Need help with self-install 5-LNB

[boggsaz]

Hi folks. I could sure use some help with a self-install of a 5-LNB Slimline.
This is at the vacation house. I'm upgrading from an 18" round dish to the 5-LNB.

Both lines to the DVR worked fine on the 18" dish, and work okay on the new dish
if I set it up as a 3-LNB.

When I try to change the configuration to 5-LNB the install fails.
I get a box the looks like this;

99 101 103 110 119

Odd Gray Check Check Grey Check
(13v) Box Mark Mark Box Mark

Even Gray Check Red Check Check
(18v) Box Mark X Mark Mark

Has anybody encountered this? Is it bad cable?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Mertzen]

What are your signal levels. YOu might have to redo the test a few times to pass even when the signal is good.

[boggsaz]

Hi Mertzen, Signal levels are as follows,

101 - High 80"s to 100
110 - 90"s
119 - 80's & 90's
99c - High 50's to 70's
99s - T16=39, T19=54, T20=36, T21=16, T22=16,
103s - T15=69, T17=14, T18=24, T23=72
103s - High 50's & 60's

Thanks for the help.

[samrs]

If the receiver has been in use you should have the option to continue fix later, select that, if your video pixelates on HD channels dither your dish and/or replace the cable, connectors, ground block.

[boggsaz]

From the box I got, in the first post, I thought it might be bad cable. Is that what it sounds like? I think it is trying to tell me that it can't send the required voltages.

I didn't see the option to "continue and fix it later".

It's dark now, so I'm not going up on the roof tonight. I'm just trying to figure out
what to work on tomorrow. Cables or dish fine tuning. I know I need dish tweeking.

Thanks for the help.

[Mertzen]

Is the IRD active? Look slike you're stuck at the IV screen. But you need to peak your system to have at least 80s on 99c and 103c. And as said before try it multiple time on good signal.

[boggsaz]

Well I'll be darned!! Thanks Samrs!

I did the continue, and it worked. I know the dish needs tweeking, but I'm now
getting all the local channels in HD. No pixilization on the channels that I have tried so far. That's good enough for tonight.

I'll work on the dish tomorrow, but I'm still concerned about that screen I got in the first post. I guess "if it works, don't worry about it.

Thanks you guys. I would have been watching in SD if it were not for you.

Any suggestions on fine tuning the dish? Tilt, Az. or Elev. ???

[samrs]

The screen means your signal strength sucks. Any number of things can contribute to that, first is dish alignment. Around here I pretty much need 95ish across the board to get past that screen. It should work fine, most of the time with less, good luck.

[joe diamond]

IF the mast is plumb all tuning is easier. Invest the time to make sure that is the case.

The tilt setting is not too important.......use he correct one for your zip.
The elevation should also be set as listed for your zip. Invest time to get it as close as you can and firm down the bolts.

The azimuth.......line to the sat horizontally.......is a good place to start.
Mark where the dish is pointing before you start because you have signal now and are very close to where you want to be.

Slowly loosen the rear bolts just enough to allow the dish to swing without changing elevation. Make sure you have signal on the 101 sat. Then set the signal meter for 103c and slowly push right one degree at a time. There is a lag in the meter......have someone at the set with a cell phone to report improvements.
You want to go through the peak signal and then back to it; this is called "peaking" the signal. Check the signal as you retighten the rear bolts.

Seventy is a magic number for installation purposes...........you will get 90s without "dithering". You loose picture at around 40 and the HD (99 & 103) goes first.

Once you get the az as good as you can mark the elevation and try the same thing. Small, smooth movements done slowly will get you there.

Check all bolts for tightness when done...........a common cause for loss of signal the first week after an installation is loose bolts........mast, az and then el in that order. Tighten them up without breaking them.

Joe

[avengence]

Do I have to have a meter or can you use the box? I am having issues with the install as well. I can get 101, 110, 119 no problem but 99 and 103 are just so hard to hit right. So if I hit the 101, peak it, then move it slowly to peak the 99 and 103? Also I was wondering, how small is the 99 and 103 actually? Like a 1/4 turn of the fine AZ or fine EL adjust can miss its peak?

