Is Slimline bad? Peak signal of 60 on sat 101

[bongju]

I am attempting a self install of a new Slimline dish to replace a 3 LNB dish. I purchased the Acutrac22 MKII Pro meter, and when selecting 13v and no 22 KHz tone, I am only getting a peak signal strength of about 60 on the 101 satellite. I am using a new RG6 cable from the multiswitch to my meter. On my HR20, I am getting zeros on all transponders except 28, 30, and 32, which are reading 43, 60, and 51. On my 3 LNB dish, I was getting a signal strength near 100 on most transponders according to my HR20.

Does this indicate that I got a bad Slimline, or is there something else that I should check first.

[litzdog911]

You're aimed at the wrong satellite. Those three transponders are beamed from the 110-deg satellite. Your dish should be centered on 101-deg W, not 110-deg W. While standing behind your dish, adjust the azimuth several degrees to the left.

[bongju]

Can someone please confirm that I am using the correct settings on the Acutrac22 Pro to find the 101 satellite? I selected 13 V and no 22 KHz tone.

[hiker]

Can someone please confirm that I am using the correct settings on the Acutrac22 Pro to find the 101 satellite? I selected 13 V and no 22 KHz tone.That's correct according to the instructions.

[techrep]

Can someone please confirm that I am using the correct settings on the Acutrac22 Pro to find the 101 satellite? I selected 13 V and no 22 KHz tone.

litzdog911 is probably right and you need to change aziumth a few degrees left.

Several sats will show signal, on the Acutrac, with the same volt and tone settings.

If you selected the 3lnb option in initial setup, the rough azimuth and elevation settings (and tilt) will be a little different than the 5lnb settings.

Also, double check that you set elevation using the red (maybe white) line on the back assembly and not the bolts.

[jdspencer]

Isn't 13v used to tune the odd transponders on a satellite?
No 22Khz for 101 and with 22Khz for 110/119.

Channels 490-494 can be used to verify reception on the 101/110/119 sats.

[TigersFanJJ]

bongju, where are you at in Alabama?

[gtbird88]

You're aimed at the wrong satellite. Those three transponders are beamed from the 110-deg satellite. Your dish should be centered on 101-deg W, not 110-deg W. While standing behind your dish, adjust the azimuth several degrees to the left.

:biggthump :biggthump

Thanks for the advice.. I too was upgrading from old 3 lnb to newer slimline dish. After 3 days of banging my head against the wall I came across this message tread and seeing the tell tell signs of receiving 3 strong signals on transponder
28 30 & 32 only I realized My Problem. I went out and moved the dish to the Left a few degrees and adjusted the Elevation a bit and Lo and Behold We had signal..

I was using the Accutrac III+ meter to find sat. and discovered although it might say your on 101 sat. your really not it only reads the signal strg. and volt. so don't rely totally on inline meters.

Thanks for the help great to have Dtv back up and running..

[litzdog911]

:biggthump :biggthump

Thanks for the advice.. I too was upgrading from old 3 lnb to newer slimline dish. After 3 days of banging my head against the wall I came across this message tread and seeing the tell tell signs of receiving 3 strong signals on transponder
28 30 & 32 only I realized My Problem. I went out and moved the dish to the Left a few degrees and adjusted the Elevation a bit and Lo and Behold We had signal..

I was using the Accutrac III+ meter to find sat. and discovered although it might say your on 101 sat. your really not it only reads the signal strg. and volt. so don't rely totally on inline meters.

Thanks for the help great to have Dtv back up and running..

Welcome to DBSTalk! Glad we could help!

[texasbrit]

I am attempting a self install of a new Slimline dish to replace a 3 LNB dish. I purchased the Acutrac22 MKII Pro meter, and when selecting 13v and no 22 KHz tone, I am only getting a peak signal strength of about 60 on the 101 satellite. I am using a new RG6 cable from the multiswitch to my meter. On my HR20, I am getting zeros on all transponders except 28, 30, and 32, which are reading 43, 60, and 51. On my 3 LNB dish, I was getting a signal strength near 100 on most transponders according to my HR20.

Does this indicate that I got a bad Slimline, or is there something else that I should check first.


You are almost certainly pointed at the wrong satellite. Remember the slimline dish points at the 101 satellite and the 3-lnb points at 110.

[hdtvfan0001]

Thanks for the help great to have Dtv back up and running..
Another satisifed DBSTalk poster....:D

[K4SMX]

You are almost certainly pointed at the wrong satellite. Remember the slimline dish points at the 101 satellite and the 3-lnb points at 110.
Check out the date on the OP.....:)

[texasbrit]

Check out the date on the OP.....:)

oops..!

[bubbaart15]

You're aimed at the wrong satellite. Those three transponders are beamed from the 110-deg satellite. Your dish should be centered on 101-deg W, not 110-deg W. While standing behind your dish, adjust the azimuth several degrees to the left.

Could this also be true if I'm using the receiver to see the strength and not a meter? I also have 60s and 70s for the 101, but I have 70's for the 110, 80s for the 119, and 50s for the 103. Does this sound like I'm centered on the wrong Sat? If so, how do you find the write one?

[texasbrit]

Could this also be true if I'm using the receiver to see the strength and not a meter? I also have 60s and 70s for the 101, but I have 70's for the 110, 80s for the 119, and 50s for the 103. Does this sound like I'm centered on the wrong Sat? If so, how do you find the write one?
if you are using the receiver then your satellite selection is OK. Your dish is simply not aligned correctly. You should have 90s for pretty well all the transponders that are not spot beams. Unless you have the dish aligned correctly on 101 (90s or even 100) than you will never get decent signals on the other satellites.

