Shaw Direct installation advice needed

[texasbrit]

OK, I am moving from Bell to Shaw since here in Texas I am now out of the footprint. Will be installing a 630 with two 36in dishes. Have read everything I found in the various forums but am still somewhat confused.
Am I correct in thinking I should start by getting one of the dishes aligned on Anik1 and then move to align the other dish?
Which channel(s) should I use for alignment prior to activation? Confusing info posted on the web and most of it relates to the multisat elliptical dishes

Should point out I have installed many DirecTV, Dish and Bell dishes using just the receiver, no separate meter.

Any other tips?

Thanks for the help...

 

[dfergie]

Might have to wait on Iceberg to get online, he's the expert usually on Canadian sats...

 

[texasbrit]

Yes, I thought that was the case....

 

[Mr Tony]

You need to use (last I checked) channel 299 to aim at F1 (107.3)
Unless you have a meter you wont be able to aim at F2 until the receiver is active and the maps are downloaded. But its channel 700 for AnikF2 (111.1)

This may have changed because when I originally had Shaw back in the day on a virgin receiver it was 284 for F1 (299 for one that had the maps) and 711 for F2. ALso the receivers I've worked with (205, 315 and even the 505) had an easier way to aim the dish and lock signal than the new ones do now. Older receivers we would just look at the EbNo # in the menu and slowly move the dish until we peaked that number. The newer receivers use a different setup that I am not familiar with.

Bell, Dish and DIrectv are easier to aim because they use high powered DBS sats. Shaw uses KU (like free to air uses) so it takes a little more precise aiming

 

[Frenchophile]

i can add some more info...

for two dishes, pointing to f1r (107) is easier. if your receiver is already active, you can use channel 354 (classic), which is Knowledge BC
once you have the first dish pointed, point the second dish to f1R also. once you are locked in on that, pan over 4 degrees to F2 (111), which isn't THAT far. if your receiver is active, you can use 711, which is TVA on both lineups.

if your receiver is inactive, i think shaw now wants you to use 252 to tune instead of 299.

i think Bayguy has recently installed newer receivers, so he should be able to add some expertise

 

[bayguy]

Hi texasbrit like frenchophile says we just set up a new system. We're in California and we got a 605 with one 75cm dish. it has the lnb that you have to use ch. 252 for. I don't know what your supposed to use for two big dishes. Did you see the pdf on the Shaw site about setting up a system? Hope that helps.

 

[mellaby]

I'm with bayguy on this. If you haven't bought the 2 dishes yet, I'd go for the 75cm dish. I've got a 75cm in Mesa AZ and the signals a 6.5 on F2 and 9.0 on F1.

 

[Marc Porret]

I can not get any signal on Anik F2 with 60cm dish in NYC: Would getting a 75cm dish fix my problem?

I am a complete newbie to the satellite tech. I bought the DYI from Shaw. I installed it and have very good reception of Anik F1. I activated the service with Shaw. But impossible to receive any signal (zero) on F2. Would installing a 75 cm dish fix my problem? My concern is that I do not receive a weak signal on F2. I receive no signal at all. I thought that the difference between 60cm and 75cm would be better reception. Is it possible that having a 60cm dish I receive no signal at all? What else could I be doing wrong? Thanks

I'm with bayguy on this. If you haven't bought the 2 dishes yet, I'd go for the 75cm dish. I've got a 75cm in Mesa AZ and the signals a 6.5 on F2 and 9.0 on F1.

 

[bayguy]

Gosh Marc yeah it seems like if you have a strong signal on F1 you should be getting something on F2. are you sure the skew is right? Anyone here can you tell Marc if maybe the lnb is bad??

 

[texasbrit]

FYI, successfully installed my 630 using two 36in dishes. Set up first dish, connected 630, aligned using 630 and small TV on the roof next to the dishes - was 86 degrees F at 7am (106 by 3pm!) here in DFW. Aligned first dish on F1 using 299, activated, aligned second dish on F2.
Signals on both in the low 90s. Will fine tune alignment when it gets a bit cooler!

 

[wetdemindaydream]

This thread is just what I needed. After I lost reception on Bell (I'm in Virginia), I bought a Shaw dish (75cm with xKu quad LNBF) and HDPVR 630 receiver. I have yet to acquire a signal, and am wondering if I've got things setup correctly. The Shaw site is a little unclear and I was hoping you could help me discover if I've got the thing wired correctly. Right now I have four cables coming off the LNB's, of which two (one from each side) are fed into my receiver. I've looked up skew/azimuth/elevation for my area. Currently have skew set at 90 degrees as recommended in the Shaw guide for initial setup. Channel set to 299 (though I've tried 252).

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[showtime]

OK, first make sure your pipe is plump on both sides or your settings don't mean a thing. Next you should be on 252 to tune in an XKU not 299. 299 was used for the quad LNB. Are you using a meter to find the signal or just trying to watch the tuning bar on your TV?
If you are just using the TV, make sure you go very slow when you go from east to west giving the tuning bar a chance to register.

Cheers

 

[wetdemindaydream]

Thanks for the advice. I had about 70% on 252 last night but I lost it and am back to square one! Do you recommend setting the skew now or after I've found the first satellite? I've read conflicting advice on this.

 

[Jables]

Set skew before. The polarization Shaw uses makes it necessary.

 

[wetdemindaydream]

I finally got it working. It's no wonder Shaw installs all of these systems...it only takes a couple millimeters to go from 90% to 60%, and a couple more to go to zero! I had to tighten the bolts very carefully so as not to lose the signal strength. Even still, I had to go through several rounds of tightening, adjusting, loosening, re-tightening, to not lose the signal. I have no confidence that it's going to hold the signal the first time the wind comes up.