help finding the 118 satellite

[pcbelize]

So after spending most of the day yesterday on my roof setting up my new dish 1000+ I've got it pointed so that I can get good results on the following satelites:

119* 100-110 (depending on the transponders)
110* 80-90
129* 75-85

And given that yesterday was a overcast and misty, I'm very happy with the above numbers, but for the life of me I can get an hit on the 118.75. Any suggestions???

I've got the 118 going into the 4th slot on my DPP44 (as recommended by dish).

I was a little surprised that I was able to get such good numbers on the 129 being that I am in DC and it is support to be difficult hit from here. Is that an indication that I've got it pointed too far to the south?

What are the odds that I've a bad LNB?

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[Miner]

PCBelize,

Have you tried a switch reset? Have you tried connecting the 118 coax directly to the receiver, bypassing the DPP44?

It would seem that since the 118 and 119 LNB is the same it would difficult to get 119 and not any signal on 118. I would probably try connecting the 118 directly to the receiver and moving the dish in very small increments to see if you get any signal.

I've read the FSS satellites have a narrower and weaker beam and are more difficult to peak. Perhaps a little less signal on 119 will result in finding 118?

I hope this helps.

 

[pcbelize]

I have reset the switch.

I was thinking the same thing about the 118 & 119 being soooo close to each other, so I did try to find the 118 w/o the 119 connected. But I haven't tried bypassing the switch completely and just going into the reciever, good idea.

 

[Smith P.]

Add to your check list: bad cable between 118.75W LNBF and the switch; slight chance but the part of LNBF combo itself could be bad .

 

[Jared Twomey]

i agree with everyone else.... i wouldnt think it is an alignment problem... sounds like either a problem with the switch or cabling. If you are getting that good of signals on the other 3 locations you are lined up right... and yes the Dish1000+ does a whole lot better on the 129

 

[pcbelize]

I did trade out the the cable between the lnb and the switch, without any luck.

This is my first experience trying to hit a KU satellite does any one if they are especially sensative to skew, elevation or azm.?

I guess the next step is to remove the switch from the equation and see if I can get it on a direct connect. It will probably be a couple of day before I can get back up there, I will update after my next trip up.

 

[pcbelize]

Update:

Well, I was finally able to get the 118 by switching the 118 and 129 feeds on the ddp44. Despite the dish recommendations that the 118 be hooked to the 4th, no matter what I did the switch couldn't find there.

The moral of this story is...if you're having trouble getting a feed from the 118 try hooking it to the 3rd feed into the dpp44 and the 129 to the 4th feed.

 

[Smith P.]

Thanks for update, will be interesting to hear from other owner's D500+/D1000+.
BTW, what is a signal level on 118.75W transponders ?

 

[pcbelize]

Thanks for update, will be interesting to hear from other owner's D500+/D1000+.
BTW, what is a signal level on 118.75W transponders ?

Not very good. It varies a bit depending on the transponder. I'm getting around 60 on most of them and as low as 49 on a couple. The only two I care about are 4 & 5 (they carry the detroit HD locals) and they currently (at night) are 57 & 59 respectively.

I'm just glad that I won't be spending next weekend on the roof. Now if I can only get decent picture out of my 622 I'll be all set (but I guess that's a gripe for a different thread).

 

[SmityWhity]

FWIW, reading through the posts, you solved the problem by switching/swapping the outputs of 118.7 and 129 between the DPP-44 Inputs 3 and 4. One way, one does work, the other way they both work.

The center conductor of the RG-6 cable needs to be longer than normal going into the DPP-44 (and DP-34). It is possible you are still just barely making contact from the LNBF's into the switch.

If the conductor just barely goes past the end of the connector threads, then it is (usually) too short (for the DPP-44 and DP-34).

EDIT: DC is lucky Detriot HD Locals are not on a spotbeam.:

 

[timfouts]

According to the tech printout that my dealer gave to me to do my own install--first you have to peak the dish at 119 with no switch in place. Port 2D on the lnbf is 119. Then connect the lnbfs to the DP34 or DPP44 ensuring the 119 feed is on Port 1 and 118 from port 1F of lnb (assuming Dish500+ or 1000+) to the port 3 on DP34 or port of DPP44. Other satellite locations in middle of switch does not matter. The main thing is 119 and 118 are connected on opposite outside ports of switches. Run check switch-download lastest software, then run check switch again. Assuming you have a superdish or 500+ or 1000+ peak skew on 110 and 118 will automatically be in tune. If using separate dish peak that dish.

My strongest signal strength on 118 is 81 tr #21 and lowest on tr 01 with 46. It does not matter the strength as long as signal stays locked. In heavy rain, forget it do something else. My other signals are 110 on 110 and 115 on 119 with 120 on 61.5

Bottom line 119 and 118 opposite inputs on switch and check switch run twice.

