Looking at both eastern & western satelites

[ekilgus]

I have a good line of sight for both the eastern & western arcs so my current configuration is the western arc via 1000.2 and the 61.5.

However, I’ve always wondered why the receiver selects channels from one satellite over another. I seem to recall posters here not really knowing what the criteria is for selecting a channel from one satellite over another. The only rational explanation I can come up with might be signal strength.

In any event, as an exercise in essentially nothing, what if I replaced the dish looking at the 61.5 with a 1000.4. This, I think, would mean I'm now pointed at the eastern arc and the western arc. Don't ask why I would want to do this because I myself don't know why. Can this even be done without screwing up the receiver?

I've notice that the dish pointed at the eastern arc seems around 90 degrees from the one pointed at the western arc and is at a greater elevation. If a nasty cloud obscured one dish causing signal fade, would the receiver switch to the channel on the other arc?

Just wondering.

 

[Laddyboy]

I think receivers only accept up to 5 orbitals and they all have to come through the same switches. Both the 1000.2 and 1000.4 have internal switches that accept a fourth outside orbital through the 4th LNB IN port on the LNB assembly. Usually to add a 5th orbital, one uses an external switch for the first four orbitals and cascades the 5th orbital into that stream with separate 21 switches. So there is no way to have both 1000.2 and 1000.4 dishes directly and fully hooked to the same receiver at the same time.

 

[harshness]

You cannot combine both arcs so don't worry your pretty little head over it.

 

[Mr Tony]

You cannot combine both arcs so don't worry your pretty little head over it.

yes you can

do 110/119/129 and say 61.5 on a DPP44+ switch
add 72.7 via DP21 switch on the outputs of the DPP44+ switch

or if you dont care about say 61.5 and need 77 for locals do that

so yes it is possible to combine both arcs together. Is it worth it? not really but it can be fun

 

[3HaloODST]

Yep only 5 sats. If theoretically you were to want to get 5 sats (say 61.5 72.7 110 119 129) then you would need a DPP44 and a DP21.

As for which sat the receiver chooses, it's not really known, but I believe it tends to choose the eastern-most sat first. At any rate, if you were to lose signal on any one particular sat, and you were watching a channel on that sat, you would get a partial/complete signal loss message. If it was partial, and you were aimed at a sat that mirrors that same channel, you would need to run a check switch in order to get the receiver to look at the mirror.

 

[MattG@DISH]

It's very very rare that someone would need 5 satellites installed (I can't think of a scenario when you have good LOS to all the satellites). Even then, setting up a work order to reflect a 5 satellite setup is nearly impossible.

This is what a 5 satellite setup would look like

 

[Mr Tony]

Matt
In your example, just switch 61.5 out for 77. But that actually brings me to a question (hypothetical one)

customer has say a D1000+ (110/118/119/129) for Int'l and oh 3 receivers. 722 a 625 and a 311 (again hypothetical). And now their HD locals come up on 77W and the customer wants them but doesnt want to upgrade the MPEG2 equipment (because wouldnt there be a fee to upgrade the MPEG2 equipment?).....Would Dish do a 5 sat option?

 

[MattG@DISH]

Matt
In your example, just switch 61.5 out for 77. But that actually brings me to a question (hypothetical one)

customer has say a D1000+ (110/118/119/129) for Int'l and oh 3 receivers. 722 a 625 and a 311 (again hypothetical). And now their HD locals come up on 77W and the customer wants them but doesnt want to upgrade the MPEG2 equipment (because wouldnt there be a fee to upgrade the MPEG2 equipment?).....Would Dish do a 5 sat option?

I highly doubt it. The equipment upgrade and tech visit would be free, but in this hypothetical scenario it would be considered a Whole Home Upgrade (WHUP) for the customer. WHUP is free, just requires a commitment for the equipment upgrade.

 

[jmccurrytech]

I got in an argument with a tech a while back about 5 sats being possible. I finally had to show him my setup screen for him to believe me . BTW, I have 61.5, 110, 118, 119, and 129.

 

[MattG@DISH]

Out of sheer curiosity, why have 61.5? Charlotte, NC locals are available in HD and SD on both arcs

 

[jmccurrytech]

Out of sheer curiosity, why have 61.5? Charlotte, NC locals are available in HD and SD on both arcs

They were on 118 for a while, I have 61.5 for some PI channels. 118 for Euro Channel, 110/119 for Distants (I had the HD til they discontinued, I still have the SD from NY and SF), and 129 for HD.

 

[MattG@DISH]

From what I show, all the PI channels are simulcast now (except KBS world, which comes off 61.5 or 118.7 and you already have 118.7 installed)

I understand why you had it before, but I don't think there's any need for 61.5 in your install anymore

 

[jmccurrytech]

From what I show, all the PI channels are simulcast now (except KBS world, which comes off 61.5 or 118.7 and you already have 118.7 installed)

They are now, but I've had this setup for a while (going on 2 years), no point in changing it.

 

[MattG@DISH]

If it's not broke, don't fix it

 

[Mr Tony]

years ago I use to have 61.5/110/119/148 (the only other sats were 105 & 121 for locals at the time) set up.....why?
actually it was 110/119 main sats
61.5 for split locals
148 for PI channels and just because

 

[Teehar]

Just because...Its fun! Whether its an old uhf/vhf antenna or sat dish there are those of us who like to see what we can get.We have a western arc that I installed myself keep it for the legacy receivers plus an 1000.4 eastern arc for the Vip receivers.Also have an 8 bay uhf antenna mounted with rotor...just because.lol

 

[thomasjk]

Yes the Charlotte locals are on both arcs. I'm on EA because of trees blocking the WA sats.

 

[ekilgus]

Thanks everybody, these are great posts, especially from Iceberg. I originally was set up with a 1000 pointing at the western arc but when my locals became available in HD they were on the 61.5. What I did was get a 1000.2 to replace the 1000 and than use the 1000 for the 61.5. I didn’t need any work order or dish involvement since I don’t think doing this kind of stuff myself is rocket science. Besides, my safety net is that I have a friend that is a dish installer who I can call for advice if I have a problem.
I always considered pointing at the western arc plus the 61.5 as being prepared for any future dish channel manipulations and this is what led me to think about pointing at both arcs. Well, this and a few beers. In any event, this was just a brainstorming session. Thanks to all for your input.