DishNow self-install help needed...

[rcdallas]

You know I recently heard someone tell me never use a splitter "especially" on a Dish Pro Plus LNB.

I ran into one recently where a splitter was on a plus twin that was one hot feedhorn for sure.

 

[skyviewmark]

With just one 301 receiver, the RG-59 should not be causing a problem. And if that's all he has to work with then I can't believe that the problem has anything to do with the cable.. It's the splitter.. Or he just plain got some bad equipment. As long as the RG-59 is intact and all connections are good with no corrosion then there will be no problems with just ONE 301 receiver.. If he had said he had some of the newer stuff like dual tuners or Dish Pro Plus then you can start looking at the RG-59.. But for one 301.. It's not the cable itself that is causing any problems.

 

[bjack56]

I will try again, this weekend before I can check. Will run the supplied RG6 directly from the LNB to the receiver again & post back.

We must have tried 10 different ways to set this thing up. Had 129 & 119 for a while, finally got the info. for sat-110, tuned it in then worked backward to get 119 instead of 119 first.

You guys must think this is like trying to tell your grandpa how to reformat & partition a hard drive...

 

[rcdallas]

You kiddin me? We got grimples (grunts) in the satellite industry that couldn't tune a radio station on a analog tuner let alone tune a satellite dish after weeks of training.

You'll get it.

 

[STEELERSRULE]

With just one 301 receiver, the RG-59 should not be causing a problem. And if that's all he has to work with then I can't believe that the problem has anything to do with the cable.. It's the splitter.. Or he just plain got some bad equipment. As long as the RG-59 is intact and all connections are good with no corrosion then there will be no problems with just ONE 301 receiver.. If he had said he had some of the newer stuff like dual tuners or Dish Pro Plus then you can start looking at the RG-59.. But for one 301.. It's not the cable itself that is causing any problems.

I agree.

Now I don't use any RG59 in my set-up, but with the DishNOW system I have:

1. DP 301 receiver
2. Dish 500 satellite dish
3. RG6 rated up to 3Ghz(as supplied by the Dish Home install kit sold at Radio Shack for $20+tax).
4. Legacy Twin LNB

You connect it to the 119 satellite connection ONLY, and then the switch inside "switches" between the 119 satellite and the 110.

THERE SHOULD BE NO SPLITTER AT ALL IN THIS SETUP, PERIOD!!

This is a ONE ROOM install ONLY.

If you wanted Dish in multiple rooms, then you should have gone with the "Free for All" from Dish in which you buy all the equipment you need/want up front, and then you can start/stop service anytime you want. No contracts, or anything. Just needed to make sure that receivers are connected to a phone line(in the the DishNOW setup, this is not needed and is totally uneccessary), give a SS# to start an account(again, this is unecessary in a DishNOW setup. No SS# needed), and go from there.

Sounds like something is not working on the setup.

DEFINITELY get that splitter out of there.

The LNB might be defective.

If you are within 30 days, you can exchange it for another no questions asked.

But try it again with no splitter.

Again, this is a ONE ROOM setup only(the Dish 322 may become available in the future for 2-room setup's on the DishNOW line, but don't hold your breath. That could be a while) so one cable line should not be causing all these problems.

Although 80 ft is a long ways.

But still, one line from the 119 side of the Twin LNB(the LNB doing the switch over too 110)?

Sounds like a possible bad LNB, OR the RG59, being 11 years old, may have gotten moisture in it somewhere, causing it too be defective for DC current completely.

This may not effect the RG59 line with cable.

But with a satellite hookup, it would be a MAJOR problem.

 

[pabeader]

you could do two rooms by splitting after the receiver. Just won't be able to watch different things on the two tvs.

 

[bjack56]

UPDATE...working mostly... but still need help.

There was an extra splitter in the 301 receiver feed line behind a wall plate causing most of the setup problems. I now have good signal strength, but ERROR 002 on sat119 trans2,4,6,8... which just happen to carry the best channels for me.

Here are some details, let me know if you need more:

Check Switch
119 = ALL
110 = ALL

Setup (I think....runs through 8 checks)
119 & 110 = GOOD

S119/T19 = 115 signal strength
S119/T11 = 121 signal strength
S110/T19 = 100 signal strength

I "reset" the receiver by unplugging for 30 min.

Tech support says with an ERROR 002 I need a technician to troubleshoot. As in my 1st post this is a self install about 50 min. from the nearest retailer.

Any ideas on what to do next or fixes??

 

[harshness]

There was an extra splitter in the 301 receiver feed line behind a wall plate causing most of the setup problems.

I can't imagine how this entered into the picture when the RG6 bypass was used.

Tech support says with an ERROR 002 I need a technician to troubleshoot.

This may be an LNB problem or may be a cable quality problem. I'm inclined to go with the cable quality.

Once again, you should try using the provided RG6 cable to go directly from the receiver to the LNB (no inside cable, jumpers, splitters, diplexers, amplifiers or couplers). If the problem remains, the LNB is probably bad. If it does work, you're going to have to go back to work on cleaning up your existing cabling.

 

[bjack56]

When we finally got the dish dialed in for signal strength using the RG6 "shotgun" we got the 119 & 110 ALL with signal strength as in post #27.

We then connected the existing RG59 run from the dish to 1st outlet. This is where the splitter was. Removed the splitter & used a coupling to run the supplied RG6 to the receiver with almost no signal loss & still 119 & 110 ALL on check switch.

