I was wondering what I can get Dish to do about my reception problems on 129. I watch the HD channels 90% of the time, the rest of the time I watch OTA broadcasts. Atleast once per hour on any of the HD channels, my picture goes to blocks and jitters, etc. I notice it most with the DVR HD programs. The video will just skip. Its really substandard. I have had a tech out once for the check switch showing a red X for 129, it doesn't do that anymore, but the quality is still poor. I am in the Bay Area in California. HELP!
what can I get Dish to do about 129?
- Thread starter phillycreamboy
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Have a read through this troubles with 129 thread. It not only summarizes "the troubles with 129", several people posted their solutions to those troubles.
These basically boil down to....
1 -- Carefully aligning a single Dish 1000 to optimize signal, paying particular attention to the signal level on Satellite 129, Transponders 20 & 22 (i.e. the weak ones). FWIW this worked for me
or
2 - Have Dish install a dedicated dish (e.g. Dish 500) for just 129.
or
3 - Use 61.5 for HD instead of 129 as long as you don't need any local HD channels that are on 129. AFAIK this requires at least 2 'dishes'.
Good Luck,
Talon Dancer
These basically boil down to....
1 -- Carefully aligning a single Dish 1000 to optimize signal, paying particular attention to the signal level on Satellite 129, Transponders 20 & 22 (i.e. the weak ones). FWIW this worked for me
or
2 - Have Dish install a dedicated dish (e.g. Dish 500) for just 129.
or
3 - Use 61.5 for HD instead of 129 as long as you don't need any local HD channels that are on 129. AFAIK this requires at least 2 'dishes'.
Good Luck,
Talon Dancer
When you re-peak for 129 with a D1000 on TPs 20 & 22, how much did you lose off of 110/119? Thanks.
NONE! In fact the signal on both 110 & 119 improved from roughly 80-90 to over 100 while the signal on 129 went from rough 50 (+-10) to the mid 70slong_time_DNC said:
Note: mid 70s is not great signal but it puts all of the HD channels (read transponders) above the pixillation / total-signal-loss threshold which AFAIK is around 50.
Basically what this says is that our Dish 1000 was not aligned properly the first time. The installer just got 110 to around 80-90 and said that was good enough. I was there, he never checked the signal on 119 or 129. And I had not been visiting this forum enough to be a "knowledgeable consumer". Yesterday I did the checking while he did the twist and turn till I was happy
Talon Dancer
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TalonDancer said:
When you go this way, you end up with stronger signals on 61.5, 110, and 119.
The same is true if you use a dual D500 setup for 110, 119, and 129.
The only advantage a D1000 gives you is that it is a one-dish solution.
Thanks for the info, Talon! I'll give it a try and see what happens in my location. As it stands now, I only get into the low 70's on TPs 10-12 on the top-end of the 20-minute cycle and everything drops below 50 (some TPs well 50) on the bottom end of the 20-minute cycle.
It's just plain wrong...
It's just plain wrong...
The present satellite is expected to expire in two years. A replacement is being readied and should be in that location sometime in 2008. A temporary replacement is under consideration and could be moved there in 2007 to await the long-term replacement.
Even a temp replacement would be an immense improvement over E5 sitting (more like wobbling, actually) there and giving us loss-of-signal problems every 20 minutes.
I don't suppose they'll say when in 2007, on Monday night's tech chat?
I don't suppose they'll say when in 2007, on Monday night's tech chat?
Even though you can hear the signal strength tone change without looking at the screen, it is a 2 person job if you want to check the strength on more than one Satellite / Transponder combination. One person adjusts the dish while the onther one checks signal on various Satellite / Transponders. In my case, I checked the signal strength in the cool comfort of the cabin while the installer adjusted the dish in the blazing sun on the roofBearHuntr said:
Talon Dancer
So is the problem here 129 or is it really Dish 1000? I had a tech out today fixing a problem with the switch and he re-aligned my dedicated Dish pointing at 61.5 to 129. I probably should not have let him do that (I didn't KNOW he was doing it until too late). HD seems fine so far. Signal strength is mid 70s for 129. And again I have two Dish's (500 pointed at 110/119 and 300 pointed at 129).
61.5 is a much more solid/reliable sat. If it was working fine for you before, I'd have him re-point it to 61.5.
edit: Read here for more info on 129: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=73592&highlight=129
edit: Read here for more info on 129: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=73592&highlight=129
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Done- I had him re-point it. Much stronger signal too (73 on 129, 96 on 61.5!). Too bad my problem still exists. I am currently unable to get a signal lock on transponder 13. HBOHD, TNTHD and some of my locals (SD) are on it. Not sure what is going on. I guess I should start a thread on it.
sonnyboy11 said:
Both are problems, although 129 is the bigger problem.
The signal off of 129 is weaker and is fluctuating.
And to compound the problem, the D1000 isn't quite big enough. Even when perfectly aligned, the signal strenghs off of 110, 119, and 129 are lower than when using dual D500s, even though the 500 is a smaller dish than the 1000. Back when the D500 came out, it was really nice in that you could get a stronger signal off of 119 with it, than when using a dedicated D300 on 119.
So when you combine an imperfect dish with an imperfect satellite, you get the situation that subs have now.
Dish is fixing both problems. They are readying a new satellite for 129 and have two new D1000 dishes coming out, both larger than the current one.
I'm waiting to hear from a local retailer who is currently testing a larger D1000 (either the + dish or the .2, he wouldn't say which) and at the same testing some LNBs that E* techs are having him test with 110/119/129. Hopefully he'll get back to me soon on the results of his tests.
