HD Locals Listed, not coming in??

mace_freley

Member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2009
8
0
Gainesville, FL
Greetings,

I am new to these forums but have been with Dish for about 5 years now. Anyway, I live in Gainesville Florida, and we were supposed to pick up ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in HD as of yesterday. When I go to the Dish site and type in my address, it shows all the stations (HD) as available, and gives the channel numbers as 5251, 5252, 5253, aned 5254. These channels are not showing on my guide, even with the "All Channels" selected. Any idea why this may happen? Do I need to do anything special to get these? Usually when new channels are added, they just appear. Any suggestions? Cheers!
 
Greetings,

I am new to these forums but have been with Dish for about 5 years now. Anyway, I live in Gainesville Florida, and we were supposed to pick up ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in HD as of yesterday. When I go to the Dish site and type in my address, it shows all the stations (HD) as available, and gives the channel numbers as 5251, 5252, 5253, aned 5254. These channels are not showing on my guide, even with the "All Channels" selected. Any idea why this may happen? Do I need to do anything special to get these? Usually when new channels are added, they just appear. Any suggestions? Cheers!

You have to be pointed at 129W to get them. If you are like many Gainesville subs, you are likely pointed at 61.5. You will probably need to get a 1000.2 installed and keep a D500 pointed at 61.5 if you want the FL RSNs which currently are only on 61.5. I assume you are subscribed to locals and HD programming?
 
Wow. That's a lot of info. I actually have two dishes, which I had installed a few years back to expand my HD package. I think one is pointed at 129, and the other at 65. Not sure though. I do pay the 5 bucks a month for locals. Not sure what a 1000.2 is. Also, if I move a dish to get the locals, won't the other channels get lost? Finally, should I have someone come out to aim the Dish rather then mess with it myself? Sorry, but I'm pretty green at all this stuff.
 
Wow. That's a lot of info. I actually have two dishes, which I had installed a few years back to expand my HD package. I think one is pointed at 129, and the other at 65. Not sure though. I do pay the 5 bucks a month for locals. Not sure what a 1000.2 is. Also, if I move a dish to get the locals, won't the other channels get lost? Sorry, but I'm pretty green at all this stuff.
The 1000.2 would be a single satellite solution for you. It points at three satellites at once, including the one for your locals (if they are on 129).
 
The 1000.2 would be a single satellite solution for you. It points at three satellites at once, including the one for your locals (if they are on 129).

You would also need to keep the 61.5 dish as a wing dish to get the Florida RSNs because E* hasn't yet seen fit to also place them on 129W so you would only need a single antenna. They will likely do all of this for you if you agree to extend your commitment. Otherwise the cost is $59 or $99, depending. You can do it yourself by repointing your 61.5 dish to 129 if you don't care about the FL RSNs or you could install the 1000.2 yourself. The 61.5 dish plugs into the LNB IN port of the 1000.2. However, by the time you buy a 1000.2 you might as well pay to have E* do the installation. They also provide the dish for that cost.
 
Thanks guys! I have a Dish guy coming on Sunday with a 1000.2 Dish ($50.00), and they will install and configure it. I assume (hope) the tech can decide wether or not I need to keep any dishes and/or aim them all for me. One last question, though: What are RSNs? Thanks for all your help, guys. And cheers!
 
Thanks guys! I have a Dish guy coming on Sunday with a 1000.2 Dish ($50.00), and they will install and configure it. I assume (hope) the tech can decide wether or not I need to keep any dishes and/or aim them all for me. One last question, though: What are RSNs? Thanks for all your help, guys. And cheers!
Regional Sports Networks. I am not sure which ones you get. In Miami, I used to have Sunshine Network and Fox Sports Net.
 
The tech will probably just remove the Dish 500 for 119/110 and install the 1000.2 on the same mast/pole you have now. (assuming you have line of sight for 129 at that location)
Ask him to keep the 61.5 dish connected so you can watch your RSNs. As long as he doesn't have to move the dish, it will be very easy for him to do.
 
I'm in the same boat as the original poster. Any idea if they would have originally set me up on 61.5 because line of sight to 129 wasn't available? How do I determine if 129 is available without paying $50 for a service call?
 
I'm in the same boat as the original poster. Any idea if they would have originally set me up on 61.5 because line of sight to 129 wasn't available? How do I determine if 129 is available without paying $50 for a service call?

Until the launch of Ciel-2 in February, 129 was not available for most of Florida. That's probably why you have 61.5
If you have a compass, stand behind the 119/110 dish and look about 10 degrees to the right, then approximately 29 degrees elevation (assuming you are in or near Gainesville)
If there are no trees or anything close to that spot in the sky, you should be fine.
 
Last edited:
Until the launch of Ciel-2 in February, 129 was not available for most of Florida. That's probably why you have 61.5
If you have a compass, stand behind the 119/110 dish and look about 10 degrees to the right, then approximately 29 degrees elevation (assuming you are in or near Gainesville)
If there are no trees or anything close to that spot in the sky, you should be fine.

I spent this past weekend (May 2009) struggling with satellite 129 from the east coast of central Florida. I have a new Dish 1000.2 and a VIP 211 receiver. No joy at all. 110 and 119 have good signal strength >75. Not a peep out of Sat 129, regardless of where I pointed the dish.

I even bought a DISH Pro 44 Switch. It made no difference at all.

