Dish 1000.4 with 222K receiver optimizing

[ts27330]

Finally switched from cable to Dishnetwork. I have a Dish 1000.4 dish with 222K receivers. I have a clear view of Southern sky. I am connected to satellites 61.5, 72.7 and 77 at zipcode 27330. HD TVs are 42" lcd 1080p. Upon initial turn on of tv, the HD is ok, but not "wow..look at this picture HD quality". I can go to the Position Dish option (6,1,1) and change the Transponder option on the satellites and get a terrific HD picture by trial and error. Which satellite/transponder should I focus on for best HD picture and how do I get the receiver to retain this info ?

Thanks,

Satellite Newbie in NC

 

[Voyager6]

Finally switched from cable to Dishnetwork. I have a Dish 1000.4 dish with 222K receivers. I have a clear view of Southern sky. I am connected to satellites 61.5, 72.7 and 77 at zipcode 27330. HD TVs are 42" lcd 1080p. Upon initial turn on of tv, the HD is ok, but not "wow..look at this picture HD quality". I can go to the Position Dish option (6,1,1) and change the Transponder option on the satellites and get a terrific HD picture by trial and error. Which satellite/transponder should I focus on for best HD picture and how do I get the receiver to retain this info ?

Thanks,

Satellite Newbie in NC

to SatelliteGuys. Each channel on your receiver can come from a different satellite and/or transponder. What you are seeing is the difference in picture quality between the various providers. As you can see, not all channels are created equal. You are in what Dish Network (E*) calls the Eastern Arc. It is an all MPEG4 service and requires a VIP series receiver. The majority of your HD comes from the 61.5 sat location. You can see what is coming from each satellite at TheList.

 

[CowboyDren]

I heard from a local installer in Kansas City that I should peak on 61.5w/tp14, so that's what I did. As far as channel-to-channel variance, this isn't an over-the-air antenna system, moving the dish from one sat or one transponder to another isn't necessary, unless something else is TERRIBLY wrong. Once you peak on 61.5/14, leave it alone. DO NOT adjust the skew setting, either; this will only cause you suffering. If your skew setting gets moved, refer to the 1000.4 installation manual, look up your zip code, and set it there.

• http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/...ern_Arc_Antenna_Installation_Instructions.pdf

 

[Jim5506]

Transponders are locked to channels by Dish Network upload center, all you are doing is looking at signal strength on other TP's. Channel A will always come from transponder X.

Each transponder has 8-20 channels on it multiplexed like digital subchannels - not adjustable.

 

[BobaBird]

Upon initial turn on of tv, the HD is ok, but not "wow..look at this picture HD quality".

Your 222k may still be on the default 480p output. Change the receiver's HDTV setup (menu-6-8) to 1080i.

 

[ts27330]

Thanks for the responses. I called Dish and they sent a 2nd technician out.
He looked at the signal strength thru the menus (6-1-1) and saw that I was getting around 50-52 on tp 19 & tp 21 for sat 72.7. I asked him about peaking the dish, but he said this reading was within acceptable readings.
He did say if I wanted to try to adjust it myself, to take a sharpie and mark the current settings on the dish (as a reference point) and adjust the verticle alignment. I did just that. At first I adjusted upwards and the reading dropped to 30 and totally lost the 61.5 signal. Adjusted back to the reference mark and was back to the 50-52 reading. Next, I adjusted downwarded just a few turns and the tp 19 reading is 59-60 & tp 21 is still 50-52. This made a tremendous improvement and the HD is now at the "wow" side again. Don't let anyone tell you that "hey....this is digital and you either have a signal or you don't".
Signal strength does matter. I will leave my settings as they are, because I don't have the nerve or equipment to mess with the skew adjustment.