Dish 500 Plus

[Lost 110]

My Dish antenna blew over on its back from the tripod last Thursday night. The soil is sandy and there's no apparent damage to the antenna, mast, arm or LNBF. The Check Switch screen shows good connection and devices. Currently, 119 is in Port 2, per the owner's manual, I moved the Dish 9 degrees East and 129 appears in Port 1. I moved the Dish back to the West to get rid of 129, but have yet to obtain Satellite 110. Thursday before I left home I upgraded to Top 250 and enjoyed the channels that night, the first night in camp. Then wind storm came through. As you know I missing many channels and Dish Home dosen't function either. A popup box informs me I need to upgrade to Dish 500. That's what I have with DPP Twin LNBF.

I worked this afternoon with the antenna changing the elevation/skew slightly to see if I could find 110. It appears that even with a good "check switch" my antenna has became a Dish 300.

Can you provide any information on this problem.
​

 

[webbydude]

Ahhh....I think your problem is your mast or pole. It's not level. Not to mention you're a few degrees too far to the west with your azimuth and about 2 degrees too low with your elevation (assuming the mast/pole IS plumb)

 

[Lost 110]

The pole is level, there's no apparent damage to the antenna. I raised the elevation 3 degrees to see if 129 would disappear and it did, but still can't recover Satellite 110. These settings for the area zip code are correct and had been enable before the wind storm. I believe there's a tech issue here, "lost my upgrade"? Normally, it takes less than a minute to find 119 and 110. Do you have any trouble shooting tips?

 

[oljim]

Cover the 119 side with foil, now look for 110

 

[Jared Twomey]

The pole is level, there's no apparent damage to the antenna. I raised the elevation 3 degrees to see if 129 would disappear and it did, but still can't recover Satellite 110. These settings for the area zip code are correct and had been enable before the wind storm. I believe there's a tech issue here, "lost my upgrade"? Normally, it takes less than a minute to find 119 and 110. Do you have any trouble shooting tips?

The only issue is that the dish is not lined up correctly. Basically you just need to move the dish about 9 degrees back to the east, and adjust your elevation a bit. Take it slow and if you are using the signal meter on the receiver, take it slower, as the meter on the reciever takes a second or two to respond when you do get the signal.

Just to kind of let you know what kind of window you are working with, if you move the dish more than a quarter inch or so out of line, it will not work. Satellite aiming has to be pretty precise, you can't just throw it up there and expect it will work.

Good luck, take your time, and you'll get it

 

[Lost 110]

Thanks for the reply, I worked with the antenna about 3 hours Saturday afternoon. 129 would jump in there everytime I moved east. My service is in a RV, so aiming the dish is easy for me. Usually I can find the satellites in less than 2 minutes. Also, the Dish 500 antenna is for 119 and 110 not 129.

The antenna was laid over on its back all night Thursday in heavy rain. I believe the one of the LNBF has failed. I plan to replace them this weekend. I'll report back to you with the result.

 

[Jared Twomey]

if you are picking up 129, the lnb is working.... the lnb has not failed...
the lnb is a dumb device, it doesnt care what satellite in the sky it is pointed at (i know, as long as same polarity, signal type, ect) but you can point it at 110, 119, 129, 61.5, ect... if you are getting a signal on the lnb, it is working.
it is just not lined up properly, your elevation is off and it is 9 degrees off on the azimuth

 

[skyviewmark]

Also check the dish pan to see if it has bent. After it fell over it could have bent it ever so slightly and could be causing your alignment problems. Even a sligt bend will make a major problem.

 

[Lost 110]

I look at the antenna dish every which I can. I don't see any damage. Perhaps I need to view another dish to see if I can tell any difference in the shape. Per birddoggy, if the lnb has not failed, the shape of the antenna must have change every so slightly. Will I need to try raising the elevation up above the "zip code setting" to find 110? And cover the 119 eye as oljim suggest?
I'm working 12 hours a day, so it will be this weekend before I can work with the dish again. Thanks for the input.

