Help in pointing Dish

BetaRoc

Member
Original poster
Oct 19, 2011
12
0
Westlake, LA 70669
OK, for about a week or so my satellite signal went from 80 or so; down to 25-30. It was causing the picture to distort in and out.

We have had a lot of strong wind lately, so I figured it must have knocked the dish out of alignment with the satellite.
Using Dishpointer dot com I found that for DISH 500+(110W,118.7W, 119W) I should be using:
Elevation: 47.8
Azimuth: 217.7
Skew: 121.8

When I went out to the DISH, it wasn't even set CLOSE to those settings. Elevation was around 30 or so, Skew was maybe 50 or so and Az was about 45 degrees to the SE of

Looking at all my neighbors dishes, mine was the only one pointed in that direction.

The problem lies in when I set my DISH at the recommended settings (47.8, 217.7 and 121.8) I'm not reading any signal at all on 110 or 119.When I test switch I am getting CONN on Ports 1,2,3 for Satellite "X" on Ports 1,2,3 for Transponder Status "Reception Verified" Switch DPP 1K.4

There is nothing blocking 'line of sight' for the above settings.

Am I picking the right satellite to point to? When I go to Dishpointer, there is a huge list to choose from.

I have a DISH Vip622 DVR-sd. My satellite dish says "DISH TurboHD" "DP Plus" "A21ca2-wc100r91f" on it. I believe it is a duel LNB as we can get different things on two sep TV's and the dish has two 'modules' pointing into the dish.

I can't get it back to where it was when I first started, so we are essentially are without any signal/tv. In a house with 6 kids, that is devastating. lol

A DISH tech is coming on Saturday, but I was hoping get this fixed myself and 'save the day'

Can someone steer me in the right direction? What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!!!!

70669 Zip code
Exact address given upon request if needed
 

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welcome :wave
I hate to say it but your numbers are way off. You are running numbers for Western Arc (110/119/129). The issue is you are on Eastern Arc (61.5/72/77). I assume you have Lake Charles locals? Also in the pic you provided it says Dish 1000.4 which is Eastern Arc

Running your zip for EA I get
48 elevation
141 azimuth (SE)
59 for skew

so you need to change the dish settings back to those before you start (48 elevation and 59 for skew)

select 72 in the dish install screen (menu 6-1-1) and aim the dish SE to lock the signal.
 
Looking at all my neighbors dishes, mine was the only one pointed in that direction.

folks that have had Dish for a while probably had a Western Arc dish installed as Dish at the time hadnt launched your locals yet.
 
Thanks for the input. I went and put my DISH at the settings you recommended Iceberg for the Eastern Arc (yes I have local channels)

When I go to the Dish Install screen and put it on Satellite 72, what should the 'input' and 'transponder' be set at? I assume I should have it on Dish 500 and my zipcode as well.

Do I need to 'test switch' for it to start working or if I have it pointed correctly, should I be getting a signal?

On the elevation, do you set the angle with the screw or with the brace line that comes across the gap?
(I attached a pic of what I THINK to be 48 degrees)
 

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you can change the transponder to 18 or 19 to aim the dish

as for the pic yes that is right for 48 elevation...its usually the edge and not the nut
make sure to skew the dish also
 
Do I need to 'test switch' for it to start working or if I have it pointed correctly, should I be getting a signal?

If my angle was right, then I should be getting a signal. (I did the skew...that was easy to read; it had a little pointer)

I faced the dish exactly (to the best of my eyesight and compass) SE



Thanks for the feedback! (had to go to church, sorry for the late response to your reply)
 
OK, when my son got home we worked together and adjusting it as finely as I could and managed to get a signal of 38. (10 stronger than when I first started this fiasco)

TV started working again, but my local channels are not there.

When I test switch I get
1 2 3
72 conn conn
OK X X

What should be my next step?
 
Looks like you are picking up 72 with the 61.5 lnb.

Confirm this by covering the two lnbs that are very close to each other with aluminum foil (so the dish can only see with the 61.5 lnb).

Swing the dish slowly, little by little to the east (you may also need to drop the elevation a degree or two) until you lock onto the 61.5 satellite - that should be about 8 or 10 degrees east.

When you have found 61.5 with the 61.5 lnb, uncover the other two lnbs (they should be seeing their correct sats) and tweak the dish for a balanced signal on all three sats.
 
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You also might want to do a quick check and make sure the dish antenna's mast is plumb. Take a small level and check it on one side, and then again 90° from the first check. If it's not level on both planes it can make for a very tough alignment. How and where is the dish mounted?
 
Just thought I'd stop in and update. Satellite guy came out and the best signal he could get was 35-40 as well. Checked everything all over and eventually found out that my receiver had gone bad. It was the same receiver I got when I first switched to DISH years ago.

Replaced it with a 722k and wham-o, super strong signal and its been perfect ever since, plus my Storage capacity went up thanks to the bigger hard drive. Nice!

Thanks for all yalls help and input!
 
Just had the same thing happen. The signal was strong til it got to the old box.
Something inside went down slowly over the past week or so. Maybe poor venting, who knows. Great technician got the job done today. Also had great phone tech support yesterday. Now if I can get my movies transferred and read by the new receiver, all will be well.