Can't get Dish re-peaked until the 15th...if not later...

[Mark Holtz]

Sigh. For a couple of days already, I have been getting no reception on 110/13 and 110/29. This has meant that I only get the 44 hour guide instead of the 9 day guide. After the third call, (second call was on Sunday, when they had the 110 outage), they agreed to send out a technician to repeak the Dish. I think the recent high winds have blown the dish out of alignment.

Well, the first available appointment to send a technician out by Dish: January 15th. Even the technician was stunned. The escalated repair department tried to call the Sacramento location, but forgot the time difference. She called at 6:23 AM PT, and the local location doesn't open until 7 AM. They couldn't even leave a VM... the VM box was full.

Gee, I wonder if the backlog is due to the fact that AT&T Broadband/Comcast announced the post merger rate hike and they are backlogged with orders...

Anyways, I hate to do this, but is it possible to repeak the Dish myself if the weather is decent tomorrow? If not, then I'm stuck manually programming the PVR for when I'm out of town.

[Bob Haller]

Wheres the dish at and do you need to climb are you comfy on a ladder?

Jan 15tH? THATS HORRIBLE! Any locl dealers in your area?

[jerryez]

It is real easy to peak a dish. Ideally, if you could hook up a 13" or smaller tv at the dish, it would be real easy. You at least need to be able to hear the beep from the set up menu. The faster the beep the stronger the signal. At first leave the dish tight and push on the edge of the dish to tilt it first up, then down, then left and right. One of these adjustments should make the beep faster. Then slightly loosen the bolt (careful not to loosen to much so the dish alignment shifts) holding the dish and slightly move the dish in the direction that brought a faster beep. Lock bolt back down and you are finished.

[scooper]

Peaking a dish is easy, but it is easier if you have help and a way to communicate - FRS radios are great for this, cell phone for you while the other person is on another line, etc. Just setup the IRD on the point dish screen and then have the other person tell how the signal meter moves. Give each change a couple of seconds before trying something else. In your case, you probably want to peak on 110 Tr 29 - i.e. peak on the weakest.

[Mark Holtz]

Just as a followup....

I think I know what the problem is. The pole that holds the dish in place isn't plumb, but is off by at visibly by least 10 degrees. So, if I can get the pole straight, I should be back in business.

[Mark Holtz]

Originally posted by Bob Haller
Wheres the dish at and do you need to climb are you comfy on a ladder?

Jan 15tH? THATS HORRIBLE! Any locl dealers in your area?

The dish is located on the side of a two-story house at roof level. I would have to use our long ladder, and I'm kinda scrared of heigths.

[Bob Haller]

I would find a friend or dealer to do the limbing. Who installed it originally?

[Mark Holtz]

Dish Network.

[Richard King]

If you can get the pole plumb it makes a peak much easier because all the spec angles will work. Plumb the pole, check angles for your zip code, set the dish to the proper elevation and rotate it for highest signal. Tighten the bolts for rotation adjustment and loosen (not losen) the bolts for elevation adjustment. Move elevation until you reach the highest pitch from the signal meter. Then, go watch television. :D

[Steve Mehs]

Just experienced the same thing only with 119 and everything was out completely. I called a local regional retailer to see if they could come out. As soon as I heard the price I said NO THANKS! $65 for the first 30 minutes, $50 for each additional hour. No way in hell would I pay that much. My mom decided to call E*, she managed to convince the CSR there was a problem with the SW64 (which is only 3 weeks old and under warranty) instead of the dish alignment. Batta-bing! Free fix! But it turned out the problem was a combo between the dish being out of alignment and the SW64. On the invoice it said fix all problems free of charge at any cost no matter how long it takes. The job took nearly 3 hours, that would have been over $200 if it was a normal service call. Ended up getting rid of the SW64 and getting 2 SW21s and a twin LNB for the dish500

Here's likes to pics of my dish set up, the first link is to how my roof looked last week this time, the second link is how it looks now.
Dish Set Up with SW64 (http://steve.dbstalk.com/dishes.jpg)
Dish Set Up with Twin LNB (http://steve.dbstalk.com/dishes2.jpg)

[Richard King]

When I go out on a "dish pointing" problem service call I always warn the customer that if it is in fact a "pointing" problem that I will probably only be there for about five minutes and that my minimum charge is $50. I usually will spend five minutes on the phone with them telling them how they could point it themselves before I go out on a call. If they don't want to do it themselves, then I have no problem with a $50 service call that requires only five minutes on site.

