Could My Dish be Bent?

schneid

SatelliteGuys Pro

Original poster

Jun 27, 2007

806

76

In the Wind

• Nov 25, 2018

• #1

I was run over my Hurricane Florence. Since, I have been experiencing drop-outs similar to rain fade but not as severe. The 101 is in the high 90's to 100 and the 99 is 95 plus. The 103 however is below 90.

I read here once, I think, about dishes being bent. Could my dish have been twisted/warped enough to cause vision issues on the 103?

I am using an SL3SWM. BTW, considering all else, it is one badass dish.

Thanks

 

C

comp9

SatelliteGuys Pro

Jan 24, 2017

884

294

PA

• Nov 25, 2018

• #2

It could just need re aimed

 

raoul5788

Studebaker driver

Staff member

HERE TO HELP YOU!

Supporting Founder

Lifetime Supporter

Dec 28, 2004

32,780

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Cheshire CT

• Nov 25, 2018

• #3

It's most likely out of alignment, but it's possible it got bent.

 

RimaNTSS

SatelliteGuys Pro

Aug 9, 2013

891

959

Riga

• Nov 25, 2018

• #4

schneid said:

Could my dish have been twisted/warped enough to cause vision issues on the 103?

Click to expand...

It could be bent and it as well could be realigned by wind. Look at it or present couple of pictures for others to see possible damage..... easy as that

 

S

slice1900

SatelliteGuys Pro

Feb 14, 2015

1,712

770

IA

• Nov 25, 2018

• #5

Those readings don't indicate a bent or misaligned dish. Sounds more like a bad LNB - do you seem these dropouts on all channels or only some of them? If it is just a subset of channels and especially if you can correlate it to when the sun is beating down on the dish then a bad LNB is almost certain.

 

Claude Greiner

SatelliteGuys Master

Supporting Founder

Sep 8, 2003

13,213

3,776

Detroit - The Paris of the Midwest

• Nov 25, 2018

• #6

If the Dish was bent you wouldn’t be getting signals in the 90’s. They would be in the low 80’s

But you would be seeing that on 99/103

It’s always possible, couldn’t hurt to dither the Dish and possibly re align it

 

schneid

SatelliteGuys Pro

Original poster

Jun 27, 2007

806

76

In the Wind

• Nov 26, 2018

• #7

Not bent. The Cableless "DirecTV" Guy showed up on the dot. Loosened all the bolts and re-tightened them. Realigned the dish. All better now.

Loved the tech he came with. Had a tablet that remotely accessed the DVR and ran tests from their server. Confirmed that I was right. The 103 was X'ed out. Still don't understand how just the 103 was down unless it was a Pass/Fail kind of test.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

• 

Reactions: raoul5788

Claude Greiner

SatelliteGuys Master

Supporting Founder

Sep 8, 2003

13,213

3,776

Detroit - The Paris of the Midwest

• Nov 27, 2018

• #8

schneid said:

Not bent. The Cableless "DirecTV" Guy showed up on the dot. Loosened all the bolts and re-tightened them. Realigned the dish. All better now.

Loved the tech he came with. Had a tablet that remotely accessed the DVR and ran tests from their server. Confirmed that I was right. The 103 was X'ed out. Still don't understand how just the 103 was down unless it was a Pass/Fail kind of test.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Click to expand...

103 was not down, an X simply means that the signal is not acceptable or below a certain threshold such as 80%

It will still come in at 80% but the effects of rain fade will be worse

 

schneid

SatelliteGuys Pro

Original poster

Jun 27, 2007

806

76

In the Wind

• Nov 27, 2018

• #9

Sorry about my choice of words. In my OP I stated the 103 relative signal was below 90 and I was getting some "drop-outs similar to rain fade but not as severe". So, maybe "down" was the wrong word for one. in my aviator days, I "downed" aircraft often. That certainly didn't mean they were not airworthy or not flyable. From my RV days usable signal comes in at much lower than 80 but cannot recall how low. Looks like to me an "unacceptable" signal to DTV is more around 90 or below.

Anyway, DirecTV "tech" service is at 100%. The CS person I talked to first, not so much. Had to call back and use the magic "cancel service" words at the prompt. That person understood my issue or at least understood in 21 years I have had two truck rolls despite nine moves four of which were coast to coast. Until now, I had an unused service plan.