Greetings Forum Members,

I recently had my power restored after Hurricane IKE came down here and cut everyones power. Im happy to say though that we are all doing ok. After the hurricane blew through here i went outside and noticed that my SlimLine 5 LNB dish was not damaged. It does not look like it moved alot. I called DTV but the operatpr said that the earliest date is OCt 5 to have a tech come out and fix it. Sorry but I can't wait that long.

Anyways, im trying to figure out if there is a way to do it yourself instead of waiting 3 weeks. I do not have any tools on me as far as signal readers etc...But I do have a ladder and tools that i can use to move the dish if necessary.

Should i just play around with it for a while and monitor my signal strength screen or do I need need have a compass, signal reader, and coordinates to get started?

Thanks
S

Greetings Forum Members,

I recently had my power restored after Hurricane IKE came down here and cut everyones power. Im happy to say though that we are all doing ok. After the hurricane blew through here i went outside and noticed that my SlimLine 5 LNB dish was not damaged. It does not look like it moved alot. I called DTV but the operatpr said that the earliest date is OCt 5 to have a tech come out and fix it. Sorry but I can't wait that long.

Anyways, im trying to figure out if there is a way to do it yourself instead of waiting 3 weeks. I do not have any tools on me as far as signal readers etc...But I do have a ladder and tools that i can use to move the dish if necessary.

Should i just play around with it for a while and monitor my signal strength screen or do I need need have a compass, signal reader, and coordinates to get started?

Thanks
S


This may go without saying, but you never state - and it never hurts to check, but the reason you want to re-align is that you are getting no signal - or are you just assuming the Dish isn't aligned now?

If you are getting no signal, from my limited experience where DBS Dishes are exposed to 50+ MPH winds is that they usually move left/right as opposed to up/down. At around 85 - 95 MPH the Dish usually blows off and all that is left is the J joint.

With this in mind, with no guarantees, set the TV to the signal meter in the setup menu to the 101 satellite. Set it for one individual transponder, not the entire satellite.

Have someone watch the meter on the screen.

Go to the Dish. In Houston it should be aimed a few degrees to upper side of due South. You can obviously eyeball that.

Take a sharpie and draw a line on the dish to the mast so you know where your starting point was and can return to it.

If it looks like your Dish is pointed too far East of South, slowly move the Dish clockwise and see if the signal comes in. If not slowly move back to the sharpie line and go the other way.

If you find a signal there, try and fine tune it best you can.

Make another Sharpie line on the mast in this position for reference.

Then have the person at the TV tune to the 99W or 103W satellite. Tune in a channel there and try to slightly move the Dish to where that come in the best. Again, you might have to go both left and right to find the sweet spot.

When you do, tighten down the bolts.

Then just wait for October for D* to tweak it the best it can be.

No guarantees this will work, but if you have no signal, you have nothing to loose in giving it a try.

Thanks for everything. I will try and see if i can get something.

SS123

So hurricane Ike apparently misaligned my 5-lnb multi-sat dish just enough to not get any signal. I realigned it myself and seemed to get good signal. So here is the weird issue. I can't receive ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, TNTHD and DiscoveryHD on channels 206, 209, 245, and 281. I get 'Searching for satellite signal (771). All other channels work great, including ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, TNTHD and DiscoveryHD in the 70 range (72, 73, 75, etc.). I'm assuming I still need to align some, but what satellite are these channels on so I can test the signals in the menu.

D* says I would have to wait 3 weeks to get a repair in the Houston area right now, so I would like to get this done by myself.

So hurricane Ike apparently misaligned my 5-lnb multi-sat dish just enough to not get any signal. I realigned it myself and seemed to get good signal. So here is the weird issue. I can't receive ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, TNTHD and DiscoveryHD on channels 206, 209, 245, and 281. I get 'Searching for satellite signal (771). All other channels work great, including ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, TNTHD and DiscoveryHD in the 70 range (72, 73, 75, etc.). I'm assuming I still need to align some, but what satellite are these channels on so I can test the signals in the menu.

