SatelliteGuys.US DishNetwork Uplink Activity Discussion - Week Ending 12/15/2007

It is lost.. people always say "my AT9 can pick up X amount of satellites". Most of the time they don't even count the two satellites located at 101W. Actually the AT9 can pick up as many satellites as they want to pack up there. It is designed to pick up 5 orbital locations. I was just stating that my legacy one orbital position designed 18 inch dish in the shed from years ago could pick up 32 satellites. Using the same mentality of counting satellites instead of designed orbital locations.

And take note...I'm talking about designed orbital locations not counting the mad scientist tie wrapping LNBs off the side ;)
Well said! I was just stating that the 129 is in some need of major Help! When people have to start to modify their equipment whether it be a bigger dish ,or what ever,I'd say Dish I hope you are plainning on addressing this 129 Satellite and that doesn't mean adding more HD to a piece or crap. I know they want to get HD out fast ,but If I lived anywhere I had to use the 129,I wouldn't have HD. Plain and simple.
 
Yep, it's pain...especially when I still lose signal with a dedicated 24" dish. Granted, I don't lose it as often or for as long, but be realistic - aside from a rain-out, I shouldn't be losing signal at all. I don't have these issues with any HD coming off 110/119...
 
Yep, it's pain...especially when I still lose signal with a dedicated 24" dish. Granted, I don't lose it as often or for as long, but be realistic - aside from a rain-out, I shouldn't be losing signal at all. I don't have these issues with any HD coming off 110/119...
I feel your pain. I would call Dish and make them do something. And thats my point . You need a 30" Dish to pick up the 129 Only. Thats BS. Living in the "Lower 48" thats crazy. That would be like aimming a Slimline at the 129 and using a Dish 500 for the 110 and 119. I see a problem! maybe Charlie don't.
 
I know they want to get HD out fast ,but If I lived anywhere I had to use the 129,I wouldn't have HD. Plain and simple.

That's a bit of a harsh statement, I think. Is 129 a POS? You bet. Here in Northern California, I get the lowest signal readings of any location on 129, too low for my liking.

However, in 2 years, I've had exactly 1 loss of satellite signal from 129. It lasted for a few minutes, and it was back on again. It could be that I'm not watching as much from that location in general, however 1 outage in 2 years isn't too bad in my book. I do feel for those in the far NW, however. 129 works fine/OK for a large number of people. In my location, I'd never be able to see 61.5, no matter how good a signal it puts out.
 
I usually use 129 a couple times in the summer for a few minutes at a time. Usually due to the big, freak, out of no-where monsoonal thunderstorms which build over the mountains to the SW of us and move our way. 110 and 119 never go away. 129 is not ideal, but it is better than nothing...
 
I feel your pain. I would call Dish and make them do something. And thats my point . You need a 30" Dish to pick up the 129 Only. Thats BS. Living in the "Lower 48" thats crazy. That would be like aimming a Slimline at the 129 and using a Dish 500 for the 110 and 119. I see a problem! maybe Charlie don't.

I asked them to please move CineMax off of TP27. It's a weak, lame TP on that dying bird. This got escalated several levels until I'm talking to a senior tech. He feels my pain too and offers to credit me $50 for me buying a 30" dish to fix the problem. I have no place to put a 30" dish. The 24" barely fits. I can yell some more, but it's not going to get me anywhere. I just have to wait until they put up a replacement bird for 129 or some other slot for HD...
 
I feel your pain. I would call Dish and make them do something. And thats my point . You need a 30" Dish to pick up the 129 Only. Thats BS. Living in the "Lower 48" thats crazy. That would be like aimming a Slimline at the 129 and using a Dish 500 for the 110 and 119. I see a problem! maybe Charlie don't.

I asked them to please move CineMax off of TP27. It's a weak, lame TP on that dying bird. This got escalated several levels until I'm talking to a senior tech. He feels my pain too and offers to credit me $50 for me buying a 30" dish to fix the problem. I have no place to put a 30" dish. The 24" barely fits. I can yell some more, but it's not going to get me anywhere. I just have to wait until they put up a replacement bird for 129 or some other slot for HD...
129 is actually a Canadian slot. E5 at 129 is just a placeholder for the new Ciel-2 satellite to be launched (hopefully) in late 2008. Nothing can be done until Ciel-2 is launched and in place. E* has leased many of the TP's on Ciel-2. Yes, E5 has problems but it was never designed for this slot nor was meant to be a permanent resident. Temp fix to keep the slot open for Canada.
 
Yep, it's pain...especially when I still lose signal with a dedicated 24" dish. Granted, I don't lose it as often or for as long, but be realistic - aside from a rain-out, I shouldn't be losing signal at all. I don't have these issues with any HD coming off 110/119...

I can assure you :( using 39" dish for 129W at Pacific coast doesn't hold signal in days with heavy rain or dark clouds.
 
Some kind of friday uplink activity occuring ( babyfirst tv availble) (yaaaaaawn) Anything else happining ??( hopefully)
 
RE: That hunk of junk 129 satellite

I finally took the DISH installer's advice. He was the same installer that did the upgrade for HD in June 2006 so I could get the National Geographic Channel. A year-and-a-half later I'm finally able to watch a National Geographic program without losing the picture a couple of times an hour for 2-5 minutes each time.

