Dish Network's Point Dish signal strength meter.

[sjvirchow]

Why does the signal strength meter on my ViP 722 in the Point Dish screen, go all the way up to 125? Is the number next to "Signal" the percentage? It's usually around 70-80 on a cloudy day on the 119 satellite, and 60-ish (on a cloudy day) on the 129 satellite. Same numbers on the 110 satellite (70-80 on a cloudy day)

 

[dishnet_tech]

Those are good signal levels. Dish made some software changes some time ago so that different types of receivers would all display similar signal strengths, instead of say a 301 showing 105 on the signal strength screen and a 625 showing 80. When they first did this I remember a lot of customers who were familiar with the point dish screen thinking their signal levels had dropped dramatically for some reason. Even today when some customers see the signal levels on screen when you're setting up their system sometimes will ask or have that wondering look as to why their signal levels are so low.

 

[sjvirchow]

About what percentage do my numbers represent? At first I thought my signal strength should be all the way up to 125 and thought for the longest time that my dish wasn't aligned correctly...

 

[Frank7004]

You are above our minimums. If you start to lose signal, then you are in trouble.

In my opinion, I hate that signal strength screen for the exact reasons you are questioning it.

 

[sjvirchow]

Great! Is the signal strength higher on a clear, sunny, birdies singing day, then a cloudy day?

 

[dishcomm]

there is a signal strength matrix by which techs are to compare their signal strengths when they install or upgrade a system.
Signal strength depends on the size of the antenna and area of the US.
Because you reside near the geographic center of the US ,your signal strengths will be higher than those who reside near the coasts or north/south borders.
for Assuming you have the 1000.2 antenna.....110/119/129....
Typically signals on the 110 slot will be in the upper 70's to upper 80's....Same for the 119.....For the 129, signals should range from the upper 60's to around 80.
the transponders to look at would be 14.15, 16 and 21 on the 110 and 119...and for the 129.....19, 20, 29 and 30

 

[sjvirchow]

Excellent, that's where my numbers are. Thank you.

 

[hawker152]

You are above our minimums. If you start to lose signal, then you are in trouble.

In my opinion, I hate that signal strength screen for the exact reasons you are questioning it.

I also hate that stupid screen that goes to 125. Can't count how many times people have complained their signal is crap

 

[sjvirchow]

I can see how it would throw people off.

 

[JohnL]

Actually the signal Strength meter is a measurement based on how much data is being used from the FEC (Forward Error Correction Code) being used to reconstruct missing or damaged bits in the bit stream.

In the past the threshold for signal loss was about 45-50 percent on the signal bar, this was when I was getting about 80-95 percent on the signal meter. Since the change the threshold for signal loss is about 10-15 percent, now I get about 50-65 percent on my signal meter. So the amount of signal above the threshold of total signal loss is still relatively the same at about 40-50 percent signal above the signal loss threshold.

John

 

[sjvirchow]

So, a number of 80 on the Point Dish screen, is about 100% signal strength?

 

[3HaloODST]

I think about 90 is 100%. I definitely have several TP's on 119, a couple on 110, and one on 129 that go at or above 80.

 

[sjvirchow]

Excellent! Thank's for all the info guys! I appreciate it!

 

[skyviewmark]

Why not just make the meter stop at 100 and not 125...... Yes Dish.. I am talking to you... Why do I have to explain to every customer I install for that 70's and 80's are good levels.. Especially when I am doing a DirecTV conversion where the customer was getting 99%.. I know the signal is fine.. But the customer doesn't.....

 

[Frank7004]

Listening to the boots on the ground for improvements is the last thing I expect Dish to do. You need a fancy car and a big desk, complete with a leather chair to make the best decisions for installs and to know how/what the customer thinks about things.

Did I just say that out loud, and post it on the internet? Yes.

 

[Jhon69]

there is a signal strength matrix by which techs are to compare their signal strengths when they install or upgrade a system.
Signal strength depends on the size of the antenna and area of the US.
Because you reside near the geographic center of the US ,your signal strengths will be higher than those who reside near the coasts or north/south borders.
for Assuming you have the 1000.2 antenna.....110/119/129....
Typically signals on the 110 slot will be in the upper 70's to upper 80's....Same for the 119.....For the 129, signals should range from the upper 60's to around 80.
the transponders to look at would be 14.15, 16 and 21 on the 110 and 119...and for the 129.....19, 20, 29 and 30

Here are my numbers from my new 722k/w MT2.
My location is Central California.
1000.4 WA.4 LNB Dish Network Dish.

Tuner 0
Orbital 14 15 16 21
110 78 78 77 78
119 77 82 86 86
129 0 48 0 68

Tuner 1
orbital 14 15 16 21 19 20 29 30
110 79 78 79 78
119 79 84 87 87
129 0 50 0 71 57 59 59 59

I have had the Dish Network Tech out twice,once to install and twice to tweak the dish and they have said that is what I should be seeing on my 722k's signal meter.Both times I told the tech's to"tweak the dish"!.

 

[3HaloODST]

Your signal strengths are pretty decent actually.

Lower 80's on 119, upper 70's on 110, and low 60's on 129 are considered very good. About 90 on the scale is 100% signal strength, so don't fret. Though depending on the dish, LOS, and what area you are in, they can get higher.

 

[Jhon69]

Your signal strengths are pretty decent actually.

Lower 80's on 119, upper 70's on 110, and low 60's on 129 are considered very good. About 90 on the scale is 100% signal strength, so don't fret. Though depending on the dish, LOS, and what area you are in, they can get higher.

Appreciate the reply,my only concern was since Dish Network's 1000.4 WA.4 LNB dish is relatively new in the WA,and has more adjustments for tweaking the dish they might have missed something.Both techs seemed very knowledgeable in the 1000.4 WA dish.both of them did tell me that the signal they see on their signal meters was a little higher.
Maybe Dish Network should consider making their receivers show a little higher signal?.This would help cut down on customers who have a little knowledge of how to access the signal meter through the Menu calling to complain about low signal readings?.Thanks again!.

 

[3HaloODST]

Well, the signal strength meters on the receivers originally did show higher readings, which is why the bar goes to 125, but they adjusted the meters to be closer to what they see on the handhelds.

The signal strength might be a little higher on the handheld due to the fact that the cable runs to the receivers I'm sure are longer and there's diplexers, separators, etc. involved which may cause the receivers to show a slightly lower reading. Overall I think you have good readings from your receiver .

 

[whatchel1]

All of this is only directly related to WA. The EA is still a different story. "Signal levels" there a bit lower than the WA. But still isn't a problem. It would be nice it it was true correlation to a 100% scale but it isn't. An example is I have a very highly peaked .9 m dish on EA sat 61.5 area. Well the signals are from 70's conus up to mid 90's on a spotbeam for the area.