5 to 3??

[stonoguy]

I have a DirecTV satellite HD dish that has 5 LNBs. My question is, can the 5 LNB configuration be replaced with
the 3 LNB configuration on the present dish? This dish is only feeding one HD receiver (H24-700)......
It seems to be working OK...it is not peaked efficiently but will receive all the channels except the local channels,
which I hope the 3 LNB config would correct.? Any thoughts, recommendations? Thanks!

 

[raoul5788]

You can simply swap out the 5 lnb for a 3 lnb, but you may lose your local sd channels if they are on the 119 satellite. You say you only have an H24 connected, but in another thread you are asking about an HR20. Do you have two dishes?

 

[stonoguy]

No.....2 residences

 

[stonoguy]

Would a power inverter (PI-29) have to be used? No multi-switch will be used....just a single receiver!.......

 

[upsss]

If you have a SWM LNB then you need the power inserter (with an S).

 

[texasbrit]

Moving from a 5lnb to a 3lnb will not "correct" anything, they will perform exactly the same. So if you have a problem receiving local channels, you need to find out why. If you post back and tell us where you are located, and what signal strengths you have on 99c/103ca/103cb and 99s/103s, maybe we can help you.

 

[TheTechGuru]

There is absolutely no reason to go from 5 to 3 other than if line of sight to 119 is being blocked by trees or buildings.

Be sure the pole is plumb and the tilt is correct and peak the dish using the dither method. If you're not able to get 99 an 103 around the same numbers your dish may be bent.

How far are these residences apart? If both receivers are on the same account and you're trying to get out of market locals with one you might be out of the spotbeam for them if you're really far away.

 

[stonoguy]

When I am at the house that has this dish, I will!! Have a safe and Merry Christmas & New Year's!!

 

[stonoguy]

Both residences are in SC.....not a great distance apart! Maybe you can explain this 'dither method'....I think I may have a general idea what this is but am not positive. I have no problem
peaking a SD dish but have never correctly peaked a HD dish. Any advise you can provide would be helpful and appreciated! As much as I can remember, The 101 bird is peaked well....
the 99 & 103 have numbers that vary around the 40-60 range......haven't had any real cloudy or heavy rainy conditions (while I was there) that has impeded reception....but that could change at any time.
Someone gave me this dish, so I replaced my SD dish with it. Nice to have HD on my HDTV now!

 

[raoul5788]

Dithering is the fine adjustments that you make with the small black knobs.

 

[texasbrit]

Dithering is the fine adjustments that you make with the small black knobs.

Not quite. Once you have set the elevation to the theoretical value for your location, Dithering is the process of finding the center of the 101 beam by finding a point where the signal is at a certain level (say 60), then using the black knob to adjust the dish through its peak until you get down to the same level (e.g. 60) on the other side of the peak, while counting the number of rotations of the adjustment knob. Then rotate the knob back exactly half the number of rotations (so if you made four full rotations to get from 60 to 60, go back two full rotations). That will put you at the center of the 101 beam.
If you have a 5 LNB dish you can dither the elevation also.
Then look at 99c and 103ca, use the fine tune controls to adjust those if they are not at least in the high 80s.

 

[raoul5788]

I certainly didn't describe it nearly as well as you did texasbrit, but isn't dithering in fact making fine adjustments?

 

[HIFI]

I certainly didn't describe it nearly as well as you did texasbrit, but isn't dithering in fact making fine adjustments?

:up

 

[texasbrit]

I certainly didn't describe it nearly as well as you did texasbrit, but isn't dithering in fact making fine adjustments?

No, dithering is making BIG adjustments! In this case, going side to side so you can find the middle!
For others reading this, you do it this way because the 101 beam is so wide it can seem like you are peaked but you are not actually in the middle of the beam. The dithering process enables you to find the exact center of the beam so you can be perfectly aligned on 101.