help setting up swm dish

[lee vitalone]

My son and I attempted this with failure. We have the 18" up and it picks up the sat just fine. We could not even get the 101 that is supposed to be the strongest. We have the slimline dish, swm lnb, and power inserter. the DTv splitter that works, with the HR22 dvr. No signal at all. Tested cables are ok, splitter ok. aimed correctly, there are 2 others close by to ref. plus we used a compass.
Also, we went to the site where it shows a sat picture of the house and where to aim. upstate ny area near Herkimer NY.
The dish and comp. are new. where are we going wrong?

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys!

You could be doing lots of things wrong, but let's start with the basics. Is the mast plumb? That's very important. Are you pointing at the 101 satellite? If you are only connecting the one dvr, then you don't need a splitter. Make sure to check all of your settings and connections. Give these suggestions a try and come back and let us know how it went.

 

[lee vitalone]

he mast is absoluty plumb. from what we have read, the dvr has 2 inputs and the lnb one so we saw that it was used. will try your suggestion. we have the 101 with the 18. let you know. Thanks!!

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

You are describing a swm setup, while you did not mention it , the splitter could be used for a cck. Otherwise yes. Skip the splitter. The one think you could be doing wrong, the lnb will not find signal without power, make sure the power inserter is installed correctly and plugged in while trying to aim.

also make sure the line running "to ird" is plugged in to sat1 on the dvr.

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[lukenova]

cabling should be:
from the dish - "power to SWM" on the power inserter
from "signal to IRD" on power inserter - Sat in 1 on the DVR unit.

if for some reason you do want to use the splitter, make sure that the cabling that is running to the power inserter is connected to the port on the splitter that says "DC power pass"

 

[Lanarian]

Just to make sure all the bases are covered, did you change the receivers Dish type setting to either 17: Slimline 3S SWM or 18: Slimline 5S SWM ? If it's still set to the 18"round with a multiswitch it's not gonna read a thing...

 

[Lanarian]

Oh, and assuming the cabling is correct, once you go into the "Repeat Satellite Settings" in the menu, it should set itself to the correct dish type automatically with the SWM, although, I have seen them have to be manually set (but it's rare)

 

[lee vitalone]

Just to make sure all the bases are covered, did you change the receivers Dish type setting to either 17: Slimline 3S SWM or 18: Slimline 5S SWM ? If it's still set to the 18"round with a multiswitch it's not gonna read a thing...

Hi, and thanks to all the response! OK the dvr on setup screen read correctly the dish and lnb we are using. It's the single and it's got white plastic lens. SWM is on the lnb. Mast is plumb perfect. have experience with the 18". Always done my own. I will by pass the splitter, as rec. and dble check the pwr inserter . We are trying using only the signal meters in the dvr. But if I can't get the 101 after this, then I must have a bad lnb.We used the splitter with a sd receiver and it's ok.

 

[lee vitalone]

OK, we did everything suggested and still cannot get the 101. We suspect a bad lnb? We have ruled out just about ll factors that would stop us from getting it. Is there a way to test the lnb?

 

[raoul5788]

Not normally. Maybe installers have a tester for that. A swm setup normally detects itself. Do you have swm3 selected in the menu?

 

[Lanarian]

When you say it read the dish and LNB correctly, what exactly did it read? You said it's the Single, which, if I remeber right, should be the 17: Slimline 3S

 

[lee vitalone]

Not normally. Maybe installers have a tester for that. A swm setup normally detects itself. Do you have swm3 selected in the menu?

Yes, the dvr detected it right away. It was already up on the set up screen. My neighbor has a slimline setup, perhaps I'll ask him to test the lnb. His works ok. IF I get nothing then, I'll know it's the lnb that's bad, and I suspect it.

 

[raoul5788]

Good idea!

 

[texasbrit]

Faulty LNBs are very rare, I still suspect the dish is not aligned correctly. Did you set the tilt? The 18in dish does not have a tilt setting, but you have to tilt the slimline dish....

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

Borrow one of his working boxes and hook it up to your line, if you get tv, then its not the lnb, from there you can check signal as well.

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[raoul5788]

Better yet, put your lnb in his setup, since you know his is working correctly.

 

[satinstallerguy]

Lee, use this reference guide and make sure your TILT and ELEVATION are set correctly on the skew plat on back of the Dish..... http://forums.directv.com/pe/RepositoryFileDownloadServlet/10339842/KaKu_job_Aid.pdf Just look up your locality. After you make sure they are set correctly I suggest slightly tightening the 3 bolts that clamp down the dish to the mast so there is no play when up and down but still a little to turn it left and right. Then I would go check signal strength. Start by turning the dish farther left then where you know it should aim and slowly move it back to the right in short increments and watch for the 0's to start filling in. Once you start getting into the 90's , try around 95 then tighten the 3 bolts down and then you use the dithering screws and fine tune it high as you can. Then move on to 99a and try to fine tune it into 90's as well then move to 103a rinse and repeat. Good Luck..

 

[Jimbo]

Lee, use this reference guide and make sure your TILT and ELEVATION are set correctly on the skew plat on back of the Dish..... http://forums.directv.com/pe/RepositoryFileDownloadServlet/10339842/KaKu_job_Aid.pdf Just look up your locality. After you make sure they are set correctly I suggest slightly tightening the 3 bolts that clamp down the dish to the mast so there is no play when up and down but still a little to turn it left and right. Then I would go check signal strength. Start by turning the dish farther left then where you know it should aim and slowly move it back to the right in short increments and watch for the 0's to start filling in. Once you start getting into the 90's , try around 95 then tighten the 3 bolts down and then you use the dithering screws and fine tune it high as you can. Then move on to 99a and try to fine tune it into 90's as well then move to 103a rinse and repeat. Good Luck..

Nice idea .... could you find any info more current than 2006 ?
I understand that the procedure is the same, but 2006 was when the very first generation with the Skew in it came out, they've had at least 3 or 4 different newer units since then.

 

[lee vitalone]

sure, we checked on the dish alignment settings. The slimline is directly above our 18' It pretty much a no brainer if you have experience as I do. Having done 18" from day one. We had the tilt where it was indicated and the rest is easy. If unable to get that 101, something is wrong and we pretty much ruled out the remainder-cables/etc. are all good. But, like I said I'll ask my neighbor if we can test it on his. Only diff. is our lnb lens is white . His is like clear.

 

[Jimbo]

sure, we checked on the dish alignment settings. The slimline is directly above our 18' It pretty much a no brainer if you have experience as I do. Having done 18" from day one. We had the tilt where it was indicated and the rest is easy. If unable to get that 101, something is wrong and we pretty much ruled out the remainder-cables/etc. are all good. But, like I said I'll ask my neighbor if we can test it on his. Only diff. is our lnb lens is white . His is like clear.

Probably a manufacture difference only, as long as the configuration is the same.