[bubbaart15]

if you are using the receiver then your satellite selection is OK. Your dish is simply not aligned correctly. You should have 90s for pretty well all the transponders that are not spot beams. Unless you have the dish aligned correctly on 101 (90s or even 100) than you will never get decent signals on the other satellites.

I've tried to peak it, and that is the highest we could get. Could it be the connectors we're using with the RG6? We were getting 90's with the old round dish, but couldn't get that high with the slimline with the same cables and connectors. Moved it all over with the receiver reading the numbers and we couldn't get any higher than 74 on the 101. When I moved the tilt, the 119 went up, so I'm assuming I'm centered on the 101. I'm not sure what else to do. The channels are working, so I'm happy about that, but I would like to increase the numbers if possible.

[bubbaart15]

I've tried to peak it, and that is the highest we could get. Could it be the connectors we're using with the RG6? We were getting 90's with the old round dish, but couldn't get that high with the slimline with the same cables and connectors. Moved it all over with the receiver reading the numbers and we couldn't get any higher than 74 on the 101. When I moved the tilt, the 119 went up, so I'm assuming I'm centered on the 101. I'm not sure what else to do. The channels are working, so I'm happy about that, but I would like to increase the numbers if possible.

I am still having problems tweaking the slimline dish. My concern is leveling the post. It appears to be level, but I'm not positive. I have gotten the 101 to the upper 70's and low 80's, but then when I try to adjust the tilt to get the 103 strength up, the 101 signal goes down. Should changing the tilt (moving the dish like a steering wheel) change the 101 signal? We do get all the HD channels except the ESPN one's and 1 HBO and 1 Showtime HD channels. I also changed out all of the connectors to the high end compression connectors. Any ideas?

[satjoe]

I am still having problems tweaking the slimline dish. My concern is leveling the post. It appears to be level, but I'm not positive. I have gotten the 101 to the upper 70's and low 80's, but then when I try to adjust the tilt to get the 103 strength up, the 101 signal goes down. Should changing the tilt (moving the dish like a steering wheel) change the 101 signal? We do get all the HD channels except the ESPN one's and 1 HBO and 1 Showtime HD channels. I also changed out all of the connectors to the high end compression connectors. Any ideas?
The 101 is used as a bore site, once you get the 101 the dish tilt only swivels around it unless your pole is not plumb

Good Luck

[Brannayen]

It could be the reflector. Twice now in the last 2 weeks, I've gotten 50's and 60's until I replaced the reflector. There didn't seem to be any visible flaws, dents or scratches, but nonetheless the signal came in strong as soon as I replaced it.

[firefighter4evr]

Another satisifed DBSTalk poster....:D

D* should just hand over customer service to DBSTalk.... Maybe we could have more satisifed customers!:joy:

[joe diamond]

Could this also be true if I'm using the receiver to see the strength and not a meter? I also have 60s and 70s for the 101, but I have 70's for the 110, 80s for the 119, and 50s for the 103. Does this sound like I'm centered on the wrong Sat? If so, how do you find the write one?

Looks like you need to adjust the elevation and or check the mast for plumb.

Left, Right + Up & Down; mast plumb + tilt as per spec for your zip!

Joe

[K4SMX]

I am still having problems tweaking the slimline dish. My concern is leveling the post. It appears to be level, but I'm not positive.........
If you are using a wooden "post," you're asking for long-term trouble with maintaining alignment of the Slimline dish. That said, the best way to check your plumb is to mark the current azimuth setting with a Sharpie where the dish mount meets the J pole, remove the dish temporarily, and check the plumb of the pole with a torpedo level. Many commonly available 9" torpedo levels have a groove down one side for pole leveling.

Brannayen makes a good point, although the problems I've had with warped dishes primarily effected the HD satellites. Determining whether a dish reflector is warped is not easy. The only way I've been able to guestimate this issue is by placing two yard sticks across either side of the center of the face of the dish and then viewing the yard sticks from the side as someone slowly slides one of the yard sticks and then the other toward the outer perimeter of the dish.

Have you confirmed these "low" signal strengths with a different receiver, even if you have to borrow one from a friend?

[RobertE]

If you are using a wooden "post," you're asking for long-term trouble with maintaining alignment of the Slimline dish. That said, the best way to check your plumb is to mark the current azimuth setting with a Sharpie where the dish mount meets the J pole, remove the dish temporarily, and check the plumb of the pole with a torpedo level. Many commonly available 9" torpedo levels have a groove down one side for pole leveling.

Brannayen makes a good point, although the problems I've had with warped dishes primarily effected the HD satellites. Determining whether a dish reflector is warped is not easy. The only way I've been able to guestimate this issue is by placing two yard sticks across either side of the center of the face of the dish and then viewing the yard sticks from the side as someone slowly slides one of the yard sticks and then the other toward the outer perimeter of the dish.

Have you confirmed these "low" signal strengths with a different receiver, even if you have to borrow one from a friend?

In order of probability, warped reflector, mast out of plumb, weak LNB.

With a normal dish, the yard stick method works well, but the Slimline isn't exactly concentric (I think thats what I'm looking for). In other words, it's not the same size at the same place on each side.

[Mertzen]

It could be the reflector. Twice now in the last 2 weeks, I've gotten 50's and 60's until I replaced the reflector. There didn't seem to be any visible flaws, dents or scratches, but nonetheless the signal came in strong as soon as I replaced it.

This can be very deceptive. I had a trouble call once where a worldirect mast had come loose and fell. It didn't seem like the reflector was affected but after 10 mins I still didn't lock on the 95 bird. When I got a new reflector it came out that it was damaged but by only an inch on each side. Focal point gets affected quickly.