losing prime time TV in Alaska

[running wolf]

On the box it says: LNBF dual digital 12.2 12.7ghz REMFG (SVC).
Hubby is gone for three weeks - it's party time!!!!!!! - and tends more and more to directv.
Is that LNB compatible with my 7 year old 3foot dish anyways? If not there is no sense in working outside in balmy 25below.

 

[Mr Tony]

If her hubby is skilled with a tape measure, hack saw, and a drill and I've never heard of an Alaskan mountain man that wasnt then he could cut off the same length on the existing arm and drill the holes for the I adapter to go in place but ofcourse thats if they want to risk cutting the arm.

and if it screws up rendering a dish useless...and it costs alot to ship dishes to Alaska

 

[Mr Tony]

On the box it says: LNBF dual digital 12.2 12.7ghz REMFG (SVC).
Hubby is gone for three weeks - it's party time!!!!!!! - and tends more and more to directv.
Is that LNB compatible with my 7 year old 3foot dish anyways? If not there is no sense in working outside in balmy 25below.

yes that LNB is compatible with the dish. Any LNB will work with the dish. Its the compatibility of the LNB fitting on the dish that may different

 

[running wolf]

I'm kinda at a loss, shall I go for a new, bigger dish, what would be advisable anyways, i would have somebody to get it up here from Anchorage, or shall i go with directv , it's not the money so much, it's the whole nine yards. Guess I will sleep over it.
You guys are so helpful, thanks again for all your inputs and your time

 

[Mr Tony]

Is there anybody nearby that has Directv that you can see how its working out for them?

You could get a bigger dish like a 4 footer but then you'd have to have somebody install it..unless the hubby can do it

You guys are so helpful, thanks again for all your inputs and your time

we're here to help

 

[running wolf]

No, nobody has directv around here, what is part of the problem. And, with all due respect, hubby knows how to build a cabin, but for everything else I am the one.........That's why i asked for the satellite finder, there are guys around here who set up dishes before, we're pretty much on our own out here.
Checked my trap line today, have two lynxes outside.......

 

[Mr Tony]

No, nobody has directv around here, what is part of the problem.

bummer

And, with all due respect, hubby knows how to build a cabin, but for everything else I am the one.......

sounds like my dad...can build a house, reshingle a house, etc but give him a TV remote and he is LOST (no not the show)

BUt you said the new receiver seems to be working? Did Dish send you that or did you borrow it form a neighbor?

 

[running wolf]

What do you mean? I still have the old box sitting on the TV, with the smart card. And then I have the new part, the SW21, dish network mailed. The funny part is tho, I connected the SW21 to the box on the TV and the signal was low but stable and for the first time in weeks we did not lose the signal. I will try again tonight, did not turn on the tv last night.

 

[Mr Tony]

wait a minute.......when you hook the SW21 up it stays stable but when you don't you lose signal?

same box and everything?

OK this is like twilight zone weird....normally you lose a couple points in signal when a switch is involved versus hooking it up directly from the reciever to the LNB

 

[running wolf]

Yes, that's correct, well, it happened the day before yesterday. It's 6.20 right now and I'm about to turn on the tv to see what's happening at 6.45pm, the time we normally lose it.

 

[running wolf]

Yes, that's correct, well, it happened the day before yesterday. It's 6.20 right now and I'm about to turn on the tv to see what's happening at 6.45pm, the time we normally lose it.

 

[running wolf]

Nope, lost it again, guess the other day we just got lucky.

 

[Mr Tony]

any updates on the situation?

 

[vegassatellite]

Since DirecTV is at 101 longitude and Dish is at 110/119, that would put DirecTV lower on the horizon by about 5 degrees. You would have to be at 9 degrees elevation instead of 13. I don't know how much lower you can go out there, but I imagine that since both services operate in the same band, you might be worse off with DirecTV since you have to aim that dish lower. You might have more things in the way at 9 degrees elevation and if the problem is some source of terrestrial interference, then you will be pointed closer to terrestrial signals and might get more noise as a result.

 

[running wolf]

Update:
Yesterday a guy from dish network from Anchorage called and told me they are looking into the possibility of a satellite anomaly. It was a little better for a few days but since 4-5 days we don't get no nothing no more and it's even worse down in the valley.

