Dish Aiming Questions

[John T Smith]

Kinda long... questions at end

Background Information

Vancouver WA Zip 98685
33.3 Elevation
131.7 Azimuth

Property/House are straight North/South, with back of house
facing south, which is 180 Azimuth (so East is 90 Azimuth)
and half way between is 135... so 131.7 is just a "tad" left
of half way (as I stand with back against back wall of house)

_________ East
|
|
|
| 135
|
|
|
South

24 Inch dish (to reduce rain fade)
http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/SA...s_and_LNBs.htm

So, on to the process, and problem, and questions

I have a signal meter (bought it in 2000 to mount 18 inch
dish at last house... where everything worked)

Used a level to make sure the mounting pole is up/down
(bolted into the back wall of the house, where I put
extra bracing in the back wall during framing) to start
with a known straight mounting bracket/pole

Using the marks on the dish assembly, and eyeball to get
the Azimuth, found "good" spot according to signal meter

All coax is Belden quad-shield 2Ghz rated, and I used
compression fittings... and I checked to be sure all the
ends were "clean" with no stray wires from the shielding
both before and after putting the compression ends on

Now the PROBLEM!

Connected DTivo box to both feeds inside the house, with
a total distance of about 35-40 feet, and it says there
is ZERO signal on either input

So far, I have disconnected the feed lines from Spaun
SMS 2212 F multiswitch and used an adapter to connect
the 2 lines from the dish directly to the 2 short lines
going to the new theater room (closest to the panel I
have for multiswitch) with no change... so it seems the
multiswitch is not the problem

What I am going to try tomorrow is to use an old LNB at
the dish, just in case the new one that came with the
24 inch dish was bad out of the box

Now, to my questions

Is it even possible that a LNB could give a "carrier
signal" so my signal meter reacts... but not give an
actual signal the DTivo box will "see" ?

Just in case I aimed wrong... is there a Dish Network
satellite in the "general" area I describe above, so
my signal meter "sees" something... but what I then
have fed to the DTivo is not recognized?

After more testing on my own tomorrow, especially if
there are any ideas to try from here, my next step may
just be to call DirecTv and use their "free" Mover's
Connection to have someone come out with a (better?)
signal meter... and maybe even a different dish and
LNB... to see if they are able to get a signal that
the DTivo will recognize

After I installed a dish myself at the last house I
thought this would be easy... but is not... at least
so far... tomorrow may tell me more, with another
LNB to try and a double-check of aiming

John

[phox_mulder]

I'd say you just hit a different satellite.

Try little movements left/right and watch the signal meter.

I've also found that elevation almost never matches the marks and has to be tweaked a bit.


phox

[John T Smith]

>I'd say you just hit a different satellite.

Entirely possible... but does anyone actually KNOW what other satellites are in that "general" area that would make the signal meter show a "hit" but DTivo not recognize the signal?

[phox_mulder]

Just found a map.

In the "110" slot there are 5 satellites.
DirecTV 6 at 109.5,
DirecTV 5 at 109.8,
Echostar 8 at 110,
Echostar 10 at 110.2,
Echostar 6 at 110.4.

In the "101" slot there are 3,
DTV 8 at 100.75,
DTV 1R at 100.85,
DTV 4S at 101.2

Then you have the 119 slot,
Echostar 7 at 118.9,
DTV 7S at 119.2,
Echostar 9 at 121.

I'd say you're trying to hit the 110 bird and are just ever so slightly off.

Oh, these are just the DBS satellites in those areas, I didn't mention the KU or C-band satellites hanging around those slots.


phox

[John T Smith]

Hmm... now to figure out what those numbers mean in relation to the Azimuth 131.7 I should be aimed toward

I think (memory a bit hazy, wasn't paying that much attention to that part of the screen) the Dtv screen was saying it wanted a "101" signal... so it MAY be that I'm about 9 degrees too far to the left in my aim...???

[goony]

You could always haul a little 13 inch TV and the receiver outside and wire it up to the LNB so that you could see exactly what the screen was saying as you aim the dish...

[IminMs]

If your meter is giving a reading, the lnb is working. If the receiver says no signal your probably pointing at another bird.
Put your meter inline with your receiver. Power on the receiver, goto channel 490, then try adjusting the dish using the handheld meter.

That should help you line up on 101 sat.

[JimSpence]

Make sure the elevation is set correctly. Some dishes don't have real good markings for this setting.

[John T Smith]

SUCCESS !!!

Thanks to all, particularly phox_mulder for the list of 3 satellite parking locations

I was, in fact, about 9 degrees too far to the East... 1/4 inch turn on the mounting mast

I was also, in the new position, about 3/16 inch too low on elevation

I now have 90+ signal strength (on all except those transponders that have always had low numbers) and have reactivated my account and the one DTivo box for the master bedroom (only place that has all the wall plugs in place) and have set a few season passes so we don't miss anything when we move in 2 weeks

Electrician is next going to work upstairs... and once there is power in the new theater I'll activate the HR10-250 I bought for that room, to be ready for the Projector install next week