Dish 500 110 & 119 aiming problems

[John Dough]

I have a portable Dish 500 with 119 & 100 LNB that I use while camping. I have not been able to set the dish to receive both satellites.

The original instructions say I only need to attach to the 119 LNB. Is this true or do I need to have a splitter linking both LNB's to a single coax cable to my cable box?

I have a tuning meter with a red light, but I can never get the red light to stay on. Should it be illuminated when I'm correctly pointed to the satellites?

I get a message. "You have and error in your switch" when I on the 110 channels. What does that mean?

I've used the Sateliitle guys directonal refererence for these two satellite. The skew and elevation marks are minute on the dish. Using the Meter and moving the azimuth and elevation I get a strongest signal possible, but still don't get both satellites.

This clearly is not so simple a caveman can do it. Can you give me some help?

Thanks

 

[sca]

dont use a splitter. what type of box do you have (model number). what type of lnb is it, does it just say 'dish network' does it say 'pro' or 'plus' on it. or do you have 2 lnb's? if you have two, not an integrated lnb, then yes you need to combine them with a switch. connecting to the 119 port is for aiming purposes.
are you running a checkswitch? (menu 6-1-1-test)
what do the results say?

 

[John Dough]

Thanks for your reply. It says "Dish Pro" on it. No I didn't run a 6-1-1 test. The box is a 301.

 

[garys]

You would need a DP21 or a DP34 switch. DPP switches will work as well, but they are usually a little bit more expensive.

 

[sca]

yeah, thats the biggest question, is it an integrated twin or 2 dish pro duals. 2 dp duals require a switch. of course you could in the meantime just run a line from the 110 lnb to watch the 110 channels.

 

[papalittle]

If the LNBF is a Dishpro and is a single piece with two "EYES" then make sure your mount is perfectly level, Make sure skew is set right, and the elevation is set then find a satellite and run a switch test, 6-1-1. if it shows any satellite other than 119 in the first slot you will need to find another sat and try again. Once you find the 119 satellite and it is in the first slot then fine tune the signal until it is as strong as possible. After all this you should have the 110 sat locked in too.

 

[John Dough]

I believe it is and integrated twin. I've seen pictures of both. It has one oblong cover. It is not two separate "eyes". I'm going out this eeekend. I'll try all of your suggestions..... and cuss a little too. thanks again.

 

[JALane06]

If you have a clear line of sight and you're picking up 119, the skew is at 90 (putting a level across the arm of the dish will tell you if its at 90 deg) and your check switch is saying that there is a switch problem, you may have a bad LNBF. How long have you had the dish/LNBF for?

 

[John Dough]

Eureka... Thanks to all of you, I've got it. This past week I was able to solve my problems of linking up with my portable dish. My home switch which the box normally addresses is a DP34-500. My portable dish is a DP Twin. After your suggestions of using a 6-1-1- switch check I was able to get the box to talk to my portable dish switch. Additionally, the Switch Check showed which satellite I was aiming at. Often times my meter would show strong signals...but I was aiming at the wrong satellite. DUH!. Thanks Again.

 

[sca]

great!