Both the "shotgun" RG6 & coupled RG59/RG6 give the same strength, setup & ERROR 002 on some 119 even channels.

Another strange thing was when I removed the exist. RG59 to RG6 coupling, which was producing about the same results as the straight RG6 run, & connected them through the exist. wall plate coupling the check switch results went to 119 & 110 ODD.

Is there really a difference in white/clear vs blue (interior coupling insulator) like I read in another thread? Are couplings directional?

 

[RIRWIN1983]

When we finally got the dish dialed in for signal strength using the RG6 "shotgun" we got the 119 & 110 ALL with signal strength as in post #27.

We then connected the existing RG59 run from the dish to 1st outlet. This is where the splitter was. Removed the splitter & used a coupling to run the supplied RG6 to the receiver with almost no signal loss & still 119 & 110 ALL on check switch.

Both the "shotgun" RG6 & coupled RG59/RG6 give the same strength, setup & ERROR 002 on some 119 even channels.

Another strange thing was when I removed the exist. RG59 to RG6 coupling, which was producing about the same results as the straight RG6 run, & connected them through the exist. wall plate coupling the check switch results went to 119 & 110 ODD.

Is there really a difference in white/clear vs blue (interior coupling insulator) like I read in another thread? Are couplings directional?

yes just loike there is a diffrence from rg 59 and rg6, anything thats passes signal, should be blue as its rated to 3ghz white is to 1 ghz (fine for basic cable) orange to 2 ghz (digital cable) and blue to 3ghz.

 

[bjack56]

I did a search online for Satellite TV Rated Coax Couplings different ways with no success. Any idea where to find the blue couplings & plates? Specific search text? Are they "directional"?

 

[gdarwin]

Here are the 3ghz from DishStore:
The Dish Store - Powered by Metro25

 

[RandallA]

I did a search online for Satellite TV Rated Coax Couplings different ways with no success. Any idea where to find the blue couplings & plates? Specific search text? Are they "directional"?

HOLLAND 3GHZ F81 - G-F81F

 

[Scott6760]

Check the links above, and no they are not directional.

 

[Tyralak]

My apologies, I am a Dish newbie...it is a DishPro Twin LNB using existing RG59 cable, but signal strength is very good. I know the RG6 would be better, but the house design makes running or replacing the cable almost impossible. The picture I am getting on the ODD transponders is fine, just need to know what to do to get the EVEN or ALL transponders as required for one of the satellites.

That could very well be your problem. Or at least contributing to it. If you have no way to change out the RG59 wiring the best thing to do would be to get ahold of a Legacy Twin or Legacy Quad. Those use less voltage and a lower frequency range and have been known to last a long time on RG59, although it isn't recommended.

 

[Tyralak]

I have installed using existing RG-59 and Dish Pro out of nescessity.. And I have never had a problem..

You have no idea how many trouble calls I go to every week because someone connected Dishpro to RG59. It lasts for a while, then the cable literally stops working, not even able to tone out. Depending on the quality of the 59 cable it can last anywhere from two weeks to a couple of years, but it ALWAYS eventually fails. You've just been either very lucky, or the failure has happened long enough from when you did the job that you don't get blamed for it.

 

[Tyralak]

Is there really a difference in white/clear vs blue (interior coupling insulator) like I read in another thread? Are couplings directional?

There is a big difference. The white or clear couplers are only rated for 950-1000 MHz. The ones with a blue center indicate that it's rated for 3000 MHz.

 

[Tyralak]

UPDATE...working mostly... but still need help.

There was an extra splitter in the 301 receiver feed line behind a wall plate causing most of the setup problems. I now have good signal strength, but ERROR 002 on sat119 trans2,4,6,8... which just happen to carry the best channels for me.

Here are some details, let me know if you need more:

Check Switch
119 = ALL
110 = ALL

Setup (I think....runs through 8 checks)
119 & 110 = GOOD

S119/T19 = 115 signal strength
S119/T11 = 121 signal strength
S110/T19 = 100 signal strength

I "reset" the receiver by unplugging for 30 min.

Tech support says with an ERROR 002 I need a technician to troubleshoot. As in my 1st post this is a self install about 50 min. from the nearest retailer.

Any ideas on what to do next or fixes??

Check 110 TP 2. This transponder is at the highest end of the frequency range. Leave it on the signal strength screen and watch the level for a minute or so. If periodically you see the signal drop out or fluxuate significantly, the cable or a coupler is causing the issue, as it isn't handling the high frequency.

 

[bjack56]

I will try the s110/tp2 this weekend. Can I leave the system hooked to the 110 side if it holds a signal & still get 119? What if the s110/tp2 does not fluctuate wildly....what would that indicate?

What is the difference between the blue & green coupling? I read somewhere while shopping online that blue is 2.5ghz & green are 3ghz. Ordered a few green ones to upgrade existing.

 

[Tyralak]

I will try the s110/tp2 this weekend. Can I leave the system hooked to the 110 side if it holds a signal & still get 119? What if the s110/tp2 does not fluctuate wildly....what would that indicate?

What is the difference between the blue & green coupling? I read somewhere while shopping online that blue is 2.5ghz & green are 3ghz. Ordered a few green ones to upgrade existing.

If it's a DP Twin, it honestly makes no difference which side you put the coax on. If you aren't getting fluctuation on TP2, then it's likely not the cable. I'd still reccomend geting a Legacy twin or Legacy quad. And I've never seen green ones, but blue is definently 3ghz.