No Dish Reception and GTMedia V8 Finder 2

[LFDavidson]

Ok, looks like I screwed up in buying this unit. I have a Dish Network DpPlus 1000.2 dish and I think the LNB's have failed. First Sat 119 went out as lost signal and then 110 went out. I am in Washington State so satellites 119, 110, and 129 Western Arc. Check Switch status never completes and I haven't been able to get anything on it. It was working with the current dish alignment before it quit entirely. I tested the receiver box at another location with a different antenna and it works fine. I have checked my coax to the dish for open, short and 18 volts at the dish end of the cable with no problem there. So, I decided to get a meter (via Amazon) to test the LNB's at the dish. Has anyone ever gotten this GTMedia meter to work or do I need to return it? If it doesn't work with Dish Network, what is the best affordable meter to get? Thanks.

 

[Bobby]

Why not just replace the LNB? It sounds like the built in switch has failed.

 

[LFDavidson]

How do you tell which one to buy? Are DpPlus Digital LNBF heads interchangeable as long as they say DpPlus Digital LNBF on the label? I see several on EBay that look the same but I don't know the part number for mine. I see a bar code label that has A11203-1B121H5HN on mine but that is the only identifying mark I find. The ones on EBay typically show the box with a number like 145511 and a different bar code label (usually not real legible in the pictures) but I don't know if that has any relationship to the bar code label number on mine.

 

[primestar31]

How do you tell which one to buy? Are DpPlus Digital LNBF heads interchangeable as long as they say DpPlus Digital LNBF on the label? I see several on EBay that look the same but I don't know the part number for mine. I see a bar code label that has A11203-1B121H5HN on mine but that is the only identifying mark I find. The ones on EBay typically show the box with a number like 145511 and a different bar code label (usually not real legible in the pictures) but I don't know if that has any relationship to the bar code label number on mine.

Do you know WHICH satellites it's pointed at? Western or Eastern arc? There's a different "head" depending on which, I understand.

Wait, 119, 110, and 129 are Eastern Western arc. I no longer keep up on Dish stuff, but I know that's true.

 

[tjboston5676]

As long as it's a 1000.2 dpp western arc you're good to go.

Or just call dish and have a tech come check it out for free, and replace anything that needs replaced.

Or ill ship you a precious A7 lnb for $100 lol. Just ask any veteran tech about A7. They provide the best signal with almost no issues ever.

 

[LFDavidson]

Yes, I am Western Arc and 119, 110, and 129 are the satellites in Washington State. So, how do you tell if it is an A7 LNBF?

 

[Bobby]

Do you know WHICH satellites it's pointed at? Western or Eastern arc? There's a different "head" depending on which, I understand.

Wait, 119, 110, and 129 are Eastern arc. I no longer keep up on Dish stuff, but I know that's true.

No it isn‘t. 110,119,and the now defunct 129 are western arc. 61.5 and 72.7 are eastern arc.

 

[LFDavidson]

I just opened a return to Amazon on the GTMedia V8 Finder 2 and will send it back tomorrow. Looking at the LNBF's on EBay now to just get a replacement. Once I get the replacement, what is a good affordable meter for checking and/or realigning the dish? Thanks.

 

[Bobby]

I just opened a return to Amazon on the GTMedia V8 Finder 2 and will send it back tomorrow. Looking at the LNBF's on EBay now to just get a replacement. Once I get the replacement, what is a good affordable meter for checking and/or realigning the dish? Thanks.

If your signal was good before and you haven‘t moved the dish you should already be good. All you need to do is remove the old LNB and swap in the new one.

 

[primestar31]

No it isn‘t. 110,119,and the now defunct 129 are western arc. 61.5 and 72.7 are eastern arc.

Yeah, you are right. I wasn't thinking straight when I made that post last night. I've had a bad headache for a few days now, and nothing is touching it. On my 4th BP med to try to get my BP down, since I developed the "Lisinopril cough" last Summer. None of them so far work as well as Lisinopril, and they'll all had horrible side effects.

