Local Channels Not showing ON guide

mitch rowe

Member
Original poster
Nov 12, 2016
11
1
AK
Hi All,

I am new here but not to Dish network they have been providing me subpar service for almost 2 years now. Anyway I live in the middle of nowhere so I try to do most fixes myself. This time I have most channels working other than randomly some of my Starz channels not working and random others. Also my local channels are not working or even showing up on the guide under all my channels option. Like I said I am not a complete newby so I went to diagnose/point dish/check switch/ test and on all three tuners it just shows green check and 119 not the other three numbers like usual. What is going on? Is my dish not aligned correctly? I am trying to watch a dam game. Just to add more info I get some of my HD channels and some others, I am watching ESPN HD clearly right now but no locals
 
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Sounds like you have a western arc (WA) setup and therefore should be seeing 110, 119 and 129 satellites - what's the 4th number supposed to be, do you have a wing dish or a dish 1000+?.

If your check switch only shows 119 your dish needs to be re aligned, or you have 2 failed lnbs (eyes/antennas) - less likely.

You are missing a whole lot of channels.

Go on the roof or wherever your dish is.

Look at the skew setting on the back of the dish and be sure it is set to Dish Networks specs for your zip code as per this pdf - http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Dishnetwork/Dishes/DISH_1000_Installation_Guide.pdf.

Set the skew by the table and leave it alone.

Cover the outer 2 lnbs with aluminum foil and run check switch again, if you still have 119, at least you have found the center satellite with the center antenna.

If 119 disappears, you are seeing it with the wrong antenna (lnb) and your dish is pointed about 10 degrees too far west or east, do the foil trick with the left 2 antennae and the right 2 antennae to see which one is receiving 119. If 119 comes back with the center and left (from behind the dish) antennas covered then you are seeing 119 with the 110 antenna (remember the dish is a reflector so everything is backwards at the antennas) and you need to rotate the dish (azimuth) 8-10 degrees west. If uncovering the right antenna finds 119 turn the dish 8-10 degrees east then check the center lnb and see if it finds 119.

Once you have 119 on the center lnb and the skew set correctly you should have signal from all 3 sats on all three antennas.

A little bit of tweaking of the elevation and azimuth may be necessary to optimize signal on all three lnbs.

Good luck.

OOPS - I just noticed you are in Alaska, so you might not be using a single dish for reception, please advise.

We need to know your receivers and your dishes and any switches you have.

Alaska and Hawaii are a whole different ball game.
 
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Correct in Alaska and I have 2 dishes one has a single arm which is the locals I was told and the other has 2 arms which is hd channels etc. BTW there has been no weather or damage visible to the dishes. It seems like every couple weeks some channels go out or don't show on the guide. It is 0 degrees outside so I don't feel like moving the dishes around at the moment but all the switches and cords look fine. I might do a call out but it takes them 2 weeks to get out here. FYI I am running a hopper with one wireless joey
 
Some channels like my Starz are saying complete signal loss 11-12-45 and my locals Fox, ABC, CBS not even showing on guide but last night they were all working?
 
It seems pretty ridiculous to me how touchy the dishes are in relation to losing signal, is there somewhere online I can buy the tuning device the pros use for cheap?
 
IIRC Alaska receives Dish via spot beams on the WA satellites.

You might try exercising the connections and cleaning the tips on the coaxial cable connections, just in case it is a corrosion problem causing the intermittent troubles.

Can you determine which lnbs are causing the problem or is it across all three?

Look up the The List from the "Our other sites" link at t he top of the page to find which satellites your problem channels are on.

There are Starz channels on 119, but I don't know if they are for Alaska or not.
 
[="Jim5506, post: 3985780, member: 12788"]here is another list of Alaska channels and their associated satelites:

When I check switch it shows only 119 coming in, what are the other 2 that should be showing up?
 
IIRC Alaska receives Dish via spot beams on the WA satellites.

You might try exercising the connections and cleaning the tips on the coaxial cable connections, just in case it is a corrosion problem causing the intermittent troubles.

Can you determine which lnbs are causing the problem or is it across all three?

Look up the The List from the "Our other sites" link at t he top of the page to find which satellites your problem channels are on.

There are Starz channels on 119, but I don't know if they are for Alaska or not.
Do you mean the cable connections that connect to the satellite dishes?
 
It seems pretty ridiculous to me how touchy the dishes are in relation to losing signal, is there somewhere online I can buy the tuning device the pros use for cheap?
I understand it may be in Alaska though I have not seen posts particularly saying that. I can tell you in the States you can go years and years without ever needing to re-aim the dish. As mentioned be sure you are see the satellites you need to be and also that you are trying to get the channels meant for Alaska.
 
I understand it may be in Alaska though I have not seen posts particularly saying that. I can tell you in the States you can go years and years without ever needing to re-aim the dish. As mentioned be sure you are see the satellites you need to be and also that you are trying to get the channels meant for Alaska.

Yea well in AK you have extreme conditions so it is a bit of a different ball game but still have more problems than should. I will check all the connections but pretty sure that's not the issue. If the channels are not even showing up on my guide does that mean that the dish is not picking them up at all.. Usually if the dish needs to be repointed they will show up on the guide and say no signal. Also I have 2 dishes is my local dish the one with one arm not two?
 
I don't know which is for what satellites though I am guessing one is for the 119 satellite and the other for 129/110. I say that because you are only seeing 119 that suggests that DISH is getting the signal to your receiver while the other is not. You are correct in that you are not seeing a loss of signal message may mean a different problem. The suggestion to check all cables, connections etc is a good one.
 
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IIRC Alaska receives Dish via spot beams on the WA satellites.

You might try exercising the connections and cleaning the tips on the coaxial cable connections, just in case it is a corrosion problem causing the intermittent troubles.

Can you determine which lnbs are causing the problem or is it across all three?

Look up the The List from the "Our other sites" link at t he top of the page to find which satellites your problem channels are on.

There are Starz channels on 119, but I don't know if they are for Alaska or not.

Now when I check my 110 it shows signal but says "wrong Sat-echostar 119 west" red bar
 
I unthreaded the connections and reconnected them everything seems to be connected fine, it is even showing I have signal but not sure why it is red and says "wrong sat-echostar 119 west"??
 
I hate dish network so unreliable, now I cant even watch my football game. Thanks Dish...and have to wait 2 weeks for a tech
 
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