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Problems setting up 18" dish to point at DirecTV's 110 satellite
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Posted by: Brad Bishop

(I also posted this at http://www.dbsforums.com/ just in case I catch someone here or there who can help me - my appologies if you see this twice.)

I set up my third dish today (yes, three separate 18" dishes pointing at 101, 110, and 119) and pointed it towards 110. I'm getting a signal level of:
Transponder: 8 Level 93
Transponder: 10 Level 85
Transponder: 12 Level 89

What I'm not getting is anything more than the channel banner on channel 90 with the text:

Installer Test Channel for the 110 Satellite. The on-screen-display message at the bottom of the screen confirms that you are receiving signal from the 110 satellite. To verify signal levels view installation menu screens and select the 110 satellite"

Now, I think that I should be receiving a video image on CH 90. I also think that I should be getting something other than:

For ordering information, please call customer service, ext. 721

on channels 450-454 (unless these are pay Chinese channels, I kind of thought that they would be in the clear like channel 455 (CCTV) from 119. I thought that the only pay-Chinese channels was Phoenix Chinese North America (CH 456) which is $19/month (seems pricy to me).

I got the dish because I figured that there was a chance that I'd be moving to HDTV sometime in the next year or two and it would already be set up whenever I made the plunge. I figured that until that happens that I'd see the odd Chinese channels (more curiosity on my part).

So my questions are:

1) should I see anything on CH 90 besides the channel banner mentioned above (some sort of video image)?
2) are CHs 450-454 in the clear if I have 110 set up right?
3) Do I have 110 set up right? If not, what could I be pointing at to give me a signal on transponders 8, 10, & 12 (I went out and eye-balled it to make sure that I wasn't pointing at the 101 satellite or the 119 satellite and I'm definitely pointing somewhere in the middle).
4) Any other thoughts or tips?

Thanks,

Brad

Posted by: Runch Machine

No you will not see anything on channel 90 except for the message you are getting. There is no picture or sound. I have a Sony SAT-HD200 which gets Directv and local over the air analog and digital stations. It is connected to a triple LNB dish and a roof antenna. It has the ability to display a signal strength bar graph on the screen for all Directv channels and all over the air digital channels. This is one of my favorite features because I can see the signal strength of the various Directv channels. When I am tuned to Directv channel 90 I get the same message you get. However I can push the signal strength button and see that I am getting a good singnal.

Posted by: Brad Bishop

Well that just seems stupid on DirecTV's part to have a test channel with no video. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I was a bit frustrated last night because I figured that I should see something on *one* of the channels broadcast from 110.

Have a great day!

Brad

Posted by: Want1394

Gosh Brad, I do understand your frustration. I suggest you subscribe to the Chinese language channels just so you can get some gratification/value out of all the work you've just done. :)

Posted by: Brad Bishop

Well, looking back on it (from all of a day away from it) I think it was a waste of time / money. I was thinking that there would be something else up there. I also get to deal with the frustration of the complaining neighbors (which I'm sure will start soon enough - actually it started before I was even finished installing this dish). Even though these dishes are behind my house (and behind a hill), you can still see them from the street if you are looking for them. They complained about the first dish and then they didn't care. Then they complained about the second dish. I'm sure I'll hear it about the third (seemingly useless) dish.

Now all I can hope for is the odd stray signal that they put up there (I think that they had put some NBC station from the west coast on CH 90 a few months back).

Enjoy!

Brad

Posted by: BrettStah

Brad, one 18x20 dish can probably pull in all 3 satellites. (But I'm sure you knew that already). But just think of how happy your neighbors would be! :)

Posted by: Want1394

Brett,

Brad is really covering up some work he is doing for Homeland Security.

Too bad they aren't 1 meter dishes. :)

Posted by: Brad Bishop

Oh, I'm sure that they'd complain about that, too. Those who do the complaining in a neighborhood typically complain about everything that's different that doesn't meet to their standards for that day.

It amazes me that someone can drive through the neighborhood, have to look to find something that they don't like, just so that they can be miserable and complain about it. (You do have to look to see my dishes, they aren't sitting in the front yard by the mailbox or anything. They are behind (and slightly to the right) of the house behind a small hill (about 1 story tall) so that I can see the satellites.)

Posted by: Runch Machine

I am also thinking of installing 3 separate dishes, one for each satellite. I recently got an HDTV Tuner, the Sony Sat-HD200. I currently have the 18x24 dish temporarily mounted to my deck. My existing 18"dish is mounted to the side of the house and feeds my Tivo. I disconnected one of the two outputs from the 18" dish from the Tivo and connected the output from the multiswitch connected to the 18X24 inch dish so I could compare the signal strength. All transponders on the 18" dish showed up as stronger than from the 18x24 inch dish, ranging from 2 - 20 points higher. Also during a heavy snow storm last weekend in MN, the 18x24 inch dish lost signal long before the 18" dish did. The 18" dish has a signal strength in the low to mid 90s for most transponers.

Can someone tell me the web site to find out the angle to receive each satellite on an 18" Dish?

Posted by: rlj5242

Go to Dishnetwork's site and download their dish pointing application. My opinion is that it is better than the DBS Forums pointing page because it will factor in the difference between true north and magnetic north. You have to use a map to do that on the DBS Forums site.

-Robert

Posted by: DarkHelmet

This is kind of a silly question, but I have to ask.. You are using the special Sat-C LNB on the dish aimed at 110, right?

You cannot under any circumstances use a "normal" LNB on this. The reason is that the "special" Sat-C LNB has a different IF stage to downconvert the frequencies from transponder 28, 30, 32 down to the frequencies used for 8, 10, 12. This is so that they can be mixed on a single cable and shared with a sat-B 119 cable (which uses transponders 22-32).

Although you didn't mention it, I would have expected the Satellite test to yell at you in no uncertain terms as it would not have been able to find the 110 satellite id signals.

Posted by: Bob TeaTow

I think dishes are beautiful -- the more the better! What's really ugly are those darned floodlights, vent pipes, overhead electric/phone/cable wires...