D* HD Transponder List - 99.2 and 102.3

[SF Bay Area]

I live in Folsom Ca 21 miles east of Sacramento CA. Results for 99 & 103

99
T23 59
T26 100
T31 100

103
T20 77
T24 80

The highest signal strength reading I can receive from the Ka-band satellites is 72 yet I never lose the signal even during rain storms. Direct TV tells me that the H20 will show 20 points lower than the mpeg 2 receivers. Are you folks who are showing signal strength's of 100 actually seeing that number on the H20 menu display of the transponders? Perhaps the earlier H20's (I got mine in Nov 2005) show lower signal strength than the latest H20's.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

The highest signal strength reading I can receive from the Ka-band satellites is 72 yet I never lose the signal even during rain storms. Direct TV tells me that the H20 will show 20 points lower than the mpeg 2 receivers. Are you folks who are showing signal strength's of 100 actually seeing that number on the H20 menu display of the transponders? Perhaps the earlier H20's (I got mine in Nov 2005) show lower signal strength than the latest H20's.

Obviously, we can't give you a reading on the Ka birds on the older STBs.

However, I can tell you for example, on SAT A 101 with my old Dish, between the older 1st Generation RCA DTC-100 and the H20 (and mine was purchased in November 2005 as well):

TP RCA H20
T1 93 83
T2 87 77

T5 83 81
T6 95 86

T11 91 81
T12 59 47

T21 82 82
T22 85 80

T30 90 86
T31 86 77
T32 89 88

So clearly they are 10 points lower - maybe 12 points on T12 - but almost equal on T5 and T21.

Another reason I wanted to do this besides the obvious, was so people could see what others were getting - and to make sure that they do not have a problem installation. Let's be honest, for $50 its not like the former 3rd shift McDonald Drive through order takers have a reason to tweak the system properly.

We need someone else South of SFO to give us a report for you to compare.

 

[fsds]

The highest signal strength reading I can receive from the Ka-band satellites is 72 yet I never lose the signal even during rain storms. Direct TV tells me that the H20 will show 20 points lower than the mpeg 2 receivers. Are you folks who are showing signal strength's of 100 actually seeing that number on the H20 menu display of the transponders? Perhaps the earlier H20's (I got mine in Nov 2005) show lower signal strength than the latest H20's.

I have two H20s 600s one purchased Nov 05 the other Feb 06 both give the actual 100 reading.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

The H20 that I purchased in November 2005 gave me 91 on 2 transponders. When I added the Zinwell MultiSwitch, the number increased to 100 on both.

If you do not have a number in the high 80s or more on at least 1 Ka transponder (which is why I marked those bright green) and you have HD-LIL in your market, I would now tend to believe that something is wrong - 1) Either in the fine tuning of the Dish or 2) in your feed. That might not be correct, but your high reading at a max of 72 are 15+ points lower than any other report we have.

When I started this last week I would have stated a number in the 90s was the key transponder for your market, but have since revised that down to the upper 80s based on the numbers posted here, especially Atlanta and Nashville.

 

[SF Bay Area]

If you do not have a number in the high 80s or more on at least 1 Ka transponder (which is why I marked those bright green) and you have HD-LIL in your market, I would now tend to believe that something is wrong - 1) Either in the fine tuning of the Dish or 2) in your feed. That might not be correct, but your high reading at a max of 72 are 15+ points lower than any other report we have.
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What you are saying makes perfect sense to me from a technical standpoint. I don't think that the antenna needs alignment since over the past 6 months I have never lost the HD-LIL and we had a lot of bad weather this winter. It looks like my H20 receiver works properly except the signal strength menu is out of whack.

 

[bcherry]

I get local channels out of Pittsburgh. I live in Beaver Falls, which is located NW of Pittsburgh. I have the Zinwell multiswitch installed. My readings are as follows:

Sat 99 (Network 11)

4 (13), 6 (92), 14 (74), 15 (10)

Sat 103 (Network 14)

3 (92), 7 (93), 15 (98)

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

If you do not have a number in the high 80s or more on at least 1 Ka transponder (which is why I marked those bright green) and you have HD-LIL in your market, I would now tend to believe that something is wrong - 1) Either in the fine tuning of the Dish or 2) in your feed. That might not be correct, but your high reading at a max of 72 are 15+ points lower than any other report we have.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What you are saying makes perfect sense to me from a technical standpoint. I don't think that the antenna needs alignment since over the past 6 months I have never lost the HD-LIL and we had a lot of bad weather this winter. It looks like my H20 receiver works properly except the signal strength menu is out of whack.

I would guess that the AT9 wasn't tweaked correctly.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

I'll post DC's tonight.

first one to offer.....come on man!:


Updated on 5-08-2006 and at top of forum

If you are using a Zinwell WB608 Multiswitch please note that as well - it appears to increase the Ka signal about 10%.

