questions for dish set up in different locations

toddspolaris

Member
Original poster
Apr 3, 2013
7
0
Lima Oh
I currently have dish network through a local provider here in lima Oh and I take my reciever with me up north to luzerne MI. I already have installed a 3LB dish on my cabin. I can get satellite 110 and 119 fine but cannot get my local channels off of 129. I do understand there are spot beams and I think It may not go far north enough, however up north my signal strength up there on 129 is about 45 and down here in OH yesterday was only about 45. What gives. I'm not looking to get my local channels up there but I'm looking to get NBC, FOX, CBS and what not so when we go north I can watch my sporting events that are on. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Todd
 
the footprint for your locals doesnt go that far north
http://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist...&sub=true&sort=&order=&beamMap=CIEL2_SB25.jpg

You are assigned locals based on your physical location that dish has which is the Lima DMA. The only way to get locals there is to change your address with dish everytime you go back and forth. You would then get the locals that are assigned for that area.

Also spotbeam transponders are reused so your locals are on 129 TP6. Looking at the charts there are no spotbeams on TP6 that reach that area
 
When you say you are getting a 45 signal do you mean generally from 129, or specifically from where your locals come from. As you pointed out, the spotbeam appears to not reach where you are, and since Iceberg said it looks like there are none that reach where you are you should be getting none to a minimal signal where your locals would be. Conus channels would give you a 45, that makes sense.
 
That is correct. My signal strength here in lima on satalite 129 is about 45 and when I go north my signal strenght is about the same on 129. but get no channels of cbs nbc abc . Is direct tv different? I'm really looking to get the sporting events that come on CBS, NBC,ABC and what not. I don't what to have two seperate billings, as that would cost too much, and we're only up there maybe once a month.
 
I don't think you are understanding the question, or maybe just not explaining it. When you say you are getting a signal of 45, on what channel/TP? A spotbeam is just that - it reaches a certain beamed area. The other channels are not spotbeamed, and should give you approx the same signal strength in either location. But the specific TP of the satellite that you need to get for your locals, because it is beamed, appears to not reach you and on that specific channel you are most likely receiving no signal. If another spotbeam covered you that has different locals on it, you would get a not authorized message.

Bottom line, as Iceberg said, you can call Dish while you are in MI and they will switch your service there till you return, thus giving you the locals for the MI location.
 
What I can tell you is that when I go into my menu -setup-point dish It gives me my choices of what satelite I want to go to to see what kind of signal strenght I have. That is how I pointed my dish. And on 129 it tells me I have signal strenght of 45 both here and there. When I move my dish around I can loose that signal. So I guess that tells me that I'm just out of my transponer area. Sorry, I'm a beginner on this stuff.
 
If you go to menu 6-1-1 you should get the point dish screen. Use the left arrow on the remote to move highlighting to transponder then use up or down arrows to select the transponder. If you are on a spotbeam transponder will change to spotbeam, depending on the transponder/spotbeam signal strength will change.
 
If you are out of the spot beam at your cabin, you may want to check into an OTA antenna to get locals at the cabin location. The OTA antenna can be connected to your receiver or to the tv (if it has a digital tuner) to get the nets there. Or you may want to check into a sling adaptor (if you have a 722, or Hopper and stream the programs from your home to a computer or other device at the cabin.
 
yes I did notice that, When in Lima I get spotbeam, When up north I get transponder. So can I set up a seperate dish to receive the locals up there?
 
No, you call Dish while at the cabin, tell them you want to temporarily change your service address, give them the cabin address, and then the receiver will use the spotbeam that corresponds to that area and pick up that area's local channels. When you go back home, you call again and change your service address back to your home address.
 
In Luzerne, MI 48636 www.tvfool.com shows you are 61mi. or less from the 4 networks but both CBS broadcasters are VHF so for a TV antenna an Antennacraft HBU44 or 55 would be needed. A $200 or less investment should get your networks.
 
Well, That might work, but I'm in the Huron National forest. Nothing but trees everywhere. I'd hate to spend $200 only to find out that it wouldn't work. Heck I can't even get cell service in my yard.
 
Your free option would be to change the service address as needed as I explained above.
 
Well, That might work, but I'm in the Huron National forest. Nothing but trees everywhere. I'd hate to spend $200 only to find out that it wouldn't work. Heck I can't even get cell service in my yard.

OTA (over the air) is not a satellite feed, it does not need a direct line of sight if order to get signal. OTA is the same type of antenna for the 50's, 60's, 70's that all people had to use before cable became prominent only the signal is not digital and not analog which means if you get signal it is clear and will look better than Dish's signal, if it too low you do not get a picture at all instead of the old pixilation and snow overshadowing an image. I am in a highly wooded area and found my OTA signal faster and with less work than getting Dish setup (my dish is atop a 16 ft pole with attachments to a tree in my driveway, only place on my property to get Dish, while my OTA has been moved to several locations on my property while my home was being renovated).
 
Know that on 129W transponders 17 and higher are CONUS (continental US) and these should give the same signal level for most of the 48 states. Multiple spot beams are on each transponders 1 to 16 mostly locals, with each SB pointed to a different area, not adjacent. You need to find the SB for where you will be and look for a decent signal--the SB signals are ofter hotter than a normal TP but there may be zero pointed to you. Use TVFool or DishPointer.com, whichever works better for you to know if ANY signal will work.
-Ken
 
I have a modest outdoor antenna at my place in Roscommon and have no problem receiving the big 4 networks OTA. they are on sub-channels so you really are only receiving 2 channels I believe, maybe 3. I just aimed towards Traverse city and have no problem.

Fortunately I get my Detroit locals via Satellite up there, but still nice to look at the local red-neck News broadcasts....

If you spend a lot of time up there it would be worth the $100 dollar investment for antenna, coax and mount.

GL
 
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