Spotbeam Coverage for Local HD-Help

[Gordon Shumway]

We live in Virginia where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay, and are in the Richmond, VA tv market We had HD installed two years ago, and the local HD signals we receive on the 61.5 sat are consistently around 20 on the signal meter. Whenever there is even a threat of rain, we lose HD and have to switch over to SD for locals. The SD locals don't suffer any rain fade unless there is a hurricane. The other (CONUS beam) signals on 61.5 are consistently above 50.

Thanks to this site, I was able to get a handle on the spotbeam coverage from the 61.5 satellite, and we are outside the area of the spotbeam, which might explain why the signals are so low and we keep losing the local HD signal. We can't get the 129 satellite due to trees, so we are stuck with 61.5. We have a Dish 500 pointed at 110/119 and a remote second Dish 500 pointed at 61.5.

Does anyone know if there is any plan to move the Richmond local HD to another spotbeam or another satellite? What else can we do to improve our situation? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

I am attempting to insert the spotbeam coverage map with a red dot where we are located. I hope this works since I have never tried this before. If this doesn't work, we are at the very top of the map at:
SatelliteGuys.US - Subscription 61.5°W

 

[boba]

Few people know what DISH is going to do until they do it. Based on current situation you have 2 options, #1 setup an OTA antenna and eliminate the dependence on DISH for the local signals. #2 use a larger dish to capture more signal 30-36" should help somewhat.

 

[digiblur]

Actually you would be in the beam as the maps on TheList are based on the original FCC filing of the satellite before it was owned by Dish. Dish has since reconfigured the orientation of the satellite causing the beams to move Northeast.

What transponders are you getting 20 on? What signals are you getting on CONUS transponders on 61.5?

 

[Gordon Shumway]

I am getting the following on 61.5:

Transponder Signal Strength
1 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 21
2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 53
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 65
6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)
7 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 26
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
9 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 66
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
11 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 66
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)
13 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 56
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
15 (Changes name to Spotbeam) 57
16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 (Locked-Name not acquired)
24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)
27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 (Locked-Name not acquired)
29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (Not locked-Name not acquired)

Don't know what all that means, but I believe that our local HD is on TP1 Spotbeam 5.

 

[Voyager6]

Your signals aren't too bad but are a little low. What dish/dishes are you using? I included the signal readings that I took yesterday for 61.5 I am about 100 miles north of you.

61.5 SS 7/21/2010 3:30PM
Partly cloudy skies
Dish 500 single LNBF with I-adapter
VIP 622

tp 01 8 spotbeam
tp 02 47
tp 03 0
tp 04 61
tp 05 62 spotbeam
tp 06 0
tp 07 0
tp 08 57
tp 09 71 spotbeam
tp 10 50
tp 11 070 spotbeam
tp 12 0
tp 13 60 spotbeam
tp 14 70
tp 15 0
tp 16 0
tp 17 0
tp 18 0
tp 19 45
tp 20 47
tp 21 44
tp 22 50
tp 23 0
tp 24 57
tp 25 53
tp 26 0
tp 27 48
tp 28 0
tp 29 58
tp 30 52
tp 31 50
tp 32 0

 

[Gordon Shumway]

I have two dishes, both are 500s. One at the house on a pole with a dual DP Plus type LNB which is pointed at the 110/119 sats. I have another one one 200 feet away (to get a view of 61.5) with a single Dish Pro LNBF. That coax connects back to the dish on the pole.

At first I thought that the line loss from the remote antenna was attenuating the signal too much, so I tried a line amplifier which did nothing to change the signal levels. That's what led me to look into the antenna patterns. I might need a far larger dish remotely to get a better local HD signal from 61.5.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

boba:

Thanks for the thoughts. I would love to get HD locals over the air, but we are 75 miles from Washington, D.C., and 70 miles from Richmond. With clear LOS and no obstructions it would be difficult. Maybe a bigger dish. I'll see what the rest of the forum thinks before I dive into that pond.

 

[Voyager6]

Your setup is out of date. You need to get setup on the Eastern Arc (sats 61.5/72.7/77). You are missing a lot of the new HD channels. At a minimum, you need to add 72.7 to your 61.5 dish. To solve you immediate problem, your 61.5 dish needs to be repeaked. Call E* and tell them your dish needs to be repeaked and ask why you aren't receiving the new HD channels. Try and get E* to give you a 1000.4 dish.

 

[TheKrell]

You also might try "moving" to the Washington DC DMA. Spot might be much stronger at your location.

 

[Voyager6]

You also might try "moving" to the Washington DC DMA. Spot might be much stronger at your location.

DC HD locals are on 61.5 TP5 SB 4 which would have a much better footprint than SB5 SatelliteGuys.US - Subscription 61.5°W

 

[Gordon Shumway]

How do I "move" to the DC DMA? When I first put the dish in here, we had DC locals, then we got a notice that we were moved to the Richmond locals, apparently based on our location. We are one mile from the Maryland line, which gets DC and the next county over gets DC as its locals. What do we need to do? All I really want is a solid local HD signal, but of course, I would prefer the DC locals.

 

[cptcave]

I have two dishes, both are 500s. One at the house on a pole with a dual DP Plus type LNB which is pointed at the 110/119 sats. I have another one one 200 feet away (to get a view of 61.5) with a single Dish Pro LNBF. That coax connects back to the dish on the pole.

At first I thought that the line loss from the remote antenna was attenuating the signal too much, so I tried a line amplifier which did nothing to change the signal levels. That's what led me to look into the antenna patterns. I might need a far larger dish remotely to get a better local HD signal from 61.5.

I think that 200 feet between your dpp and dual is way too far. You could try a re peak but I think you will still have problems. Someone mentioned changing to a 1000.4. That might help, but I think it will still be too far.

 

[blts]

How do I "move" to the DC DMA? When I first put the dish in here, we had DC locals, then we got a notice that we were moved to the Richmond locals, apparently based on our location. We are one mile from the Maryland line, which gets DC and the next county over gets DC as its locals. What do we need to do? All I really want is a solid local HD signal, but of course, I would prefer the DC locals.

To "move" you have to change your address to one in the DC DMA. You could use a friend or relative's address in the DC dma. When you tell Dish of your change of address just tell them to leave your billing address the same. I moved over 12 years ago without any problems. If you need a service call in the future you just have to "move" back for a week or so.