[Richard King]

Steve, that first install is unacceptable to me. The SW-64 should be under the overhang of the roof and should not be mounted in a way that invites water to run down the cables into the switch. Was this done by Dish? The second picture is much better if for no reason that there is no snow on the roof. :D

[Steve Mehs]

The installation was done by a guy from the regional retailer I mention everyone in a while, Intertech. They're also the ones who, if I went right to them it would have cost the $65 for the first half hour. These guys are really in with E*. They are the ones that do the free dish installs, 50X upgrades, if you arrange any service with dish, they'll be the ones who do the work. Also if you order a E* system from Sears or WalMart, someone from Intertech will be the one that does the install. Most all Dish systems that I know of that were installed around here have been purchased from/Installed by Intertech, they are well respected chain, but obviously some of the people who work for them arn't perfect :) The guy that replaced it with the Twin and 2 SW21s was from Intertech, but it was a different guy, which explains a lot. I'm glad my roof is much cleaner now.

Richard, don't you miss snow? :D

[normang]

Steve, doesn't that change pretty much limit you to two recievers or a single dual tuner without some addtional expansion?

[Jacob S]

I usually charge a flat rate, around $60-$85 if it is my customer, around $100-$125 if it is not. If the customer thinks that is too high then I tell them that I will charge a cheaper rate for the service call but if there are other problems then I will charge extra accordingly. Those that try to have it done cheaper in the first place may end up costing them more in the end, because they do not want to pay anything.

It depends on how good the customer was, how I was treated on the install, what the customer can afford (if they have a good income or not - if someone does not have a good income I try to work with them giving them a better deal to help them out), if they have given me referrals, how far I have to drive, what materials I had to use, and so forth. Sometimes I do not charge anything if I feel as if the customer should not be charged because it is not their fault, if it is one of my customers. If it is not one of my customers I charge the regular amount.

I try to be fair and charge an amount in which the customer can agree with and afford, working with the customer

[Steve Mehs]

Steve, doesn't that change pretty much limit you to two recievers or a single dual tuner without some addtional expansion?

Yep :( Thats the only bad part. I don't think we'll ever add a thrid receiver, although I was thinking about hooking up a deactivated 2700 in the basement, until all the channels get shut off. If we get a 721, I'll have to reconfigure everything, and I do think we'll get 721 sooner or later. This past Saturday my mom was looking at blowing a $25 coupon at Sears on a 721, but at the last minute decided $525 is still a bit too much.

[Richard King]

Richard, don't you miss snow?Nope. I enjoy my Christmas and New Year's days in shorts and a tee shirt. If I have to see snow, a picture like your's is the best way. :D

[normang]

Steve...

I am pretty much in the same situation. If I want to add another reciever or a dual tuner model in the future, I am going to have to reconfig.

I think I am going to go Dish Pro with a SW34, simplfies install and minimizes the cabling and eases any future expansion, though its probably going to cost about $150-200 for that change. If and when I do it...

[Mark Holtz]

Is this story over? Not quite...

Due to a change in travel plans, I managed to fly back home on Sunday instead of yesterday. So, while at the airport, I called Dish Network to get a notation on the work order to see if a tech could come out earlier than the 15th.

No luck. However, according to my mom, within about two minutes of my leaving for work, the tech was there and the dish repeaked-no charge. I would have to double-check this evening, but it would be nice not to have my 501 go off every 10 minutes trying to get guide information.

[Mark Holtz]

Eyup..... checked the signal strength on 13 and 29. They went from extreme low 40s/no signal to 70s. Nice to get my full guide back.

[MarkA]

It's a piece of cake to reaim the dish. I did it myself a couple years ago, having NO knowledge of satellite dishes it about 2 hours (I had a mismarked DISH 500 that was pro installed. Once I figured out it was mismarked, it took about a half hour)

I've done some installs for free for friends, and I find the aiming part generally takes about 20 mins to get a good peak.

Anyways, just do it yourself. It's easy.

