trouble setting up slimline 3 sattelite

[ihtrucktech]

Hi, I'm new to the forum but looking for some help. I moved and took my h24 receiver with me. The house i rented had an old 18" round dish and switch already mounted out of laziness i hooked it up and went through the programming and it worked. I finally got a slimline 3 dish so I could get my local channels again but I'm having trouble setting it up.

Receiver says Azimuth should be 210 degrees elevation 39 tilt 72

The mounting post is level and the tilt and elevation is set. The azimuth is supposed to be 210 degrees what and where is that?
There is only one wire coming from the satellite i hooked that to the power inserter and the inserter to the receiver. i assumed i didnt need a switch since i only have 1 receiver.
any help would be great.

 

[Jimbo]

Hi, I'm new to the forum but looking for some help. I moved and took my h24 receiver with me. The house i rented had an old 18" round dish and switch already mounted out of laziness i hooked it up and went through the programming and it worked. I finally got a slimline 3 dish so I could get my local channels again but I'm having trouble setting it up.

Receiver says Azimuth should be 210 degrees elevation 39 tilt 72

The mounting post is level and the tilt and elevation is set. The azimuth is supposed to be 210 degrees what and where is that?
There is only one wire coming from the satellite i hooked that to the power inserter and the inserter to the receiver. i assumed i didnt need a switch since i only have 1 receiver.
any help would be great.

What is Azimuth ?
Thats your Left and Right.
If you have a compass, set it to 210 and thats the general area that the dish will point when done to find the Sat Signal.

You didn't say if you have a signal at all when you set up the Slimline as of yet.
If the elevation and Tilt is set correctly and the mast is plumb, when you find the signal the 99, 101 and 103 should fall into place.

You want to be pointing to get the 101 Sat first.

Also, make sure to run the "Repeat Sat Setup" when configuring.
Seeing it's a SWM set up, it will already find the SWM configuration.

 

[ihtrucktech]

I have no signal at all when i check it with receiver. Also the reveiver picked up that it was a slimline 3s swm with swm as the switch.

 

[Jimbo]

I have no signal at all when i check it with receiver. Also the reveiver picked up that it was a slimline 3s swm with swm as the switch.

So its just an alignment issue from the sounds of it, you have to be very precise with these, its 22,300 miles up there and the HD side of thing is harder yet, smaller window.

I'm guessing you've set up dishes before ?

Patience is your best friend.

Sent from my Samsung Epic using SatelliteGuys

 

[BobStokesbary]

ihtrucktech,
I checked Dish Pointer and you have the correct settings (azimuth, elevation, and tilt) for your location. Now you just need to find the bird. As Jimbo mentions, patience is a necessity. I am going to assume that you do not have a meter, so you will have to use the one in your receiver. Go to: Menu>Settings&Help>Settings>Satellite>View Signal Strength>Signal Meters and you will see a signal bar for tuners 1 & 2 for satellite 101. You need to have a TV near your dish or have someone tell you when the meter is peaked (at its highest point). You get the dish arm lined up on the compass setting 210 and then you move the dish left and right for the highest reading on the meter. When you have the highest reading tighten the bolts that hold the dish to the pole. Make sure they are really tightened down since you do not want the dish to move left or right when you do the other adjustments. Now loosen the bolts that hold the elevation setting and slowly move the dish up and down until you get the best reading. When you have that tighten down those bolts so they do not allow the elevation to move. Your meter should now register mid to high 90s. Now you change the satellite setting to 99 or 103 and adjust the tilt until you get the highest reading. We can talk about "dithering" later. You need to get these settings done and working before you do that. This may sound a bit complicated, but once you do it it gets easier.
Bob

 

[SA Holly Springs GA]

Always helps when a second person can stand at tv while your at dish especially without a meter

 

[ihtrucktech]

Ok so i've scanned the entire southwest sky it seems and have no signal at all not even a glimmer of hope. The tilt is set it has a pointer to line up on 72 degrees.now there is no pointer on the elevation so other than guessing is there a good way of telling where 39 degrees is? Could the eye be bad?

 

[Hutch1814]

Is the power inserter hooked up correctly? Is it a SWM LNB? And I think I've read it's set to SWM already, double check to be sure. When dealing with SWM you have to go very slow until you find the satellite.