 

[Peter Iowa]

Hello up north,
I used to listen to Northern Canada on radio and shortwave from New England... I just read through this thread and there is a lot of good info from Ice of course and others- i would not discount what Vegas said about
going from 13 to 9 degrees- that's not a trivial matter at all.
I would not be surprised by a satellite anomaly because engineering
is really not an exact science - loss of signal same time everyday is possibly
indicative of that problem. A bigger dish would of course help a lot as many
have said and hopefully that won't turn out to be cost prohibitive.
My main expertise is moving my 3 foot stationary dish a hundred times to change satellite location and working for a time on fabrication of astronomical satellites...
Good luck!

Peter in...Iowa

 

[Bountykiller]

Hey I live well on the fringe of the beam myself. This is a common issue you are having. People in the concentrated Zone of the signal wouldnt know the behavior on the fringe really. During different times of the day the signal fluctuates for pretty much every satellite out there that I have come accross (DirecTV, Dish, Expressvu etc.)

For example I only get 110 tr # 3 for the evenings and Tr # 7 on 110 I have most of the day. Why this is, I do not know exactly but my best guess is radiation patterns from sunlight to dark. 119 oddly however is at its strongest for me in the early morning...

Anyways to make a long story short, you need a bigger dish. I would say a 4 or a 6 footer where you are located for each satellite you want. Ask a satellite shop up there and see what the norm is for your area. That is only my guess.

I personally have one 6 for 119, one for 110 and one for 129. Really, I should have 8 footers where I am but the cost of an 8 footer vs a 6 footer is astronomical.

Either way, based on your location there is little guess work involved in saying that signal is your issue.

The larger the dish, the more accurately you can focus on the satellite in question and the higher the gain to compensate for the loss in gain due to your distance from its focal point on earth.

 

[vegassatellite]

Hey I live well on the fringe of the beam myself. This is a common issue you are having. People in the concentrated Zone of the signal wouldnt know the behavior on the fringe really. During different times of the day the signal fluctuates for pretty much every satellite out there that I have come accross (DirecTV, Dish, Expressvu etc.)

For example I only get 110 tr # 3 for the evenings and Tr # 7 on 110 I have most of the day. Why this is, I do not know exactly but my best guess is radiation patterns from sunlight to dark. 119 oddly however is at its strongest for me in the early morning...

Anyways to make a long story short, you need a bigger dish. I would say a 4 or a 6 footer where you are located for each satellite you want. Ask a satellite shop up there and see what the norm is for your area. That is only my guess.

I personally have one 6 for 119, one for 110 and one for 129. Really, I should have 8 footers where I am but the cost of an 8 footer vs a 6 footer is astronomical.

Either way, based on your location there is little guess work involved in saying that signal is your issue.

The larger the dish, the more accurately you can focus on the satellite in question and the higher the gain to compensate for the loss in gain due to your distance from its focal point on earth.

The effect of sunlight on the ionosphere would be my guess.

 

[running wolf]

The signal is strongest in the morning and goes down slowly.
I thought about sun etc, but that does not make sense, I do have starband and when the sun and satellite line up it affects the signal but that is not the case with Dish Network, when they line up the signal is very strong. We are looking into buying a 6foot dish as soon as I talk to Radio Shack and get some estimates. Perhaps trade for a bear hunt, cash is something hard to come by up here.
Anyways, it's kinda promising that Dish Network considers the possibility of a satellite 'wobble', apparently we b%&*^d enough to get them going.
I couldn't hook up the new LNB, no way to get a "D tube" mounted.

 

[Bountykiller]

My only other advice is to use the Ku Horn that comes with your dish for the best signal (a regular one does work but doesn't always light up all of the dish per say and you might have a slightly weaker signal than you want (10 points or so on the IRD) you will need an LNB with a c120 fitting to accomplish this (Invacom's one) or you will need to do some welding (or just put up with the reduced signal)

I use channel master/Andrews dishes and I know that in the US the 6 footers arent that bad, but you will need a mount or you need to dig a hole in the yard and concrete it in with 4inch galvanized pipe. I would recon that you could put one in up there all said and done for about 600-700. Pole, cement, shipping etc etc.