Moving a dish a few feet?

[Jimbo]

So if my cable isn't long enough and I have to extend it a few feet by getting a short cord and attaching it, should it affect the quality of the image? I'm not sure I should fool around with disconnecting that cable from the dish to replace the entire cable with a longer cable.

Adding a short piece, you'll be fine, add it, get it all set up so you can watch TV ...

Have patience when setting it up and re adjusting.

Once you get the dish set up and working, then if you decide to replace the cable that may be not long enough you can, but replace the whole length.

 

[raoul5788]

If you are moving across town, as in miles, I can see the need to tweak the settings, but not for a 12 foot move.

 

[Jimbo]

If you are moving across town, as in miles, I can see the need to tweak the settings, but not for a 12 foot move.

tweaking yes. changing set up numbers ... no.

 

[raoul5788]

Exactly Jimbo.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Alright! Got the dish moved and bolted to the deck. We got it level, it's just a hair off being perfect. Should that be a huge deal? Had it perfect, bolted it, then it was just slightly off. I went inside and turned the TV on. Almost all transponders are 90 or higher. About 3 or 4 are 86 or higher. Two are 0, but I've read that that can mean I don't get those channels. One is 67. I'm not getting AMC on channel 254. I haven't noticed any other channels I'm missing, but I also haven't went through them all. What do I do?

 

[raoul5788]

You may be seeing low signal strength on 99s or 103s. That's normal since those are spot beam satellites. Can you post the numbers from 101, 99c, 103ca, and 103cb? AMC HD is on 103 transponder 10. What are your numbers there?

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Hope that's what you need. If there is something else, just let me know how to get to it and I'll post it.

 

[raoul5788]

Those numbers are a little bit low, but not bad. How about 103ca and 103cb?

 

[Son of Gadsden]

how do I get to those?

 

[RLDreams]

On the right side where is says 101 now, click the + until you get to the 103ca, then 103cb and take pic of each

 

[Joe Diamond]

Alright! Got the dish moved and bolted to the deck. We got it level, it's just a hair off being perfect. Should that be a huge deal? Had it perfect, bolted it, then it was just slightly off. I went inside and turned the TV on. Almost all transponders are 90 or higher. About 3 or 4 are 86 or higher. Two are 0, but I've read that that can mean I don't get those channels. One is 67. I'm not getting AMC on channel 254. I haven't noticed any other channels I'm missing, but I also haven't went through them all. What do I do?

Ya did it Son,
The plumb mast just makes it easier. You hit the sats so you are good to go. The 101 launch position (all the SD sats) has a very strong signal. The 99 & 103 are less so so you expect to lose HD service first in bad weather. Therefore you want to spend a little time peaking the 99 or 103.

You did it!

Joe

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Joe youre right on the money. We got some rain and a cloudy day today, and lost almost all signals.

What exactly do I need to do to adjust this and get a better signal? Is there a tutorial somewhere of where I go from this point?

Also, I will get the images of those other transponders.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

103ca: 1-8 are N/A. 9-16 and 17-24 are all 0. 25-32 are all N/A.

103cb: 1-8 are all 0. 9-14 are all 0. 15 and 16 are N/A, as are 25-32.

I think we celebrated too early. Channels were fine yesterday, and all gone today. We have had storms, though.

EDIT: Went outside and loosened the sleeves to move the azimuth a bit. Moved it about an inch to the right, and voila, moved transponder 1 from 86-97...channels are back.

The wife's Vampire Diaries are on and my Thursday Night Football is on, so we're happy right now. Will take a look at the transponders and post them again tomorrow, but hopefully that got it!

 

[Jimbo]

103ca: 1-8 are N/A. 9-16 and 17-24 are all 0. 25-32 are all N/A.

103cb: 1-8 are all 0. 9-14 are all 0. 15 and 16 are N/A, as are 25-32.

I think we celebrated too early. Channels were fine yesterday, and all gone today. We have had storms, though.

EDIT: Went outside and loosened the sleeves to move the azimuth a bit. Moved it about an inch to the right, and voila, moved transponder 1 from 86-97...channels are back.

The wife's Vampire Diaries are on and my Thursday Night Football is on, so we're happy right now. Will take a look at the transponders and post them again tomorrow, but hopefully that got it!

I was gonna say, the numbers you posted on the 103 sats being zeros, is gonna cause you trouble every day.

I just checked mine to make sure and I have all mine 91-95 on the 103, now everyone varies some, but you should be over 90 on them I would think.

Let us know what they are tomorrow and see how it looks, remember to tighten the nuts back down once you find your happy with where the numbers are.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Son,
As Jimbo said you can't tune in poor weather conditions. DirecTV will not roll a truck if there are significant storms in the area..... and yes, they can look down and see your house!
I would also add that many service calls for no signal turned out to be loose bolts. Many others cure themselves when the storms leave.

A way to being where you are =..... return to the 101 sat.Try the pic after your weather clears...might be good. THEN TUNE...... Get it as high as you can by swinging the dish through the signal with the el & tilt locked. Then lock the az (back bolts) and loosen the el (side bolts) and tune again for highest signal.This is called "peaking" the dish and at the end of the process no adjustment will increase the signal; it is at its peak!

Remembering that the whole rig moves when you move one parameter...........switch to the 103 or 99 sat and again peak those sats. By pushing west from the center of the 101signal a little bit...one degree approx...you will begin to raise the 103 as the 101goes down a little. This can be done by feel OR there is a technique called "dithering" that uses those wheels you may have noticed on the dish.

Report successor questions,

Joe

+ Here is a Utube presentation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C_z5Ar9HBY You are replacing the function of the meter they show by using the signal level meter in the receiver. Know there is a lag time so work slowly.+ Tech term ODU = Out Door Unit = Sat Dish. The graphic presentation of the Ka & Ku signals is pretty good. If the dither explanation makes you dizzy just peak the 101 and give a little poooosh west. Blue shirt optinal!

Joe again