 

[BobStokesbary]

Ok so i've scanned the entire southwest sky it seems and have no signal at all not even a glimmer of hope. The tilt is set it has a pointer to line up on 72 degrees.now there is no pointer on the elevation so other than guessing is there a good way of telling where 39 degrees is? Could the eye be bad?

OK. Let's back up a bit here. You mentioned that you had an old 18" dish. Did you replace the pole with a 2" diameter pole for the new dish? If you didn't you will have a real difficult time getting your Slimline to be truly vertical.

Also, there should be markings on the bracket that attaches to the back of the dish that have elevations stamped into it. If you don't see them, you have some kind of non-standard mount. The elevation markers are on the part of the bracket that controls the up and down motion; not left and right or tilt. You can go to home depot and get a device that measures tilt, but you should have it on your bracket. And remember, your whole first effort is focused on getting the best signal on sat 101. You ignore your tilt settings for this bird.

It is really important to get the azimuth and elevation set to the settings you posted at the beginning. You are trying to find something the size of a large school bus 22,000 miles away. A little movement makes a lot of difference. You just need to be patient.

Also, as Hutch suggests, make sure your power inserter is setup correctly. The IRD connection goes to your receiver and the to SWM side goes to the dish. It might also be worth your while to check all connections. Rarely, but sometimes, there is a bad connection in the line that causes problems.

If you still can't find the 101 satellite, you may have to have someone from D* come out and figure out the problem.

 

[ihtrucktech]

I did get the larger pole for the swm dish. The mount is a standard mount with elevation markings, there is just nothing that points to the elevation markings. I just tilted it untill the bolt that locks it looked to be about the center of the 39 degree area. Was asking if there was a more precise way.

I checked, the eye on the dish does say swm on it the connection is tight. The inserter is 21v and the cables are hooked up properly and the connections are tight. The cable I have is shielded cable for HD and Satellite. The total run of cable is about 30 ft from dish to receiver.

Just thought it would be easier. I had to move the round one once and after I leveled the pole, I just pointed it in the general direction and it started getting signal. I guess the 101 sat is more elusive.

 

[ihtrucktech]

I just read through everyone's questions and i think i may have found a problem. The inserter I bought for it says swm ODU only.

 

[BobStokesbary]

ihtrucktech,
You are so close, but your elevation setting is not correct. You should see a red line on the back bracket alongside the nut on the elevation. That is the line that needs to be next to the 39 on your elevation scale. Your 18" dish was pointing at the same 101 satellite. But, apparently the markings were easier to find.
Bob

 

[Jimbo]

ihtrucktech,
You are so close, but your elevation setting is not correct. You should see a red line on the back bracket alongside the nut on the elevation. That is the line that needs to be next to the 39 on your elevation scale. Your 18" dish was pointing at the same 101 satellite. But, apparently the markings were easier to find.
Bob

Not all the dishes have the line, they should, but don't ...
I usually go by the bottom of the nut, which is where the line should be .

Sent from my Samsung Epic using SatelliteGuys

 

[ihtrucktech]

yup no red line indicator.... Jimbo what do you mean by bottom of the nut? like if im standing behind the dish the back side of the nut faceing me or, the bottom like twards the ground?

 

[Jimbo]

yup no red line indicator.... Jimbo what do you mean by bottom of the nut? like if im standing behind the dish the back side of the nut faceing me or, the bottom like twards the ground?

I use the side closest to the dish it self.
It will slide towards the dish or away from it.

 

[BobStokesbary]

Go to the 2:14 minute mark on this video. This shows you where the red line should be. I have scanned a whole series of videos and this is the only one I can find that shows the elevation marker.

 

[Jimbo]

Go to the 2:14 minute mark on this video. This shows you where the red line should be. I have scanned a whole series of videos and this is the only one I can find that shows the elevation marker.

Except as mentioned previously, not all dishes have the red mark, but it does give him the idea !

Note, in the video, the guy pretty much mentioned these numbers are general starting points, actual numbers could be slightly different.

 

[schneid]

Deleted. Wrote before fully reading.

 

[ihtrucktech]

Hooray! the video that showed where the elevation indicator should be helped a lot. Once the elevation was closer i picked up signal. Alright now, i have signal in the 95% area on the 101 and 90% area on the 99 but the 103 shows 85% and when i try to complete setup it says there is a problem on that sat

 

[harshness]

The secret to success is starting with the best pointing information available. The receiver's numbers are not it.

dishpointer.com is where you start for the elevation and tilt numbers.


self-installing is overrated.