Reception issue, what do you think?

[Optical Serenity]

I had my AT-9 dish installed by a directv installer, and when he installed it on my roof, it worked pretty well. After about 4 months though, it started to lose reception on 076 and other HD channels. It would mostly not work during the day when the sun was out...

Well, for the last week or so, none of the HD channels work. I made sure everything is connected, did a hard reset on the HR-20, and nothing.

The LOS is some pine trees, I'll try to take some pictures...

Is it possible that something as gone wrong in my hardware? or is it a LOS issue that just recently occurred? I don't think any trees have moved...

And why is it that it used to work fine once sun went down?

So, in the signal strength test menu,

99: 25%-30%

101: 95%

103a: 0%
103b: 0%

110 has 0% on all but transponder 12, and I get 40-43% on that.

119, also 0% on all but transponder 30 and 22, about 40%

 

[rad]

To me it looks like something might have knocked your dish out of allignment since the signal readings on all but 101 really are low. Did you have any storms/strong winds since the dish was installed that might have knocked it out of alignment since install? Did they install the two monopoles to help support the dish an keep it aligned, if not call D* and tell them you want them to come back out and do it right.

If you don't have the protection plan they'll charge you $75 for a realign, if you have the plan they'll do it for free.

 

[Optical Serenity]

I don't have the plan, so I guess I'll have to do it myself... It's just the circular rotation right? If 101 is right but nothing else?

It was never really strong on anything but 101, and the installer spent about 3 hours up there and wasn't able to get it really good, but it at least worked.

It has a little bar going from the main bar to the roof that supports it..

 

[rad]

I don't have the plan, so I guess I'll have to do it myself... It's just the circular rotation right? If 101 is right but nothing else?

It was never really strong on anything but 101, and the installer spent about 3 hours up there and wasn't able to get it really good, but it at least worked.

It has a little bar going from the main bar to the roof that supports it..

Can't answer your question on how to align it, I did my own phase III dish since it was pole mount but the AT-9's on the roof and I don't do roofs.

You didn't mention if you were getting HD locals before this happened. I ask since it's REALLY important that the dish be spot on aligned since the Ka frequency used at 99 and 103 has a very narrow window for alignment, off just a little bit and your signal will go in the dumper. My dish drifted just a little bit off any my 99 and 103 numbers really tanked while 101 was OK still.

 

[shmeff]

It was never really strong on anything but 101, and the installer spent about 3 hours up there and wasn't able to get it really good, but it at least worked.

It usually takes me about 20 – 30 minutes; and I thought that was a long time. Granted, I do dither and drill the mast so the mono poles can be bolted to it (I don’t like the brackets that go around the mast because they have a tendency to move. But three hours!?

It has a little bar going from the main bar to the roof that supports it..

should have two.

 

[shmeff]

Also channel 76 comes off the 119, which is the lowest of the five satellites.

 

[Optical Serenity]

I think it's a LOS issue and mixed in with bad aiming. I do get HD locals actually, now and then it gets bad reception but otherwise the video still works and just goes out once or so a week...

If I put it on 76 it just shows 771 or whatever...no video/audio.

 

[shmeff]

do you have trouble with other HD channels in 70's?

 

[shmeff]

pines grow mostly in spring.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Think shotgun:

Stand behind the dish.........sight up the elevation...........load BB or buck shot & prune.........check signal. It you can reach branches throw a rope and pull them out of the way before cutting. Even try shaking the tree while watching the signal meter.

Joe

 

[shmeff]

If O.S. can shake the tree and watch the signal level, that would certainly be a LOS issue.

 

[shmeff]

Where them pics?

 

[Optical Serenity]

I was not able to get pics before dark, I will tomorrow.

i did however down a tree (not a huge one) that was nearly directly ahead of the dish...

 

[rad]

OK, not an expert, but unless the dish is fairly close to the trees I would think it would have to be a fairly tall tree to effect the signal if you're in GA since the satellites would be fairly high in the sky there.

 

[Optical Serenity]

The dish is about 20 feet from the trees...

 

[JNEUBY]

You probably should have done this last night. If you have an inexpensive laser level (The small ones used in construction) you can use that to shot gun (Or for that matter a gun Laser, just don't pull the trigger) the line of sight from the dish to see if the trees are blocking your signal. I have pine trees here in MD that are starting to cause simular problems. My dish is right next to them and they keep growing out and up. Pine trees play more havoc on signal reception than regular trees. I don't know if it causes the signal to bounce around some when the dish is next to them but all the techs that have been out cringe when they see the pine trees. Jim

 

[Frostwolf]

I've got the regular 18 inch directv dish and I've got a question about what transponder I should use to tune the reception? I'm getting 94-96 on average on almost all the transponders and one or two is 100 most the time.

I had dish 500 for years, and always had a signal strenght of 122-125 on both 110 and 119. My signal didn't even go out but for 15 minutes during Katrina. No that I've joined directv, my signal has gone out for 45 minutes on the first rain storm since I got it, and 20 minutes yesterday in regular rain. I checked the signal strength on the 100 transponders and they where down to like 20 or none existant.

So is this normal for directv, I mean loss of signal is more than dish combined in 6 years in just 1.5 months. I figured they should be similar.

Should I try a different dish and lnb? Bigger dish?

Any help is appreciated

Oh I live in Florence Alabama.

Just checked my signals, transponder 1 is 94-95 and 2 is 96, its cloudy now. Signal strength has not changed since install.

 

[rad]

D*'s signal reading maxes out at 100, unlike E* that goes higher so to me your reading look good. As for the outages could be two things, water is getting into the cable or connector causing the problem. The other thing is that while it's not raining hard at your home if there's a large storm somewhere southwest of you that could cause it. We've had a bunch of big rains/storms in Texas this year and sometimes my signal will go out 5 or 10 minutes before it even starts to rain at the house.

 

[Optical Serenity]

So I went out and cut down two trees, and here are the results, what do you think?

My AT-9, OTA, and FTA setup:

View from road, line of site:

Line of site view from below dish:

101:

110:

119:

99b:

103a:

103b:

 

[shmeff]

Wow! Though it is hard to definitely say without being there, them some tall pines. My guesstimation would be that they are interfering with the 119. I’m starting to understand the 3 hour install time.