PLEASE help with new 105 superdish

[bigorangekitty]

i've researched this here on sat guys, not really finding what i was looking for. this is a new install for a 501 and 721 pvr superdish 105. i'm kind of confused looking at the directions, as it appears to have the 119 bird (looking from behind mount) on the far left by itself...followed by what appears to be 110 in a housing with 105 FSS ku lnb on the far right (once again looking from behind). 119 according to the skew appears to be raised higher than 110. When i look at the elevations on a sat finder, 110 is the elevated higher. So now i'm all confused. i have 119 hooked up to slot one of dp34, 110 in slot two, and 105 in slot three. i cannot for the life of me find ANY signal. any help would be fantastic!

please help~!

 

[chevyN8]

First, the mast needs to be perfectly level. The skew needs to be set to whatever your zip code (location) requires. Adjust the elevation to what your location requires. Then do a sweep. If you get nothing, adjust the elevation a little and do another sweep. Do this until you get your signal. Finish by tweaking for maximum signal on the 105. 105 is a weak bird so it needs to be as high as possible. After much tweaking I can get 63 on 105.

 

[bsilvertab]

Chevy forgot two key points. Only hook the 105 lnb to the receiver directly, without the switch. Then, get the highest possible signal on Transponder 10 or 11. Lock the dish down, hook up the switch, do a check switch, and all of the rest of the satellites will fall into place.

 

[James Long]

And if that fails ... (it did for me)
Make SURE you have the skew set properly.
Hook up just the 119 LNB on the outrigger direct to a reciever (NOT through a switch).
Do a check switch on the receiver so it only sees the one LNB.
Set the receiver to see 119 TP 11.
(119 is a more powerful satellite and easier to find than 105's weak signal.)
Pan slowly until you get a lock (as described in posts above). Get it as good as you can.
If your receiver doesn't have 105/Superdish on the setup screen this is where you need to turn it off and get a software update to see 105.

OK, now move the cable from the 119 LNB to the 105 LNB and set the receiver to see 105.
Hopefully you will see at least a weak signal on 105. With VERY SMALL movements, fine tune the focus.
(As noted in the posts above, 105 is the weakest of the three and needs the best tuning.)
If you get 105's in the 60's you are doing better than most!

Connect the three feeds from 105, 119 and 110 to your DP34 switch.
Connect the feed to your receiver to one of the outputs.
Do the check switch again and you should have all three.

Don't worry if the signals are a bit low on 119 and 110, 105 is the critical one.

JL

 

[bigorangekitty]

i'm just trying to understand this...i'm prepared to have lots of patience! thanks guys...now so if i understand...
finding 105 using 43 elev and 121 skew as the superdish instructions have; didn't work. ....so the skew i want to use when trying for 119/110 birds is 131-dish500- on a sat finder...but in the instruction booklet when trying for 105 bird, the skew is 121... i should use the 131 skew for dish500 when trying to find 119...find 119 (looking from behind the dish) using the lnb on the furthest left directly connected from lnb to receiver. Once i get the strongest signal i can from 119, i should be able to switch the cable over from the 119 lnb to 110 lnb that's positioned in the middle, and should get a signal from 110...and then also do the same moving it again right to the FSS lnb and 105 should be there. would this be an accurate way of doing it?

is this correct...what skew am i using here? i'm not finding anything with the 121 skew land 43 elev. listed in the instruction booklet.

thanks guys!

 

[thiggin2]

I'm not to much up on the Super Dish but I do believe you need to select Superdish then enter your zip code (using the receiver)and use that skew setting for all 3 LBN's.
Whats your zip code??

 

[bigorangekitty]

29XXX...
also picking superdish in the menu; i would still be able to connect one lnb at a time though right?

 

[thiggin2]

The skew should be the 121.
Yes do it like the previous posts stated.

 

[James Long]

Yes, use the skew listed for the actual dish you have - SD105.

Technically speaking, the center of your dish will end up pointing right at 105 (AMC-2).
The center of a D500 points at 114.5 (halfway between slots) and the LNBs are spaced differently, which is why the skew is different between the two dishes.

One caveat with the SD105 setup is that the FSS LNB for 105 and DBS LNB for 110 are seen as "feeds" to the receiver. I couldn't get mine to even acknowledge that I had 110 there until I had a signal from 110 present! The outrigger LNBF for 119 is a more standard DishPro LNB that the receiver sees better without a signal.

That, and the higher power, is why I suggest looking for that one first. On a scale of one to 10, DBS birds are 100 times easier to find. The closer you find 119 the more likely that in doing so you will put the 105 feedhorn in the focus of that satellite. Then after you switch cables you can fine tune a lot easier.

Patience is required, especially with SD105's weak satellite. But you can do this.

JL

 

[bigorangekitty]

thanks guys...i appreciate the encouragement...i will give it a go after work today and let ya know how it goes!

 

[bigorangekitty]

still can't get 105... which i have on port 1 of dp34. I have signal strength of 95 on 110 (port 2) and 95 on 119 (port 3). i couldn't get a signal until i went up to 46 degrees elevation, although the book says 43...i guess that could throw off 105?

update: still nothing on 105...i'm getting great signal (96-98) on 110 and 119... but nothing on 105... any tips????

 

[StevenD]

It sounds as if your mast isn't perfectly plumb.

 

[Bruno]

If it is not Plumb it going to make this job very hard. Also you have to hook up to the single LNB one at a time. I usually hook up to the 119 and find it and then hook up to the 105. I have found it works a lot better to set up a small tv and receiver at the dish and fine tune the 105.

 

[chevyN8]

If it is not Plumb it going to make this job very hard. Also you have to hook up to the single LNB one at a time. I usually hook up to the 119 and find it and then hook up to the 105. I have found it works a lot better to set up a small tv and receiver at the dish and fine tune the 105.

Exactly how I peaked my 105. It's very sensitive...I can move the dish and lose signal on 105 and still have great signal on 110 and 119. It sounds like you are fairly close. Like they said above, it's very important that the mast be perfectly plumb...if it's not the skew and elevation numbers won't be accurate.

 

[viqventeur]

I do not know if this will help, but I heard you should hook up the 119 on port 1, 110 on port 2, 105 on port 3. You should also hook the the receiver with the shortest cable run to port 1, this line powers the 34 switch. Good luck.

 

[Stargazer]

Make sure the skew is correct in the 105 section in the back of the SuperDish installation booklet where the zipcodes are at instead of the 121 section. Making sure the pole/mast is plumb on ALL sides which makes your elevation and skew numbers true that you set it at. If it is not set plumb on ALL sides then either your elevation or skew will be off. The skew is the most important as it would be harder to adjust for than the elevation. The pole/mast is supposed to be plumb then the skew set and locked down and not adjusted anymore, only the elevation is supposed to be adjusted slightly afterwards. When you mess with the skew you raise one satellite's signal strength while you lower another satellite's signal strength and it throws it all off not allowing you to peak all satellites at the same time.