I sure would like to hear solutions from other Florida residents.
 
I spent this past weekend (May 2009) struggling with satellite 129 from the east coast of central Florida. I have a new Dish 1000.2 and a VIP 211 receiver. No joy at all. 110 and 119 have good signal strength >75. Not a peep out of Sat 129, regardless of where I pointed the dish.

I even bought a DISH Pro 44 Switch. It made no difference at all.

I sure would like to hear solutions from other Florida residents.

Try covering the center part of the lnb (the one for 119) and see if you still receive 119. If you do not, then something may be blocking 129, if you do then you are pointed too far to the right and are getting 110 through the 119 slot and 119 through the 129 slot. You would need to move the dish about 9 degrees to the left and lower it a tad.
 
Greetings,

I am new to these forums but have been with Dish for about 5 years now. Anyway, I live in Gainesville Florida, and we were supposed to pick up ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in HD as of yesterday. When I go to the Dish site and type in my address, it shows all the stations (HD) as available, and gives the channel numbers as 5251, 5252, 5253, aned 5254. These channels are not showing on my guide, even with the "All Channels" selected. Any idea why this may happen? Do I need to do anything special to get these? Usually when new channels are added, they just appear. Any suggestions? Cheers!

WCJB TV 20 (ABC) WCJB 5250 13s53 129° C-II Map
HD Locals - Gainesville, FL WGFL TV 4 (CBS) High Springs, FL WGFL 5251 13s53 129° C-II WNBW TV 9 (NBC) WNBW 5252 13s53 129° C-II WOGX TV 51 (Fox) Ocala, FL WOGX 5253 13s53 129° C-II

Sun Sports SUN 5422 25/27 129° C-II AT100+* DL2* (13) Fox Sports Florida FOXFL 5423 25/27 129° C-II AT100+* DL2* (13)

This table was created buy Tony Suarez
 
I spent this past weekend (May 2009) struggling with satellite 129 from the east coast of central Florida.
Looking at a map, the East Coast of Central Florida would seem to be in or about Merritt Island. I'm forced to guess you've got the wrong dish based on your decidedly vague description of where you live. It is customary to offer your zip code if you don't want to give up the name of the town.

Note that this doesn't mean that you won't be able to pick up 129W, just that you should be going after a different set of satellites that includes 61.5W. From a quick scan of all DMAs on the East Coast of Florida, they all use Eastern Arc satellites (Dish 1000.4).
 
Looking at a map, the East Coast of Central Florida would seem to be in or about Merritt Island. I'm forced to guess you've got the wrong dish based on your decidedly vague description of where you live. It is customary to offer your zip code if you don't want to give up the name of the town.

Sorry for the location omission. In reading the zip code satellite dish pointing charts, I felt I had given enough information on my location.

The zip is 32905 Palm Bay, FL

I spoke to my brother this morning who lives 150 miles south of me (33428 zip). He has the same antenna and is receiving 110,118 and 119 but he subscribes to some international channels.

As I posted earlier, no matter what I tried in aiming or swapping switches, 110 and 119 was all I could "see". I'm at work now, but to the best of my recollection (I ran this enough times...(sigh)) after running 'check switch' 50 times - 110, and 119 were always there. The third LNB indicated "conn" instead of a satellite number. Using the satellite dish pointing screen in the VIP211 and setting it it for either satellite 118 or 229, no signal strength was ever indicated.

I bought this particular antenna to avoid installing 2 antennas which is what 61.4 would require. I spent two days on this and am at a loss as to why I failed. .
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the location omission. In reading the zip code satellite dish pointing charts, I felt I had given enough information on my location.

The zip is 32905 Palm Bay, FL

I spoke to my brother this morning who lives 150 miles south of me (33428 zip). He has the same antenna and is receiving 110,118 and 119 but he subscribes to some international channels.

As I posted earlier, no matter what I tried in aiming or swapping switches, 110 and 119 was all I could "see". I'm at work now, but to the best of my recollection (I ran this enough times...(sigh)) after running 'check switch' 50 times - 110, and 119 were always there. The third LNB indicated "conn" instead of a satellite number. Using the satellite dish pointing screen in the VIP211 and setting it it for either satellite 118 or 229, no signal strength was ever indicated.

I bought this particular antenna to avoid installing 2 antennas which is what 61.4 would require. I spent two days on this and am at a loss as to why I failed. .

When you look at the Check Switch table, Port 1 should be the 119, Port 2, the 110, and Port 3, the 129. If Port 1 and Port 3 show 110 and 119, the dish is misaligned. You would be receiving 119 through the leftmost LNB (standing behind the dish) which is the 129 LNB and receiving 110 through the center LNB which is the 119 LNB. If Port 1 and Port 2 correctly show 119 and 110 and nothing shows for Port 3, there is likely a problem with the 129 LNB, maybe a bad cable connection or just a bad LNB. I suppose it would be possible for skew to be off just enough to be able to receive 110 and 119 but not 129, but I think it is unlikely.

That's definitely an designated an eastern arc DMA. A 1000.4 dish would have worked there as a one-dish solution as long as you have all mpeg4 ViP receivers. I didn't look to see if that FL market was yet mirrored on 129. I know they reserved transponder space for more FL markets on 129 but I don't think they've added any recently although I could be wrong.
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Latest posts