Self install help please

[bitseeker]

Hi,

I'm new here. I sure wish I had found this earlier. I live in a remote area of Northern California, and I have not located knowledgeable suppliers.

I ordered, and have received a Hughes HR10-250 HD/Tivo Receiver and the associated Triple LNB, Four output LNB (California Amplifier Model No. 150946). The problem is that the installation company is 80 miles away, and will not be able to install for some time. I have installed a dual LNB system before, and believe I can install this with a little advice.

I have run new RG-6 cables from the mast where the dish will mount to the location of the receiver. I will be using only a single receiver. I don't know which of the four outputs on the LNB/Multi-Switch to connect to the Receiver. The Satellite-In connectors are labeled 1 & 2. The LNB output connectors are unlabeled. If someone can advise me, will you refer to them as A, B, C, & D, viewing into the connectors, with the receiving elements above the connectors.

Thanks,
bitseeker

 

[ckudrna]

Hi,
You can use any of the four LNB outputs on the dish, they are all the same.

Connect your cable into the Sat In (1) on the recieer box. After generally aligning the dish with the numbers porvided to you on directv.com (azimuth, elevation, etc), turn the receiver on and go into the setup where you can locate the signal meter and fine tune to get the best reception on all three sats.

I am not familiar with the reciver you have. Do you require two RG-6 cables from the dish to the reciever? If you do just pick any of the 4 outputs on the dish, they are all the same and do not matter.

 

[022266]

If your dish will be mounted high where you don't plan on going back up to the top of the roof, I would run all 4 lines down to 2 dual Ground Blocks. Then run in to each receiver... Your LNB has a built in Mulit Switch...

 

[walkerjs]

Heh, that's funny. When I was doing my install with my I, too, thought that the connections corresponded to each of the three collectors. I even went as far as to tape labels to what I thought was 'Sat A', 'Sat C', 'Sat B' etc., with the fourth connection being something else which was as yet a mystery. Then I looked a little closer to the instructions and read a few posts here and realized that no, it didn't make one bit of difference.

It is easy, however, for one to be mislead by the instructions.

 

[al]

bitseeker:

You will need to do the following:

1. Run a minimum of 2 RG6 cables from outside to your DirecTiVo. 3 would be preferable, one for OTA, the other two for SAT1 and SAT2 inputs for the TiVo. You can also diplex OTA signal on one of your SAT cables.

2. Verify line of sight, and mount mast to structure. Make sure mast is plumb! Very important on a multisatellite dish antenna.

3. Assemble dish antenna, set coordinates, and mount to mast, aiming slightly to the left of 101 WL location (standing behind the dish antenna). Connect SAT1 input to port 1 of LNBF, SAT2 to port 2.

4. Using the aiming screen on your TiVo (the machine has a set up routine. The signal strength meter is several screens into the interactive setup. It will take a few minutes for the TiVo to boot and get to this screen, please be patient!), slowly begin
a sweep of the dish antenna to the right. You are looking for 101 WL. Go Slow, as it takes a second for the info to register on the signal strength meter. Once peaked, go to SAT B (119) and SAT C (110) and check signal strength. Lock antenna down.

5. Your TiVo needs to be connected to a phone line for setup. You will choose a local phone number to dial. If no local number is available, there is an 800 number it can dial. If memory serves, it is listed as a Marketing test number.

6. The interactive setup will also ask you about your OTA. If you do not have off air antenna, there is a choice for this. If you do have one, make sure the antenna is aimed in the correct direction, and is connected to your TiVo. You will select DMA you are in, and an alternate (second) if needed. This will allow the guide to provide info for your local OTA.

6. Call DirecTV and activate service. DirecTV is not completely up to speed on the HD TiVo. They have mine listed in the computer as an SD-DVR 40. You will need to order the HD Package, if you desire it.

7. It will take a few days for the guide to be completely set up. The machine operation should speed up over the 1st few days. Enjoy your service.

I hope that I didn't miss anything. I have installed many SD TiVo's, the only HD one was my own, but other than the OTA, the setup routine seems to be about the same for SD and HD TiVo. Best of Luck.