His advice...SWITCH TO DIRECTV. I have to say it's great! Not only Ntl Geo HD, but SmithsonianHD, FXHD, USAHD, SPIKEHD, MGMHD. Of course, not all the programming is HD, but what is, is very nice. I've experienced some lip-sync issues with some of the HD channels (CNNHD), but I've noticed posts in the DISH forums from subscribers experiencing the same thing, so maybe it is the source. The Weather Channel is very clear, up-converted...4:3 not stretch-o-vision. The Non-locals-on-the-8s is HD and 16:9 and very impressive with the satellite pics and radar.

Other channels...MSNBC are very poor. NTSC reception via cable has a much clearer pic.

The channel I find myself watching the most however has been 257 - Chiller. Great reruns of Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tales from the Crypt.

Also, a lot of sports channels that I don't often watch, but they're there if I want them. It's a much better feeling than having to look forward to a Christmas that is never going to come :)

129 problem solved in the PNW.

Good luck to any and all of you experiencing problems with the 129.

PS...I was on the phone 3 hours with customer service reps at DISH regarding their denial that the 129 is a hunk of junk falling out of the sky. Oh, they've never heard of that :), yeah right. They wanted to send out another tech, I told them they need to send an astronaut up to fix the satellite. At the end of 3 hours I finally lucked out and spoke with a csr that empathized with my situation and we were able to reach a resolution.
 
I live in N. Idaho.
It seems that TP 22 & 6 are the worst on 129!??!!. At least not much viewing loss since most are Voom. However, TBS HD is affected.
I lose these often. The others pass signal better.
 
I live in N. Idaho.
It seems that TP 22 & 6 are the worst on 129!??!!. At least not much viewing loss since most are Voom. However, TBS HD is affected.
I lose these often. The others pass signal better.

This makes me wonder if some TPs are double power and some are not. E5 should be able to run 16TPs double power or 32 single power. They are using more than 16 but less than 32. I wonder if they have some at double and some at single. This would explain why people have trouble on certain transponders. I wonder if the problem will spread to other TPs if they are indeed doing some double now but switch to single in the future as they fire up more TPs.
 
I've had my 30" for 129 up since last spring. I've only lost signal one time since then, during a very heavy thunderstorm, it's really become a non-issue for me. However, I do feel for those that don't have that option available.

NightRyder
 
I finally took the DISH installer's advice. He was the same installer that did the upgrade for HD in June 2006 so I could get the National Geographic Channel. A year-and-a-half later I'm finally able to watch a National Geographic program without losing the picture a couple of times an hour for 2-5 minutes each time.

His advice...SWITCH TO DIRECTV. I have to say it's great! Not only Ntl Geo HD, but SmithsonianHD, FXHD, USAHD, SPIKEHD, MGMHD. Of course, not all the programming is HD, but what is, is very nice. I've experienced some lip-sync issues with some of the HD channels (CNNHD), but I've noticed posts in the DISH forums from subscribers experiencing the same thing, so maybe it is the source. The Weather Channel is very clear, up-converted...4:3 not stretch-o-vision. The Non-locals-on-the-8s is HD and 16:9 and very impressive with the satellite pics and radar.

Other channels...MSNBC are very poor. NTSC reception via cable has a much clearer pic.

The channel I find myself watching the most however has been 257 - Chiller. Great reruns of Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tales from the Crypt.

Also, a lot of sports channels that I don't often watch, but they're there if I want them. It's a much better feeling than having to look forward to a Christmas that is never going to come :)

129 problem solved in the PNW.

Good luck to any and all of you experiencing problems with the 129.

PS...I was on the phone 3 hours with customer service reps at DISH regarding their denial that the 129 is a hunk of junk falling out of the sky. Oh, they've never heard of that :), yeah right. They wanted to send out another tech, I told them they need to send an astronaut up to fix the satellite. At the end of 3 hours I finally lucked out and spoke with a csr that empathized with my situation and we were able to reach a resolution.

This hunk of space junk caused me nothing but lost time and money. I was one of the first to get a 622 in early 2006. I had been with dish for 9 years and was excited to get a new sat location other than 61.5. Living in Oregon 61.5 worked in the summer, but in the winter was almost useless. After having the 622 and dish reaimed to 129, the first thing I noticed was the large swing in signal strength from 129. I would loose many of the TPs. Many calls to dish a new DP44 switch installed, no change. New cable and dish reaim. No Change. The installers and the CSRs were unaware that the problem was with a broken stabilizer on the satellite. After a few months I purchased a 24" dish after reading about it on this site. It helped a lot but still had issues (TPs 6 and 27). In Sept I started having issues with my 622 and went through 3 before getting one that worked.
When D added SciFiHD that was all I needed to make the change. D uses their new sat at 103b, the lowest signal I get on a TP is 91!!
Since the D install, everything has worked perfectly. With dish I always felt as though the system was held togheter with bailing wire and duct tape.
 
The different TP signal strength makes sense.
Interesting to note the recent removal of TP 7 from Dish 129 tables. Maybe they are shifting off bad TPs.
Hopefully they shift things to allow more MPEG 4 HD onto 110.