 

[Jared Twomey]

if i were doing it, i would cover the 110 side, and find 119.
I know you are already picking up 119, but you are picking it up on the wrong side of the lnb. When you have 119 on the correct side of the lnb, you should also have a signal from the 110. IF you don't then get the 110, i would suspect a bent reflector

 

[Lost 110]

Last night, before I read your post birddoggy, I tried again. I moved the elevation up 4 degrees and back to the east to put 119 in port one. 119 signal was 80, still in port 2. I moved the antenna off the settings for no reception, "reception error", 119 was listed in port 1, "X", port 2 listed conn, "X". I moved the antenna back to the proper azimuth, found reception from 119, still in port 2!
Sunday is my off day, I'll be working with the antenna, hopefully, for success. Thanks for all the post, I'll report back later.

 

[SmityWhity]

If you previously had 119 and 110 on your DPP Twin, and now it is in the same physical location, you probably don't have a line of sight issue with 110; unless you just barely had a line of sight and you now have it 1 or 2 inches over on smoother sand.

Assuming Line of Sight.

Disconnect the power on the receiver and TV for a few minutes. Maybe even disconnect the cable to the DPP Twin. Since it fell over and was laying in water while powered up, the logic could be screwed up. But hopefully, everything is okay, since you are able to pickup 119 on both eyes of the DPP Twin when adjusting the azimuth.

Since you move around, you probably adjust the Skew and Elevation regularly. It is possible that your Skew is off. But, you need to also check the SKEW Plate and make sure it did not move when it fell over. When rotating the dish pan to adjust the Skew, it is possible to move the pan over instead of having it centered against the Skew Plate. It won't be much, but if you look closely, you can see if one side is different than the other side. Tightening it while not properly aligned can dent/damage it. More importantly, if not alligned properly, it will be enough to throw the Skew off.

Although 119 or 110 should work, I think you should cover the 110 side of the LNBF, and then look for 119 on the correct LNBF, as previously said; and once you power it all back up.

As you said, it shouldn't take you more than 2 minutes (even intoxicated )

EDIT:

Currently, 119 is in Port 2, per the owner's manual, I moved the Dish 9 degrees East and 129 appears in Port 1. I moved the Dish back to the West to get rid of 129, but have yet to obtain Satellite 110.

Normally, you point the Dish 500 half-way between 110 & 119; and if you put it halfway between 119 & 129, you may pickup 119 on the 110 LNBF (Port 2), and 129 on the 119 LNBF (Port 1). So....
If 129 is on Port 2 (110 LNBF), then you need to move it 18 degrees (<1/4") to the east.
If 119 is on Port 2 (110 LNBF), then you need to move it 9 degrees (<1/8") to the east.
With 119 in Port 2, you could possibly have 129 in Port 1. So I don't see how you could have moved it 9 degrees eastward and still have 129 - on any LNBF/Port.

Logic and Check Switch probably needs to be cleared.

 

[dishcomm]

My Dish antenna blew over on its back from the tripod last Thursday night. The soil is sandy and there's no apparent damage to the antenna, mast, arm or LNBF. The Check Switch screen shows good connection and devices. Currently, 119 is in Port 2, per the owner's manual, I moved the Dish 9 degrees East and 129 appears in Port 1. I moved the Dish back to the West to get rid of 129, but have yet to obtain Satellite 110. Thursday before I left home I upgraded to Top 250 and enjoyed the channels that night, the first night in camp. Then wind storm came through. As you know I missing many channels and Dish Home dosen't function either. A popup box informs me I need to upgrade to Dish 500. That's what I have with DPP Twin LNBF.

I worked this afternoon with the antenna changing the elevation/skew slightly to see if I could find 110. It appears that even with a good "check switch" my antenna has became a Dish 300.

