Upgraded to HD. Question about dish and signal strength.

[dthrnk]

Just upgraded to HD with VIP222k receiver. The installer said the only dish he had was dented, so he wanted the o.k. to install a second dish 500 pointed to the east, which he said would be better for HD because that was the satellite that had the HD channels and that the signal strength would be better and I would have fewer signal disruptions. The second dish is facing east, but when I checked the "Point Dish" page and the HD side satellite is 61.5 West with signal strength varying from 50 to 51. The SD side satellite is 119 West with signal strength varying from 71 to 72. I was getting signal strength of 111 before the upgrade.
So, not seeing East on the "Point Dish" screen, and not getting a higher signal strength, I'm wondering if the installer represented the facts correctly and if this is a proper install, or do I need to contact Dish to have something corrected? Thanks for the help.

 

[harshness]

The scale changed some time ago. Readings much above 80 are probably not ever going to happen again.

The signal levels you get depend a lot on where you're located but readings in the 50's are typically good enough.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

Just upgraded to HD with VIP222k receiver. The installer said the only dish he had was dented, so he wanted the o.k. to install a second dish 500 pointed to the east, which he said would be better for HD because that was the satellite that had the HD channels and that the signal strength would be better and I would have fewer signal disruptions. The second dish is facing east, but when I checked the "Point Dish" page and the HD side satellite is 61.5 West with signal strength varying from 50 to 51. The SD side satellite is 119 West with signal strength varying from 71 to 72. I was getting signal strength of 111 before the upgrade.
So, not seeing East on the "Point Dish" screen, and not getting a higher signal strength, I'm wondering if the installer represented the facts correctly and if this is a proper install, or do I need to contact Dish to have something corrected? Thanks for the help.

Basically, add 35 to 40 points to the current scale to compare with what it used to be. I think your numbers are pretty good.

 

[dthrnk]

Just upgraded to HD with VIP222k receiver. The installer said the only dish he had was dented, so he wanted the o.k. to install a second dish 500 pointed to the east, which he said would be better for HD because that was the satellite that had the HD channels and that the signal strength would be better and I would have fewer signal disruptions. The second dish is facing east, but when I checked the "Point Dish" page and the HD side satellite is 61.5 West with signal strength varying from 50 to 51. The SD side satellite is 119 West with signal strength varying from 71 to 72. I was getting signal strength of 111 before the upgrade.
So, not seeing East on the "Point Dish" screen, and not getting a higher signal strength, I'm wondering if the installer represented the facts correctly and if this is a proper install, or do I need to contact Dish to have something corrected? Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the help on the signal strength. Is there anything peculiar about the "Point Dish" screen listing 61.5 West? If the dish is facing east, shouldn't the "Point Dish" screen be 61.5 East?

 

[Jim S.]

No. 61.5 West is the longitude that the satellite is stationed at. If you want to know what direction the satellite is in from your location, look at the azimuth on the point dish screen. Also, if the dish wasn't pointed within a degree or so of the satellite, you'd be getting no signal at all.