upgrading to HD

[miker5150]

not sure where my post went...

location: Chicago Area
zip: 46373

to make a long story short, I've had E* SD programming for 4.5 years...bought an HDTV and decided to upgrade to Dish HD. Set up an install for last Sat. Local contractor showed up at my house at 8:30 am, I opened the door to him shaking his head. I'd seen this before when I initially tried to have Dish installed 5+ years ago when I moved into this house. The first installer took a look from outside his truck in the driveway and said no go. Waited 6 months, tried again and had a successful install. I did end up having some problems as I am treed in pretty good including to the south/SE/SW. Had a few local contractors out without much improvement.

I signed up for the maintenance plan that Dish has/had...can't remember the name. An internal guy came out on a Sunday and spent the better part of a day, moving the dish, rerunning cable etc, did a beautiful job. This setup has worked flawlessly for the last 4.5 years.


Back to last Sat....guy said he didn't think I could get HD cause of LOS problems to "the HD sat 129". I asked him to at least look around, he putzed around in the front yard(dish is on the peak of the roof of my 2 story home, house faces north) and came back to the door 2 mins later and said it probably won't work. I asked if he did D*, he said he could or knew somebody that could. I've got my heart set on E* though so sent him on his way. Called Dish and set an internal install for today between 12 and 5.

My questions....what are the chances of adding a second dish pointing at 61.5? My current dish seems to just be clearing the trees to the SW and another dish looks like it could do the same to the South and SE. I understand from reading the forums that Chicago area locals are on 129, could I pick those up with an OTA HD Antenna?

Trying to be as prepared as possible for this install today.

TIA.

 

[KAB]

not sure where my post went...


My questions....what are the chances of adding a second dish pointing at 61.5? My current dish seems to just be clearing the trees to the SW and another dish looks like it could do the same to the South and SE. I understand from reading the forums that Chicago area locals are on 129, could I pick those up with an OTA HD Antenna?

Trying to be as prepared as possible for this install today.

TIA.

Getting 61.5 again depends on LOS to the SE, lower to the horizon than 110 and 119 to the SW. Yes, you can get locals OTA. Good Luck!!

Oh, and if you do have LOS, be sure to tell your trees to stop growing!

 

[miker5150]

Getting 61.5 again depends on LOS to the SE, lower to the horizon than 110 and 119 to the SW. Yes, you can get locals OTA. Good Luck!!

Oh, and if you do have LOS, be sure to tell your trees to stop growing!

thanks for the reply...

so 61.5 is lower than 110 and 119....higher than 129 though, right? It's gonna depend on how far it is to the SE, I do have a gap that way but it's pretty far to the SE....

I love the trees but they are a pain when it comes to sat tv and raking the leaves in the fall!

 

[digiblur]

thanks for the reply...

so 61.5 is lower than 110 and 119....higher than 129 though, right? It's gonna depend on how far it is to the SE, I do have a gap that way but it's pretty far to the SE....

I love the trees but they are a pain when it comes to sat tv and raking the leaves in the fall!

At all depends on where you are at. Take the zip code you posted above and punch it into this website.

Satellite Finder © Satellite AV

Click the Full Satellite list tab and click the birds you need 61.5, 110, 119, 129, etc. It will show you the elevation and compass headings for each one. Don't mind the skew number as that is not needed on circular polarity DishNetwork satellites.

With a compass and general knowledge of angles from the ground you should be able to tell where the satellites are.

 

[miker5150]

great site, thanks....


can't figure out how to paste this inline but here's what my stats look like, I've been getting great signals from 110 and 119 for the last 4.5 years...

 

[digiblur]

great site, thanks....


can't figure out how to paste this inline but here's what my stats look like

Looks good. Don't worry about the LNBF rotations as this is not needed with circular polarity DishNetwork satellites.

 

[miker5150]

Looks good. Don't worry about the LNBF rotations as this is not needed with circular polarity DishNetwork satellites.

kinda what I was thinking, the tree line to the SE where 61.5 is is roughly the same height as it is to the SW where the current dish is picking up 110 and 119...so I guess that bodes well. Just a matter of convincing the installer of this though...

raining today too...he probably won't want to spend 4 or 5 hours outside....oye.