Can you provide any information on this problem.
​

UH oh...The dish may have bent due to contacting the ground....

 

[dishcomm]

My Dish antenna blew over on its back from the tripod last Thursday night. The soil is sandy and there's no apparent damage to the antenna, mast, arm or LNBF. The Check Switch screen shows good connection and devices. Currently, 119 is in Port 2, per the owner's manual, I moved the Dish 9 degrees East and 129 appears in Port 1. I moved the Dish back to the West to get rid of 129, but have yet to obtain Satellite 110. Thursday before I left home I upgraded to Top 250 and enjoyed the channels that night, the first night in camp. Then wind storm came through. As you know I missing many channels and Dish Home dosen't function either. A popup box informs me I need to upgrade to Dish 500. That's what I have with DPP Twin LNBF.

I worked this afternoon with the antenna changing the elevation/skew slightly to see if I could find 110. It appears that even with a good "check switch" my antenna has became a Dish 300.

Can you provide any information on this problem.
​

BTW A dish 500 plus looks at 110/118.7 and 119...no 129..If you are looking for 129 you should have the "side attachment" for the 129 LNB..That's a Dish 1000 plus..

 

[SmityWhity]

UH oh...The dish may have bent due to contacting the ground....

Although previously mentioned by others, after I logged off I thought about that again - maybe the arm bent slightly towards the dish pan, or maybe even to one side.


That said.... Once 119 is peaked on the 119 LNBF (Port 1), then maybe by pushing down slightly on the LNBF Arm and without moving the dish pan, if the signal increases, you can tell if the arm is bent or not. ??????

 

[Lost 110]

Thanks for the input. I powered off the receiver "no AC voltage to the receiver" more than once, but I haven't disconnected the cable to Port 1. I did check it for tightness. If the pan or arm is deformed, I can't see it. I have changed the skew slightly, but still no 110. I shall look Sunday closely at the arm and "center of skew".

Thanks all, and I will report the results.

Since the antenna felled, I haven't found 119 in Port 1, except with "reception error" no signal.

 

[Jared Twomey]

another thing you may do, just in case, since you are having this much trouble...
unhook the line from the dish and run the check switch test. That way it will clear the switch matrix and start fresh.

 

[Lost 110]

The first day after the wind storm, I called Dish Net, they described disconnected the cable at the receiver and run the "Check Switch". It ran 33 or 35 checks and all was OK. Connected the cable and ran another "Check Switch"; 129 in Port 1, 119 in Port 2. I was advised to aim the dish correctly. I powered off the receiver for about a minute, "no AC power," everytime I aim the dish. Would the logic clear, as describe by SmityWhity, in one minute?

 

[SmityWhity]

I was mostly concerned that the LNBF got water-logged.

After the storm and the LNBF had time to dry out; if you could get 129 in Port 1, and 119 in Port 2, I would say you should have been able to get 119 in Port 1 with 110 in Port 2, with about 9 degrees to the east and a slight adjustment to the elevation, and possibly needing a slight adjustment on the skew.

What's the zip code where you are at?

Running the check switch without cables before trying to aim and peak, will often make it easier. However, after, you should leave it powered up and at the point dish screen while looking for 119.

Set your Skew and Elevation, cover the 110 LNBF with foil (the one on your right when looking from behind the dish pan), find 119, peak it, remove the 110 cover, shift the Satellite selector from 119 to 110 and peak. You will probably have to change the Transponder to make sure you are looking for an active transponder in your area. Then run check switch again.

 

[Lost 110]

This area's settings is the same as my home zip code 30909. That's 233 azimuth, 38 elevation and 129 skew. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be my fourth attempt to find 110. Assuming the LNBFs are OK, and no other technical
issues, the antenna must have change. The antenna looks good, I check the tripod for plumbness more than once, but have yet to find 119 in port 1 or 110 at all since the wind storm!
I'll shall "Check Switch" with the cable disconnected and start over. Thanks for posts.