Dish Pointing

[Muppet]

I have a D**hnetwork setup, but i just purchased a dreambox. I hooked my dreambox up to my dish that i got from DNetwork and then i put up a new dish for my original setup.

I pointed the dish using the dish pointing screen on my DNetwork receiver, and i can get a 120% signal on the 110 satellite, but only a 50%-57% in the 119. I sat on my roof for nearly two hours twisting, turning, pointing my dish but i couldn't get the 119 any stronger.

Any ideas how to get a better signal with the 119?

[smilingjack]

Did you adjust the SKEW angle, that would keep you from getting it any better no matter how much you turned the dish.

[Muppet]

i'm not sure which one the skew is. would that be swiveling the dish left and right, turning it like a steering wheel on a car, tilting it up and down or raising and lowering it on the mount?

thanks

[smilingjack]

SKEW is Turning it like a steering wheel.

There is a scale on the side of it.

On the dish set up it gives you all three settings. Sounds like you have the first 2 right.

Now adjust the skew and you will probably get them both over 100.

[Muppet]

ok thats what i thought it was. I did have that set to the same as the one d**hnetwork set up but maybe i am a hair off, because i'm sure that even if you are a fraction off you would be WAAAAYYYYY off when it comes to hitting the satellight right???

[smilingjack]

Yes,
get it to where you get it at 129% and 50%, make it tight there then move the skew a little. It should get better.

[Muppet]

great, i will try that tomorrow (if this friggin' rain stops!)

I'll let you know how i get on. Thanks for your help.

[seaboard18]

great, i will try that tomorrow (if this friggin' rain stops!)

I'll let you know how i get on. Thanks for your help.


Dish aiming in the rain??? Two hours on the roof, you should be ashamed of yourself for posting BAD SIGNAL Problems! :) :) Yea, try it in the morning after the rain stops, you should have a really good signal then! I'm sorry, I just could not resist this post! Good Luck anyway!

[smilingjack]

If both signals were low or dropping out I would agree the rain was maybe effecting it
Since he had 120% on one sat he should have had a equal signal on the other sat.

It rains all the time here on the coast, it's just when there are those big black clouds in the way I have a problem.

[seaboard18]

If both signals were low or dropping out I would agree the rain was maybe effecting it
Since he had 120% on one sat he should have had a equal signal on the other sat.

It rains all the time here on the coast, it's just when there are those big black clouds in the way I have a problem.


I have a hard time with this Jack...["but only a 50%-57% in the 119'], especially when he has 120% on 110. Generally a condition like this would indicate that the 110 LNB maybe going bad. I have seen this when the skew was off 180 degree's, but not just a few degree's. I'm not saying that you are wrong at all....:) But to be that far off just is a little strange because it is 119 with the low signal, not 110. The rain and the dampness does not help the situation.

BTW - which coast do you live on where it rains everyday? I live on the east coast in South Florida, it will rain tomorrow. It's my personal opinion that people should not try and aim a dish in the rain, unless like you say, it rains 24/7. :)


Well skew is pretty cut and dried if he uses the Dish Pointing Screen, it gives him the correct setting for the skew, maybe not the elevation though, it is not quite accurate for each dish site, but it's close. Give the skew a shot, it maybe off enough to cause the problem.

[smilingjack]

Of course it is best to do it when it's nice and sunny, but you know free tv'ers, we have them setting up dishes in snowstorms in the middle of the night.

My thinking was the if he had a bad signal on both sats it could be the rain.
With a good signal n one and low on the other and he had tried all the "other" settings with no improvement that it must be the skew which he had never touched. Togeather with the fact that it's a "NEW DISH" probly from Flea Bay and maybe from far enough away he had to change it. I discounted a "bad LNB", they usually work or don't work and it's a lot harder to check a LNB anyway than it is to check the skew.

If I am right he is only out a few minutes to adjust it,
If he has to buy a new LNB he is out a week waiting and 20 to 50 bucks.
Try the easy and cheap stuff to check first, then go to harder and more expensive stuff.

[Muppet]

ok here's the update.......

First of all I appreciate everyone's help and comments, however I just want to let you know that I wasn't up there in the pouring rain...... BUT I was up there when it was raining semi-hard......LOL (Your right about setting up a dish in any weather conditions!!!)

Anyway, I woke up this morning and checked the signal and I'm now getting 75%+ on the 119. So either it was the bad weather giving me a good signal on the 110 and bad on the 119, or my neighbors felt bad for me sitting on the roof for hours on end and fixed it for me in the middle of the night??

Never the less (keeping fingers crossed) I am working ok right now. I will tell you this though, I have had a couple of frustrating and annoying days with this set up, but now that everything is working I can honestly say that getting this dreambox and going through all the aggravation was worth it. The dreambox is fantastic.

I actually got it from a guy who sets the whole thing up for you and when you get it, you are ready to plug and play. It cost me about $350 but after reading other posts from numerous sites about what a nightmare the dreambox is to setup, I am happy paying a little extra!!!

Once again thanks for all your help and feedback.