Installed my 118.7 Dish 1000+ Today - GREAT Results! Comments/Feedback Welcome

[Smith P.]

Seems to me markrting pitch.

 

[jcrandall]

masterdeals, did you peak your dish using 119 or 118.7? What kind of meter were you using? In the June 30 Facts Blast, DISH receommends peaking using 118.7 and that it will require a new sat meter for certain states:

"Applied Instruments is introducing a new meter called Super Buddy. This meter should be considered for installations in the following states: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. "

For all other states a Birdog is recommended.

I first peaked 119, then peaked 118.7 using simply the sound from the point dish screen. I used transponder 6 since that's one of the Detroit HD ones.

I did use a simple $10 satfinder, but used the point dish screen to do the real peaking.

 

[kdg454]

The 1000+ was installed today. The installer put them in order, 119/110/129/118.
No messages on any of the receivers. Strong signals on all Sat's.

 

[jcrandall]

The message I was seeing is on the "Details" screen after you run a check switch. Take a look and let us know if you see it too. It's the message in post 4 of this thread that we are questioning.

 

[Alvn8r]

not to be picky but you need some better fittings and some weather seals wouldn't hurt. are any of your connections corroded??? little things like that will give you trouble that is hard to trace.

You also need to change those Low Frequency ground blocks, the DPP44 switch can burn those out very easily.

 

[kdg454]

The message I was seeing is on the "Details" screen after you run a check switch. Take a look and let us know if you see it too. It's the message in post 4 of this thread that we are questioning.

Yes, it's there. I misread your original post. I was looking for a pop up message.
It must have something to do with some sort of misrecognition in the software. It doesn't seem to have any effect on operations, everything is working fine.

Alvn--all of my connectors/cables outside were replaced today with new, and the inside connectors/cables were replaced when the DPP44 was installed 3months ago.

 

[Kirby Baker]

I'm curious, with all the storms that have come through the area lately, have you tried to see how the rain fade is on 118K and 129 with the new dish?

 

[boomerang]

Hey masterdeals, what do your get for installs?

I'm in North Oakland County. I have to get up at 3:45AM for work, so no late night upgrades here!

 

[jcrandall]

Hey masterdeals, what do your get for installs?

I'm in North Oakland County. I have to get up at 3:45AM for work, so no late night upgrades here!

I get my wife and kids in bed and a cold 12 pack of Labatts. This leaves me starting no earlier than 10pm.

 

[jcrandall]

not to be picky but you need some better fittings and some weather seals wouldn't hurt. are any of your connections corroded??? little things like that will give you trouble that is hard to trace.

You also need to change those Low Frequency ground blocks, the DPP44 switch can burn those out very easily.

The weather seals on the dish itself are worn, some as much as 3 years old - I probally should replace those. I didn't use any weather seals on the ground or the DPP44, the ground is under my deck, and has very little chance of getting wet, and the DPP44 is indoors.

One of the ground blocks is an original from my Dish 500 that Dish installed years ago, one is for OTA, and the third one I added last year. I haven't had any problems with them, but could you tell me what alternatives there are? The one I added said it was rated to 2300mhz, which is what most RG6 stuff is.

Maybe a link or something to show me an alternative, I would appreciate it, and thanks for the feedback!:

 

[jcrandall]

I'm curious, with all the storms that have come through the area lately, have you tried to see how the rain fade is on 118K and 129 with the new dish?

I was camping during the storms Monday/Tuesday and ended up running for my life from falling tree branches and power lines. Saw 4 down powerlines in a 30 minute run/drive. I was on a beach when the storm started coming in. I just really appreciated the weather forcast that morning for "mostly cloudy". Nothing mentioned about 60mph winds and tons of lightning that left 200,000 without power in Mid-Michigan.

I'll take some readings on each sat next time it storms and I'm home. I am curious as to the same thing, if the bigger dish will improve my rain fade. I know on my 1000 dish it was bad with even a sprinkle.

 

[jcrandall]

Hey masterdeals, what do your get for installs?

I'm in North Oakland County. I have to get up at 3:45AM for work, so no late night upgrades here!

If you really want the upgrade just call dish tech support and ask. I've heard reports of people getting it free, and reports of paying $59.

I only installed my own because I'm not in the Detroit market, I'm in the Flint market. I use an 'alternative' service address to get the Detroit locals - mostly for sports (TV20) and extra options (NFL games, etc). My wife watches WB (CW) alot and Flint doesn't have one.

Anyway, that means if I want the HD dish I have to pay for it, but at least this way I have ownership of it, so if I ever cancel I can sell or use for something else, like FTA, etc.

 

[jcrandall]

masterdeals, could you do me a favour and measure the rectangular tubing size of the arm, and the distance from the 129 lnbf to the center of the dish. Im thinking about a new project....

The tube is 2"x1"x1" and the LNBs are 18" from the dish.

 

[Gottahavedish]

I had a Superdish 121 that I was happy with until the 119 lnb started failing. As my internationals made the move to 118, I was inspired by Masterdeals and I also bought a Dish 500+ from the DishStore. While I do not yet subscribe to the HD’s, I elected to add the 129 lnb so that I won’t have to climb back up the ladder again anytime soon.

Installed the dish yesterday with little difficulty, but feel the lnb arm is a little flimsy. I also tuned the dish with little difficulty, but I am not satisfied with the signal strengths: 119 in the 90/100’s, 110 in the 60/80’s (used to be in the 90/100’s), 118 in the 50’s, and 129 in the 50/60’s.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did not need to use the power inserter on the DPP44; is this because I do not have any legacy receivers?

 

[Pepper]

Somebody correct me if I am wrong here but...

Although it is possible to run a DPP44 with a DP receiver on port 1 without the inserter, it is not recommended to do so. This could eventually damage something due to the switch and LNBFs drawing more current than the receiver is rated to deliver.

 

[jcrandall]

I would use the power inserter anyway, it could put more strain on the receivers than it is supposed to and increase likelihood of failure.

Try changing your elevation, when I did mine I had to go a little higher than the book said to get good signal on all 4. At first I had 110 but poor on 119 and turned out I was too low.

Keep working on pointing, you'll get it.

 

[Gottahavedish]

Thanks guys - power inserter installed as it should be.

As for the signal strength, I believe I've got everthing I'm going to get out of the elevation and azimuth settings, as even a hair's movement makes everything worse. How crutial is the skew setting? Could the lnb assembly be out of wack?

 

[jcrandall]

Don't play with skew, set it to the book and leave it. You want to tweak the azimuth and elevation using the point dish screen or a good meter.

I found a slight increase in elevation versus the book number worked best for me here in Michigan. It was around 1-2 degrees.

 

[ralfyguy]

I found a slight increase in elevation versus the book number worked best for me here in Michigan. It was around 1-2 degrees.

The same applied to me on my old 1000. My elevation was supposed to be 42, but 44 increased ALL the signals significantly!
The skew was supposed to be 119, but 117 worked better too. The recommended settings for skew and elevation did not work as good at all.