So I have been fiddling around for a few weeks now trying to get a better signal. So far not much has made me say wow. I have tried re aiming my 1000.2 west feed and even tried installing a Dish 1000+ antenna but my 129 signal just isn't going to budge, nainly because of tree growth. So I installed a Dish 500 on my pole and aimed at the east feed and amazingly got 61.5 and 72.7 with my west LNB, signal on both in the mid 40's. So I bit the bullet and figured my best bet is an east feed setup made for the east arc. I put in an order 2 days ago and got it today, a 1000.4 antenna kit and east triple LNB for $100. Hope to get it setup this weekend.
OK this better get my Dish signal....
- Thread starter bcsman
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So got it setup on my temp pole, wow the fine tuning on the 1000.4 sure makes things easier. Fiest did a check switch with nothing connected to clear memory. Then locked onto 72 with a good signal and did a check switch and got all 3 east sats. Played with the elevation and azimuth with the fine tuning to max out then adjusted the skew a little and helped more. Locked things down and will do a permanent install soon, rain coming in now.....
Yes, the 1000.4's were awesome for that as are the International Dishes.
Yes, and it's a really nice design for RV'ers like us that set up and dial in the dish as often as daily. I modified mine for a no tools needed setup.
That's pretty handy looking NYDutch! Hopefully this works out for me, I was getting 50 or so on all 3 sats on the recommended transponders. I have heard signal levels on the eastern arc sats are lower for some reason. Always figured you need 70 or so to get a good signal so not sure, had a clear open view so this was maxed out for me....
On the eastern arc, I'm happy with anything close to 50 most of the time. I can usually get a little higher when we're down in Georgia and Florida though. The reality is that anything above 35 is usually pretty solid unless you get a lot of rain. On the western arc, I expect signals more in the 70's. The length of our stay in a given RV park and/or the expected weather usually dictates how much time I'll spend fine tuning the dish.
Here in Texas 61.5 is significantly hotter (~60-70ish) but anything over 50 in the EA is considered solid. I believe (if anyone knows for sure correct me) that the EA sats are weaker, but have better error correction since they are more modern so you can get away with lower signals (129 on WA is also fine in the ~50 for the same reason)
Oh, is that the kit from TV4RV that has the foldable arm and knobs? It's pretty neat for $50, lets me store my tripod in my pickup truck or garage while using like half of the space.
Edit: Nevermind mine looks a little different
I think the differences are due to the switch from QPSK, which they used for SD channels back in the day, to 8PSK. This results in a much higher error rate, and many more extra bits to compensate. Note that we don't get to look at raw signal strength coming down from the satellites, but rather something more akin to an inverse error rate.
No, I either remove the reflector for travel so no arm folding is needed, or stow the whole unit in back of our SUV that we tow behind us. As you can see in the photo, the reflector bolts are also equipped with large wingnuts. The spacers I used where needed are just nylon bushings that I bought along with the plastic handled wingnuts at an Ace Hardware store. I'm aware of the TV4RV kit, but the arm folding mechanism is so simple that I would have just duplicated it with common hardware if that would have worked better for me than popping the reflector off as needed.
So I got the 1000.4 installed on my permanent pole and found I still only have 2 good sats.... I got 61.5 and 72.2 locked in with signals in the upper 40's to mid 50's. But found 77 isn't gonna come in with another tree in the way, good grief. I know all 3 come in well as I did a test in an open area but at least I get the 2 important sats here. And my signal is higher than my Dish 500 that I had running so think I'm good. Someday I may set another pole as it won't have to go far to get 77. That's my story and I'm sticking with it....lol
You don't really need 77. There is little on it that you would want, it's all SD dupes of the HD channels you already get.
I would worry that, if his setup shows the receiver locks on 77 even sporadically, it might try to fall back to the SD channels thereon should 72 and/or 61.5 develop issues.
Are you certain they are coming in on the right LNBF's? You could determine that for certain, and also prevent the issue above, should you cover up the 77 LNBF with some foil.
I had all 3 sats on my test 211K when I was testing in an open area. With the 211K in my house, after clearing the check switch with nothing connected, when I did a check switch I only got 61.5 and 72.2. So 77 doesn't show up indoors.
Well when I first setup on my permanent pole I put foil over the outer LNB's and locked on 72.2 so I figured it was on the correct LNB's. I guess I could cover up the 2 LNB's close together and see if it locks on 61.5. OK I'm watching Oxygen on 127 which is on 61.5. I just covered up the 2 close LNB's and my picture is still there so pretty sure the sats are on the correct LNB's.
Instead, can you post a picture of the switch info screen? You can tell if the sats are coming in the correct LNBF's from there, the screenshot below is from the 1000.4 manual, so if everything is as you say I would expect it to be something like Conn.--72.7--61.5 on each respective port
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OMG, you actually followed the instructions! Congratulations. Yes, you have the right sats going into the right LNBFs. I am guessing you won't have trouble with your receiver trying to tune channels off 77. I suppose you could regain reception in the fall...
Way back in my Dish 500 days, I pointed my main dish perfectly at 110/119 and a second dish at 61.5 for international channels. I did that in the fall and was dumb and happy until spring when I lost 119. I couldn't believe that dish was aimed so low, but it was. (I live in VA.) I had to move both dishes to the front of the house in order to get over the neighbor's trees.
This reminds me of a story...
I got a call from someone at DISH (might have been Charlie) telling me they sent me a present and it would be arriving soon.
I got home from work that day and this huge box was outside my back door of my house, opened it up and inside was a yet to be released SuperDISH.
I went out and got a pole and concrete and put them in the ground.
I was not too satellite installation savvy so called a friend of mine who is a DISH retailer here in CT to come help me set it up, when he heard what it was he was excited and told me he would swing by in the morning. So I went through the box and put together the dish and went out and set it on the pole waiting for his arrival the next morning.
Next morning came and my buddy came with his satellite meter, plugged it in and was amazed... he had signal... he checked all the LNB's and had a great signal on all three. Somehow when I placed it on the pole the night before, I must have set it up just right and it was in perfect alignment!
You had the two of us dancing around the dish like the lord himself just did an amazing miracle in front of us. We probably looked strange to the neighbors dancing around the dish and cheering and laughing.
So then he ran cables from the dish to the switch at the house, we went inside and did a check switch wondering what hidden programming we would see, we were guessing maybe a few test HD feeds or something, after all no one else had one of these dishes, so what harm would they have testing channels there...
Well the check switch finished up and we went through the guide... and found one additional channel we didn't get before. We clicked on it... the screen lit up and said "Congratulations You Have a SuperDISH!"
After the dish aiming miracle we had outside, the air was quickly let out of our tires and I believe that was the only thing I ever watched off the SuperDISH.
Neat story. Wasn't DISH coming out with a mesh dish at one time? Never seen it happen. I think it would of been a good idea. Would have been more wind resistant I would think.
Well here's a pic from behind my 1000.4 showing why I am prolly not getting 77. So I either move my permanent pole or take down a tree for either the west or east feeds...come on man. Pretty sure I had figured the east sats were a little more to the left.....
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