Hello from the Phillyburbs

[Parisnights]

I've been reading the forum the last few days and it is a wealth
of information. I will have my first experience with Sat. TV very soon and with that 2 yr.
contract I sure hope its a good one. First year not so bad pricewise, 2nd year is cutting it
close. Like many I'm on a tight budget and went with the most basic 200+ package. I
got a call from the agent today who said when she was ordering my package she was told one
must now take the local channels for $5 per/mo which is not what I signed up for Saturday at
her booth in Zerns. I read something today about dropping the service contract after 6 months
then signing up for it at a later date that needs explanation. Hopefully these sat receivers
are built for years of trouble free service. As a ham I've been exposed to lots of electronics but
never anything in this frequency range. I do believe in keeping electronics cool since heat can
be a major problem. Maybe a little muffin fan isn't a bad idea depending on temps. There is one
thing (thats a lie, theres plenty of things) I've always been curious about which will be answered
by that lucky installer when he gets here with the goodies. Just how difficult is it to find that sat,
and just how much does that antenna have to move before signal is lost? Yeah, I need to read
alot more...........
regards
your friendly neighborhood francophile

 

[Dah-Henny]

 

[Mojo]

Ditto :up

 

[delta_charlie]

---cut---Just how difficult is it to find that sat,
and just how much does that antenna have to move before signal is lost? Yeah, I need to read
alot more...........
regards
your friendly neighborhood francophile

Hi, the satellites are a bit tricky to find without an expensive meter (the installer will be using one). The dish will also be receiving three satellites, not just one.

To give you some idea on how far the dish is moved you could (as an example) take a magic marker and place a mark about 1/16 inch wide and about 1/2 tall from the mast to the mounting clamp on the dish. If you were to loosen the clamp and move the dish you would see a notable change in signal quality on a dish that was fully peaked before the mark was broken into two sections.

Hope this helps, DC

 

[bhelms]

Assuming you have clear line of sight to all the sats. you'll be receiving then using azimuth, elevation, and skew information readily available from resources like Dishpointer gets you in the ballpark, and an inexpensive meter is probably all you'll need to peak it. With your electronic background you might be able to DIY, but since an initial installation is "free" (as in built into your price) why not let the experts handle it while you watch and learn?

Overall receiver reliability is excellent. Give them power conditioning like anything else plugged into the mains for best results. The other issue is surges through the cables from the dish or OTA from EMP, but proper grounding should be all you need to prevent any issues there barring a direct strike. Of course anything with a hard drive has a bit less reliability. Cooling electronics never hurts, but for the most part these receivers aren't a problem. Give them lots of room and free air ventilation will be plenty. DVRs with HDDs are more of an issue, but most have cooling fans in them that rarely run. All that said, there are some of us here that have considered the potential issues with excessive DVR heating and the below thread is the result! Might make interesting reading for you.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...average-622-722-temperature-thread-yours.html

Good luck with your installation and sat. experience, and Welcome....!

 

[geonaz]

Welcome Parisnights. Sure wish I was close to Zern's again. I would head right to the Amish meat stand and get a five pound pan of scrapple. Can't get scrapple in NC, only grits and liver mush. And the best pulled pork anywhere.

 

[bhelms]

Ummmmmm.....scrapple....!

 

[Parisnights]

Gee, it really works! and...

... thanks for the welcome.
System up and running 2 days now. The installer was a cool guy, to bad
he had another install to do because I could have bent his ear for 3 more
hours.
Dish is more sensitive to movement than I had thought, probably due to
looking at 3 different satellites at once. I think there was a day when some
would use a small portable TV to zero in on the signal.
Well geonaz, been to NC in my military days but will stick to yankee land,
grits aren't my thing and they talk to slow.