Satellite B question

[dbears]

I'm sorry to interrupt the HR10-250 discussions but I need some advice on some problems I'm having with my satellite reception. Within the past week I've been unable to receive any of the stations from the sat b (119) satellite. I checked and I don't have a signal. I still get all the satellite c channels. I had noticed I was losing the sat b for some time but it recently went out. I just tried replacing the lnb (I assume you can use a standard dual lnb on sat b.

Can it have gotten out of alignment? Can the sat c kit be going (either the combiner or the lnb)? Can it be the multiswitch and how can I check that?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. At this point, I'm only missing ESPN2 and Fox east but I can see problems with not picking those up in the future.

Thanks,

Mike(Da Bears)

[JimSpence]

Has a tree grown enough to block 119? Do you have the oval dish with separate LNBs? It is implied. If it were the Sat C LNB then that wouldn't affect Sat B. It could be the combiner. Try removing it from the system. Just connect the Sat B LNB directly to the Sat B inputs on the multiswitch. Do you get any signal on any of the 119 transponders? How are the signals on 110?

[dbears]

This is wierd. Here's what I tried:

1) I tried a new B LNB.
2) I tried changing the cables from the B LNB, remember one goes to the combiner the other goes to the B input on the multiswitch.
3) I tried swapping the wires from the combined wire and the B lnb to see if the wires were bad.

All in all, the c continues to work but B is dead. Normally, I'd expect the combined C to be dead.

I guess it can be positioning of the dish with something obstructing 119 but would the c (combined with B) still be working?

This is baffling. I'm guessing I might need a professional installer to come out but that will set me back $90.

Thanks,

Mike (Da Bears)

[A J Ricaud]

I have a Phase III dish with the one piece 3 LNB assembly but recently had a similar problem with the "B" LNB. I ended up re-aiming the dish and all is fine now. Why it needed to be re-aimed is beyond me. It's been working fine for several years.

If you are up to it you can try re-aiming the dish yourself with the help of someone looking at the signal on the TV. Just adjust one thing at a time, i.e., left/right, up/down and clockwise/counter-clockwise a little at a time, peak the signal and lock down. Good luck.

[LlamaLarry]

I have to peak my dish and stupidly forgot when they installed my second HR10-250 last week. Yes, I am a dumbass.

Back in the olden days you used to use transponder 2 to set your dish and then checked the other transponders. Do I do the same thing now or do I use one on B or C instead? Check one on all three and split the difference? :) Do I peak it when the skew as is, or return it to 0, reaim and then set the skew?

As you can see, the installer put in my Phase III and did a poor job of peaking (or it has since shifted) as I would be the signal is 20+ points less than when I had the old oval on there.

[Dssturbo1]

llama,
when you start to make sure you mast is plumb.
then set the skew nd the angle from your given coordinates for your location. then you should just need to trun it left or right to find the signal. when you get the best compromise lockr down.

[Dssturbo1]

dbears,

yes you can lose the sat b signal when sat a and sat c are still working.
usually due to trees/leaves growing into the line of sight.

looking from the dish to the southern sky the sat b is the furtherest right and lower than either sats a or c.

do you have trees or other obstructions on the right edge of the sats line of sight to the sky? are you getting any signal at all on sat b? even one that is too low to lock in for picture?

[joetoronto]

sat "B" rears it's ugly head again, the friggin thing is too low.

[JimSpence]

I had to relocate my dish because a neighbor's tree grew too much and started to block Sat B.

FYI, to find out how low Sat B is for your area, go here http://emantechnology.com/lookangle.asp and enter your zipcode and select DirecTV 6 (119) to see the look angles. Of course sat A is lower for those on the west coast.

[dbears]

Guys, once again you come thru in diagnosing the problem. There's no doubt now that my view to west is a bit obstructed as a fast growing tree has taken its toll. Now starts the battle between my wife and me about where to relocate the dish.

Her view...hire an installer to move it to the roof and be done with it.
My view...move it myself to somewhere reasonably convenient so that if additional tweaking is needed, I can still do it myself.
Compromise view...move it myself to the roof and risk life and limb and risk losing the signal altogether because I can't recover the alignment. At which time I'll need to hire the installer anyway.

I think I see where this is going.

Take care and thanks again.

Mike (Da Bears)

[LlamaLarry]

when you start to make sure you mast is plumb.
then set the skew nd the angle from your given coordinates for your location. then you should just need to trun it left or right to find the signal. when you get the best compromise lockr down.Skew was set 2 degrees (1 mark on the mount) off what Guided Setup said. I set the skew to the figure from the box, checked the elevation and that the mast was plumb. A few minutes later (and only a very slight nudge) the signals all went up to the mid 90's. Biggest improvement was actually on C as each transponder went up almost 30 points. Thanks!

[joetoronto]

Guys, once again you come thru in diagnosing the problem. There's no doubt now that my view to west is a bit obstructed as a fast growing tree has taken its toll. Now starts the battle between my wife and me about where to relocate the dish.

Her view...hire an installer to move it to the roof and be done with it.
My view...move it myself to somewhere reasonably convenient so that if additional tweaking is needed, I can still do it myself.
Compromise view...move it myself to the roof and risk life and limb and risk losing the signal altogether because I can't recover the alignment. At which time I'll need to hire the installer anyway.

I think I see where this is going.

Take care and thanks again.

Mike (Da Bears)


listen to the wife, mike, i'm speaking from experience, a bad experience.

get the installer to go up on the roof. once he's up there, take the ladder away and don't put it back until everything is running perfectly. :D

seriously, once the dish is setup properly, you won't need to go up there anymore anyway. i tried different locations, avoiding the roof install, and it was a complete waste of time.

listen to your wife, at least just this once. ;)

[JimSpence]

And, regardless of current need, have all four lines run from the dish plus an OTA cable. You never know what youmay want in the future. Have all of these run to a common location for easy of change, such as adding a multiswitch.