Al

 

[okaydave]

I am mounting my Triple LNB on a metal pole. Would the OTA attach to the pole? Aslo, can the grounding blocks be mounted on the inside of the house or should they be mounted outside? Someone indicated that there should be 3 RG6s cables ran to the receiver. I know that one will be for the OTA and the other two will be run from the LNB. Why is there two from the LNB?

Thanks

 

[022266]

I would mount the Ground Blocks by your Common ground ( power meter )
TIVO's use 2 lines from the Dish, along with Phone line for updates and such...

std receivers take just 1 line from dish

Ground everything.

 

[bitseeker]

More on Self Install - Problems

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I followed it. I now have 4 RG-6 runs, a new ground rod, and the dish mounted on the mast. The problem is that the only signal I can receive is from Satellite (B) 119-degrees. The lowest signal strength reading for (B) is 84 on both input cables, except for transponders 26 & 28, which were zero (probably turned off).

I get zero signal on Satellites (A) & (C). I tried changing azimuth for (B) to both right and left of optimum, where (B) signal strength was ~ 45, to see if I could pick up any signal from (A) or (C), and got nothing.

I went back through the setup and made sure all the selections matched my hardware, and they did, and I repeated everything with the same results. Next I went to the next step in the process. I got a screen which started,
"Checking the satellite dish setup based on your dish type (Oval, 3 Sat.)... (xx%).
When that test completed, the screen added:
"Multiswitch DiSEqC
Satellites, Sat In 1:
101 (A): Not detected
119 (B): Not detected
110 (C): Not detected
{same results for Sat In 2: --- not shown above}
Warning! A problem was detected."

The next screen displayed,
The Recorder did not detect all of the satellites (specifically 119 (B); 110 (C)) for your selected dish type. Please check:
1. Correct dish type. (It is.)
2. The multiswitch is wired correctly. (I have no way of knowing.)
3. Dish mounted and aimed correctly (Aimed to get Sat. (B))
4. Signal OK for each satellite (Only (B) seemed OK, but the previous test said that (B) was not detected.)

From the above, I deduce:
. My cables are both OK, or I would not be able to receive (B)
. The dish pointed in the correct direction to get (B), but since it seems to be pointed somewhat east of the specified 146-degrees, maybe that (B) is being received by the wrong LNB. Now, I'm thinking this is why the test said satellite (B) was not detected, even though I got good signals from it.

Are there any ideas on what to do next?

Thanks,
bitseeker

 

[Neutron]

Do you have the dish pointed the right way? Did you check your azmuth (sp?) setting?

 

[bitseeker]

When the dish was pointed the "right way" (by compass) I could not receive any satellites. I moved it to each side of the initial azimuth until a signal was received. I could not find a satellite with the initial (A) setting, so switched to (B). The azimuth I found it at was (I'm guessing) 10-degrees to the east of the initial setting. I can't use a compass effectively at the antenna, because its mounted on a massive steel mast. Because of the roof line and the terrain, I cannot see the feed arm from the front to measure the complementary angle. I am sure it is quite a few degrees to the east of what was the recommended angle.

bitseeker

 

[dishjockey]

do you have a clear line of sight to the satellite? no trees etc. in the way?

 

[022266]

did you set your receivers to 3 LNB setting in menu initial setup

What is your zip code? what do you have the the dish set on now
( list the skew # - elevation # and Azimuth # )

also, I noticed you are using a ground rod... did you bond it to the common ground?
( run a #10 Green from Ground Block to Ground Rod, and a #6 bare wire to the common ground) if not your not to NEC Code

 

[bitseeker]

Rob,

Yes, I set it to the 3 LNB, Oval dish setting.

My zip is 96094, and the settings recommended are:
Azimuth - 146 degrees
Elevation - 40 degrees
Tilt - 104 degrees

The bubble is centered in the circle on the plumb indicator.

I did not tie the ground rod to the common (power company) ground at the meter. The two are separated by approximately 300'. I could tie the ground rod to a local outlet's ground wire, but that would certainly not provide the equivalent of a #6 wire back to the common ground. Do you think this could be related to the inability to get sats (A) & (C)?

bitseeker

 

[texasdiver]

Although I'm not an expert on this, I doubt that grounding has anything to do with your lack of abiliy to pull in sats. The two installers I have had out here did not even install grounds, a problem that I have since remedied. But the signal was fine.

