Is Do It Yourself Installation Possible?

[uboatcmdr]

If this needs to be posted in a new thread, somebody speak up.
I got a used RCA DSM735RH 3-receiver system off ebay, but with only 2 receivers. It has the phase III triple LNB model 150946. I don't see any dings/dents on the skin and the arm seems fine. Not a scratch on anything. I am in Houston zip 77082, and the receiver says to point to 51.7 elev and 203.3 azimuth with 66.3 tilt for the 101 sat. DirecTv site said 54.9 and 185.3 without specifying which sat that was for. Sadoun website says 54.9 and 191.2 for the 101. I started at 50 elevation, sweeping from 160 all the way to 240 then increasing elevation 1 degree and re-sweeping the same azimuth all the way up to 58 elev. with no signal so far. I read on a forum that with a triple I should aim at the 110 sat first, so I switched the receiver to 110 (C)/119 (B) and repeated the whole process. Oh I almost forgot to mention, I did 2 sweeps at each elevation, one using an odd transponder, once with an even. The receiver gave me 51.7 and 203.3 for 110/119. I checked the Sadoun calc and it said 51.9 and 207.8 for 110. Still nothing.
Again I neglected some details: the actual dish is on my apt patio which faces due south, and I can sit next to the dish and see/hear the signal meter thru the patio door a few feet away. I'm on the 2nd floor and the nearest building to the south is about 50 feet away and the roof doesn't slope very high. The only trees high enough to block a signal are at about 230 azimuth. I checked the voltage coming from the receiver and got 19.3 even/13.5 odd at the LNB. The cable is 12-15ft Zenith RG6 quad 2.3ghz with nice compression fittings pre-installed. I couldn't find any outer braid touching the center conductor, and using my meter showed no problems with grounding and showed no breaks in the center conductor. I had used the same piece of coax with digital cable and also cable modem and it worked perfectly in the past.
In the receiver's menu I tried having the unit detect the type of multi switch but it could not detect anything. I tried this with the 2nd receiver with the same results, other than I didn't check the voltage. So far I have run the sweeps with both receivers connected directly to the LNB and each one solo, with terminator caps on unused ports on the LNB. The cable I used on the 2nd receiver is 3000mhz RG6 about 30 feet long, again visually and electrically checked for grounding/continuity and previously worked fine with digital cable /modem. Either with both units connected and powered up or with one at a time they could not detect the multiswitch. The funny thing is, the first night I had accidentally picked up a signal way out east, but the receiver said "wrong satellite" so I figured I hit DishNet by mistake so I'm not sure if I have a bad LNB or not. Obviously I have spent many hours over 3 different attempts to get this thing working. I see lots of DirecTv and DishNet systems all over the complex, some of which don't have as good a view as I do but as far as I know they work fine. HELP!!!!!!

P.S. I just had to remove 2 links to be able to post so I hope this still makes sense.

The settings you will find on the net or on the receiver are really just starting points and give you a general area to point he dish. Rarely if ever are they balls on accurate. Best thing to do is go to this site: http://www.rca.com/directv/zip_code_selection and check your zip for the elliptical dish. If your mast is level & plumb then you should be able to start about 20 degrees to one side of the azimuth and just do a slow sweep (and I do mean s-l-o-w) to about 20 degrees the other side. Somewhere in between you should get a signal. Once you get a the strongest signal possible, lock the dish then with one finger slowly tug back on the top of the dish to see if the signal strength raises or lowers. If it goes down then try pushing the top of the dish towards the LNB to see if it goes up or down. This will let you know if you need to slightly adjust the elevation. I know it's frustraiting, especially without a signal meter like I use every day, but be patient and you'll get it.

 

[silversurfer]

What kind of terminator caps are you using on the LNB? I don't think you can use the kind that actually short the port. You can put plastic caps on but if your talking about the kind they use for cable that actually electrically terminates the port then that might be your problem....Someone correct me if I am wrong here.

