Dish Alignment

[jwolf]

I apologize if this has been covered before.

My dish seems to be out of alignment and I was wondering if anyone knows what the procedure is for getting it aligned. Obviously I have to call Dish and schedule an appointment, but is it covered under the DHPP?? If not, does anyone know what they would charge to have it re-aligned?? I will lose the signal when I get a heavy cloud cover, or heavy rain.

I currently have two dishes, a dish 500 that looks at 110/119. I have a vip722 HD receiver and a older DVR501. I also have a dish, in a separate location, that looks at 61.5 for HD. The 110 and 119 is the dish that seems to be out of alignment as I only get a signal strength of ~55 on the 110 transponder 11, the 119 transponder 11 is ~72. The 110/119 dish is on a pole in my backyard about fifty feet from the house. I would like it moved, but there are LOS issues and it is the only place it will work, unless I had a EA solution.

Would I be better off living with the situation until I can get a EA dish, or should I just get it fixed now.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advanced for the assistance.

 

[webbydude]

Truth be told, those numbers seem pretty damn good. Your confusion lays with the modified signal meter (you may have missed the bold, yellow letters flashing that message on your point dish screen). Bottom line, no need for a repoint.

Why would you want an EA dish? Is it just because it's the newest type of dish out there? There's really nothing to be gained by having it.

 

[garys]

EA dish setups are going to new customers only currently. Also, unless all your receivers are Vip receivers, they will not pick up 72 or 77.

 

[jwolf]

Truth be told, those numbers seem pretty damn good. Your confusion lays with the modified signal meter (you may have missed the bold, yellow letters flashing that message on your point dish screen). Bottom line, no need for a repoint.

Why would you want an EA dish? Is it just because it's the newest type of dish out there? There's really nothing to be gained by having it.

Thanks for the reply.

I don't want the new dish just to have it. My dish for 110/119 is on a pole in the backyard and the 61.5 is on the house. I'd like to have them both together on the house, but I can't put the 110/119 anywhere else due to LOS. And, yes, I have seen the bold yellow flashing message. Hard to miss...................

I wasn't aware the EA was only for the vip series receivers. That changes things as I don't want an HD receiver for a non-HD tv, since the TV for the DVR501 is SD.

Does the DHPP cover a dish re-point? I shouldn't lose the signal for a cloud.

 

[jwolf]

I called dish and they are coming out to re-point. Falls under the 90 day warranty.


Thanks for all the help, really a great place to get answers......................

 

[webbydude]

I called dish and they are coming out to re-point. Falls under the 90 day warranty.


Thanks for all the help, really a great place to get answers......................

You're welcome

 

[JimP]

Are you using 61.5 because you can get a better signal than on 129?

My 129 is weaker by 20 pts than 110 and 119 and I'm getting more dropouts with it. I have a 61.5 dish that's not being used and was wondering if I could use it. During my install, while one of the installers was planting the new dish, the other hooked up to the 61.5 dish and was able to do some downloads. Its a former Voom dish, not the original but an oversized one.

 

[jwolf]

I'm using the 61.5 for my HD, as I understand it, please correct me if I am incorrect. I had the 110/119 and then the 61.5 was added when I upgraded to the HD. I'm not sure why I don't use the 129 location.

 

[MikeD-C05]

You are lucky you are NOT using the 129 sat. IT is terrible and wobbly and it won't be replaced till end of the year. There is nothing but signal problems and drop outs that cause most subs to want to pull their hair out by the roots.

 

[apollog]

If your not getting any digital break-up on any of your channels, your perfectly FINE !! Remember, E* recently made a change to the signal strength meter on the receivers, that make it say a lower strength indicator than before.

 

[jwolf]

I'm losing signal when there is a cloud. I lose it during a heavy rain, but that is expected.

 

[levibluewa]

I lose it...

when its clear and sunny

Stick with the 61.5

 

[mikeinaustin]

You are lucky you are NOT using the 129 sat. IT is terrible and wobbly and it won't be replaced till end of the year. There is nothing but signal problems and drop outs that cause most subs to want to pull their hair out by the roots.

so when 129 is replaced, whats going to happen with its successor and 61.5? will 61.5 go away and people told to use the single dish solution (110/119/129) ?

 

[LordKron]

61.5 will be used in the EA.

 

[JimP]

No one's answered my question.

Is 61.5 a clone of 129??

 

[LordKron]

pretty much, maybe one or 2 channels different.
i could be wrong

 

[JimP]

How can one find out for sure?

 

[LordKron]

call dish

 

[ljdonato]

Try:

EKB Dish Network Channel Chart (Unofficial)

Satellite Guys Subscription List Home

 

[jwolf]

Today was my appointment for my dish alignment issue. Intertech is the company that handles installations and repairs in my area, just FYI. The appointment time-slot was the afternoon, between 12 & 5pm. I received three phone calls today, one in the morning to remind me of the appointment, another around 1 PM to tell me that they would be arriving between 4-4:30. The third call was to tell me that the tech would be there soon, as I hung up the phone, a van pulled up.

I discussed the issue with the tech, Tim, who was very nice. I describe the issue with the signal loss during cloud cover and during light rain. He looked at the signal strength on the receiver and seemed happy with the ~75 on TP 19 reading for 119, and the ~68 for TP 21 for 110, but noted the ~51 for TP12 on 61.5 was low. He walked to my backyard to check the alignment for the 110/119 dish and hooked up a strength meter and said it was aligned as good as could be. He then removed the DPP Twin and said something about 'drift' and replaced it with a "beefer" model. He then checked the grounding block connections and replaced the grounding block with a new one and re-grounded and zip-tied them to my fence so rain would stay off of them. Compression connectors for the four sat. lines coming from the 110/119 in my backyard were replaced and he showed me the old connectors, which were corroded quite badly. After running a check switch on the vip722, he looked at the signal strength and the 110 TP 21 was ~83, the 119 TP 19 was ~80. A huge improvement.

The 61.5 dish is on the side of my house, approximately 65 feet away from the 110/119 dish. He placed a ladder on the house to reach the dish and re-aligned it with a meter and checked it on the vip722. The signal strength went from ~51 on TP12 to ~78. Tim, the tech, said the dish was incorrectly hooked up and that was the reason for the rain issue.

Anyway, things seem much better and I am hoping for some rain to tell for sure. I was very impressed with Tim's attention to detail. He looked at every possible reason for the signal loss issue and fixed what needed to be fixed. I wasn't charged anything for the visit and I am very happy with his work.

Just wanted to give an update on the situation. If I didn't give enough details, please let me know. Thanks..................