Poor signal, Poor installation

[Rough2000]

I am new to this forum and would appriciate any guiedance the experts here can give me. Here is my problem.
I am having a lot of tiling on many of my channels. The installers have admitted that they don't know how to install the Slimline 5LNB antenna. What are the minimum signal level I should expect. I have transponders running from 71% to 29%. Most in the 30 to 40% area. Is there a list on the web that shows which channels run off of which transponders? Are other installers having problems installing the Slimline LNB antenna? Any suggestion on what I might do to light a fire under "Fire dog" (Circuit City) to get this thing fixed?

 

[charper1]

What is your area? Maybe some installers here would come help you out as opposed to another bad, untrained guy come out. Please tell me you did not sign off on this unfinished, unacceptable job?

 

[boba]

Try calling 800-531-5000 Directv and light a fire under Fire Dog.

 

[Rough2000]

What is your area? Maybe some installers here would come help you out as opposed to another bad, untrained guy come out. Please tell me you did not sign off on this unfinished, unacceptable job?

Near the Little Rock, Arkansas area. Heck no I didn't sign off on an install with what I considered low signal numbers. When the Installers came to change out the 3lnb to the Slimline I knew right away that they had not even read the instructions about the Slimline. They kept trying to horse it in (course setting). When I asked them about using the fine tuning knobs they said the fine tuning knobs were factory preset and were not to be turned. It is a shame to watch technology pass someone by. I am sure there are great installers out there, but these two will probably be out of business when the 3 lnb dishes are no longer available.

 

[charper1]

Good on not signing and you are likely correct about those two; they shame other doing good work. I would suggest doing what Boba says above first and go through channels.

 

[wneilson82]

I am not sure how I would handle people coming out to my house and telling me they didn't know HOW to install the 5LNB dish

 

[DS0816]

I'm near Detroit. DirecTV has jobbed out installation to services with limited training. And the installers have tried their best. I've had one or two -- with DirecTV themselves -- tell me DirecTV isn't lately as good with transmission on 5-LNB. Naturally there's no one at DirecTV who'll admit to this.

I do get intermittent picture interruptions. It's not every day. And it's not easily predicted by me. Sometimes I wonder if DirecTV is trying to tweak something -- especially when I'm watching not on a SD receiver but an HD one. I don't know for certain.

I think DirecTV has a definite transmission problem related to newer technology. I hope this latest press release about coming HD channels and the 2007 launches of not one but two satellites spells improvement in programming transmission.

 

[plnoldrick]

I'm near Detroit. DirecTV has jobbed out installation to services with limited training. And the installers have tried their best. I've had one or two -- with DirecTV themselves -- tell me DirecTV isn't lately as good with transmission on 5-LNB. Naturally there's no one at DirecTV who'll admit to this.

I do get intermittent picture interruptions. It's not every day. And it's not easily predicted by me. Sometimes I wonder if DirecTV is trying to tweak something -- especially when I'm watching not on a SD receiver but an HD one. I don't know for certain.

I think DirecTV has a definite transmission problem related to newer technology. I hope this latest press release about coming HD channels and the 2007 launches of not one but two satellites spells improvement in programming transmission.

no the problem is the people who cant seem to grasp the concept on rotating the fine elevation/azimuth knob back 2 turns recording the number on a piece of paper, rotating it clockwise untill they get the same number and then dividing the total turns by 2.

bascially some people cant seem to do simple math anymore. i havent had a single call yet from anyone i installed an at-9 or au-9 for. and i leave my personal number with them all so i know i would get a call.

 

[Rough2000]

no the problem is the people who cant seem to grasp the concept on rotating the fine elevation/azimuth knob back 2 turns recording the number on a piece of paper, rotating it clockwise untill they get the same number and then dividing the total turns by 2.

bascially some people cant seem to do simple math anymore. i havent had a single call yet from anyone i installed an at-9 or au-9 for. and i leave my personal number with them all so i know i would get a call.

I wish you were installing in this area. I just got a call from the installer (Circuit City called him) and now he's trying to blame it on the H20 receiver. It seems strange to me that he was getting signals in the 70% range with the 3lnb and now with the 5lnb the signal is in the 30's...and the problem is in the receiver???

 

[plnoldrick]

I wish you were installing in this area. I just got a call from the installer (Circuit City called him) and now he's trying to blame it on the H20 receiver. It seems strange to me that he was getting signals in the 70% range with the 3lnb and now with the 5lnb the signal is in the 30's...and the problem is in the receiver???

depending on which version of h20 you have your numbers may be extremely low in comparison to a standard reciever. i also remember seeing somewhere that there was a batch of h20's that didnt even show signal strength.

we had a batch of h20's come through that would show solid 69-75 on 101, 110, 119 but as soon as you looked at the signal strength on a d11 you would see solid mid to high 90's.

look if the mast is level and plumb and he follows the exact fine tuning procedure it should be good, regardless of the numbers.

 

[Rough2000]

depending on which version of h20 you have your numbers may be extremely low in comparison to a standard reciever. i also remember seeing somewhere that there was a batch of h20's that didnt even show signal strength.

we had a batch of h20's come through that would show solid 69-75 on 101, 110, 119 but as soon as you looked at the signal strength on a d11 you would see solid mid to high 90's.

look if the mast is level and plumb and he follows the exact fine tuning procedure it should be good, regardless of the numbers.