 

[Jared Twomey]

also, when you are sweeping the dish, don't move really fast, most of the D* receivers i have installed are a few seconds behind on recognizing the signal. so just take your time and move it slowly

 

[FixManTx]

Well, I took the metal terminators off and put the plastic ones on, then tried starting from a lower elev. and got a signal at around 47. I managed to get around 60 on a couple transponders on 110/119, and in the upper 50's on 101. I'll work on it later to find a better signal. Those terminating caps must be part of the problem, the center conductor and outer part seem to be connected somewhat, so they must interfere with the signal the receiver(s) send to the LNB. I have also found out that I will have a difficult if not impossible time getting a multi room setup going without a phone line connected. So much for satellite being cheaper than cable. If I can't get a better signal next time, I'll put the system up on Ebay and go back to digtal cable, no $30/mo phone line needed

 

[DTVSatman]

Trying to aim a triple-sat without a Birdog has to be one of the most frustrating things I have ever tried in this business. I wouldn't give that job to a monkey on a rock.
If you can find a tech with a meter, he should be able to get it peaked in about a minute.
uboatcmdr is right, get the mast plumb, make sure the elevation and skew are dead-on and swing the dish slowly.

 

[grydlok]

Trying to aim a triple-sat without a Birdog has to be one of the most frustrating things I have ever tried in this business. I wouldn't give that job to a monkey on a rock.
If you can find a tech with a meter, he should be able to get it peaked in about a minute.
uboatcmdr is right, get the mast plumb, make sure the elevation and skew are dead-on and swing the dish slowly.

All we use in my market is AU2's and it easy to line up without a meter.

 

[Jared Twomey]

Well, I took the metal terminators off and put the plastic ones on, then tried starting from a lower elev. and got a signal at around 47. I managed to get around 60 on a couple transponders on 110/119, and in the upper 50's on 101. I'll work on it later to find a better signal. Those terminating caps must be part of the problem, the center conductor and outer part seem to be connected somewhat, so they must interfere with the signal the receiver(s) send to the LNB. I have also found out that I will have a difficult if not impossible time getting a multi room setup going without a phone line connected. So much for satellite being cheaper than cable. If I can't get a better signal next time, I'll put the system up on Ebay and go back to digtal cable, no $30/mo phone line needed

i've never had a problem installing a system for someone without a home phone, yeah, directv prefers if there is a phone line plugged in, but i've never had them not activate it, or not turn service on, or charge more...

 

[silversurfer]

Trying to aim a triple-sat without a Birdog has to be one of the most frustrating things I have ever tried in this business. I wouldn't give that job to a monkey on a rock.
If you can find a tech with a meter, he should be able to get it peaked in about a minute.
uboatcmdr is right, get the mast plumb, make sure the elevation and skew are dead-on and swing the dish slowly.

I really don't understand why some people have so much difficulty aiming a phase III. I have done it twice and both times have had a signal in less than five minutes. I know one key is to ensure your mast is plumb but after ensuring that all I do is point the dish in the direction the screen tells me to. I usually have a signal already I just have to tweak it a bit and I am good to go. I agree you must go slowly. The signal screen takes a few seconds to realize it has a signal.

You don't need to worry about a phone line.

 

[FixManTx]

Ok so I'm relieved about the phone line thing, and I saw on another thread that making the LNB connections while the receiver(s) are plugged in can damage the LNB which I didn't know. I have connected/disconnected the cables a couple times while the IRD's were plugged in, so I'm wondering if I fried the LNB. Triple LNB's can't be cheap.

 

[rockaway1836]

FixMan, your looking at about $50 maybe a little less, shipping included on EBay.

 

[FixManTx]

Well I think an LNB was sent to me by one of the forum members, but so far between the postal carrier and my apartment complex leasing office, it seems to be MIA at the moment. Hopefully tomorrow I can find out where it ended up, and if I get my hands on it I will make dang sure I do it right this time.

 

[uboatcmdr]

Well I think an LNB was sent to me by one of the forum members, but so far between the postal carrier and my apartment complex leasing office, it seems to be MIA at the moment. Hopefully tomorrow I can find out where it ended up, and if I get my hands on it I will make dang sure I do it right this time.

You didn't get it yet? I sent it out last week. I'll send you out another one via Priority mail tomorrow w/delivery confirmation. If the other arrives in the meantime then you will have a spare.

