Help with locals spotbeam signal low.

[Raptor]

I need to recieve the local Pittsburgh channels that are on 110 transponder 62 (spotbeam) while I'm traveling to York PA, which is about 170 miles away. the signal is at 48-50% what dish/ setup can I use to boost the signal. when I had direct It worked just fine. for some reason the dish spotbeam is much weaker.

thanks

 

[Barry Erick]

Well, if you are just looking for local news, use the websites for the TV channels.
Use any inline amp for the items. Radio Shack has inline amps for satellite for around $25.

 

[Derwin0]

I need to recieve the local Pittsburgh channels that are on 110 transponder 62 (spotbeam) while I'm traveling to York PA, which is about 170 miles away. the signal is at 48-50% what dish/ setup can I use to boost the signal. when I had direct It worked just fine. for some reason the dish spotbeam is much weaker.

thanks

A friend of mine in Glen Rock gets the Pittsburgh locals (to get the Steelers game, damn Ravens snagged York County as a secondary market). We are on the Pittsburgh spotbeams edge. He uses a 36" dish for 110 to get a reliable signal.
There are 2 Transponders on Spotbeam 10. Transponder 2 carries the big 4 and has a more reliable signal. Transponder 8 carries the rest, and is usually lost in the evenings.

 

[Raptor]

I want to be able to watch the local networks. I didn't think an inline amp would boost the signal from 50% to the 80-85% recomended min. I was hoping someone would know of a bigger dish that would pull in the signal alot better. anyone ever try anything like this?

 

[Raptor]

Derwin0,
do you know where he got the dish? is he using it with dish recievers or FTA? I also need the steelers games at my york residence but I don't know how to make sure that the dish and lnb setup will work with my current reciever setup. what I have is 2 dish 510's a 921 and am getting a 942 and I need everything to work. Does he have the 36" dish added to his setup just pointed at 110 or it hit the only dish?

thanks
Jason

 

[Raptor]

where did you find the info on the spotbeams? I just checked spotbeam 10 and I have 85-90 signal and I would like to verify that it's the one for the pittsburgh area before I mak any changes. what I don't understand is last night I went to dish website and it said local nets were on 110 transponder 62 which last nite was very weak but now is at over 100%. I'm just trying to get this nailed down. I trust the info you guys give out alot more than the info I get from dish.

 

[Derwin0]

where did you find the info on the spotbeams? I just checked spotbeam 10.

ekb.dsktalk.com had the info on the spotbeams.
Spotbeam 10 is a generic number for the Pittsburgh area spotbeam. What you want to look at in the Dish Point Screen is Transponder 2 for the big 4 (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) and Cornerstone, and Transpoder 8 for the rest (WB, UPN, PBS).

do you know where he got the dish? is he using it with dish recievers or FTA? I also need the steelers games at my york residence

He got the Dish on ebay. When we set it up, we removed the shroud from the lnb to get the feedhorn to fit into the lnb holder clamp on the dish. The lnb was then duct taped to "weatherproof" it.
The big dish is strictly used for 110 only. His old Dish 500 remains pointed at 119 with the 110 slot empty. They (and a 61.5 Dish 300 - from when Pittsburgh had locals there) then feed into a DPP-44 switch.

The signals not perfect, Transponder 8 is still lost in the evenings. But if it's not raining, Transponder 2 (with the Steelers games) is good. Using the Dish 500 for 110 a couple years ago was much less reliable.

 

[Frostwolf]

E* offered me a 24 inch dish and I've seen generics on ebay. I don't know them nor am I recommending them but here are two I found with a quick search.

Ebay Item numbers: 5810718731 & 5809174116

good luck,

 

[Raptor]

how low does the signal go before it effects the picture?

 

[pcbelize]

30" dish

I use a 30" dish to pick up fringe locals off the 110.

The signal quality is better during the day than at night. With my dish 500 I was getting a signal strength of around 50 during the day and nothing at night. With a 30" dish I am getting high 60s to low 70s during the day and between 40 and 60 during the night.

Depending on your receiver you will need somewhere between 44ish to 52ish to have stable picture.