I'm getting different signal strengths....

[Parlyle]

I am getting different signal strengths from my DishPro Quad. I have two of the cables going to one Dish- 811 and a Dish 510 hooked up to a JVC-32" SD tv at about 75 feet from the head and the other cables going to another room, 1 hooked to a Quasar 27" and the other cable coiled and not used, at about 120 feet from the head. I am getting a stronger signal from the farther away reciever ie, on satellite 119 from transponder 19, I get a signal strength of around 110-112 from the 120 footer. The 75 footer on the same settings gets 106-108 on the 811 and 110-112 on the 510. Why would there be any difference? It's got me puzzled. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks: Lyle

 

[ShadowEKU]

I am getting different signal strengths from my DishPro Quad. I have two of the cables going to one Dish- 811 and a Dish 510 hooked up to a JVC-32" SD tv at about 75 feet from the head and the other cables going to another room, 1 hooked to a Quasar 27" and the other cable coiled and not used, at about 120 feet from the head. I am getting a stronger signal from the farther away reciever ie, on satellite 119 from transponder 19, I get a signal strength of around 110-112 from the 120 footer. The 75 footer on the same settings gets 106-108 on the 811 and 110-112 on the 510. Why would there be any difference? It's got me puzzled. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks: Lyle

this should be reversed..... but:

Are any of the lines near anything powerfully electric.. ie a motor, pump, light (to a lesser degree) all of these can degrade signal.

 

[K R Kimmel]

You didn't say what type of receiver you had hooked up to the 120' line.

Speculation mode on.
The 120' cable may be of slightly higher quality than the 75' cables.
The signal strength readings might not be consistant across different receiver types.
Speculation mode off.

In any case 100+ signal strengths are really good. Still the different reading make you wonder.

 

[ShadowEKU]

You didn't say what type of receiver you had hooked up to the 120' line.

Speculation mode on.
The 120' cable may be of slightly higher quality than the 75' cables.
The signal strength readings might not be consistant across different receiver types.
Speculation mode off.

In any case 100+ signal strengths are really good. Still the different reading make you wonder.

What he said as well...

 

[Parlyle]

Revised and updated question.......

You didn't say what type of receiver you had hooked up to the 120' line.
Speculation mode on.
The 120' cable may be of slightly higher quality than the 75' cables.
The signal strength readings might not be consistant across different receiver types.
Speculation mode off.
In any case 100+ signal strengths are really good. Still the different reading make you wonder.

The cable coming into the house from the DP-Quad is:Belden RG-6/U-Tri-Shield 2.25GHz-BC center and the 120 foot section is hooked to a Dish-508 reciever.There is no real strong electrical fields that the cable goes across. The 4 cables are together from the dish through 28 foot of PVC into the basement up to the 75 foot split and then the other 2 to the 120 foot,508.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I'd sure like to know what happens if you swap the receivers.

 

[K R Kimmel]

I find this interesting.
510 on 120' signal strength 110-112
508 on 75' signal strength 110-112
811 on 75' signal strength 106-108

The 50x receivers have the same signal strength (albiet on different length cables)

 

[boba]

I find this interesting.
510 on 120' signal strength 110-112
508 on 75' signal strength 110-112
811 on 75' signal strength 106-108

The 50x receivers have the same signal strength (albiet on different length cables)

Don't worry all it really tells you is you have 3 different receivers with adequate signal strength.

 

[Parlyle]

Don't worry all it really tells you is you have 3 different receivers with adequate signal strength.

Thanks: I thought I had adaquate signal, after about an hour of adjusting and going inside to check the signal status, and going outside again. But I had to find out if there was anything that was flakey about the signal variations. In the future I might swap the recievers and test the difference, but for now I think I'll be satisfied with the signals I have. Also, just for giggles, I haven't gotten the new SW for the 811 yet. Any comments on that? Thanks: Lyle

 

[bigbark34]

Fssiii Atlanta ,ga

ok, as a sesoned tech, the reason for your signal disparity, is the lengnth of cable from each run to each receiver, the receivers closest to the dish will have the strongest signal strenth, that you did not inform me of, the receiver farthes away from the dish, would have a lower signal, now i some cases it is receiver specific, i can hook up a 522,322, and gell a 100 signal, and then hook up a 311 or 111, and get a 125, so signal strenght has to do with the receiver you are dealing with and aslo cable run so if that receiver, with the lower strenght is farthest from the dish, then that would be apropriate, otherwise dont worry because anything over 70 percent shouldnt have that much rain fade.

 

[larryd]

I have a 6000 and a 301 hooked to a Superdish (for 105 locals) with roughly the same amount of cable, around 100'. On the 6000, I get signal strengths of 90~95 on 110 and 119 and around 57 on 105. On the 301, I get above 100 on 110 and 119 and only about 51 on 105. In other words, the signal strength indication is better for 110 and 119 on the 301 but worse for 105. I also get some pixelation on the locals on the 301. When I set the system up, I tried to peak out 105 on the 6000 since that is hooked up to the big TV we watch the most.

 

[Tom Taylor]

Signal strength is an arbitrary figure, it is not db, or volts etc. With Dish different model receivers give different readings. The first DirecTV receivers gave a adequate reading of 50. Someone figured out that 50% did not sound good so the next receivers were set for higher numbers. The receivers give percent figures but the manufacturers to not tell you percent of what. Also different LNBfs can give different results as they amplify at different rates. It is the basic signal that is important, not necessarily how much it is amplified. Amplified garbage is still garbage, otherwise people would use line amps and cut through heavy rain.

 

[bcshields]

To answer the guys's question...

If the shorter run has a lower strength.. check your wires for RG-6 swept to 2250, check your connectors, and your barrels (that thing inside a wallplate). Something's not right. Either you're shorting the shielding, or something is not up to specs.

Replace old wire.

 

[Parlyle]

The cable coming into the house from the DP-Quad is brand new:Belden RG-6/U-Tri-Shield 2.25GHz-BC center and the 120 foot section is hooked to a Dish-508 reciever.There is no real strong electrical fields that the cable goes across. The 4 cables are together from the dish through 28 foot of PVC into the basement and up to the 75 foot split, 1 to a Dish-811, other to a Dish-510 and then the other 2 to the 120 foot area, 1 to the Dish-508, the other coiled up and not used. The connectors I'm using are all "SuperLok" (SLC-6) and the cables are all direct from the head to each reciever, with no wall plates at all.