 

[FixManTx]

You didn't get it yet? I sent it out last week. I'll send you out another one via Priority mail tomorrow w/delivery confirmation. If the other arrives in the meantime then you will have a spare.

I got the pink notice last Friday and noticed it had a different apt. #, and the office couldn't find it. I talked to the carrier yesterday and he remembered noticing my name and putting the package in the office. So far nobody knows where it is. Thanks for all your help. Hopefully this time it will get here.

 

[lou_do]

Why bother? Have it installed for free and it will be up and running in less than an hour.

A friend of mine had it his system installed for free. The installation was butchered. He told them he wanted the wires hidden, in the walls. They ran them under carpets, and over door casings to go from room to room. The installer even ran a staple through the cables going to one of his rooms. That cable was run around a door casing and he split the wood, with staples he pounded into it. Then the worse part about the installation was, the installer didn't speak English and there was a big communication gap there.

He and I rewired the entire system and fixed it the way he originally wanted it done. We also had to tweak the dish alignment a bit for a stronger signal.

So when I bought my system, I never called for the Installation, I went ahead and installed it myself, then called D* for the activation. They kept calling me trying to set up an appointment and I kept telling them I didn't need one, it was already installed. They finally quit calling after a couple of months.


If you do it yourself you do have to make sure your dish aimed right if you have a 3 lnb dish for HD. Single lnbs are not as difficult. You need to adjust it for maximum signal on all three birds.

 

[grydlok]

He told them he wanted the wires hidden, in the walls..

Wires hidden in the wall are not FREE.

 

[ottergoose]

Well, I've ordered all of the stuff I'll need.
....
I'll post later with my progress.

The install was a success. DTV + TiVo is awesome.

The only problem I ran into was with one of my cables (I ran two lines of coax to the reciever b/c it has dual tuners), which lost the signal on one or two of the different satellites on a few transponders. I replaced the cable, and, everything worked just fine.

Thanks for the advice everyone, couldn't have done it without your input.

 

[FixManTx]

Thanks uboat, the 2nd one showed up Thurs and I connected it this afteroon (making sure to unplug both receivers this time <g>) and so far I'm getting better signal strength on some of the transponders. My receivers show several "inactive" transponders on 110/119 and the rest get between 50 and 82 strength. When I go back to the "normal" screen it just says "searching for signal" but I'm assuming it's due to the cards not being activated. In a day or 2 I'll call and get activated and hopefully be watching SciFi soon <g>. Will there be any special procedures since I don't have a phone line connected?

 

[sateck01]

Wires hidden in the wall are not FREE.

you are correct!!!


wallfish is never free

attic crawls are never free

pole mounts are never free

new phone jacks are never free

wire burial is never free

this is directv not burger king, you dont get it YOUR way, you wouldnt DARE tell the electric company where to put their drop, yes you may, but you will pay more. same as the gas and telephone companies, you pay more for extra work or change of entrance issues

 

[lou_do]

Wires hidden in the wall are not FREE.

He was not asking for it to be free. I used to install C/KU satellite systems and we had several different pricing structures depending on how you wanted your installation done. He would have paid extra the first time to have it done the way he wanted. That is why he told them over the phone, when they called to set up the installation, he wanted the wires in the walls. The biggest issue was the language barrier.

Question out there for you installers?
If I want to have my wires in the walls, can I run the RG-6, inside the walls, and leave the ends exposed at the wall plates and dish prior to the installation? I just ask this because I want to change over from HD receivers to DVR HD receivers, during or after the MPEG-4 switchover. I know I will need to add another run of RG-6 to the outlets. It would also avoid ripping out the installation and rewiring it myself after everything has been installed.

 

[sateck01]

lou,

you mean you want to run and wall fish new coax before the tech arrives?? hell yes, and if i were doing the install id give you the duplex wall plates for FREE. hell you are making my job easier.

you are the kind of sub i love installing for, you know what you want and for your sweat equity you get it YOUR WAY for no extra charges.

what kills me is the free, free, free people is when they say, well directv said you can do that. operative word is CAN, not will, or is required to.

and dont get me wrong, i LOVE my job and 99.9% of you are great, its that .01% who make it bad for everyone.