Someone please help me point the stupid dish.

[Chuteboxe39]

Man I've been having a hell of a time trying to re-align my dish on my own. I just moved up into the mountains, 10,500 feet to be exact in Breckenridge, CO. I bought a generic satellite finder at a radio shack. All it says on the back is freq: 950-2050 MHz. I've been trying to get this thing pointed right for hours and can't seem to get it right. Cable from dish to LNB, receiver to the other end. Adjust the dish as instructed, but can only seem to get it down to -2 'dbu' on the knob. Anything below that (goes to -6) I get nothing. No noise. And the point dish screen indicates no signal whatsoever. What the hell am I doing wrong?

A couple things, the dish is mounted on a movable wooden table. And I'm high, 10,500 feet, don't know if that might affect things. Any help would greatly be appreciated, otherwise I'm gonna have to wait for someone to come out here and do it for me. very annoying.

Edit: btw, on DISH 500, trying to aim at either satellite 110 or 119. On point dish screen it says Azimuth 181, Elevation 43, Skew 100.

 

[Pepper]

Let's see here. At sea level the satellite is a minimum of 116 million feet away. 10000 feet closer or farther away isn't going to make any discernable difference at all.

Forget trying to use the satellite finder meter thingie. Carry the receiver and TV outside if you can or get them positioned where you can see the screen from where the dish is.

Adjust the dish to the settings for your zipcode as a starting point. Then pick a known good transponder on 119 and start moving the thing. Slow is the key, it will take a few seconds after any adjustment for the receiver to detect signal if it's there. Left to right in the general area where you think it should be, adjust elevation + or - a degree or so, repeat as necessary till you get something.

One other thing. Are there trees or other obstructions such as mountains, in the direction and angle you're pointing that thing? Chainsaw, or large amount of explosives and earth moving equipment, might be necessary.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Your mount must also be completely level. That means the mast has to be level on top and on the side. Use a level to test it. If is not , you will not be able to see the satellites, no matter how you aim it.

I spent last Thursday , Friday and Saturday trying to install and aim a 1000.2 sat dish for my Aunt in Arkansas. She has trees all around her house and she lives near a mountain. Ota reception is non existent now after the digital transition. I had to install the mounting arm to the existing bracket and I had hell trying to get the mounting arm level. Finally found the proper screws and it stopped moving.

Once the mounting arm was level I got all 3 sats in the matrix. Then the fun began because they were all very low in signal. The elevation for the zipcode according to the install manual was 41. The actual elevation for the dish to pick any of the sats was 45. I checked the neighbor down the road and they had that elevation and the same skew and NO TREES around their house. Their signal strengths were in the 70's and 80's on all 3 sats; 110/119/129. The best I got was 60's & 70's on the 110 sat . Between the 50's & 60's on 129 and the 119 sat was the weakest at 40s to 50s. She had two tall trees right in front of the dish on the hill. I couldn't move the dish to another place , because my aunt didn't want it moved.

But the point in telling this story was that if the mounting arm is not level and the surface you are mounting it to is not level, you will have problems getting the sats in the matrix. Also elevation isn't always what they say it is in the manual. I used a cheap $20.00 meter to peak my dish and I used it to find the proper elevation.

 

[SQUEEZON]

How about trying a hand held compass? I set up all my dishes by myself in 94 using a compass from a crackerjack box!

 

[SQUEEZON]

P.S--Years later installers indicated it was right on the money!

 

[whatchel1]

great

P.S--Years later installers indicated it was right on the money!

And you got crackerjacks to eat too.

 

[Mongo53]

I've never pointed a dish, so take this with a grain of salt, BUT what I've done to access a good spot to place my dish:

Gone to Satellite azimuth and elevation info website, one that uses google earth satellite pictures. It draws the azimuth over the picture and lets you drag the origin around to where your dish is located on the property. I then expanded out the satellite picture and looked for a prominant landmark that line was drawn over. I go outside and stand in the same spot and check elevation lined up with the prominant landmark I selected from the website.

In short, use the website to find a land mark your dish should be pointed at, go outside and point your dish at that landmark (azimuth wise, of course, keep elevation at the proper angle).

If I end up having to point my dish, when I get to that step, I'll use this method, plus verify it with a compass.

 

[busdriver72]

10,500ft? Heck, just get a ladder and hook up directly to the satellite itself!

 

[papalittle]

Buy a cheap meter from Radio Shack, Make sure your skew is set right, mast is plumb, elevation set then align dish with meter. Simplest way.

 

[winklerp796]

I have my dish level but when I ck switrch I have everyrthing but 110 even
I have dish 500. What is up ?

 

[MikeD-C05]

IF you peak it on the strongest signal on the 119 sat and your skew is set properly for your area, the 110 sat should be there. Unless you are using 2 legacy style single lnbs. Then you would need the dp21 switch to plug both the lines from each lnb into and from there the single coax to your receiver. Otherwise you would only get either 110 or 119 depending on what coax is run to the receiver. DISH PRO PLUS TWIN lnbs don't require this switch . Also the mast for the dish must be level on top and on the side at 90 degree angle, using a level to test it, before you put the dish on the mast. This can cause you to also not get all the sats.

 

[elTiTANio]

....

One other thing. Are there trees or other obstructions such as mountains, in the direction and angle you're pointing that thing? Chainsaw, or large amount of explosives and earth moving equipment, might be necessary.