STL Locals

[bugman72]

A friend just "moved" from Jefferson City, MO (65101) to St. Louis (63108) to get the local HDs out of the STL area. He has a Dish 1000 pointed at 110, 119, and 129. He checked to see if his dish could get the satellite that is sending the signal (118) by changing the satellite at the Point Dish menu. On Transponder 2, he's getting a 75-77 signal strength, but it says wrong satellite. We figured that this meant that he was able to get the signal from the 118 satellite, but that we needed to "move" his service over to the new address in order to get the satellite to lock.

He called and got everything switched, but so far the locals haven't showed up. He's gone in and done a "check switch" but the 118 doesn't show up. Does he need another satellite or 4th LNB in order to get the satellite to lock?

 

[garys]

You need a different lnb in order to get 118, it is just next to 119 and both are received by the larger lnb. If the screen states 'Wrong Satellite' it means the meter is displaying signal strength for a location but not the location you are asking it too. I believe a dish 1000+ is what your friend needs to accomplish getting St. Louis. Someone here will correct me if I am wrong.

 

[bugman72]

What is the difference between the 1000 and the 1000+? Can you add an additional LNB to the 1000? I know (and this probably doesn't make any difference) that when I go do a check switch on my satellite (same town, VIP211, Dish 1000) it shows the same three satellites as well as an "N/A" or something like that on a 4th port. Now, does that mean that I actually have a 1000+ but no LNB installed or not connected to the switch?


***EDIT***

After thinking about it a bit, I do distinctly remember my installer saying that I had a 1000.2 dish. Is this the same as the 1000+ or is it just a fancy name for the standard 1000?

 

[DSpud]

You will need the 1000+LNB. You should be able to purchase this LNB and mount it on your dish fairly easily. You also need to insure you have a DPP44 switch. I would contact Dishstore.net and they will be able to price what you need. Make sure ou friend doesn't give up, spend the little extra coin. WORTH IT! I have STL locals in HD also.

 

[bugman72]

So I can just buy the 1000+ LNB and mount it to the arm of my 1000? How do I verify that I have the DPP44 switch? Will this show up in the system info page? Would having the 4th port showing up on the check switch without info available be an indicator that I have the DPP44?

I just went to Dishstore.net and they didn't show the LNB that I needed, so I have just sent them an email explaining what I am wanting to do. We'll see what the reply is.

Anyone else have any ideas or have done the modifications on a 1000.2 in order to get the 118.7 satellite? I guess the next option is to "move" to the KC market area where the locals are sent via the 129 satellite. It would be nice though to see the Cards and Rams (well maybe not THIS season) play.

 

[DSpud]

Ha, no kidding, the HD made the Green Bay - STL game last weekend look GOOD!!! From what I can remember you will have to take one LNB off and put the new one on. It is slightly larger and looks different than the other ones. It looks a lot like the one on Dishstore.net for the 121 - 118 conversion kit.

Also, do you know what a switch is? I am sure someone on here will chime in as I don't know what kind of switch the regular dish 1000 uses. It might be the same, I do not know. If you want to look for the switch, it will be a silver metal box. The cables from the dish will go into it, and the cables coming from it will go to your recievers.

 

[bugman72]

I wasn't sure whether I could do that, even though that was what I was wanting to do. So I theoretically should be able to take the 119 LNB off and replace it with the 119/118 LNB and be good to go, right?

I'm familiar with a switch. Problem is, I can't look at the physical switch...it's on the back of our satellite that just happens to be about 30' in the air on the side of our 2-story house. I'd prefer to not go up a ladder unless I'm going to actually do something physical like swapping out LNBs.

This wouldn't work, would it?

Maxx Electronics Corp. :: LNBs :: Ku Twin LNB 118.7/119 Special

The only potential issue I see is that the 1000.2 has the integraded LNB head. I don't know if I can break it up to replace the 119 LNB.

 

[DSpud]

I just when to Point Dish and clicked on check switch. On that screen It states that my switch is DPP44 w/Separator (The separator on the back of the 722.) So I would assume your switch type will also be listed there.

From what I have read on here, all you will have to do is replace the LNB and run a fourth cable (for the fourth bird you are pointing too) to the switch. Thats why you have to make sure you have the DPP44, as it has 4 ports available for satellite feeds. The DPP44 will also have a power adapter (or should have). this will simply be a power box behind your tv (most likely) that the cable runs into. This just powers the switch.

 

[bugman72]

I'll check this evening once I get home...thank for doing the legwork to verify that I can tell the switch type. I'm really thinking that I have a DPP44 since my check switch screen shows a 4th port with no information (which is shouldn't have since I only have 3 LNBs).

