catching 118/119....

[thak]

hi, i have a dish 500 plus setup...I need to get the 110 119 and 118.7 sats.

I connected one LNB at a time and i can only get the 110 sat. the 110 is coming in on the single LNB off to the right side (looking at lnbs from reflector).

The large fish eye type LNB does not pick up any sats....had it picking up 129, but then i raised the elevation and BAM 110 showed....so now what do i have to do to get that other LNB to hit the 118/119 sats?

 

[kb2vgp]

You will want to make sure all your angles are set correctly. Make sure the skew is set for the 500+ setting for your area and not the 1000+ angle. Point the dish using the "2D" port on the dual band LNB. This is the 119 side of the LNB if you didn't already know. Now aim the dish as you did before until you hit 119, and tighten the bolts when you have the highest signal. You will want to fine tune the dish on 110 and to confirm it is pointed correctly. With these two sats aimed in, 118.7 should also be peaked as well. Good luck!

The 500+ is a nice dish, I pull in stronger signals than I did with my regular 500.

 

[thak]

okay thanks...ill try that. yeah the 500+ is a requirement to get the 118 sat for internationals...problem is the thing is HUGE!

 

[thak]

okay heres an update....and i dont know what to do next...

i can now get the 119 110 and 121 sats locked in....cant seem to find 118....what to do?

edit - the 119 is on the 2D port....the sat i get with single lnb that is supposed to be 110 is reading 110. so i think those two are good...it just seems that the center "eye" is seeing 119 adn 121 instead of 118.7..........

im thinking adjust the skew....but dont know which way....

 

[kb2vgp]

I'm not sure why you're not receiving 118.7 if you have both 119 and 110. Do you have the manual for the 500+? If you do, in it are the angles for all zip codes. Find yours and see what the skew setting should be for your zip code. Should be the same as the Dish 500. You want to make sure you use the skew for the 500+ and not the 1000+.

Next, you'll want to try re-aiming the dish using the 118.7 on port 1F. You will need either a professional meter or what I did was I used a 301 receiver (with updated software from 119) and a small portable B&W tv right at the dish. Just move the dish ever so slightly to the right until you lock onto 118.7. Once you do, you want to tighten the bolts just enough so the dish doesn't move then tilt the dish from side to side and then up and down for the best signal. You will want to repeat this for 119 and 110 and to confirm you also have those locked.

The reason you are seeing 121 is because that and 118.7 are both FSS satellites which use a different band than the rest of the satellites dish uses which is DBS. That is also why you will never pick up 121 or 118 using a DP dual or twin LNB.

I hope this helps!

 

[kb2vgp]

okay thanks...ill try that. yeah the 500+ is a requirement to get the 118 sat for internationals...problem is the thing is HUGE!

Yes, I subscribe to the French bouquet for my wife (a French teacher) and I occasionally watch EuroNews. The dish is larger than the 500, but a tad smaller and definitely lighter than the SuperDish!

 

[thak]

YUP...that did the trick. I had a meter from radio shack, got it on 118 then used the tv set to fine tune all three sats! THANKS....

now more questions....

1. I removed an old 500 dish, and reused the foot only, used new mast and dish...however, i dont have room to mount the struts. is it needed? im mounted on the corner of a roof.

2. I have two receivers. the 311 sees signal from 61.5 on all transponders. the 722 can not lock into transponder 32 on 61.5. WHY?

 

[dishcomm]

YUP...that did the trick. I had a meter from radio shack, got it on 118 then used the tv set to fine tune all three sats! THANKS....

now more questions....

1. I removed an old 500 dish, and reused the foot only, used new mast and dish...however, i dont have room to mount the struts. is it needed? im mounted on the corner of a roof.

2. I have two receivers. the 311 sees signal from 61.5 on all transponders. the 722 can not lock into transponder 32 on 61.5. WHY?

First question. NO you do not "need" the struts. But they are HIGHLY recommended. Struts are required under Dish's rules. So we install the dish only where we can use the struts. That's both roof and wall mounts.
If your area experiences frequent high winds I would do what I could to get those struts on that mast. You'll kick yourself many times if you don't.
On to your transponder issue.
What is the signal strength for TP 32 on your 311?
If it's low, there might be a problem with the LMB or the alignment on your 61.5 dish.
If the signal looks good. 50's or 60's, try running a check switch on your 722. There is a chanmce the software may be outdated.
Menu 6-1-1 then follow the instructions for check switch. When the chk is complete, hit view live tv on your remote. The receiver will acquire signal then download a new program guide.
Oh yeah. You have a DPP 44 switch. Make sure the power inserter is plugged in and the green light is lit.

 

[thak]

what would happen if i didnt install struts? dish misaligned or roof damage or both?
--> original dish 500 was mounted with 4 lag bolts, into rafters etc...i figure this new one catches way more wind....but i dont want to drill any more holes into the roof...as now they would penetrate over living space...and i want to minimize any chance of leaks....a broken dish I dont care about...


TP 32 on 311 was in the 40's. it shows up on the 722, but says NOT IDENTIFIED...and when i tune to a channel that needs TP 32 i cant see it.

i did the check switch SEVERAL time...never helped.

would a bad dixpler do this? Im thinking i need to go right from the dish to the 722 to rule out any wiring/switch issues.