 

[iceondsom]

Don't forget to mail in your $100 redemption off the cost of the HD receiver upgrade! DISH Network -- What's on DISH -- Promotion

 

[miker5150]

ok, had my install....2 guys internal E* guys. I told them that a contractor had been there Sat and said that I didn't have LOS to 129 and said it wasn't worth trying to install it as I wouldn't be happy. I asked them what about 61.5 and the guy that seemed to be the brains behind the operation said there was no hd content on 61.5, that it used to be but is all on 129 now....hmmm, first red flag.

The brains behind the operation got on the roof and checked for LOS, I noticed he came down and was starting to check the wiring outside...I asked how it looked from the roof, "what do you mean" ....I then asked about LOS and he said it was clear...great! They proceed to give me a new 1000.2 dish and a 622 receiver on the HDTV....and that was that. I gave them each a $10 tip for working for 1 hr 45 mins in the rain...

So they leave and I tried some HD channels...they come in but only at 480p..I've got an Olevia that handles 1080i, which it did with Comcast. The guy did say that it would take awhile to get all the HD channels in and that the weather wasn't helping(2nd red flag)...raining and cloudy all day here..

should I be concerned about not seeing 129 yet per system info? or is that normal just post install or in bad weather(that wouldn't bode well)...the guys left about 1.5 hrs ago...

 

[digiblur]

The HD on 129 and 61.5 is the same except for the HD locals. In your case, Chicago HD locals are on 129. In order to get locals off of 61.5 you would have had to do a "move".

Do some digging in the system menu and make sure the box is set to output 1080i. Also check to see how they hooked it up to your TV. If they hooked it up as SVideo or Red-White-Yellow cables then you're stuck at 480 standard definition.

Go into the signal strength/point dish screen and change the satellite over to 129 and check a few transponders. If you are curious as to what is located on what transponder check out TheList link on my signature.

Others will be here soon to chime in that have a 622 and can give you the exact buttons to get to the setup options and signal page to check your system.

 

[miker5150]

The HD on 129 and 61.5 is the same except for the HD locals. In your case, Chicago HD locals are on 129. In order to get locals off of 61.5 you would have had to do a "move".

Do some digging in the system menu and make sure the box is set to output 1080i. Also check to see how they hooked it up to your TV. If they hooked it up as SVideo or Red-White-Yellow cables then you're stuck at 480 standard definition.

Go into the signal strength/point dish screen and change the satellite over to 129 and check a few transponders. If you are curious as to what is located on what transponder check out TheList link on my signature.

Others will be here soon to chime in that have a 622 and can give you the exact buttons to get to the setup options and signal page to check your system.

thanks for the info....he didn't point me at 61.5, I know that. when I go to the System Info screen, I get green good status on 119 and 110 but yellow-warning select details on 129. The details talk about weather(which we're having), rain, snow or ice build up on the dish(no), blockage of dish from trees(possible, see above post #1), dish out of alignment(?), or cable connections(they hooked them up with component cables, I removed those and used my monster hdmi hookup and an optical audio cable)...

I dug through the menus and did change to 1080i output, the tv is showing a 1080i source now but some channels still say 129 is out and the above when I check system info.

 

[digiblur]

What are the signal strengths? Post a few different transponder readings on each satellite here for us to see. If it isn't raining really hard I hate to say it but you got a bad install.

 

[miker5150]

What are the signal strengths? Post a few different transponder readings on each satellite here for us to see. If it isn't raining really hard I hate to say it but you got a bad install.

129 trans 4 = 29
129 trans 7 = 20
129 trans 13 = 30
129 trans 18 = 7
129 trans 19 = 35

119 trans 4 = 36
119 trans 15 = 50
119 trans 19 = 57
119 trans 1 = 0
119 trans 119 = 66

110 trans 11 = 55
110 trans 18 = 50
110 sb 19 = 55
110 trans 21 = 60
110 trans 2 = 58



it's raining but not really "hard"