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Hi guys,
Hopefully some of you can offer some advice. I'm currently trying to set up a HR21 and a SWM-3 Slimline dish in an "RV" type configuration. I know this is supposed to be difficult and to make things worse I am trying to do it on a shoestring budget. (I was laid off last year and moved to temporary housing where I can't have a dish installed professionally. I ran out of time that DirecTV would allow me to suspend my service, so I had to decide either to pay the big contract cancellation fee for no TV at all or to try and figure out a way to receive the signal. Just to make my life difficult, I figured I'd give it a try. I am also separated from most of my tools, etc. here to make things even more fun.)
I have an HR21 HD DVR connected to the SWM-3 LNB through a PI-21 power inserter. Because I have only a single receiver, I am not using a splitter and just have the power inserter between the DVR and LNB. My understanding is that this is a valid configuration...
Of course dish mounting and pointing is the biggest gotcha. Also of course, I don't have a signal meter. I can see the TV while pointing so was planning to use the receiver to point the dish. I've made a stand for the dish from PVC which has turned out pretty sturdy, but to add to the stupidity factor I don't have a bubble level or compass here. I am using dishpointer.com to sight to nearby objects for the approximate azimuth, and just eyeballed the mast to "pretty darn close" to vertical. Yes I know, bad plan, but my thinking was that I could sweep the dish slowly across my approximate azimuth. Then if I didn't get a signal, I'd adjust the elevation by a degree or two to compensate for possible off-level mast and sweep again, then repeat as necessary. Then I figured I could dither in elevation and azimuth once I got a signal to peak it, and then maybe be able to watch some TV!
So I think I must have gotten to within at most a degree or two in elevation and azimuth of the correct satellite position somewhere in this process, but I've seen nothing in the signal strength screen. I'm using 101, which I understand is Ku and thus has a wider beam width. I don't know how fast this screen updates, and I haven't seen anything but "Not Acquired" on the meters, so I'm not 100% sure this is the right approach to pointing using the receiver.
My main question is this: is the beam width so narrow that I'm probably just missing the satellite completely with my sloppy pointing, or is this evidence that maybe the LNB is bad? The power inserter and cabling are new, but I bought the dish/LNB second hand on eBay. Or do I not have the receiver set up correctly for dish pointing? I know a compass and level (not to mention a signal meter) are essential if you are going to be doing this much, but I figured with enough patience hopefully I could get the thing pointed once with this method. But maybe not if I'm not going to see anything unless my angles are within half a degree.
It is conceivable that some trees are in my LOS but I believe the elevation clears them. A neighbor is receiving SD Dish Network on a similar sight line, and her dish is closer to the trees.
Thanks for all your help, I know this is a pretty hairbrained thing to try to be doing without better equipment, but here I am... I know I probably need to ensure that the mast is completely level anyhow to be able to get good signal on all 3 satellites since otherwise the skew angle might be off, but if I should be getting something non-zero for signal once I'm in the ballpark and this is clearly a case of a dead LNB I'd like to figure that out ASAP.
Hopefully some of you can offer some advice. I'm currently trying to set up a HR21 and a SWM-3 Slimline dish in an "RV" type configuration. I know this is supposed to be difficult and to make things worse I am trying to do it on a shoestring budget. (I was laid off last year and moved to temporary housing where I can't have a dish installed professionally. I ran out of time that DirecTV would allow me to suspend my service, so I had to decide either to pay the big contract cancellation fee for no TV at all or to try and figure out a way to receive the signal. Just to make my life difficult, I figured I'd give it a try. I am also separated from most of my tools, etc. here to make things even more fun.)
I have an HR21 HD DVR connected to the SWM-3 LNB through a PI-21 power inserter. Because I have only a single receiver, I am not using a splitter and just have the power inserter between the DVR and LNB. My understanding is that this is a valid configuration...