 

[pcbelize]

FWIW, reading through the posts, you solved the problem by switching/swapping the outputs of 118.7 and 129 between the DPP-44 Inputs 3 and 4. One way, one does work, the other way they both work.

The center conductor of the RG-6 cable needs to be longer than normal going into the DPP-44 (and DP-34). It is possible you are still just barely making contact from the LNBF's into the switch.

If the conductor just barely goes past the end of the connector threads, then it is (usually) too short (for the DPP-44 and DP-34).

EDIT: DC is lucky Detriot HD Locals are not on a spotbeam.:

Good point. Next time I'm up there I will check the length of the center conductor.

As you might guess I was very pleased to see that the Detroit HD locals were put on the 118. I lost the SD locals when they switched their spotbeam this spring, but lucky I waited to see what they did with the HD ones and resisted the tempation to "move" to DC.

 

[pcbelize]

According to the tech printout that my dealer gave to me to do my own install--first you have to peak the dish at 119 with no switch in place. Port 2D on the lnbf is 119. Then connect the lnbfs to the DP34 or DPP44 ensuring the 119 feed is on Port 1 and 118 from port 1F of lnb (assuming Dish500+ or 1000+) to the port 3 on DP34 or port of DPP44. Other satellite locations in middle of switch does not matter. The main thing is 119 and 118 are connected on opposite outside ports of switches. Run check switch-download lastest software, then run check switch again. Assuming you have a superdish or 500+ or 1000+ peak skew on 110 and 118 will automatically be in tune. If using separate dish peak that dish.

My strongest signal strength on 118 is 81 tr #21 and lowest on tr 01 with 46. It does not matter the strength as long as signal stays locked. In heavy rain, forget it do something else. My other signals are 110 on 110 and 115 on 119 with 120 on 61.5

Bottom line 119 and 118 opposite inputs on switch and check switch run twice.

I had the exact same instructions and followed them to a T. And had no luck on the 118 until I switched 118 & 129. Although SmityWhity's explaination might expain why moving the 118 to the 3rd slot fixed the problem.

 

[SmityWhity]

I don't have a Dish 1000+ yet and hoping for a Repoint Kit for my SuperDish 121; so I might be wrong, but I don't think that is completely accurate about the 118.7 needing to be in a particular port opposite the 119.

It is true that you would normally either put 119 or 110 in Port 1 of a DP-34 and DPP-44 when starting your dish adjustments (110 for SuperDish 121, 119 for SuperDish 105 and Dish 500+/1000+). This allows the signal to pass straight through. However, after you have your dish adjusted, I have not found where it makes any difference which ports you put them in....

Except for when the receiver is not compatible with more than a certain number of ports and/or not compatible with a certain satellite, such as:

One of your receivers only supports 119 and 110, then you should put those 2 in Ports 1 and 2.
If you have a receiver that supports 119, 110, and 61.5, but not 129, 121, 105, or 118.7; then you should put 119, 110, and 61.5 in the first 3; and put the 4th in Port 4 for your other receiver.
Likewise, if you have one receiver that only supports 119, 110, and one 129; and a second one that supports those 3 plus 118.7, then to get both receivers to work, you need 118.7 on Port 4, and the other 3 shouldn't really matter.

 

[pcbelize]

I don't have a Dish 1000+ yet and hoping for a Repoint Kit for my SuperDish 121; so I might be wrong, but I don't think that is completely accurate about the 118.7 needing to be in a particular port opposite the 119.

It is true that you would normally either put 119 or 110 in Port 1 of a DP-34 and DPP-44 when starting your dish adjustments (110 for SuperDish 121, 119 for SuperDish 105 and Dish 500+/1000+). This allows the signal to pass straight through. However, after you have your dish adjusted, I have not found where it makes any difference which ports you put them in....

Except for when the receiver is not compatible with more than a certain number of ports and/or not compatible with a certain satellite, such as:

One of your receivers only supports 119 and 110, then you should put those 2 in Ports 1 and 2.
If you have a receiver that supports 119, 110, and 61.5, but not 129, 121, 105, or 118.7; then you should put 119, 110, and 61.5 in the first 3; and put the 4th in Port 4 for your other receiver.
Likewise, if you have one receiver that only supports 119, 110, and one 129; and a second one that supports those 3 plus 118.7, then to get both receivers to work, you need 118.7 on Port 4, and the other 3 shouldn't really matter.

Everything you are saying makes complete sense. It probably is not a limitation of the switch but the recievers that dictate which port the various satellites should go into. And if you don't have any "limited" recievers than you can pretty much do what you want with the ports.

 

[SmityWhity]

Yep. Anyway, let us know what happens when you (or the spouse) gets back on the roof.