Work in Progress Feel Free to contribute or submit corrections - We still need confirmations and input






Observations

1- You can really begin to see the shaping of these spotbeams looking at the reading from around the San Francisco Bay area. We really need readings from Fresno and Sacramento.

2 - Denver does not have HD-LIL yet????? Waiting to see if signal from 99 is on them yet.

3 - Scales and Color Changed - 85+ now considered prime spotbeam market

4 - Tampa does not appear to have a 99 Signal. Given its location, this is possible as not many Transponders live on 99, but need a second report from Florida to confirm.

5 - Patterns are clearly beginning to emerge with surrounding markets . Appears most spotbeams are only being used once - a few twice at most. Sample size still small

Please feel free to contribute.

 

[f300v10]

Marietta GA, 15 miles north of down town Atlanta.

Sat 99

T3 85
T6 13
T7 75
T16 21

Sat 103

T4 86
T8 87
T16 88

 

[SF Bay Area]

I can read 6 transponders now

I live near San Jose, Ca. and this morning I was able to see transponder 32 on the 103 bird for the first time. This makes a total of 6 now that I can pick up.

99
tp 23 ss 25
tp 26 ss 60
tp 31 ss 39

103
tp 20 ss 65
tp 24 ss 72
tp 32 ss 69..New one as of today 5/9/06

Those of you who live on the west coast, see if you can read transponder 32 now at the 103 position.

Some of these have to be tests by Direct TV because the only LIL's on the air in my area are SFO, Sacto & Fresno - possibly Las Vegas - Reno is next up according to the press release.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Marietta GA, 15 miles north of down town Atlanta.

Sat 99

T3 85
T6 13
T7 75
T16 21

Sat 103

T4 86
T8 87
T16 88

Atlanta GA

99
t3=25
t6=10
t7= 14

103
t4= 80
t8= 74
t16= 69

f300v10

Thank you for your numbers!

At first, when I saw the numbers I did a double take - as some are VERY different than what we have for Atlanta.

I then looked back at sguest and even though he says Atlanta, he actually list Athens in his profile.

For those of you that do not know, that is about an hour away from Atlanta.

As you are right on the the beltway around the city, I am going to move the Atlanta numbers to reflect your numbers.

For anyone that has read this thread, you will know I was shocked that Atlanta did not have any transponders from the first post with an 85+ signal. Now we know they indeed do - and this makes sense. Obviously Athens is on the edges of some spotbeams as it is now - between lower Georgia/Florida and the Carolinas.

Again, without you posting we would not have caught that. Thank you again.

It's the cooperation that will allow us to get this right!

 

[f300v10]

No problem. The main reason I posted my numbers was that they are very different from what was originally posted for Atlanta. When ATL HD locals first launched (Nov 2005) TP16 sat. 103 was the only spot I got. Back then I had a peak signal strength of 94. Over time that has dropped into the 80's. I am not sure if that is due to my dish moving (and I doubt that as the pole is in 100 lbs. of concrete), or if D* has lowered the power slightly as more spots are now comming off the 103 sat.

 

[kds64]

Satellite 103* Network 14
Transponder 16 is at 100%
Transponder 29 is at 18%

Satellite 99* Network 11
Transponder 23 is at 27%
Transponder 31 is at 34%

 

[Hoss]

So, what exactly does that mean for us in Phoenix? I also show a 100 on that transponder, but I do not have any new channels as of now. I'm assuming that they are doing some testing on that 103 satellite before they transmit the locals. Hopefully, that is a sign that we will soon be getting locals in HD.

 

[mike_augie]

S.W. Oklahoma update

Well just a update for you here in S.W. Oklahoma as of today we still have transponders on 99 but no signal on any.....but on the 103 network 14 transponder 29 have 92-94 signal....just started last night thought it might be a fluke because of the storms but still there today all day.....so there u go...hope this helps

 

[SF Bay Area]

San Jose/SFO area update

Direct TV dropped the SFO HD Locals off of the 103 bird, Transponder 20, and moved them elsewhere. Here is the latest:

103
tp 20 ss 0...
tp 24 ss 77
tp 32 ss 78

The 99 remains the same.........

Hope this helps.....

 

[Questioner]

Where have they moved them? The boston 103 transponders are 0 now too.

 

[SF Bay Area]

Where have they moved them? The boston 103 transponders are 0 now too.

Check all the transponders on the 99 and the 103 and see what new readings you now have in your area and submit them...Thanks.

 

[cal87]

Here's my new info from Tracy, CA

Sat 103
T24 100
T32 97

Sat 99
T23 55
T26 100
T31 86

Prior readings:

Sat 103
T20 80
T24 85

Sat 99
T23 55
T26 100
T31 88


So it looks like the only change is on 103 - T20 off, T32 on

 

[mike_augie]

Well I would have to say they did some changing around because until yesterday I had nothing on either 99 or 103 ....now have 94 on 103 sat .....so maybe OKC might be comming up after all even though we are not even on the list.....lol...j/k...thought I would get everyone stired up....but I do now have 103 which I never had before...(one can dream)...