Welcome to Satellite Guys johnnyduffy. I have not used the Koqit receivers but most FTA receivers are basically the same. Signal strength is just an indicator that you have a working lnbf attached to your receiver. What you are looking for is a reading on the quality bar. What dish and lnbf (brand, size, etc) are you using? What satellite are you trying to get? What method have you used to be sure you are aiming your dish at the satellite?
As I had a koqit as my FTA box for an extended period of time, the strength meter is telling you your connection to lnb. You need to peak that quality bar. What sats are you hunting?
Some additional info from OP via PM: They are using a Hughesnet dish and cable that was installed with it and a SatMaximum single KU LNBF 10.7-12.75 GHz. Assuming it is aimed @ Galaxy 19. Clear southern view from SW North Carolina.
Johnnyduffy, you need to make sure that the Satmaximum lnbf you modded the dish with is aimed at the focal point of the dish. Use the original to judge where it needs to be. This is critical to obtaining a good signal. Also, what is the model number of your Satmaximum lnbf and the settings you have for it in your receiver so we can be sure they are correct.
You said you assume the dish is pointed at 97W (Galaxy 19). How did you aim the dish (compass, phone app, etc)? Have you tried going to www.dishpointer.com website to get the correct setup info for your location? Some pics of the dish from a few different angles would be very helpful as well. Hopefully with some more info we can help figure out what the issue is.