I'll have to take a close look at my friend's dish, since his in on a pole in his back yard. I'll study the 1000 head to see if I can take the 119 out and replace it with a 119/118.7 easily.

Does anyone know if the LNB that I have linked will work?

 

[llzel]

nothing on 118 but STL locals, so get OTA antenna and a couple of diplexers, then add locals in Vip211 and you're good to go. STL locals will be on EPG

 

[garys]

nothing on 118 but STL locals, so get OTA antenna and a couple of diplexers, then add locals in Vip211 and you're good to go. STL locals will be on EPG

Except OP's friend just "moved" to St. Louis.

 

[DSpud]

I was going to say, I don't think he can recieve STL locals OTA from Jefferson City.....

 

[bugman72]

Very correct. We'd have to have a helluva an OTA antenna to get signal from 95+ miles away. We both get our true locals via OTA right now. The big issue is that our Fox station has been struggling with the FCC for the past year and a half trying to get licensure. They are a very low powered station and because of this, the FCC has a whole new bunch of hoops that the station must jump through to obtain licensure. If our area has Fox in HD in the next 12 months, there will be a LOT of surprised folks, including people at the FCC.

Does anyone have any documentation or links to do the conversion from the integrated 119 LNB of the 1000 to a 119/118.7 LNB. I've been doing a lot of searching on this forum and haven't found anything as of yet.

 

[reseman5]

Very correct. We'd have to have a helluva an OTA antenna to get signal from 95+ miles away. We both get our true locals via OTA right now. The big issue is that our Fox station has been struggling with the FCC for the past year and a half trying to get licensure. They are a very low powered station and because of this, the FCC has a whole new bunch of hoops that the station must jump through to obtain licensure. If our area has Fox in HD in the next 12 months, there will be a LOT of surprised folks, including people at the FCC.

Does anyone have any documentation or links to do the conversion from the integrated 119 LNB of the 1000 to a 119/118.7 LNB. I've been doing a lot of searching on this forum and haven't found anything as of yet.

Have you had any luck yet? I'm playing around w/ this same idea and trying to decide whether to "move" to KC or STL. I'm going to check out my equipment today, but during your process, please keep me posted.

 

[bugman72]

Well, we've had some luck...but not with the STL stations. I haven't found ANYTHING explaining how to swap a 119/118.7 LNB for the 119 on a 1000.2. Until I come across some documentation, I've decided to go another direction. My friend decided to just stay with our locals and hope that our Fox station gets approval before the Rams next season.

I called Dish and changed my service to an address in Chicago, since they offered a lot of SD channels. They did the switchover with no issues...well maybe just a couple. I didn't realize this, but some of the SD locals are sent via a Spotbeam, so my dish was unable to lock into them. That was my only reason for going with Chicago over KC. So, I called them back yesterday and gave them another address, this time one in KC. All things go and I can get all of the channels without any issue.

I imagine if you lived a bit closer to Chicago than I do, you might be able to pull in the SDs that are on the Spotbeam. Otherwise, if you live in central Missouri or closer to KC, then your better choice would probably be to go with their HD locals.

 

[tscotty]

I moved from Jeff City to St. Charles back in September but were not Dish customers in Jeff City because we had mediacom. (just used them for the 15Mbs internet). How much would it cost from Dish to upgrade your dish to the 1000+ with 4 LNBs so that you can get HD locals? Just curious.

 

[DSpud]

Bugman, did anyone from the dishstore ever write you back? I am very surprised if not because I have heard Claude is very helpful in these matters.

 

[BobaBird]

What is the difference between the 1000 and the 1000+? Can you add an additional LNB to the 1000?

See EKB: Dish Types for see the differences and links to more details. The 1000 and 1000.2 are not large enough to pick up 118.75°.

This wouldn't work, would it?

Maxx Electronics Corp. :: LNBs :: Ku Twin LNB 118.7/119 Special

The only potential issue I see is that the 1000.2 has the integraded LNB head. I don't know if I can break it up to replace the 119 LNB.

Not much detail in the description, but it appears to be a legacy LNB, meaning it can't be used with DP or DPP switches.

 

[DSS™ Troll]

Want to save some money? Have your friend buy an old SuperDish (type 1 - metal) from craigslist or a yard sale or somewhere cheap. Those dishes are 33 inches. Then if you can pick that up cheap enough, spend some cash on the dish 1000+ repoint kit. It should be cheaper overall than buying a new dish 1000+ sat-dish set up and get you a stronger signal.