Atlanta locals, adjustments to 103

[timmac]

Hello folks, I'm not one to ask for help very often, but I need it now. Last night I had no locals. I called Directv who wants to send a tech for $70. I had my old dish in NY mounted on the ground with a 2x4 and 2x6 and didn't move it for over 6 years. No problems. The slimline has been on my roof for 7 months and the signal strength on the 103 was 0, 13, 0, 17, 0 and so forth. Highest number was 17. Now I heard some say that these numbers aren't really percentages and that some techs come out and show you numbers on meters that are in the 80s when reading their meter and not comparing to the signal strength on the HD DVR box. So, I'm planning on going up there and moving it myself. Anyone know how to make minor corrections without losing all my stuff and which way I would need to go to get the 103. I hear that it is rough without a meter. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[timmac]

thanks

 

[texasbrit]

Hello folks, I'm not one to ask for help very often, but I need it now. Last night I had no locals. I called Directv who wants to send a tech for $70. I had my old dish in NY mounted on the ground with a 2x4 and 2x6 and didn't move it for over 6 years. No problems. The slimline has been on my roof for 7 months and the signal strength on the 103 was 0, 13, 0, 17, 0 and so forth. Highest number was 17. Now I heard some say that these numbers aren't really percentages and that some techs come out and show you numbers on meters that are in the 80s when reading their meter and not comparing to the signal strength on the HD DVR box. So, I'm planning on going up there and moving it myself. Anyone know how to make minor corrections without losing all my stuff and which way I would need to go to get the 103. I hear that it is rough without a meter. Any help would be appreciated.

Yes, your locals are on 103 and you should have at least one transponder with a signal strenth of at least 80s (the other transponders are spotbeams aimed at other cities).
First I just wanted to comment on installation issues. Is the foot of the dish mount bolted into a roof joist (not just the roof cladding) and do you have the two monopoles fitted? If the basic installation is not done correctly you will continue to have problems....

The challenge with relaignment is that you don't know what is not aligned correctly. If it's just the dish direction (azimuth) then you can make minor adjustments easily. But if you are getting strong signals on 101/110/119 then it's more of a problem. Here's the slimline installation manual http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/Slimline_Dish_Installation_Manual.pdf

You can also watch videos of the installation for the AT-9 5-lnb dish, the slimline is different but the videos will give you an idea of what is involved http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/at9_install_videos.asp

 

[timmac]

Thanks for the response. I went up there last night. Yes, bolted to joist, 2 monopoles used. I moved the azimuth, I believe it was to the west. I went 4 rotations and the signal started to drop. I moved it back a rotation where it peaked between those two settings at 54. I had nothing on the 99, but i didn't look at the 101. I figured that i had to be good on the extremes, so i first started to adjust for the 99, since the others, except for 103 were good.

Once again thanks for your response and any more info you could give would be great, I was thinking of getting a cheap meter cuz it was kind of hard to do without. Had my wife telling me the numbers and it just took too long, would like immediate feedback.

 

[texasbrit]

Thanks for the response. I went up there last night. Yes, bolted to joist, 2 monopoles used. I moved the azimuth, I believe it was to the west. I went 4 rotations and the signal started to drop. I moved it back a rotation where it peaked between those two settings at 54. I had nothing on the 99, but i didn't look at the 101. I figured that i had to be good on the extremes, so i first started to adjust for the 99, since the others, except for 103 were good.

Once again thanks for your response and any more info you could give would be great, I was thinking of getting a cheap meter cuz it was kind of hard to do without. Had my wife telling me the numbers and it just took too long, would like immediate feedback.

None of the signals on 99 are directed to you, they are spotbeams for other cities. As I said, you should be getting 80s/90s on at least one 103 transponder.
The dish is aligned initially on 101 - see the installation instructions.
If you get a meter you need one that will read 99 and 103 which means the cheap meters won't do it for you.
The Accutrac III is the one most people use, it's about $240.