Of course dish mounting and pointing is the biggest gotcha. Also of course, I don't have a signal meter. I can see the TV while pointing so was planning to use the receiver to point the dish. I've made a stand for the dish from PVC which has turned out pretty sturdy, but to add to the stupidity factor I don't have a bubble level or compass here. I am using dishpointer.com to sight to nearby objects for the approximate azimuth, and just eyeballed the mast to "pretty darn close" to vertical. Yes I know, bad plan, but my thinking was that I could sweep the dish slowly across my approximate azimuth. Then if I didn't get a signal, I'd adjust the elevation by a degree or two to compensate for possible off-level mast and sweep again, then repeat as necessary. Then I figured I could dither in elevation and azimuth once I got a signal to peak it, and then maybe be able to watch some TV!
So I think I must have gotten to within at most a degree or two in elevation and azimuth of the correct satellite position somewhere in this process, but I've seen nothing in the signal strength screen. I'm using 101, which I understand is Ku and thus has a wider beam width. I don't know how fast this screen updates, and I haven't seen anything but "Not Acquired" on the meters, so I'm not 100% sure this is the right approach to pointing using the receiver.
My main question is this: is the beam width so narrow that I'm probably just missing the satellite completely with my sloppy pointing, or is this evidence that maybe the LNB is bad? The power inserter and cabling are new, but I bought the dish/LNB second hand on eBay. Or do I not have the receiver set up correctly for dish pointing? I know a compass and level (not to mention a signal meter) are essential if you are going to be doing this much, but I figured with enough patience hopefully I could get the thing pointed once with this method. But maybe not if I'm not going to see anything unless my angles are within half a degree.
It is conceivable that some trees are in my LOS but I believe the elevation clears them. A neighbor is receiving SD Dish Network on a similar sight line, and her dish is closer to the trees.
Thanks for all your help, I know this is a pretty hairbrained thing to try to be doing without better equipment, but here I am... I know I probably need to ensure that the mast is completely level anyhow to be able to get good signal on all 3 satellites since otherwise the skew angle might be off, but if I should be getting something non-zero for signal once I'm in the ballpark and this is clearly a case of a dead LNB I'd like to figure that out ASAP.
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14024 views
R
Thanks, good to know that I have the right idea about the 101.
Haha yeah, I've been doing my research enough to know I might need professional help here. But I am pretty proficient with electronic and RF technology so since I have time on my hands and am pinching pennies, I figured I'd give it a go first. This science project is kind of an entertaining break from job search activities... If it doesn't pan out then the "flag down an installer" idea is a great one.
OK so it's clear I'm just wasting my time and yours until I know the mast is really plumb. Once I have that assured, anyone want to hazard an estimate of how close I'll need to be in azimuth before I can expect to see anything? Does it matter which transponder I have selected in the signal meter screen during pointing?
Any simple way to check an LNB without special equipment? Is it at all common for them to fail? On the signal strength screen, there is a SWM page that I understand shows signal for the guide information for each SWM receiver channel. These are zeros too - I take it that's normal without satellite acquisition? Clearly the best way to know if the LNB is working is to get the dish pointed accurately first, and that's probably the problem, but if there's a way to know if the receiver is definitely seeing the LNB or not it would be helpful.
Thanks again and sorry for the silly questions - clearly I'm ignorant here but I'm trying not to be stupid!
Haha yeah, I've been doing my research enough to know I might need professional help here. But I am pretty proficient with electronic and RF technology so since I have time on my hands and am pinching pennies, I figured I'd give it a go first. This science project is kind of an entertaining break from job search activities... If it doesn't pan out then the "flag down an installer" idea is a great one.
OK so it's clear I'm just wasting my time and yours until I know the mast is really plumb. Once I have that assured, anyone want to hazard an estimate of how close I'll need to be in azimuth before I can expect to see anything? Does it matter which transponder I have selected in the signal meter screen during pointing?
