Slimline Setup....This might be interesting!

[arlan]

Hi All,

Let me start out with I have dishnetwork and two dishes for my hdtv. Have aimed my little 18 dish on my rv about 1,000 + times so I am wonder about the problem across the street from me.

But, my neighbor has direct and has a Slimline on his roof. A professional installer came out 2 different days and could not get it going. He said he needed a $500 meter and couldn't aford it.

I installed a 3 lnb for him a couple of years ago and I remember it being a bit more difficult than my dishnetwork stuff.

Anyway, a second installer (with a meter) came out 2 times and could not get it going.

Today I walked out and saw my neighbor up on the roof. He is not really the do-it-yourself kind of guy, so I went over to see if I could help. I get up on the roof and he has this big box meter with a cable in and a cable out. I asked if he bought the $500 meter and he said not quite that much. I Can't remember the name on it right off hand but it's the good one.

I got my first good look at the dish up close and personal and noticed the fine tuning stuff I have been turning up in my searches on aiming this monster.

So, heres what we have. I got the meter telling me I had 98% on 101 and 100% on 119. The receiver say's we have, or had signal from 4 of the 5 satellites. The progress goes to 25% then stops after about 5 minutes of being at 25% it says aquiring guide, once we got a guide and limited programing but it got lost. I hear talk about H-9, H-10 HR-20???? Are those recievers??? Does it take a special receiver to work with this new dish???

I am not sure about determining how much tilt (if that is the correct term) is necessary. I assume it is important. I told me he had it set.


Does anyone have any words of wisdom about aimming this monster. Remember now, he already called the pro installers twice.

Thanks

Frustrated in Arizona

 

[Jimbo]

Here is a video showing how it's done if your into that kind of thing.
In reality, D* should be doing this and I NEVER would have bought a meter (probably a Birdog) when D* is suppose to be responsible for it.
I set up dishes from time to time and still don't own one because I don't do them enough to justify it.

DIRECTV AU9 SLIMLINE Ku  Ka Dish MPEG4

Jimbo

 

[charper1]

Monster? I had mine up and running within 20 mins without a signal meter. And what the hell is a professional install contractor doing hiring bums without gear or providing them with the tools? Jack asses.

 

[Stargazer]

That's pretty bad when two technicians come out and neither one of them can get the signal in. I'd be demanding someone from a different area/branch come out and perform the service work and something extra for your delay and hassle.

 

[Dog6869]

Call D right now and tell them about your nightmares with the 2 installers.. You should get over $200.00 bucks off your bill.

 

[Sadoun]

Arlan

The DirecTV receiver will give you the angles you need to setup the dish for your zip code.

Make sure the mast is plump (vertical). If not, the angles will be off and you won't be able to align all the birds.

Adjust the dish angles to match the angles proposed by the receiver. Slowly adjust the Azimuth to obtain a maximum signal

Good luck

 

[stogie5150]

Arlan

The DirecTV receiver will give you the angles you need to setup the dish for your zip code.

Make sure the mast is plump (vertical). If not, the angles will be off and you won't be able to align all the birds.

Adjust the dish angles to match the angles proposed by the receiver. Slowly adjust the Azimuth to obtain a maximum signal

Good luck

I agree with Sadoun. I would bet a dime-to-a-donut that the mast on that dish isn't plumb. The slimline is VERY sensitive to mast variations. I had to reaim mine twice due to wind blowing it around, not realizing until later that the reason the wind was blowing it around was that the lockdown bolts for the monopoles were missing.

If you have one of the new HD receivers H20/Hr20/Hr21 you should be able to aim it with that, a tv, and a lot of patience. I used the instructions on solidsignal.com to aim mine, and it always worked.

But, in the end, this is really D*'s problem. I'd be standing on their hands until somebody got out there to fix it. I re-aimed mine myself because they wanted 75.00 to come out and do it, plus I am a DIY kinda guy.

 

[jcrandall]

HEY - it sounds like you had it when you had 4 of 5 sats. The 99 satellite isn't in the sky yet, it launches this summer. Right now, it only has some spotbeams, and if you're not in a local market that uses one of those spotbeams, you won't get anything on 99.

Aim and peak 101. Then fine tune using 119. After that check your 103c (conus) and if you have 80+ on most transponders you are good to go

 

[charper1]

There will be a 99 A&B and a 103 A&B. 99 DOES have one bird currently there (Spaceway2); just not both yet. Its just that not everyone will need to access it (DMA based). BUT both the 99 and 103 orbital locations ARE occupied and SOME DMAs WILL see it right now and some will not, so to say 99 has nothing up there right now is a bit misleading (especially to those seeking installs/install help in the DMAs that do see it).

99.2°w Spaceway 2 (Current)
99.2°w DirecTV 11 (TBD - March or Spring '08 Launch)
102.8°w Spaceway 1 (Current)
102.8°w DirecTV 10 (Current)

 

[whoop]

I am a full time RV'er with a DTV Slimline dish on a tripod....I usually have it up and running in less than 10 minutes. Wouldn't trade it for anything. Works great for me.

 

[jcrandall]

I am a full time RV'er with a DTV Slimline dish on a tripod....I usually have it up and running in less than 10 minutes. Wouldn't trade it for anything. Works great for me.

Welcome to the site, and BTW, that is impressive for a 5 sat setup - 10 mintues

 

[Jimbo]

Welcome to the site, and BTW, that is impressive for a 5 sat setup - 10 mintues

Once you get the hang of it, thats about right.
The ones I have done didn't take any longer.
Took longer to run the cable than it did to mount and point.

Jimbo