Signal strength for 110, 119 new installation

[WhitePolarBear]

I got my Dish 500 with 322 receiver on 10/19/2007. At the time of installation, the technician showed me I had 100% at both satellites. A couple weeks later, I notice 119 is usually in the 70 range, while 110 is usually in the mid 50s to 60 range. The help on the receiver said there was a software update so the signal strength appears lower. I don't know if the software update happened since my Dish was installed? Is this a real problem (like the dish moved)?

2nd question - I noticed in certain channels and particularly for fast moving scenes, there is light pixelation (light but can be noticed). Is that an indication of poor signal? The online help at Dishnetwork didn't help me. He said to call back if the signal go below 40.

 

[KE4EST]

Go see what you are getting on Trasponer 11 and 19 on Sat 119. Some transponers are weaker than others or are spot beams.

Also to Satelliteguys!!

 

[Sileny Jizda]

I had a similar situation after our installation. No idea why it was considering that the dish is pointed at wide open sky. I started to exchange cables that were made by the installer and boom the signal jumped from 50-55 on 110/119 up to 75-80. Now I'm looking at barrel connectors. I've read here that you need 3.0 ghz blue center type and can't find them anywhere locally including the Dish Retailer in my town. They said they never heard of such a thing. None to be found at Lowes either. Looked to purchase them Dish Store form the link above and got an invalid certificate.

Bottom line I'd suggest looking at the cables in the back of the receiver. It's easy and you can do that much yourself.

 

[mdwatt]

In the last couple months there has been sotware changes that causes the signal meter to "appear" as though the signal is low. The drop you are experiencing doesn't sound too far out of line. Mid to low 70s on 119 and mid 50s to mid 60s on 110 is normal. If you're getting pixelation however, then that is the sign of SOME kind of problem SOME-where. If it continues, then you may want to have it checked out.

 

[IIP]

The pixelation described is normal compression artifacts, due to the digital signal being compressed to a fairly low bandwidth signal via MPEG2. In order to cram 10-12 channels onto a single transponder, the bandwidth for each channel is limited. When there is lots of fast motion (sports, racing) or when virtually every pixel on the screen changes from frame to frame (movie scenes with fog, disco lights, or rain), the signal can't be squeezed into the available bandwidth without the MPEG2 encoder causing compression artifacts. Even DVDs, which have more bandwidth available, has these problems during very difficult scenes.

Signal loss creates picture breakups, even during still scenes, along with audio loss. You'd know if you had signal loss; there's no comparison.

The updated software seems to knock about 35 points off the signal strength meter's reading, though the signal itself hasn't changed. This can be verified with a good signal meter or a non-updated receiver, but most customers have no access to these. That's the purpose of the notice included on the signal strength screen that indicates that the meter has been changed: so that people don't freak out about the lower displayed strength.

 

[FitzAusTex]

Yeah, even though the meter on the screen now reads some 30 points below where it used to with this new software, the 'tone' that accompanies the signal reading didnt change. the higher the pitch of the tone, the better the signal. so if you were familiar with the tones, you can tell that if you're still getting a good, bad, or mediocre signal from the tone (and also the red/yellow/green color of the reading)

 

[WhitePolarBear]

The pixelation I described was only obviously in scene changing or fast moving scenes. That is consistent with the compression artifact argument. poor signal (according to my experience with digital cable). have a different type of pixelation. The serverity of compression artifacts are also different from channels to channels. I guess they are not being treated "equally"

The pixelation described is normal compression artifacts, due to the digital signal being compressed to a fairly low bandwidth signal via MPEG2. In order to cram 10-12 channels onto a single transponder, the bandwidth for each channel is limited. When there is lots of fast motion (sports, racing) or when virtually every pixel on the screen changes from frame to frame (movie scenes with fog, disco lights, or rain), the signal can't be squeezed into the available bandwidth without the MPEG2 encoder causing compression artifacts. Even DVDs, which have more bandwidth available, has these problems during very difficult scenes.

Signal loss creates picture breakups, even during still scenes, along with audio loss. You'd know if you had signal loss; there's no comparison.

The updated software seems to knock about 35 points off the signal strength meter's reading, though the signal itself hasn't changed. This can be verified with a good signal meter or a non-updated receiver, but most customers have no access to these. That's the purpose of the notice included on the signal strength screen that indicates that the meter has been changed: so that people don't freak out about the lower displayed strength.