 

[dishcomm]

what would happen if i didnt install struts? dish misaligned or roof damage or both?
--> original dish 500 was mounted with 4 lag bolts, into rafters etc...i figure this new one catches way more wind....but i dont want to drill any more holes into the roof...as now they would penetrate over living space...and i want to minimize any chance of leaks....a broken dish I dont care about...


TP 32 on 311 was in the 40's. it shows up on the 722, but says NOT IDENTIFIED...and when i tune to a channel that needs TP 32 i cant see it.

i did the check switch SEVERAL time...never helped.

would a bad dixpler do this? Im thinking i need to go right from the dish to the 722 to rule out any wiring/switch issues.

Not identified? Tell me which screen shows that exact message and how you got to that screen.


Struts..if your prevailing winds average over 5 mph or the dish is subject to frequent wind gusts you will experience misalignment. Heavy winds can adversely affect the security of the mount. Roof damage can occur.

 

[thak]

point dish...signal strength bar. right under it when it says LOCKED - XXX

where XXX is usually a sat name. for 61.5 trans 32 i get the locked but no sat....

reference for screen http://columbiaisa.googlepages.com/tv_sat_dish_point.jpg

 

[dishcomm]

point dish...signal strength bar. right under it when it says LOCKED - XXX

where XXX is usually a sat name. for 61.5 trans 32 i get the locked but no sat....

reference for screen http://columbiaisa.googlepages.com/tv_sat_dish_point.jpg

ok in your screen shot you have sat 110 TP 12 on the screen. There is no signal at TP 12 on 110 because that TP is not used.
Put the signal strength on 61.5 TP 32 and send that link to me so I can see it.

 

[thak]

real screen shots...

okay, so here they are from the SAME receiver. 722...one shows tuner one the other tuner 2. note the Locked - Acquiring Satellite Name on tuner 1.

The TV that is connected to tuner 2 works great...all channels no issues. The one on tuner one is missing the channels on Trans 32.

I removed the Dish Separator, wired directly to Sat 1 input and had same issue...did a check switch also.

Thoughts? Bad receiver? new software needed? im running L617....

 

[dishcomm]

okay, so here they are from the SAME receiver. 722...one shows tuner one the other tuner 2. note the Locked - Acquiring Satellite Name on tuner 1.

The TV that is connected to tuner 2 works great...all channels no issues. The one on tuner one is missing the channels on Trans 32.

I removed the Dish Separator, wired directly to Sat 1 input and had same issue...did a check switch also.

Thoughts? Bad receiver? new software needed? im running L617....

menu 6-1-3 let the receiver run through the diagnostics. At the bottom of the screen you'll see "details". Hilite that and hit select. Scroll down until you see "set top box health"
The values that matter are 0,1,2,4,7

value zero should read 2 or less above that there is a hard drive issue
value 1 should read 10 or less. above 10 indicates a hardware failure-driver
value 2 should read zero. above zero and there potential hardware issues
value 4 should read 200 or less. above 200 indicates the receiver is locking up
value 7 should read 4 ONLY!! Any other value indicates a hard drive malfunction.
If in any of the above cases the values are outside tolerances, the receiver needs to be replaced

now back to the diagnostic screen. if at the top of the screen if you see "problem detected see details", the first page of the details will tell the user if there are problems with the LNB. One of the most common problems is "drift". If the test indicates "LNB drift", the lnb(s) must be replaced.

One other thing you can try. Disconnect the seperator entirely. No connection to the satellite receiver. Run chk switch. This is "clearing the matrix". Reconnect, run chk swich again. See if that works. Also you can try reversing the ports from the seperator to the receiver.

 

[thak]

okay...values looked good....except for value 7 was not 4...i believe it was 0 or 2....i dont have issues with the HD though.

i did have the LNB drift message....so ill call up and get a new one sent out i guess, but problem there is I tried the LNB from the 110 feed onto the 61/5 feed...same problem and msg LNB DRIFT....can anything besides bad LNB cause that?

lastly, i didnt get to try to swap in 1 & 2 inputs....

 

[dishcomm]

okay...values looked good....except for value 7 was not 4...i believe it was 0 or 2....i dont have issues with the HD though.

i did have the LNB drift message....so ill call up and get a new one sent out i guess, but problem there is I tried the LNB from the 110 feed onto the 61/5 feed...same problem and msg LNB DRIFT....can anything besides bad LNB cause that?

lastly, i didnt get to try to swap in 1 & 2 inputs....

The LNB dsrift message will not go away unless you follow the procedure I outlined. That would be to "clear the matrix".
To clear the matrix ,simply disconnect the receiver from the satellite connection and run a check switch. Then reconnect the receiver and re run the check.

 

[thak]

THANKS!!!

Thanks for your help with my issue(s)!

In the end I think its the Dp44 switch thats bad...or i dont understand how the power distribution works....

anyways, I ended up taking the 722 to the place the 311 is installed....did a check switch (twice) once to clear matrix, and then to learn the config. Tested channels/transponders and everything worked!

So....i figured its the wiring at the original location, so i start going backwards...until i got to the switch, changed which port the receiver was on from 2 to 4 and now it works....the 311 can be on any port, the 722 only gets all channels when on port 4.....go figure....