129°W Peak Angles?

[Demetrax1]

Hey all,

I have decided to supplement my DISH 500 (110, 119) setup with a DISH 300 pointed at 129°W. Rather than going out and buying a DISH 1000, I'm doing it this way. I'm a little leery, though. I've heard of people consistently losing signal on the 129 bird, that's why I'd rather give 129 a dedicated dish. I'll take my chances. The real problem is that my VIP211K will not give me the necessary data to tweak my satellite dish. I've tried dishpointer.com, but I've noticed that the numbers it gives me are slightly different than the ones from my receiver. My ZIP code is 24018. In the end, would it just be easier to scrap the 129 idea and aim for something on the eastern arc? Thanks in advance.

 

[n0qcu]

129 settings for zip 24018
azimuth 242.3
magnetic 250.5
elevation 23.4

 

[Demetrax1]

129 settings for zip 24018
azimuth 242.3
magnetic 250.5
elevation 23.4

Thank you. Is 129 okay/reliable to aim for? Or should I aim for an equivalent on the Eastern Arc?

 

[Bobby]

Thank you. Is 129 okay/reliable to aim for? Or should I aim for an equivalent on the Eastern Arc?

I find 129 very reliable. Of course I am on the west coast. However, there are a ton of east coasters here that also have 129. There is very little talk of issues with 129...

 

[Demetrax1]

I find 129 very reliable. Of course I am on the west coast. However, there are a ton of east coasters here that also have 129. There is very little talk of issues with 129...

Thank you. It seems it's a bit more difficult to get 129 from my house. What is the eastern arc equivalent of 129?

 

[pattykay]

Thank you. It seems it's a bit more difficult to get 129 from my house. What is the eastern arc equivalent of 129?

It depends on what you want from 129. If your locals are on 129, they may be mirrored at 61.5 also. Most of the HD channels used to be at 72, but many of those were moved to 61.5 recently. So, there is no one equivalent of 129 on Eastern Arc, but 61.5 may come close, depending on what channels you want.

 

[Demetrax1]

It depends on what you want from 129. If your locals are on 129, they may be mirrored at 61.5 also. Most of the HD channels used to be at 72, but many of those were moved to 61.5 recently. So, there is no one equivalent of 129 on Eastern Arc, but 61.5 may come close, depending on what channels you want.

My locals are ZIP code 24018 Roanoke, VA. My problem is I mounted my 300 dish on the side of my chimney but I can't swing it far enough to the left to catch 129 because the rock is in the way. I can always remount it on the same side as my 500 which has a clear view of the eastern arc. As for 61.5, the only reason I was asking is because there is already a bracket in place over our deck from our old DISH installation which has a clear view of the eastern arc fleet of satellites.

 

[Bobby]

It would appear that your Roanoke HD local channels appear only on 129. If I were you, I would change out that 500/300 dish/s to a 1002 WA dish and place it where you have a clear view of 110, 119, 129.... Then all of your issues will be gone.

 

[HipKat]

It would appear that your Roanoke HD local channels appear only on 129. If I were you, I would change out that 500/300 dish/s to a 1002 WA dish and place it where you have a clear view of 110, 119, 129.... Then all of your issues will be gone.

or swap out that short mast for a 500+ mast that we use for internationals. It'll get you further away from the mount,

 

[Demetrax1]

It would appear that your Roanoke HD local channels appear only on 129. If I were you, I would change out that 500/300 dish/s to a 1002 WA dish and place it where you have a clear view of 110, 119, 129.... Then all of your issues will be gone.

Thank you, that might be wise for me in the future. That's weird though, right? The fact that Roanoke locals are on Western arc instead of Eastern arc...? It would honestly be so much easier if they would just do a true split between both arcs. Localities that are better suited for EA should have locals beamed to EA, and the same for WA. In my greater municipality, I've seen a somewhat even mixture of both EA and WA setups on people's rooftops. In the end, I may just end up getting our HD locals through our roof antenna. We live less than 2 miles from transmitter site(s).

or swap out that short mast for a 500+ mast that we use for internationals. It'll get you further away from the mount,

I agree, HipKat. As far as internationals go, same thing; DISH should do what they did before and mirror those on both arcs, like they did when 148°W was around. Because right now it is exclusively an FSS LNBF for a sat at 118.7 that maybe not everyone can reliably receive, but then again IDK.

To quote the great Claude...

Dish should have done a 148/157/166 west western arc setup for the west coast.

But then again satellites cost money.

Like I've said before, I don't know all the technical details about satellite TV technology, but enough to know this sure would make sense in the long run.

 

[Claude Greiner]

If you know the look angles for 119/110 you can easily figure out 129.

For example if 110 was 34 degrees and 119 was 29 degree elevation, then 129 should be 24 degrees.

All DBS satellites are 9 degrees apart in orbit so it’s easy to do the math.

When Dish lit up 110, I had a dish pointed there before the satellite was there!

Seriously!!!

I did the math and set the elevation to the average elevation of 101 and 119.

Then I pointed the dish to 119 and to 101 and noted the position with a black magic marker.

Put the dish to the middle of the 2 Marks and found 110.

I had a 50% signal the day they lighted it up.

Had the dish pointed before the satellite was in position.

 

[Demetrax1]

If you know the look angles for 119/110 you can easily figure out 129.

For example if 110 was 34 degrees and 119 was 29 degree elevation, then 129 should be 24 degrees.

All DBS satellites are 9 degrees apart in orbit so it’s easy to do the math.

When Dish lit up 110, I had a dish pointed there before the satellite was there!

Seriously!!!

I did the math and set the elevation to the average elevation of 101 and 119.

Then I pointed the dish to 119 and to 101 and noted the position with a black magic marker.

Put the dish to the middle of the 2 Marks and found 110.

I had a 50% signal the day they lighted it up.

Had the dish pointed before the satellite was in position.

Yes, I remember you telling me on another thread. That's amazing! And innovative. Using a DISH 300 I suppose? And you told me they were still there, pointed?

 

[Claude Greiner]

Still there

Dishretailer Antenna Farm

 

[NYDutch]

I think DirecTV 5 had already been sitting at 110 for about 4 years when Echostar 10 set up shop there. Why didn't you just use those numbers?

On edit: Scratch that, I forgot that DTV 5 was originally in the 119 slot...

 

[Claude Greiner]

I think DirecTV 5 had already been sitting at 110 for about 4 years when Echostar 10 set up shop there. Why didn't you just use those numbers?

On edit: Scratch that, I forgot that DTV 5 was originally in the 119 slot...

There was nothing at 110 for Directv.

Remember Directv got those 3 transponders from USSB (United States Satellite Broadcasting)

I think USSB had some transponders at 101 also. I know primester had the 11 at 119

 

[NYDutch]

Yep, when my "recaller" started working right, I added the edit to my post. I don't recall though, when DTV moved 5 from 119 to 110. I think officially it's at 109.8.

And now back to your regularly scheduled subject...