New Equipment for 129 Sat

[jcart]

Okay,
We need to upgrade one of our dishes to pick up the 129 sat for our HD channels. I've tried to point our legacy dish (18") with an upgraded dish pro lnb to no avail, no surprise there. Not even getting a blip on the meter is making me a little nervous but we get the 119/110 just fine so I'm thinking it's dish. Anyway, I've heard that the biggest dish possible is the best to minimize drop outs on sat 129. Are we limited to dish network brand dishes or will after market dishes work too? Also, I believe my lnb should work just fine so it's really just the dish itself that I need. I'm just not sure if you cn mount this lnb to an after market dish.

 

[Jim5506]

Unless you are in the northwest or do not have line of sight to 129, a dish 300 or dish 500 will suffice.

 

[jcart]

We are in the northwest. Arlington, Wa.

 

[Jim5506]

Dish has been known to install a 24" dish for HD upgrades in your area.

 

[jcart]

Is that one of the common dishes, like a dish 500 or 1000?

 

[Jim5506]

No is is a special dish with 129 lnb only on it.

Well, not really a special dish, it is just a standard 24" hyperbolic dish with one lnb.

You can buy them from satellite dealers.

 

[levibluewa]

DISH installed a separate 24" dish with a "low-noise" (to quote DISH) LNB normally used in Alaska. Result...it still didn't prevent drop-outs 2-3x an hour. Good luck!

 

[jpmarto]

I am east of Seattle. With a 24" dish my 129 signal is marginal. At my cabin east of Sedro Wooley with a 24" dish my 129 signal is sub-marginal. The 60 or so miles latitude really makes a difference with 129.

Since you're halfway between them, I'd assume your 129 experience will not be as good as you're hoping for. Especially in bad weather.

 

[jcart]

This is kind of why I asked the original question about the after market dishes from places like Winegard. They have a 30" dish that says it can be used for dish network. If a larger dish really helps the situation this might be worth a try.

 

[mike123abc]

If you have the space for a 30-36" dish they do really improve the signal.

 

[jcart]

We do have the space. This is the one I found. We could even go with Winegards largest dish listed but it doesn't say it's compatible with Dish LNB's.

Winegard DS 2077 30" Dish Network Satellite Dish (DS2077) | DS-2077 [Winegard] | DS2077 DS 2077 DS-2077 Dish Network 61.5 international

 

[levibluewa]

That's the one subscribers have been trying in this area, and it doesn't solve the problem. The solution is a new satellite. Save yourself the $100 in cost and shipping and switch.

 

[jcart]

The problem with Directv for us is the channel packages are more expensive and you can't run 2 TV's off one of their dual tuner receivers. When you add the cost of the extra receiver every month to the already higher package price it's too much. Plus we're already grandfathered in with our old Dish PVR so we're not getting charged the PVR fee. There's another $5/month. All of it adds up to almost $15/month extra to switch right now.

 

[TheKrell]

Since the NW is such a marginal area for 129, why doesn't Dish turn on spot 20 from Rainbow 1? Then you could use your Dish 300 for HD locals.

 

[jcart]

Actually, we're getting our HD locals from either sat 119 or 110. Plus we're also getting USA, SciFi, TNT, ESPN, HDNet, and HDThtr offo of one of those 2.

Did anybody else experience pixelation and video freeze on the ABC affiliates last night during Greys Anatomy and Lost? Or was that just the NW affiliate (KOMO). We had to watch the SD channel instead.

 

[concord]

If you want to try a 36" dish for 50.00 and free shipping, check out:
3ABN: Christian Television - Three Angels Broadcasting Network - www.3abn.org
and select "satellite" on the top purple bar....

 

[kstuart]

I am in north Northern California, and I tried a 24-inch dish and it was marginal for 129. Then I lucked out on a poorly timed ebay auction and was the only bidder on a 30-inch FTA dish - for $11 - and I strapped my DishPro LNB to the FTA LNB holder with cable ties, and tweaked the positioning, and since then have never lost signal on a 129 channel.

So:
- You can use a non-Dish dish if you are a DIY guy.
- Oregon/Washington - you must have at least a 30-inch dish for a good signal, and a 36-inch is probably better in the north half of Washington.

PS That Winegard DS-2077 Dish Network dish is probably the best 30-inch dish made.... if you get a sympathetic Dish Tech Support Phone Rep, they might install one for you for free...

 

[mike123abc]

I rigged a Dish LNB on a 36" dish. I did it to combat rain fade during the frequent thunder storms here in the spring. Get fantastic signal. The Dish LNBs do not fit most FTA, but if you are handy with tiewraps you can get the job done.

 

[okiekevn]

have you called dish? they might suply and install for 59.00 with a 24 month commit. seems to be the norm for a dish upgrade. might be the cheapest way to go if you dont mind the 24 month commit.