Slimline 3 Self Install

[Danny001]

I am trying install a Slimline SL3 SWM dish at my in laws. They didn't want the dish on the house so I rigged up a platform ( pallet, weighted down with cement blocks) in the back corner of the yard. The elevation setting here is 27 degrees for Sat 101. I triple checked my mast was plumb on the platform both with my own level and the built in mast level. Tightened the arm braces down and checked the mast one last time and all was good. So I put the dish on the mast, still plumb according to the mast level and Coarse aligned (using super buddy meter) the dish with the pre set elevation. Nothing, played around with the elevation for a bit, and finally with the dish elevation all the way to the lowest setting I hit 99% on 101. Because the the elevation is all the way down, I can't dither because it won't go any lower.. Where did I go wrong, how could the elevation be that far off with the mast plumb, even if it wasn't 100% plumb, it wouldn't be THAT far off the elevation. The platform is very secure, not wobbly at all. Each cement block is about 70 lbs. Here are some pictures for a visual.

 

[raoul5788]

Your elevation is set to approximately 20°, not 27°.

 

[Danny001]

Yes I realize this, I wasn't getting any signal level on my meter with the correct elevation, I had to drop the elevation down to 20 ( all the way to the lowest setting) and my meter shot up to 98%. My mast was plumb... so I realized later today that the platform was not leveled so I tilted the mast down and adjusted the elevation accordingly to around 27 degrees. I got 98% and followed the dither instructions, plugged my receiver in and get the 771. Rested the setup, dish 17 ( SL3 and SWM) no signal acquired. I had single cable running from SWM LNB to power inserter and 1 cable out from Power inserter ( IRD PORT) to the receiver (H25). No signal on all satellites. Any ideas? Do I Have to use the splitter/ switch even with 1 cable?

 

[sodly]

Did you check what your signal was by your receiver -not meter??
did you have 99 & 103??
think you might be on wrong sat??
FWIW
Don

 

[Danny001]

No I didn't think to as I didn't think my super buddy would ID the incorrect sat ?? Can I align the dish using the receiver signal meter AFTER the setup comes back with a 771 ?

 

[sodly]

I dont have a super buddy meter so don't know I do know my cheep meter won't work with SWM system
You can use your receiver to aim
You don't need splitter
Don

 

[Danny001]

I am reading now on another forum that Superbuddy has id'd the wrong sat for others, especially for DTV and DISH as they use similar freq, and symbol rates.. anyone know for sure and whether I can use the receiver to align ?

 

[sodly]

You can use the receiver to aim
do you have coordinates from http://www.dishpointer.com
Always right on for me

 

[Danny001]

the ones I used were for the 3 LNB set up.. should I focus on aiming at 101 coordinates first? Then tune in the other 2 bird?

 

[Danny001]

In the forum I read about superbud, they say the DTV 110 and 119 use the same freq and symbol rates, I checked the coordinates on dish pointer and behold, they happen to be the same settings I had on my dish, I was pointed to far to the east and I think I was hitting 110, not 101. Will try again tomorrow.

 

[sodly]

Use the DirecTV SL3 (99w,101W.103w) at bottom of page
Its under multi LNB

 

[raoul5788]

My guess is that if you had to lower your elevation to get a signal, you were likely pointing at 119 with the lower elevation. Move it back where it belongs and swing the azimuth to the east.

 

[sodly]

I agree with raoul--depending where you are East or west?? as true south changes

 

[raoul5788]

The elevation for 110 in Bangor is about 24°. For 119, it's about 19°. I'm sure you were pointing at 119. Set your elevation back to 27° and swing the dish 18° to the east.

 

[Danny001]

Will try this after work and report back. Thx!

 

[raoul5788]

Good luck!

 

[Danny001]

So I lined it up using the super bud and hit 101 , to confirm I hooked up the receiver BUT I couldn't get anything higher than 60% with nothing on 99 or 103. Using the dish pointer pro app ( shows the arc of all sats) I realized the peak of the house was likely causing interference. I tried to tune it in better using the receiver just in case and could not get higher than 62%. Tried elevation skew and azimuth...So I moved the dish onto the back shed which has a clear line of site. Plumb up my mast, preset my elevation and skew, connect my super bud and can't get the meter higher than 7.2 EBNO. I should be getting in the 12.5-13.5 EBNO range. I have not connected the receiver to confirm I am on the right sat as the mosquitos were brutal and I couldn't concentrate but I do believe I am on the correct sat .I will connect the receiver tomorrow and see what I get for signal percentage but I have a feeling something isn't right. In the event I am lined up on 101 correctly and still cant get a higher signal than before, what are some other things to look for. I am running 1 cable ( about 5 feet in length) from the SWM LNB to the power inserter and another 3 or 4 foot cable from the inserter to the Super Buddy ( its the old super buddy that can't power the SWM LNB's) I wonder if the dish got bent during shipping, or if I put it together wrong.. but it all looks fine to me.

 

[raoul5788]

Those are all possibilities. Are you getting verification that you are on the 101 satellite? A low signal strength means you aren't aligned properly, not that the signal is blocked.

 

[Danny001]

Ya I hooked up the receiver to confirm at the first location, no matter what I did I could not obtain higher than 62% signal on 101 signal meter, Mast was plumb, surface level. I assumed the house was partially blocking so I moved to the shed. Have not confirmed on the shed yet but with a clear line of site, mast plumb and elevation pre-set to 27 degrees, I hit on A sat with 7 EBNO right away. I assumed it was 101 and tuned that in as high as I Could on my buddy. could not obtain higher than 7.2 EBNO. Did not confirm with receiver yet but will tomorrow. Starting to wonder if something isn't wrong with the dish. I've set up SWM before with no issues like this.

 

[raoul5788]

My best GUESS would be a bad lnb or bent dish.