[joe diamond]

Do I have to have a meter or can you use the box? I am having issues with the install as well. I can get 101, 110, 119 no problem but 99 and 103 are just so hard to hit right. So if I hit the 101, peak it, then move it slowly to peak the 99 and 103? Also I was wondering, how small is the 99 and 103 actually? Like a 1/4 turn of the fine AZ or fine EL adjust can miss its peak?

The whole point of this is to skip buying the meter for around $500.00,

Know that the 99 is east (left) of 101 and the 103 is west (right) of the 101.
Those numbers are actually launch positions....areas in the sky where many satellites are parked....the DTV equipment only "sees" the satellites they control. SO from the 101 a three degree adjustment west will center you on the 103 but that is too far west (right) and you will loose the 101 to an unacceptable level..............so you swing back to bring up the 101.

Using the dither wheels without a meter can be confusing. Most find that whole procedure unnecessary. Do retighten the hold down bolts for the dither wheel if you loosened them........if you didn't you may have stripped something...not to worry.

When you tune one sat the 5 LNB frame & dish are all moving. Tuning 5 satellites is a compromise where you get an acceptable signal on all of them. The az line posted on the signal meter in the receiver points to the 101 using the slimline ka/ku dish. Hit the 101 first and push west ( right) very little while watching the 103c on the meter. Switch back and forth. Then check the 119.

Do make sure that in "dish selection" the dish you have installed is selected. IF you are NOT using an H series recorder........HD DVR21 none of this will work. You need an HD receiver and a HD TV to use the signal from the 99 and or 103. If you do not have an HD recorder just peak the 101 and forget it.....and wonder what you are doing with the 5LNB dish.

Joe

[avengence]

Alright, that makes total sense!

On another board people keep giving me a hard time about wanting to do it myself so I can here because I figured I would give it a try.

Anyway, I plumbed the J pole so it shouldnt be too hard. Its hard to plumb it and then put the sat on and then try to plumb it again. the weight of the sat causes it to go out of plumb (its VERY slight, like the bubble is just barely touching the black) but I guess its out enough to cause a problem. I guess I will hop up there tonight and see what else I can do. I hope I can eventually get it, i dont want to call D* or someone else to have them install it, I wanted to do it myself.

last time I was up there I peaked the 101 using the rough AZ adjustment. Tightened down the clamp. Did the fine EL adjustment getting it right in the middle of the max signal. I cant get over 80% on transponder 1 for some reason though. Others go up to 90-97%. I guess I will try to slowly adjust to get 99c and 103c in a good range. Hopefully I can get it. 119 and 110 are both good but I guess those arent as important as 99, 101, 103. I have the HR22 receiver.

Thank you for your patience in explaining it!

[joe diamond]

Alright, that makes total sense!

On another board people keep giving me a hard time about wanting to do it myself so I can here because I figured I would give it a try.

Anyway, I plumbed the J pole so it shouldnt be too hard. Its hard to plumb it and then put the sat on and then try to plumb it again. the weight of the sat causes it to go out of plumb (its VERY slight, like the bubble is just barely touching the black) but I guess its out enough to cause a problem. I guess I will hop up there tonight and see what else I can do. I hope I can eventually get it, i dont want to call D* or someone else to have them install it, I wanted to do it myself.

last time I was up there I peaked the 101 using the rough AZ adjustment. Tightened down the clamp. Did the fine EL adjustment getting it right in the middle of the max signal. I cant get over 80% on transponder 1 for some reason though. Others go up to 90-97%. I guess I will try to slowly adjust to get 99c and 103c in a good range. Hopefully I can get it. 119 and 110 are both good but I guess those arent as important as 99, 101, 103. I have the HR22 receiver.

Thank you for your patience in explaining it!

Glad to help,

We do have to confirm that you ARE using a HD receiver.........the model number should have an "H" as in H20 for example. IF you do not have a HD receiver you will not get 99 or 103.

From what you said you have the mast close enough.

IN "menu" if you selected 3 LNB you will not get the 99 or 103. If you have an HD receiver you should reset and redo set up. IN dish selection select the 5LNB ka/ku even though the number of horns you count is 3.

And I noted you are in CA. Your az will be almost due south but the 103c is still west of the 101.......the line may be closer.

Confirm these things....you are close.

Joe

[avengence]

Yep, I have a HR22 receiver, its the HD DVR, the newer one.

Yea I selected the slimline 5. I have the dish that says slimline on it with the 5 lnbs on it.

