1000.4 signal levels

hillsmi

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Apr 4, 2006
160
3
Michigan
Retail installer changed out my D500 to EA 1000.4 today.

I live in MI, and am wondering what range of signals anyone else in the MI area is receiving on their EA dish.

On my old D500, I was getting >=75 on both 119 and 110. Now I know that certain sats may emit varying degrees of strength, but I'm getting much lower readings compared to my old D500.

Now, my signals range, on the 3 different sats, from mid-to-high 30s, to mid-60s (the weather was clear during the install).

Mid-60s on 61.5
Mid-to-high 50s on 72.7 and
28-38 on 77

Installer used a SatBuddy, or equivalent. I didn't actually watch him tune the dish, but I did observe the pole install, and it is very plumb.

We spoke after regarding how his meter reads different transponders, etc, etc, and that it is common for the signals to read lower. And how they occasionally have to update their meters with the transponders, etc, to obtain the best signal. I personally don't know how a SatBuddy works.

I thought E* had a certain acceptable signal level reading for installs? To help reduce the incidence of rain-fade in severe storms. Wasn't the acceptable signal for a D500 75% or better? with 60% being the minimum? Are there minimum signal standards from E* for the 1000.4?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Anything 50 or above is sufficient to prevent most rain fade now. The meter scale was reduced some years ago to make it more uniform on all receivers. About 75 is the maximum now , not 125 or 100 . Just add 30 points to any reading to make it look like the old scale. I'm in southeast Texas -90 miles from Houston- and I get the following on my eastern arc dish that I installed in 2008:

between 60 - 78 on the 72.7 sat
between 45 - 70 on the 61.5 sat
between 45 - 50 on the 77 sat.
 
You are good to go, sir. Some mins on the 72 are in the mid 40's.

The 77 is all jacked up right now (sat in the sky problem).

Your question is quite common. I wouldn't worry to much about it.
 
I agree with Frank your good to go I always let my customer know that the strenghts are lower per say but are above my minimals that are required. So you should be just fine
 
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