Any simple way to check an LNB without special equipment? Is it at all common for them to fail? On the signal strength screen, there is a SWM page that I understand shows signal for the guide information for each SWM receiver channel. These are zeros too - I take it that's normal without satellite acquisition? Clearly the best way to know if the LNB is working is to get the dish pointed accurately first, and that's probably the problem, but if there's a way to know if the receiver is definitely seeing the LNB or not it would be helpful.
Thanks again and sorry for the silly questions - clearly I'm ignorant here but I'm trying not to be stupid!
Pub Member / Supporter
America’s Fastest-Growing EV State Isn’t California—Not by a Long Shot
New data shows electric vehicle adoption is increasingly driven by state policies, electricity prices and charging access—not federal incentives
www.autoweek.com
The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.
It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.
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tomwellborn3rd (@wellborn.net)
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bsky.app
Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.
So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.
US EV sales are rising again. Here’s why the recovery is set to last.
Even though sales tanked last year after the end of federal incentives, the American EV sector is on the mend as drivers face sky-high gasoline prices.
www.canarymedia.com
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Stumbled across this ... http://www.gaspricewatch.com/USGas_ZipSearch.asp
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy
Ethanol Free Stations
I found no local prices, although it did show stations at my location...
Added these to this post...
USA National Gas Temperature Map
State By State Gasoline Taxes
Gas Buddy
Ethanol Free Stations
5553 Replies
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460678 views
Here in Indiana, the difference between Regular and Premium is usually a dollar, but some charge even more:
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68530 Replies
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2672897 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beTFfPz10OI
Direct YouTube Link - Club TWiT: Media Club #3 - Best of Adult Animation: Futurama, Rick and Morty, and Simpsons Classics
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beTFfPz10OI
Direct YouTube Link - Club TWiT: Media Club #3 - Best of Adult Animation: Futurama, Rick and Morty, and Simpsons Classics
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!
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87 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
6 Replies
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60 views
Booredatwork.com
Time for another AWESOME video from BoredAtWork!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/apQ9G9Nr9so
Direct YouTube Link - Alexa Tablet 12 Pro Unboxing!
Booredatwork.com Website
Booredatwork on Facebook
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/apQ9G9Nr9so
Direct YouTube Link - Alexa Tablet 12 Pro Unboxing!
Booredatwork.com Website
Booredatwork on Facebook
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2 views
My year was almost up and we got the new bill for a year of service for $ 360.00 insane sat radio is becoming like cable!!! i logged into my acct and hopped onto chat and told the rep that i wanted to cancel. she understood my concern and went quiet for a few minutes. i figured that she was canceling my service. she comes back and said that she seen that i have been a sub since 07 and then offers me the same package for a year for 120.00 with taxes and fee's!!! i grabbed it. after almost having a stroke 
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11040 views
Mrs. Foxbat reminded me it's that time of the year to do the Cancel Tango
The A.I. agent appears to be better than in the past. It got to the acceptable price quicker than previous years, no human operator involved. $5/mo and I still have over $50 in SiriusXM credit from my FordPartner benefits.
The A.I. agent appears to be better than in the past. It got to the acceptable price quicker than previous years, no human operator involved. $5/mo and I still have over $50 in SiriusXM credit from my FordPartner benefits.
I forgot you can pay that with Ford Pass points, I won't be due again till Feb, but I'll have to remember to try it ... Not sure what needs to be done, but I do have a substantial amount of points currently.Mrs. Foxbat reminded me it's that time of the year to do the Cancel Tango
The A.I. agent appears to be better than in the past. It got to the acceptable price quicker than previous years, no human operator involved. $5/mo and I still have over $50 in SiriusXM credit from my FordPartner benefits.
The new curated multiview is now live.
While on many of the sports channels and non sports channels there is a multi view option button. It will pull up a side bar with many different multi view options.
While on many of the sports channels and non sports channels there is a multi view option button. It will pull up a side bar with many different multi view options.
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351 views
