Aiming Assitance....

[jfricker]

Ok here goes. I installed my 5lnb Slimline dish in my current system. I pick up all the channels on my old Hughes HD receiver that was hooked to an old 3lnb dish. I need to tweak my dish settings to fine tune for the new H20 receiver. Is there an easy way to get started? I read in another thread to peak the 101 satellite and then the rest should fall in place. When I hook up the H20 it detects all the satellites as OK except 99, says only 4 satellites detected. I have the dish set to the settings from the receiver and need to finetune, any words of wisdom from some experts will be appreciated.

 

[charper1]

Maybe your location is not getting anything for 99; not everyone is supposed to right now. What is your zip code or DMA?

 

[jtn]

Ok here goes. I installed my 5lnb Slimline dish in my current system. I pick up all the channels on my old Hughes HD receiver that was hooked to an old 3lnb dish. I need to tweak my dish settings to fine tune for the new H20 receiver. Is there an easy way to get started? I read in another thread to peak the 101 satellite and then the rest should fall in place. When I hook up the H20 it detects all the satellites as OK except 99, says only 4 satellites detected. I have the dish set to the settings from the receiver and need to finetune, any words of wisdom from some experts will be appreciated.

It can be very difficult to get the Ka/MPEG4 satellites without a proper meter. DirecTV will come out for free and align it for you. It doesn't matter if you installed the dish yourself. Let DirecTV do the alignment since they should have provided the newer dish for free anyway since you have the programming.

Eventually all markets will need 99 since some of the transponders are CONUS, the same for 103. So you need to get all 5 satellites to insure you get all programming in the future.

 

[jfricker]

I am in Atlanta, zip code 30518. So is 99 up there transmitting?
I have the install manual for the slimline and I am walking through the tweaking part of the whole thing.
I get a great signal on the other 3, some tweaking still ahead but I always do my own installs. I originally set up a 10' dish way back in the early 90's, did my own single LNB Dtv dish, my 3LNBdtv dish and I am sure I can get this one.

 

[dfergie]

Go to This Page, at the bottom are videos that might help you if you haven't already seen them...

 

[charper1]

I am in Atlanta, zip code 30518. So is 99 up there transmitting?

There will be a 99a&b (aka Spaceway 2 & DirecTV 11 co-located at 99.2°w). There is currently only one of the 99's up (Spaceway 2) and it is spot-beam only, so you may or may not "see" it, but it is there and transmitting to those that it is "aimed" at; which ATL is not, as your HD LiL comes from Spaceway 1 below.

Same this goes for 103a&b (aka Spaceway 1 & DirecTV 10 co-located at 102.8°w) but both are currently up there.

 

[Matt9876]

As long as the mast is plumb and the tilt is set correctly for your area, fine tune on 103(b) "Get the highest numbers you can." for the perfect dish alignment. :up

Matt

 

[Dish Jockey]

The Slimline is supposed to be professionally installed only but if you follow the instructions that came with the dish it will work fine. Peaking on 103 or 99 is bad advice and will not give you "perfect alignment".
Rick

As long as the mast is plumb and the tilt is set correctly for your area, fine tune on 103(b) "Get the highest numbers you can." for the perfect dish alignment. :up

Matt

 

[Matt9876]

Since the day the first transponder went hot at 103(b) I've been fine tuning Directv Sidecar,Slimline dishes for 103(b) that were previously installed or put in by other installers.

This even includes the one on my own home went from the 70's to the 90's for 103(b)

With the tighter beam of the Ka band sat you would be hard pressed to find a better alignment tool for Directv except for maybe a $600.00 SuperBuddy alignment meter.

Do what you want this was just good advice from someone thats been doing this for 10 years now.

Matt

 

[Dish Jockey]

Apparently you missed the training on why you don't peak on 99 or 103. You can peak your own dish any way you please but if your charging others for your service please do it right.
Rick

Since the day the first transponder went hot at 103(b) I've been fine tuning Directv Sidecar,Slimline dishes for 103(b) that were previously installed or put in by other installers.

This even includes the one on my own home went from the 70's to the 90's for 103(b)

With the tighter beam of the Ka band sat you would be hard pressed to find a better alignment tool for Directv except for maybe a $600.00 SuperBuddy alignment meter.

Do what you want this was just good advice from someone thats been doing this for 10 years now.

Matt

 

[Matt9876]

Apparently you missed the training on why you don't peak on 99 or 103. You can peak your own dish any way you please but if your charging others for your service please do it right.
Rick

Since the birdog meter only works on the 101,110 and 119 rest assured that the customer gets a balanced alignment from me. and never once did I say anything about the 99 slot.

 

[Dish Jockey]

Since you mentioned "fine tune on 103(b)" and "I've been fine tuning Directv Sidecar,Slimline dishes for 103(b)" and "With the tighter beam of the Ka band sat you would be hard pressed to find a better alignment tool for Directv", I thought you were informing people to use the 103 Ka slot to align the dish. If this is not the case then I'm sorry I misunderstood your posts.
Rick

Since the birdog meter only works on the 101,110 and 119 rest assured that the customer gets a balanced alignment from me. and never once did I say anything about the 99 slot.

 

[iwc5893]

And given the fact that the KA footprint is so much smaller than the KU, peaking the dish to the 103 is no guarantee that you will be peaked on the new 99 sat when it launches next year.

The purpose of dithering the dish is to ensure balanced signal strengths across all sats.

 

[Matt9876]

And given the fact that the KA footprint is so much smaller than the KU, peaking the dish to the 103 is no guarantee that you will be peaked on the new 99 sat when it launches next year.

The purpose of dithering the dish is to ensure balanced signal strengths across all sats.

I agree with you it's no guarantee but after 100+ realignments I've found that if 103(b) is peaked all the rest seem to fall nicely into place for a balanced tune. the main exception is a out of plum mast or bad tilt setting.

 

[Dish Jockey]

The mast only needs to be plumb for initially finding the sats and has no bearing on the final signal because you peak the tilt using 119. How can you have a bad tilt setting unless you don't peak the tilt on 119?
Rick
the

I agree with you it's no guarantee but after 100+ realignments I've found that if 103(b) is peaked all the rest seem to fall nicely into place for a balanced tune. the main exception is a out of plum mast or bad tilt setting.

 

[merbar1]

The Directv installer is headed here as I type this. I am a full time RVer and move a lot. The advice I got from Direct was "The slimline is to hard for a do it yourselfer to aim so don't do it." Is it really that hard to aim? I don't want to purchase the 2yr plan if I can't get HD and DVR. I will mount it on a tripod and do whatever it takes to keep it solid. I have an el-cheapo meter. Will be able to use it or will an upgrade be a must?

Any help on this will be appreciated .

Thanks
Merbar

 

[jjnemoiii]

I did my own 5lnb Directv setup myself, despite dealer suggestion otherwise, several weeks ago. Used el cheapo meter from Radio Shack, 40.00 I believe. Worked great, dish is now 1/3 covered in snow, NO loss of any channels. Set elevation and tilt before you put it on the tripod, then turn dish on tripod to approximate azimuth, and peak from there. set meter to about 5 for signal strength, peak to reading of 10, reset gain to signal level of 5 and repeak. When I was done, my meter read 10 and I could not turn down level on meter any more.
DIRECTV Ku/Ka MPEG-4 Compatible Satellite Dish Installation Videos
Watch all the videos, good info in all, make sure to do the dither at the end, and all should be great!

 

[charper1]

I've never setup a dish with a meter; simply the correct coordinates and a $12 heading compass.