided Set-Up" (single lnb, dual lnb, 3 lnb) and none of those make any difference either.

This receiver works great with my single LNB round dish, so I'm thinking it's not the receiver.
I've tried most everything to include switching out the cables, but still, No SIGNAL.
ALSO, I only have a single cable coming in from the satellite dish to the receiver, and even though this should work because of the built-in multiswitch, do you think I should run the second cable to see if that corrects the problem?

Any ideas of what I can try BEFORE I call an installer (and have to wait forever for them to come out)???
THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN OFFER!
A Goofy Gal in Bama