Moving 148 dish to 61.5 - can't find the sat!

[RobbinM]

For some reason I can't find a signal from 61.5 when I attempt to repoint my dish that was originally installed for must carry at 148. I can go back and find 148 without any problem. There is structure in that direction of 61.5 but according to the dish point screen, my elevation is 40 deg -- well above the structure's roof. I've setup three dish installations in the past and based on what I have done in the past, this should work. Any suggestions would be helpful.

My configuration:

921
Dish 500 with twin dishpro LNB for 110/119 (2 wires on switch)
Dish 500 with single dishpro LNB for 148 (1 wire to switch)
DP34 switch
Using transponder 8 on the 61.5 sat for signal strength.
My elevation for 61.5 is 40. direction is 122.

I set the dish elevation to 40 and slowing move the dish in small increments while listening for the tone to change. Nothing.


Two oddities to report. My 921 will only produce a tone on the dish pointing screen about once every 5-10 times I enter the screen. And once while going back to 148 as a test, I put the dish in the right spot but the screen didn't register that fact until I went back into the house and changed transponder number. But I was using either 3 or 4 -- both should be good for 148.

So I don't know if I am blocked or I am having a hardware bug of some kind. could the switch not let my receiver "see" 61.5 since it wasn't in the switch matrix?

 

[styxfix]

It's may be easier to bypass your DP 34 switch and have your 61.5 dish wired directly to your 921. Once you find a good signal there @ 61.5 you can wire up everything as before and do another check switch.

 

[markusian]

I had the same problem using my 721. When I switch to 811, finding the signal was a breeze. The 921 is based on the 721 software.

-Mark

 

[REB]

Did you set skew to 90 degrees?

 

[Mr Tony]

Did you set skew to 90 degrees?

irrelevant...when it was at 148, the skew was 90 already

as others said, bypass the switch..

use TP12...its a little stronger than TP8

 

[RobbinM]

If I by-pass the switch, am I OK in terms of having two different configurations plugged into the 921? I thought both inputs need to look the same for things to work. I actually got my extra cable out to try this but wasn't sure it would work. I guess I can try it while I am still at 148 to prove it will work.

 

[RobbinM]

I had the same problem using my 721. When I switch to 811, finding the signal was a breeze. The 921 is based on the 721 software.

-Mark

So you never got your 721 working?

 

[Mr Tony]

I don't know if you need the same setup for both with the 921

 

[ats7627]

The 921 is a finicky beast. It does need to see the same configuration on both inputs to function properly. The best way to do this is to clear your switch matrix. Disconnect both inputs and run a check switch. This will take a few moments. After the switch matrix is cleared, connect the 61.5 dish directly to input 1 on the 921 (bypass any switch). Select the 61.5 satellite from the point dish menu, use TP12 and align for max signal. Once you have 61.5 locked in, connect the 61.5 cable to your DP34, reconnect both satellite inputs and run a check switch.

 

[RobbinM]

I borrowed a friend's satellite signal strength meter and found 61.5 exactly where I thought it was. I never got my 921 to show anything for this satellite in the dish point screen until after I had done a successful check switch.

I've had a bunch of problems getting check switch to work consistantly -- even before I tried to re-point the dish. I'm not sure if I have an issue with wiring, the DP34, or the 921. I'm going to try another friend's 311 to see if it can check switch consistantly or not.

In the meantime, I've got the Voom 10!

 

[markusian]

So you never got your 721 working?

After pointing the dish using my 811, I got the 721 working by doing this:

- Disconnected the wing dish
- Did a check switching 721
- Reconnect the dish
- Did another check switch

Now, everything is working.

-Mark