The H20 I have is a 600 model. I don't know if he has a D11. I believe that if I had solid 69-75 numbers I would not be having this dialogue. But numbers in the low 30s sounds and looks like the problem. Do you agree??

 

[plnoldrick]

The H20 I have is a 600 model. I don't know if he has a D11. I believe that if I had solid 69-75 numbers I would not be having this dialogue. But numbers in the low 30s sounds and looks like the problem. Do you agree??

are you only getting 1 reciever installed total?
if so and he's using a 6x8 try taking the switch out of the equation.

how long is the run, total cable from the dish to the reciever?

do you have any other d10's d11's that you can look at the numbers or is this the only reciever?
hopefully he has another standard reciever on his truck, he doesnt have to activate it to get signal strengths, hell he doesnt even have to go through he setup on it.

agreed low 30's is pretty low, ive never installed one that had low 30's. well i take that back certain spot beams for other areas will show up low but you should still have tons of numbers that are higher then 30.

 

[plnoldrick]

also i hate to say it but if you know for sure these guys cant do it, i would call directv and see if they will credit you to find your own installer who can.

 

[sksatellite]

Sound to me, the installer that installed your dish is the contractor's sub, and they are pay so low and not even able to buy a computer to learn the installation trick for this dish. There at least I know two sites to tell how to do this dish.

 

[DS0816]

no the problem is the people who cant seem to grasp the concept on rotating the fine elevation/azimuth knob back 2 turns recording the number on a piece of paper, rotating it clockwise untill they get the same number and then dividing the total turns by 2.

bascially some people cant seem to do simple math anymore. i havent had a single call yet from anyone i installed an at-9 or au-9 for. and i leave my personal number with them all so i know i would get a call.

…a job for professional installation.

Too bad there aren't many of those anymore. But I'm glad you seem to know what you're talking about.

 

[texasbrit]

depending on which version of h20 you have your numbers may be extremely low in comparison to a standard reciever. i also remember seeing somewhere that there was a batch of h20's that didnt even show signal strength.

we had a batch of h20's come through that would show solid 69-75 on 101, 110, 119 but as soon as you looked at the signal strength on a d11 you would see solid mid to high 90's.

look if the mast is level and plumb and he follows the exact fine tuning procedure it should be good, regardless of the numbers.

The H20s read lower than the other DirecTV receivers. A signal in the mid 70s on an H20 is a very strong signal.
As you say you will get spotbeams that are in the 30s or even lower, sometimes zero, if they are pointed at other cities. But you should be seeing 60s to 80 on most of the 101 transponders (you will see 4 at least that are lower or even zero), on most or all the transponders 22 thru 32 on 119, and on probably 3 transponders on 110. If you are not seeing this sort of signal strength then you definitely have a dish alignment problem.

The Little Rock HD locals are not yet available, correct?? Q1 2007 is the last I read. They will come from a single transponder on either 99 or 103. The H20 does not correctly report 99 at the moment. Any signals you see on 103 are either the Little Rock locals under test (in which case they would be 75+) or spotbeams from other areas.

 

[Spize]

no the problem is the people who cant seem to grasp the concept on rotating the fine elevation/azimuth knob back 2 turns recording the number on a piece of paper, rotating it clockwise untill they get the same number and then dividing the total turns by 2.

bascially some people cant seem to do simple math anymore. i havent had a single call yet from anyone i installed an at-9 or au-9 for. and i leave my personal number with them all so i know i would get a call.

I have NEVER had a KAKU install have problems with anything to do with the dish.

I did have one band b-band converter filter, but that is it.

 

[plnoldrick]

I have NEVER had a KAKU install have problems with anything to do with the dish.

I did have one band b-band converter filter, but that is it.

thats what i was trying to say, its not like your assembling a nuclear warhead. its two friggin knobs......

 

[Rough2000]

The H20s read lower than the other DirecTV receivers. A signal in the mid 70s on an H20 is a very strong signal.
As you say you will get spotbeams that are in the 30s or even lower, sometimes zero, if they are pointed at other cities. But you should be seeing 60s to 80 on most of the 101 transponders (you will see 4 at least that are lower or even zero), on most or all the transponders 22 thru 32 on 119, and on probably 3 transponders on 110. If you are not seeing this sort of signal strength then you definitely have a dish alignment problem.

The Little Rock HD locals are not yet available, correct?? Q1 2007 is the last I read. They will come from a single transponder on either 99 or 103. The H20 does not correctly report 99 at the moment. Any signals you see on 103 are either the Little Rock locals under test (in which case they would be 75+) or spotbeams from other areas.

Correct, the little Rock area does not have Local HD yet, but I understand they are supposed to sometime????this summer. That is my reason for insisting on a 5LNB dish. I'm not trying to look at 99 or 103 at this time. Do any of you guy know the coralation between the sat/transsponders and the channels. Can this be found on the web. For instance, my sat101/trans 9 only has a 28% level. What channels does this control? Again, thanks for al your help. By the way, Circuit City is supposed to send a different installer tomorrow. D* is trying to find one for tomorrow. I'll see if either one comes through.

 

[Rough2000]

thats what i was trying to say, its not like your assembling a nuclear warhead. its two friggin knobs......

I believe that is the problem...the two friggin knobs. When I tried to talk to them about the fine tuning...their response was these are factory preset and should not be moved. I understand that the nuts holding the fine tuning mounting are not to be moved...however the fine tuning adjustment knobs.........