Voom installed on 6/25...

[Nevin]

We got an 18" dish (which he grounded) and one receiver with version 5.68 installed. He neglected to hook up the phone line (which we didn't want anyway) and hooked up the receiver via DVI and component cables. On my way home from work, I picked up a digital optical audio cable to hook up to my HT. After hooking up the audio, the first thing I did was check out the satellite signal strength. It was a whopping 70. Since Friday, I've seen it range from 65 to 84. Ever since we got it, we've been plagued with audio and video dropouts every few seconds, and that's if we can get the channels to come in at all! On some channels, all we get is a black screen. It's incredibly annoying. I scheduled a service call for 7/8, and they better get this fixed. What could be causing these problems? I called Voom thinking it was my signal strength, but they said anything above 30 is good. That sounds like a crock to me.

 

[Sean Mota]

I think you are confusing satellite signal strength with satellite signal quality. The satellite signal quality should be above 90 while your satellite signal strenght should fluctuate between 65-70. Of course, if you get a 70 for satellite signal quality (SSQ), this is real bad because at 70, you will pixelation and your video signal would drop constantly. This is due to an improperly peaked dish. Your installer probably used his portable meter and got a good reading and thought that it was good. No. The way to align properly the Dish is to look at the meter on the receiver under the system settings. This will give optimal SSQ of 90+. Let the installer know not to use his portable meter.

 

[Nevin]

You're right, Sean. I meant Satellite Signal Quality. It's usually around 70. Is there a way I can peak the dish myself? I hate to wait until the 8th to get this fixed. Thanks for the help.

 

[Sean Mota]

You're right, Sean. I meant Satellite Signal Quality. It's usually around 70. Is there a way I can peak the dish myself? I hate to wait until the 8th to get this fixed. Thanks for the help.

If you have access to the Dish and you feel comfortable doing this (going to the roof or wherever the dish is mounted), you can do it yourself. I do not want you to be in accident by following my advice. You really need two people to do this. One should look at the signal under the system setting on your TV while another should move the dish very lightly. You will need to unscrew the dish but not all but enough so that you can move it while keeping the elevation angle. Most people do not feel comfortable doing this but if you are up to it go for it.

 

[The Stone Man]

In the installation menu there is a 'tune satellite' option. It displays a green bar, and an annoying tone. If you can see the TV from the location of the dish, or if you can hear the annoying tone, you can do this yourself. Otherwise--get a spotter to help you. You will have to adjust the dish to get a better signal, so move it slowly. Once you've got signal quality above 90, try to fine tune for 94 or better--then tighten her down.

 

[Nevin]

How do you adjust the horizontal angle of the dish? I saw the bolt that tightens the vertical adjustment, but not the horizontal. I'm assuming I may need to adjust both. I wasn't home at the time of installation, so I'm not sure how how the installer peaked the dish, whether he used his meter or the receiver setup meter.

 

[Vreesar]

For the Horizontal there is a bracket that raps around the poll that should have 2 or 3 bolts holding it tight to the pole. Unscrew those to turn the dish left and right.

 

[Nevin]

Oops, I was afraid of that. It's mounted on a 4x4 wooden beam on the corner of our deck. I can't turn it. Any chance I could just get Voom to move Rainbow-1? That would be a heck of a lot easier.

 

[voomvoom]

Nevin... the dishes mount (or bracket) should be mounted to the 4x4 and the dish should be mounted to the mount (bracket)... you should be able to loosen the screws and adjust the dish clockwise or counterclockwise...

 

[bbtkd]

Nevin... the dishes mount (or bracket) should be mounted to the 4x4 and the dish should be mounted to the mount (bracket)... you should be able to loosen the screws and adjust the dish clockwise or counterclockwise...

Another tip - mark the current alignment either using two pieces of electrical tape or by slightly scratching the pole. That way if you accidentally throw it way off aim, you can get pretty close to where you started.

The problem is that the installer used a meter to aim it. There are two sats at that location, or roughly at that location. When they peak it using a meter, there is a 50% chance that they are aligning it with the Dish satellite rather than the Voom satellite. They are close enough that with an 18" dish you can receive one when peaked on the other, though the signal will be degraded enough to make rain fade worse than it needs to be. With a larger dish, peaking on the wrong satellite will be more of an impact since your beam width is smaller.

Installers should realize this and use the meter as a starting point, then follow that up with a peak using the Voom STB. If I were an installer I would first use a meter for rough aiming, then install the STB at the dish and use a small portable TV to tune it. Then install the STB in the house. The problem here is time - they just want to get a picture and get on to the next job quickly. Their method of aiming works for other services with a stronger signal, so they figure it will work for Voom - but the Voom signal is not as good.

If Voom installers keep this up, I may have to start a business on the side - repeaking Voom dishes.

 

[Nevin]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll try to repeak the dish tonight. Hopefully, I can get a stronger signal and fix my audio/video problems.

 

[Nevin]

Also, about my OTA channels...According to "What's on Now?" on Voom's website, I should be getting 11 channels. However, I'm only getting three. Is there anything I can do to get the rest of them?

 

[wasch_24]

Also, about my OTA channels...According to "What's on Now?" on Voom's website, I should be getting 11 channels. However, I'm only getting three. Is there anything I can do to get the rest of them?

According to that site I should be getting 22 channels but because there are so many variables involved with OTA reception I only get 9, and only five broadcast HD. Have you asked for an upgraded antenna yet? When I did I went from two channels to the nine I have now.

 

[Nevin]

Actually, I'm using the same OTA antenna and rotor I've always had. Before we got Voom, we were able to get at least 10 analog stations. Now, we get 3 digital: ABC, NBC, and CBS.

 

[wasch_24]

Actually, I'm using the same OTA antenna and rotor I've always had. Before we got Voom, we were able to get at least 10 analog stations. Now, we get 3 digital: ABC, NBC, and CBS.

Have you gone to www.antennaweb.org and compared the stations listed as digital to the list you get on the Voom website? Are you mapped for all 11 that the Voom website says you should get? If not, your STB is only programmed for one DMA.

 

[Nevin]

According to Antenna Web, I should only be getting three, the three which I am currently getting. However, the Voom website says 11. Who's right? Also, how do I know if I'm mapped for all 11?

 

[occammd]

If they all show up in your prgram guide then your mapped. Antennaweb is probably correct.

 

[Nevin]

Ok, then I'm only mapped for three. I'm going to do some checking, though. I'm pretty sure I have more than three digital stations within 50 miles of me.

 

[wasch_24]

According to Antenna Web, I should only be getting three, the three which I am currently getting. However, the Voom website says 11. Who's right? Also, how do I know if I'm mapped for all 11?

The ones that you are mapped for show up in the PG. That is strange that there is a discrepancy between the Voom/Zap2it list and antennaweb. I don't know why that would happen but I do know that you are only going to be able to pick up the digital staions using the Voom STB because it has a digital tuner.

EDIT: I type too slow

 

[Nevin]

I did some more checking. From what I've gathered, antennaweb.org needs to be updated. Before I got Voom, I got 10 analog stations. After going to the websites for each of these channels, I've learned that 8 of them have gone digital. All 8 of these (plus some others) are listed on Voom's "What's on now?" So, how can I get these channels?

By the way, I found this site helpful...

http://www.digitaltvzone.com/dtv_stations_on_air/index.asp