Transponder selection & strength

[FlyingSaucer]

I have a new Phase III Dish with RCA210 HDTV receiver.
I live just outside near Boston.

My signal strength on the 3rd satellite is never better than 42%.

There only about 4 transponder choices.

On my NTSC Hughes receivers, I had many choices (99?).

Questions:
-anyone getting better strength in Boston?
-what are the transponder choices?
-Is there a fine tuning (rotation?) of the dish that would improve reception?

 

[asousa]

I have a new Phase III Dish with RCA210 HDTV receiver.
I live just outside near Boston.

My signal strength on the 3rd satellite is never better than 42%.

There only about 4 transponder choices.

On my NTSC Hughes receivers, I had many choices (99?).

Questions:
-anyone getting better strength in Boston?
-what are the transponder choices?
-Is there a fine tuning (rotation?) of the dish that would improve reception?

I am in New Bedford and I am getting 90% on all dishes.....

 

[TYORK]

I have a new Phase III Dish with RCA210 HDTV receiver.
I live just outside near Boston.

My signal strength on the 3rd satellite is never better than 42%.

There only about 4 transponder choices.

On my NTSC Hughes receivers, I had many choices (99?).

Questions:
-anyone getting better strength in Boston?
-what are the transponder choices?
-Is there a fine tuning (rotation?) of the dish that would improve reception?

is this 42 % on all these transponers if so you need a adjustment your dish is not aligned right.

 

[dragon002]

your dish is out of adjustment, there are only 32 transponders on each sat and the ird picks the transponder to lock on as per your channel choice. you cant as you think lock it on a certain one

dragon

 

[FlyingSaucer]

new bedford @ 90?!

I am in New Bedford and I am getting 90% on all dishes.....

What is your mount? (roof, post, porch?)
Which transponder?

I have the dish outside a 3rd floor window. Trees were not a problem the last 4 years with a dual LNB. Is the third satellite that much lower?

 

[dragon002]

about 2 degrees lower and 10 degrees to the right

dragon

 

[foolish]

you dont need the C satellite.

boston locals are on the 101... (sat A)
hd channels are on the 119... (sat b)
sat c is for certain markets local chans... not bostons

sure you could try realigning it, but if the other sats are getting good signal, why bother?

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Only Sat C is at 42%. The others are 90%+.

 

[dragon002]

sat a 101 is locals and total choice

sat b 119 is spanish and secondary market locals and two hd

sat c 110 is all hi def and chineese

dragon

 

[mp3audio]

You may have to move your dish to a higher location. Sat C sits low in the sky and is hard to get a signal from. I have my dish mounted on the 3rd floor roof on my house and I get 90% from Sat C.

 

[asousa]

What is your mount? (roof, post, porch?)
Which transponder?

I have the dish outside a 3rd floor window. Trees were not a problem the last 4 years with a dual LNB. Is the third satellite that much lower?

I was told that the sats are very low in our area. I installed my dish out an attic window on a 3 family home. Looking out this window, i am one of the highest points in the city. I think this is why it came so easy for me. I get over 90% on all sats and transponders.

I would try to get it a little higher and maybe play with the elavation some as well. I moved mine one tick mark and it improved my signal dramatically.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

509 & 78 dropping out

Seems odd. Ch. 509 and 78 are dropping out. That is, I usually get them.
Last two nights I lose them - 'searching for satellite signal'.

Everything else is fine.

Fine tuning of dish alignment required?

I was trying to see why only these two are missing.
I have Total Choice Plus, HBO and HD.

 

[dragon002]

a question, has teddy (hic!) kennedy been in town, maybe his extreme body mass is soaking up the microwaves!!!!

 

[aholgate]

FlyingSaucer,

I sent you a private message because I didn't see this area down here. I live in NH and a guy from the AVSForum.com sent me a message ans said he saw a thread here with the exact same issues as I have. My 110 LNB is 40's during the day and 0 (zero) at night. There is another guy there that states that if we have on the 101 and 119 lnbs 90's + signal then it is NOT the aiming. It is more likely a multi-switch issue in the Horn of the dish where the lnb's are together. He said that you would have to replace this and to do this may cost as much as a new dish so get a new dish!

Keep me posted as I am going to try what he said...

Ashley Holgate

 

[FlyingSaucer]

FlyingSaucer,

I sent you a private message because I didn't see this area down here. I live in NH and a guy from the AVSForum.com sent me a message ans said he saw a thread here with the exact same issues as I have. My 110 LNB is 40's during the day and 0 (zero) at night. There is another guy there that states that if we have on the 101 and 119 lnbs 90's + signal then it is NOT the aiming. It is more likely a multi-switch issue in the Horn of the dish where the lnb's are together. He said that you would have to replace this and to do this may cost as much as a new dish so get a new dish!

Keep me posted as I am going to try what he said...

Ashley Holgate

I don't understand why the horn would work during the day and not at night. Maybe it's a Union Horn? Isn't it more likely environmental? Like atmosphere or fine alignment?

 

[silversurfer]

How old is your dish? When the phase III dishes first came out there was a batch of them that was affected by cold temps....

 

[dishjockey]

tyork and dragonfly are right it is an alignment issue.At 42 percent you are just barely locked on to the satellite.
Make sure your mast is perfectly plumb and the tilt is set correctly.

 

[jimisham]

I don't understand why the horn would work during the day and not at night. Maybe it's a Union Horn? Isn't it more likely environmental? Like atmosphere or fine alignment?

Affected by temperature. When it cools down at night, it quits. When it warms up in the morning, it starts working again. Several years ago, there was a problem with some of the 3 LNB dishes being affected by low temps.

 

[greyghost]

flyingsaucer, D* uses 32 transponders on the 101 satellite (1-32), 11 transponders on the 119 (22-32), and 3 on the 110 (8, 10, 12 - unless this has changed recently). Because the LNBs on the dish are a single molded piece, if you are getting 90s on all transponders for the 101 and 119, you should automatically have the same on the 110. Either your LNB is faulty (as is aholgate's), or you have a LOS (line of sight) issue, meaning something is obstructing the LNB's "view" of the satellite. I must admit, I've never heard of a LOS issue with just the 110, but it is possible. It is possible there is something on the LNB itself (bird droppings, for instance).

 

[SatinstallerhatesVOOM]

Could be an alignment issue if the tilt on the back is wrong. Also if the tilt is correct and the mount is not plumb still a problem. Now this is going back to the beginning of the phase 3 dishes the reason at nite appeared to be temp related. In Pa when we put them in during the winter at first they would come and go and it appeared to be at nite when it got colder. They even admitted there was a problem and put out a new revision for them that seemed to fix it. Maybe you got an older feed?