 

[raoul5788]

Yeah, you are right. I wasn't thinking straight when I made that post last night. I've had a bad headache for a few days now, and nothing is touching it. On my 4th BP med to try to get my BP down, since I developed the "Lisinopril cough" last Summer. None of them so far work as well as Lisinopril, and they'll all had horrible side effects.

Have you tried Losartan? I've been on it for a while with no bad side effects.

 

[LFDavidson]

Same here... Losartan has been great...

 

[tjboston5676]

Yes, I am Western Arc and 119, 110, and 129 are the satellites in Washington State. So, how do you tell if it is an A7 LNBF?

It's the first two digits on the serial number

 

[primestar31]

Same here... Losartan has been great...

Have you tried Losartan? I've been on it for a while with no bad side effects.

Losartan had the worst side effects of them all! Never brought down my BP even a tiny bit, random waves of severe depression would hit me, (suicidal level) it would randomly take me off into an alternate world/made me feel like nothing was "real" for short periods. Once I stopped taking it, that all resolved within a week or so.

My 4 years older sister is my medication side-effect "twin", and had all the same side effects from Losartan. So, we switched to Amlopidine. That causes me severe constipation, and has messed up my sleep so badly, I never get any rest anymore. Last Friday I switched to Doxazosin (Alpha-blocker), and am slowly ramping up on that, trying to find the amount that works.

 

[raoul5788]

Losartan had the worst side effects of them all! Never brought down my BP even a tiny bit, random waves of severe depression would hit me, (suicidal level) it would randomly take me off into an alternate world/made me feel like nothing was "real" for short periods. Once I stopped taking it, that all resolved within a week or so.

My 4 years older sister is my medication side-effect "twin", and had all the same side effects from Losartan. So, we switched to Amlopidine. That causes me severe constipation, and has messed up my sleep so badly, I never get any rest anymore. Last Friday I switched to Doxazosin (Alpha-blocker), and am slowly ramping up on that, trying to find the amount that works.

Whoa! Sorry to hear that! I've had good results with it. What dosage were you on?

 

[primestar31]

Whoa! Sorry to hear that! I've had good results with it. What dosage were you on?

Started with 50mg, didn't work, he upped it to 100mg, still didn't work.

I'm ready to just go back to Lisinopril, and deal with the cough. There was no other side effects, and I was on that for many years before getting the cough.

 

[LFDavidson]

Back on track.... I sent the meter back to Amazon... I received the new LNBF today.. Installed it and was able to get past the switch status check.. I had to do realignment on the dish so I was able to connect to satellite 119 but not 110.. I am getting a signal strength of 63 on 119 inspite of freezing rain and a thin coat of ice on the dish. It was also dark tonight when I was aligning so will get back to it tomorrow.. Now have to figure out why 110 is not connecting...

 

[tjboston5676]

If it's aligned properly, 110 should be there. Sounds like you have good signal on 119 so the only adjustment from there is skew to get the 110. But if you had it before and skew hasn't been touched it should be there. If looking from behind the dish out towards lnb, is there any trees to the left? If so they are probably blocking signal.

 

[Bobby]

If it's aligned properly, 110 should be there. Sounds like you have good signal on 119 so the only adjustment from there is skew to get the 110. But if you had it before and skew hasn't been touched it should be there. If looking from behind the dish out towards lnb, is there any trees to the left? If so they are probably blocking signal.

I’ll bet he has the 110 LNB looking at 119.

 

[LFDavidson]

Nothing blocking. I have wide open sky. I had both 119 and 110 before but I think I also had the dish barely aligned. I tried moving the dish further east but then lost the 119 I have. For my zipcode, Dish calles for Elevation 35, Skew 87, and Azimuth 155. I think I got the 35 correct using an inclinometer on the back mounting plate of the dish. My compass goes whacko when I put it up parallel to the dish so I had to just swing the dish back and forth to get the 119 that I have. I haven't made any attempt on changing the Skew yet.