Satellite 129 not viewable in Florida (Dishpointer AR Pro)

[MikeMead]

We drove our RV from California and arrived in StPetersburg, Florida yesterday where we lost our HD programming. We have satellite TV service with DishNetwork, with a triple LNB dish designed to pick up signals from satellites 110, 119, and 129. Most of the HD channels, as you probably know, are transmitted from satellite 129. After setting up my dish with the aid of Dishpointer AR Pro for iPhone, I got good signal strength on 110 and 119 (55 and 70 respectively), but no signal for 129, even after many tiny adjustments to azimuth and elevation, despite the fact that Dishpointer for iPhone and for iPad both showed that satellite 129 was well clear of any obstructions.

I called Dish technical support, and after being guided through several (irrelevant) procedures, the technician eventually informed me that “satellite 129 is very low in the sky, and a different dish is needed”. I already own an “Eastern Arc” dish designed to pick up satellites 61.5, 72.7, and 77.0, so I intend to set that up. However, my first question for Satellite Guys is, do I point my dish so that (a) 72.7 is in the center of my iPhone screen, or (b) 61.5 and 77.0 are equidistant from left and right respectively of my screen.

Surprisingly, there is a big difference in skew between the two options: for (a) the skew is -17.2 whereas for (b) it is -22.6 degrees. Enough to completely miss one or two of the satellites!

My second question is, does anybody know why I can’t pick up satellite 129 on my western arc dish here in St Petersburg, despite the fact that Dishpointer AR Pro can clearly “see” it?

 

[HIFI]

We drove our RV from California and arrived in StPetersburg, Florida yesterday where we lost our HD programming. We have satellite TV service with DishNetwork, with a triple LNB dish designed to pick up signals from satellites110, 119, and 129. Most of the HD channels, as you probably know, aretransmitted from satellite 129. After setting up my dish with the aid ofDishpointer AR Pro for iPhone, I got good signal strength on 110 and 119 (55and 70 respectively), but no signal for 129, even after many tiny adjustmentsto azimuth and elevation, despite the fact that Dishpointer for iPhone and foriPad both showed that satellite 129 was well clear of any obstructions.

I called Dish technical support, and after being guidedthrough several (irrelevant) procedures, the technician eventually informed methat “satellite 129 is very low in the sky, and a different dish is needed”. I already own an “Eastern Arc” dish designedto pick up satellites 61.5, 72.7, and 77.0, so I intend to set that up.However, my first question for Satellite Guys is, do I point my dish so that(a) 72.7 is in the center of my iPhone screen, or (b) 61.5 and 77.0 areequidistant from left and right respectively of my screen.

Surprisingly, there is a big difference in skew between thetwo options: for (a) the skew is -17.2 whereas for (b) it is -22.6 degrees.Enough to completely miss one or two of the satellites!

My second question is, does anybody know why I can’t pick upsatellite 129 on my western arc dish here in St Petersburg, despite the factthat Dishpointer AR Pro can clearly “see” it?

what order are the 110 and 119 on the matrix?

 

[MikeMead]

Sorry, I don't understand your question. What is the matrix, with respect to satellite identities (stated in degrees of longitude)?

 

[HIFI]

what order do the 110 and 119 show up after you run a check switch?

 

[HIFI]

menu 6 1 1

 

[KE4EST]

You should get 129 no problem there.

 

[MikeMead]

In numerical order, i.e. 110, then 119, and finally 129 which failed.

 

[HIFI]

I'm thinking you're to high on elevation and need to drop it 3 degrees and a little to the west. I'm just trying to confirm what position the dish is currently pointed.

 

[HIFI]

should be 119, 110, and 129 in that order so yeah drop 3 degrees and go west about 9 degrees.

 

[MikeMead]

Thanks, that's an interesting observation, but with a signal strength of 70 for satellite 119, and 55 for satellite 110, I would think that such a big change would lose these two satellites? Or maybe I've got the skew wrong? Why did the Dish technician just say "the 129 satellite is too low in the sky"?

 

[HIFI]

you are seeing the 110 sat with the 119 "eye". as far as the tech saying it was too low, Well it got you off the line.

 

[MikeMead]

What does that mean, "Seeing the 110 sat with the 119 "eye"? Also, any comment on my question about the Eastern arc satellites and Dishpointer AR Pro?

 

[TheKrell]

HIFI is trying to tell you that the signal from the 110 sat is being received by the 119 LNB. What he didn't mention is that the signal from the 119 sat is going into the 129 LNB. This leaves the 110 LNB pointing at nothing, and the signal from 129 not being received by any LNB. You need to reorient your dish as he suggested in post #9.

 

[Tampa8]

Once aimed correctly you will have no problem seeing 129, providing of course no man made obstructions. Those satellites are the preferred ones used there.

 

[MikeMead]

Mystery solved! I called Dish Network again a couple of days ago, and this time got transferred to an "Advanced Technician". He told me the pointing angles provided by my receiver for the default 500 dish were incorrect for my 1000.2 dish! The elevation and skew angles were off by 4 or 5 degrees, so there was no way to pick up all three satellites simultaneously using those angles. He gave me the correct angles for the 1000.2 and I immediately got strong signals for all three satellites. Unfortunately, Dish Network never bothered to update their Point Dish software to take account of the later models of dishes (the only choices are 300, 500, and Super). So I will have to phone Dish for the pointing angles each time I change location, or use my Dishpointer iPhone App (not so easy to get accurate angles). Thanks to HIFI, TheKrell, and others for your input.