D* says I would have to wait 3 weeks to get a repair in the Houston area right now, so I would like to get this done by myself.

Good reason for that.

The 70s are Ku signals on the 101W, 110W and 119W Satellites. The others are Ka Signals which are on the 99W and 103W satellites.
Ka is roughly twice the frequency (wavelength) of Ku.

Think of it as a 2 car garage. With Ku you can aim for either door and get in the garage. With Ka you can only aim for a single garage door in the middle.

You have the rough for the Ku birds, but not the fine tuning for the Ka birds.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1068334

So hurricane Ike apparently misaligned my 5-lnb multi-sat dish just enough to not get any signal. I realigned it myself and seemed to get good signal. So here is the weird issue. I can't receive ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, TNTHD and DiscoveryHD on channels 206, 209, 245, and 281. I get 'Searching for satellite signal (771). All other channels work great, including ESPN-HD, ESPN2-HD, TNTHD and DiscoveryHD in the 70 range (72, 73, 75, etc.). I'm assuming I still need to align some, but what satellite are these channels on so I can test the signals in the menu.

D* says I would have to wait 3 weeks to get a repair in the Houston area right now, so I would like to get this done by myself.

The critical transponders for alignment are those on 99c/103c (if you have a DVR) and 99a/103b (if you have a receiver). The other sats at 99 and 103 carry only spotbeams so you will see lots of low signals and zero signals on those.
Your 99c/103c, or 99a/103b signals should be in the 70s at least, preferably in the 80s or even 90s. If you have a reasonable alignment on 101 to start with, you can just use the "fine tune" adjustments for azimuth and elevation to get the 99c/103c signals to peak. If your dish is properly plumb then you can peak on either 99c or 103c and the other one will automatically be peaked.

I realigned my dish after 60+MPH thunderstorm winds. Calling D* was a waste of time. I even argued that their "professional" installer did a poor job.

It took me 30 minutes total and that included pulling the ladder out and putting it away and running in the house twice to check the numbers. I used a pair of cordless phones with an intercom system to listen to the receiver's tone when moving the dish.

As for adjustments, it is much easier now than on past dishes. Just turn an adjustment nut and the dish moves in very small increments.

And since my adjustment, we have had multiple storms blow through without anything moving. The installer didn't tighten everything down like he should. I fixed that problem.

-Robert

I realigned my dish after 60+MPH thunderstorm winds. Calling D* was a waste of time. I even argued that their "professional" installer did a poor job.

It took me 30 minutes total and that included pulling the ladder out and putting it away and running in the house twice to check the numbers. I used a pair of cordless phones with an intercom system to listen to the receiver's tone when moving the dish.

As for adjustments, it is much easier now than on past dishes. Just turn an adjustment nut and the dish moves in very small increments.

And since my adjustment, we have had multiple storms blow through without anything moving. The installer didn't tighten everything down like he should. I fixed that problem.

-Robert

There is no adjustment nut that moves the entire dish left/right in smal increments. It sounds as if you moved the 99/101/103 lnb adjustment, which might bring your 99/101/103 in, but will take you 110/119 further off, as a stiff wind will not just blow the 99/101/103 lnb out of alignment.

There is no adjustment nut that moves the entire dish left/right in smal increments. I was as surprised as you were to find one. But I've installed 3 single LNB dishes, 2 DishNetwork Twin LNB dishes and my old Phase III dish at two different houses. I know how to install a dish. I loosened the bolt holding the dish's azmuth setting and turned a set bolt/nut to move it slightly. I then tightened everything better than the installer did.

-Robert

There is no adjustment nut that moves the entire dish left/right in smal increments. It sounds as if you moved the 99/101/103 lnb adjustment, which might bring your 99/101/103 in, but will take you 110/119 further off, as a stiff wind will not just blow the 99/101/103 lnb out of alignment.

I think he's referring to the Azimuth setting on page 11 of the Installation manual: http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/Slimline_Dish_Installation_Manual.pdf

That adjustment moves the dish left/right in small increments.

Ernie