LNB Problem?

[johncjr]

I've been subscribed to Directv for almost a year now. When I first put up everything I had attached the dish to the side of the house. I then moved the dish onto the roof, basically moving the dish about 2 feet, when I had my house sided. I didn't want to put holes in the siding unless it was necassary.

At some point I lost my local channels which were coming from 119. All the other sats were good with readings in the 80's. When I got my dtivo from direct I had their installer come out to look at getting back the 119 sat and peak the dish. I figured my aim was off slightly. After he played with things for about a half hour he told me there is a branch in the way somewhere.

From my vantage I could not see anything really in the way, but he suggested that I mount the dish back on the house where it was before.

So this weekend I moved the dish onto the side of the house and I am still unable to get the 119 sat. I've got great reception on the other 2 sats. From this vantage point there is nothing even remotely in the way that I can see. I have seen other people in the neighborhood with branches a lot closer then what I am going through.

My setup is a triple integrated LNB and oval dish.

Is there an easy way to test the LNB?

Could there be some other problem?

Does anyone know of a place that carries the just the triple LNB in the Wallingford, CT area so I could try another one?

any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

JohnCJr.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Hey, I live two towns over from Wally World. I live in Newington.

You can test the lnb buy swapping it with the lnb aimed at 101. If the 101 works at 119 then your LNB is bad (and also your 119 LNB that you put on 101 should not work)

 

[johncjr]

Can't swap the LNB's it's the 3 way integrated type with the multiswitch built in and all one package.

JohnCJr

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Hmm on my DirecTV 3 LNB Dish each LNB is held on by a seperate screw. You can take off the LNB's as you wish, you might have a newer style.

 

[johncjr]

Yep, it's one of the new ones that Directv sells with their systems. I actaully wish now that it was all separte, because I would have swapped them yesterday. I'm going to try to get another LNG at Radio Shack, and if they don;t have tehm I'll buy the whole dish from Best Buy just so taht I can test teh LNb. If the LNB is bad I'll have to call Driectv and see what they can do, because that means their installer missed a bad component that they probably should have tested.

JohnCJr

 

[Mike500]

Make sure that the pole is perfectly plumb. Check to see that the tilt and elevation settings are correctly set for your location. This having been done, losen the vertical pole locking bolts only enough to allow you to swing the dish along it's horizontal azmuth. Checking the meter on the receiver's screen, swing the dish one or two degrees at a time. If the dish before it was moved, you will most likely get 119. It's a matter of trial and error with the integrated Phase III dish.

 

[johncjr]

Tha mast is perfectly plumb. The bubble is in the middle of the cricle. I tried another LNB today and still no 119.

So the next question would be is what should my elavation, azimuth and tilt be for zipcode 06492 for teh 199 sat. I know what the settings are supposed to be for getting all 3, but I figure if I start with 119, I can then go and find the other 2 sats with a lot more ease.

Another question is could I have the dish rotated such that the lnb that is suppsoed to get 119 is actaully getting 110 and the one in the middle is getting 101 and the last lnb is getting zilch? How far off would I be like that?

Thanks

JohnCJr

 

[bolco]

Make sure that you are pointed at 101, 110, and 119. If you dish is moved slightly towards the East, you are probably receiving 101 off of the 110 LNB and 110 off of the 119 LNB. In other words, make sure that you are not accidently pointed at 92, 101, and 110. You can test this by covering up the 119 LNB ONLY and see if you lose the 110 slot, or covering up the 101 LNB ONLY and see if you lose anything. Does that make sense?

 

[johncjr]

What you say does make sense but In looking at the sats and the LNB wouldn't that mean that I am a little to far west?

LNB is setup as 119, 110,101 and the sats are in the sky as 101,110,119 right?

And If I'm facing my dish then I am looking Almost Northward, and the dish in my calculations is turned to far to the left and what I need to do is rotate it to my right which would be east?

Is that correct?

I am confused with the LNB and sat setups?

Any extra clarification is greatly appreciated.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its confisuing on this Dishes, because the LNB's are backwards to where the satellites are in the sky.

This is because the Dish reflacts the signal back to the LNB its almost like an X Lets hope on of our experts (and moderators) can give you a hand.

 

[bolco]

Do this...cover BOTH ends of the LNB, thus leaving ONLY the middle spot open. What satellite is your receiver seeing now? If it's seeing anything other than 110, it needs moved just a hair. Move it *SLIGHTLY* left or right, until you see the 110 slot.

 

[johncjr]

The LNB's are getting the correct sats and I have readings in the upper 80's on both 101 and 110 and nothing on 119. I was able at one point to get in 119 by itself with a reading of between 30-40 with a ttilt of 64 and a elavation of about 29-30. If I moved the dish even a tiny bit I lost that sat immediately. I still don't see anything that would obstruct the view to teh sats at all, and I would think that if there was a brach niterfering it would interfere with more then that one sat.

Thanks

JohnCJr

 

[bolco]

Then i would suspect either a bad LNB or a line of sight issue. It's very possible that 119 is obstructed.

 

[dishrich]

Hmm on my DirecTV 3 LNB Dish each LNB is held on by a seperate screw. You can take off the LNB's as you wish, you might have a newer style.

Scott - there's actually THREE styles of the D* oval dish:

Phase I - completely separate LNB's & 4x4 switch w/external combiner for the Sat C LNB to one side of the 119 LNB.

Phase II - separate LNB's, but the 4x4 switch & Sat C combiner are all integrated in the feed arm, with 4 coax pigtails that come out of the arm, for direct connection to 4 receivers - you CAN'T bypass the switch on this dish.

Phase III - the current dish, that has LNB's & switch/combiner all integrated into ONE unit.

 

[johncjr]

I've already sqpped LNB's for the dish so I know that is not the problem.

It's a phase III dish as well.

I'm going to make a bigger mast and try that this weekend. Hopefully I can moce far enough out and above whatever may be blocking the 119 signal.

Thanks

JohnCJr

 

[johncjr]

Just to update everyone on my problem. I had a longer taller arm bent by a muffler shop and used that to mount my dish. I installed that this weekend and am now able to get all 3 sats again. All 3 sats read in the 80's on a partially cloudy day. I'll have to check my readings on a clear day but I don't see myslef having any rain fade problems unless it's a bad rain storm. Hopefully this will help someone else out who may have the same issue.

I used a piece of electrical conduit for my arm. I also tapped into the conduit a piece of cast iron pipe where the bolts go through so that the pipe would not crush when the bolts were tightened. My new pole comes off the house by about 2 feet and then is bent at a 45 degree angle and then goes about 3 feet up from the bend. Seems to be a very solid setup so far with no wind problems or shifting.

John C.