---UPDATE---

Sorry. Now I know to read the entire thread before I post (which I didn't) glad it worked out for you:) But do know, if it happens again it's REALLY easy to repeak. It's no harder than aiming a projector (permanently installed type that should NEVER be misaimed but guys ALWAYS manage to bump into when working on the setup :mad: )or a stage light (in fact, it's very similar, but the only difference is you must be more precise because of the greater distance involved. But not really because you also have a greater tolerance. I'd say it's most like video projectors (in terms of how precise you must be). You must be RIGHT on the dot - the slightest tap in the wrong direction will knock everything out of alignment). Oh and of course, unlike with lights and projectors, you are shooting in the dark, which doesn't help. You've got a rough idea of the correct elevation setting, and you know you're pointing generally south. But other than that, you're completely without help until you get close. When you're installing a projector or a light, you can clearly see your target, you can see what your movements are doing, and you don't have to play a guessing game... That's the worst thing. I wish you could see the satellite. And you could see a red dot in the sky showing where your dish was pointed:) That would help a lot.

[Mark Holtz]

Zac: Since the two Dishes are mounted on the roof of a two-story house, I would have to use a long extension ladder to reach them. Now, with all due respect for the installers, I don't want an accident to occur, but if one does occur, I prefer it to happen to THEM, not to ME. And, even then, I expect the installer to work safely. If it was windy or rainy, it would mean a reschedule.

Stupid question directed at the dealers: I'm on the DHP. When Dish looked at the scheduling at the time of the original call, they noticed a long wait time, and were prepared to authorize a local installer to do the repeak. What do you guys need from Dish to repeak the dish and still get paid?

[Steve Mehs]

My Dish500 was so out of wack I didn't even wanna mess with it, I went of there but couldn't find the bolt that was loose, but it was a bit windy that day so I didn't look too hard. What worked for a little (until the SW64 died) was I mounted the latter against the side of the house and tied a rope to one of the rungs and the other end was tied to a mop handel, I used the mop to prop the dish up. Even then my SS was at the max 50 for 119. When the guy came to do the work he repeaked it and now all tps on 110 and 119 (with a few exceptions, ie spotbeams) my ss is atleast 115, most tps are an even 120. Even before all this we never had a signal strength that high before. Our orginal installer never even bothered to peak our orginal Dish, back in '98. I remember we averaged a ss of 70-80%.

[MarkA]

Steve, professional installations (at least around here) I've seen (including our original install) are typically between 50-60 signal stregth on the average over all transponders. They have no incentive to try and go higher. You really (at least here) HAVE to aim the dish yourself once it's installed, so it has to be in a relatively convienient place :)

[Jacob S]

That is rediculous that they would not take an extra 5 minutes or less to try to peak the signal, its not hard to do. So they just try to barely get the signal in just good enough to get you a picture then leave? By doing this the little things will cause the signal go out such as leaves on trees, rain-fade, snow-fade, etc. in which leaves no room for any signal drop to still get a signal in.

The signal strength should be over 100% unless there are some trees. They should be up in the 110's in some cases if not in the 120's. Some transponder signal strengths will be less than others.

[Steve Mehs]

Besides spotbeams, here's my highest and lowest

119-
Highest tp 11- 124 points
Lowest tps 15, 19 & 20 - 119 points (not too bad!)

110-
Highest tp 1 - 123 points
Lowest tp 27 - 87 points (13, 24, 27 & 29 are the only ones under 110 pts)

61.5-
Highest tp 25 - 108 points (16, 25, 27 & 29 are the only ones above 100)
Lowest tp 30 - 83 points (4 and 26 are 0)

[DarrellP]

Just to show you how easy it is to tweak a Dish, I just moved and needed to get my 6000 online asap, so I took a flower planter and stuck my dish 500 in it, propped it up with water bottles and leaned it against a fence for stability. I still don't have 61.5 though.

VOILA! With a bit of tweaking I locked on a very strong signal. I took a spare receiver outside with a 13" tv so I had the Dish 500 install screen to look at.

To top this off, I put my 121" antenna on a pole and stuck it through the hole in the middle of my patio table to hold it up until I can mount it up in my attic. It looks like the Beverly Hillbillies just moved in.

Hopefully this weekend I can get everything installed properly so I can relax and watch the StuperBlow next weekend.