When I set up my triple dish I got good signal the first try by very carefully getting all the settings just right the first time. As someone else mentioned, starting with a plumb mast is crucial because if you mast isn't plumb you will be unable to adjust azimuth or elevation separately and they will be off from the scale on the mount.

My problem was that I had tree limbs blocking the right side of the 119 signal so I was only getting some of the 119 transponders and not all of them. I finally cut down some branches and now it works fine.

another thing to check would be all of your coax. How certain are you that all of your F-connections are solid and that you don't have any crushed or damaged cables. I ran fresh coax when I installed my dish and was pretty fussy about all the connections. I bought the pro-style crimping and stripping tools at Home Depot and they were worth it to get the job done right. You also want to buy good F-connectors and I would get the all-weather ones with the rubber gaskets inside for all your exterior connections.

 

[Neutron]

I have heard of some people having to call Directv to get the correct elevation and azimuth settings because the pointing utility in the receiver was way off.

 

[texasdiver]

bitseeker:

In case you haven't figured it out already. Your receiver has two separate tuners so you can watch/record two separate channels at the same time. That's why you need the 2 sat coax leads from the antenna to your reciever. You need the third for your OTA antenna. Both tuners in your receiver share the same OTA antenna signal. You do not need any more coax leads unless you plan to run additional TVs with additional receivers. If not, then you'll leave the two extra coax ports on the LNB empty.

As for setting the azimuth. If you can't get your compass close to the mount because of metallic interference then take a wood straight edge a few ft long and tape your compass to it and then line the wood straight edge up against the side of your mount to get a proper azimuth reading. You'll need to have the compass level to get a good reading if it is a mechanical compass and not a digital one.

 

[bitseeker]

Hi Texasdiver & Neutron,

Thanks for the ideas.

I do have a plumb mast if the included bubble is correct. I'll verify with a machinists level.

I doubt that tree limbs are blocking the view. The dish is ~ 20' high, and the closest tree ~ 60' is 200' distant, and on lower ground, so given the 40-degree elevation angle, I think it would take some monster tree to be blocking the view.

Regarding the coax. It's new CommScope F660BVV (RG-6). Most of the run inside the attic is through conduit with nothing else in it, and it was an easy pull, so I'm sure there was no damage to the cables (4). F-connections are solid; I bought the industrial crimping tool at Radio Shack. I covered the outside connectors with StarBrite liquid tape. Anyway, I'm only using two of the cables, and the tests for the (B) satellite that I did get transponders for showed a high of 92, and a low of 84 for both of those cables. I do not know what to expect, but to me, that proved that there is no major problem on the cables or connectors I'm using. The other two cables are connected to the multiswitch at the LNB, and I just checked the unterminated ends of those for possible connection between shield and center, and they are fine.

I will contact DirecTV and give them my Lat/Lon to see if I can get another set of aiming parameters. Thanks for that idea.

bitseeker

 

[texasdiver]

bitseeker:

The bubble level in the mast is just stuck in there by friction and pops right out. You might want to make sure that it is properly seated on the top of the mast and not crooked.

Since you have extra coax leads, you might try swapping coax cables around and see if it works using different cables.

Also, you didn't mention how far your coax run is. The DirecTV instal guide says not to go longer than 100'.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

 

[texasdiver]

If you're still looking for ideas, you could take the whole dish apart and re-assemble it just to make sure there was nothing crooked or skewed the first time you put it together. And then go through the placement and aiming again.

I've also noticed that sometimes when I re-run the setup a 2nd time without even touching my dish it picks up the sats on the 2nd try when it didn't see them the first try.

 

[bitseeker]

The suggestion to call DirecTV is proving VERY frustrating. I first talked to someone who said I had to telephone the National Rural Telecommunications System (or some such). I said all I wanted was aiming assistance and he refused, I asked for elevation, and got Myrah, a "Resolution Specialist" She asked the same questions over and over, and did not seem to remember I'd answered them before. I finally asked if the process would finally give me pointing azimuth, elevation, and tilt. She said no. I asked to be transferred to the technical department and she agreed. I was then cut off.
I have dialed back in, and am again in stage one, this time, with someone who does seem to understand the limited nature of my request, but who does not know to whom to transfer the request. Currently holding. I will try to map this path for others who may need this information.

bitseeker