Thread: Please Help...before I jump...dish 1000.2

I am putting in my own 1000.2, spent too many hours trying to align it today...and reading on how to. I have a new 211k hooked up and working...however I am getting 110 and 119 on the wrong lnbs which I read is common when aligning. However, I have tried everything I could find and I cannot get this thing to see 119 on the center lnb. The mount is level and plumb. The only place I can get signal (110 and 119) is when the elevation is 10 degrees too high and we seem to be too far south. This Dish was setup and working at my rental house, I moved it and did not adjust the EL and SKew until after I found it would not pick up. Apparently it can see 119 on the 110 lnb....and in the signal screen it says 129 is seeing 110. Oh yeah, I even tried another LNB set I bought for a second install, just in case the center was bad...but same result.

On the check switch I get:

1 2 3
110 X 119
ok ok


Any idea what I am doing wrong?

I covered the 110 and 129 (left and right) and tried to tune 119 on the center (rx on port 1) but absolutely cannot find it anywhere, and tried EL from 29 through about 44. about 40 is where 110 and 119 come in but on wrong lnbs.

One question is...from other stuff I read it didnt say, but if I have this comdition, people said move it right (west) 9 degrees....do I have to change EL or SK to get 119 if I do that?

I am really confused. I am not trying to play dish man, but I have aligned several 500's and never had any trouble.

I work with equipment other folks have trouble with all the time and I post on forums like this to help the out...I was just hoping someone could give me some advice.

Thank you.

Lets start from scratch. Go to dishpointer.com, put in your zip code, and get the proper coordinates for the 1000.2 at your location.

Set the correct elevation and skew on the dish.

Make sure the mount is plumb and slowly rotate the dish in the azimuth direction. Use the angle brackets on back of the dish that have the elevation scale stamped on them, as the referance for the azimuth, not the dish face.

You might have to run check switch on the receiver without the cable hooked up to clear the switch matrix, then run it again after the dish is aligned.

If you have a clear LOS you should get all three satellites.

your elevation is to high should be at 39 to 41

remember 129 is lower in the sky than 110 119 it is around 32 degrees

Oh man, I just typed this big reply and it vanished. Ok, Thanks for the replies...this thing is eating my lunch.

ok, short version:

If I had NOT done the no-cable check switch to clear the memory...would that prevent me from finding 119 even if I were in the right spot with the outer lnbs covered?

Dishpointer says roughly the same thing as the install manual for AZ (229-235 DP / 234 Manual) and EL 31.3 versus 31...but the manual says 125 SKew and DP says 35.8? Isnt 35.8 completely the other "phase"? Could this have been installed at 125 for HD only or something previously (this dish was at my rental house..he may have had different programming). Or am I thinking too much and skew doesnt matter on 119?

If I was getting this wrong when signal was coming in at 40 EL...if things are level and I use 31...does that mean there needed to be 10 difference and of course the correct AZ to get 119 on the 119 lnb? Sound right?

A gracious thank you to those replying....I really appreciate it.

I have this silly feeling clearing the matrix and starting over would have saved 4 hours work....

All the tricks and tips helped. Thanks!
After I cleared the check-switch...that was the key to success.
The second one was aligned in 15 minutes. I fixed the first one in about 20 minutes.
I ended up with signal levels of (after tweaking):
110 = 66
119 = 78
129 = 62
All on tr 17.
The first one I was not able to get as good of signal, I did tweak it a good bit, but it was something like:
110 = 55
119 = 62
129 = 52
Seems to be working fine, but I really though I coudl get more than that at that location.
Thanks again to all who helped out!

I don't know why no one covers the "clear the switch" issue better. It's like it just isn't a problem.
I had the same problem with the new Winegard portable dome and a 211 rcvr.
Winegard did modify the manual after people complained they could not find the SW-64 switch the receiver was to find, and added that it was internal and not a physical anything.
But, they don't tell you to clear the check-switch when you switch from the house dish to the dome. Little things like that will drive you crazy.

Now, anytime I am going to unhook the 211, I unhook the RG-6 and run CHECK SWITCH and save the nothing it found. Saves time when i hook it back up and I don't forget to clear it first.

Never had to do anything like this back in the old Dish 500 days.