The mast is very close to plumb and I checked it with another level I had (torpedo level) and it is within the lines of that too. Tonight I will try lining up 99 and 103. If I shoot for 99 or 103 will the opposite on just come in also?

Right now the receiver tells me like 140 something for the AZ and 41 for the EL and 114 for the tilt. I set all that up but I dont really get much of a signal if at all at those settings. I have to move the tilt to like 40 degrees to get peak signal.

[avengence]

After looking at dishpointer.com it makes it look like a tree is in the way of my 99 signal. Also the reason why I think it is, is because when I was trying to dial it in, I was getting 25 or so max on like 11 transponders and without touching it, it would jump around all over the place.

[Mertzen]

It's near impossible to have LOS on 101 and NLOS on 99 and 103.

[avengence]

It's near impossible to have LOS on 101 and NLOS on 99 and 103.

You sure? I am thinking of moving my sat once again when I get home but maybe I should hold off and just try to align it again. I can get 101 locked in at 80-97% on each transponder.

[Canis Lupus]

Double-checking as well that you have the BBCs connected? (unless the HR22's don't require BBCs).

[joe diamond]

Yep, I have a HR22 receiver, its the HD DVR, the newer one.

Yea I selected the slimline 5. I have the dish that says slimline on it with the 5 lnbs on it.

The mast is very close to plumb and I checked it with another level I had (torpedo level) and it is within the lines of that too. Tonight I will try lining up 99 and 103. If I shoot for 99 or 103 will the opposite on just come in also?

Right now the receiver tells me like 140 something for the AZ and 41 for the EL and 114 for the tilt. I set all that up but I dont really get much of a signal if at all at those settings. I have to move the tilt to like 40 degrees to get peak signal.

That is OK,

Those numbers are to get you close. Everything you have confirmed look OK. ABOUT THAT TREE?

If the numbers move when the wind blows you have discerned the problem!
Get some rope and puyll the limbs out of the way....... attach the correct limb to the rope and from there to the bumper of a virgin pick up truck. This works best with a truck that has only hauled virgins.

Pull, lad Pull!

Joe

[avengence]

So I got up there again and tried to align the dish. Didnt work out too well. I can get into the 30's on 99 which is nowhere near enough. I cant get 103 at all and never have. I think I will just call someone out to do an install, I guess. I dont really want to pay the money though... kind of sucks.

[TheRatPatrol]

Hi folks. I could sure use some help with a self-install of a 5-LNB Slimline.
This is at the vacation house. I'm upgrading from an 18" round dish to the 5-LNB.

Both lines to the DVR worked fine on the 18" dish, and work okay on the new dish
if I set it up as a 3-LNB.

When I try to change the configuration to 5-LNB the install fails.
I get a box the looks like this;

99 101 103 110 119

Odd Gray Check Check Grey Check
(13v) Box Mark Mark Box Mark

Even Gray Check Red Check Check
(18v) Box Mark X Mark Mark

Has anybody encountered this? Is it bad cable?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Were you able to get your dish adjusted?

Send me a PM if you need additional help.

[joe diamond]

So I got up there again and tried to align the dish. Didnt work out too well. I can get into the 30's on 99 which is nowhere near enough. I cant get 103 at all and never have. I think I will just call someone out to do an install, I guess. I dont really want to pay the money though... kind of sucks.

There is always more.

Did you reset the receiver and select the dish? Sometimes the meter just locks on an old signal level.....just a thought.

Aside from cutting down the tree can you move the dish back along the LOS?
This will sometimes give the elevation clearance unless you are marching down a roof slant.

The other possibility is a vertical pole extension. You can't go much higher without major engineering problems but a few feet may give it to you.

I hesitate to mention the shotgun cure for trees but if you are out in the boonies and have a 12ga or bigger shotgun and a box of buckshot...it will open that az & el pretty good.

Then there is the local experienced installer....ask neighbors.

Good luck,

Joe

[boggsaz]

theratpatrol, Thanks for the offer, but I have not been able to get back on the roof yet. The weather will not cooperate. I'm still getting a watchable signal, so no real urgency. If we get a break in the weather, I'll get back up there.

Thanks

[TheRatPatrol]

theratpatrol, Thanks for the offer, but I have not been able to get back on the roof yet. The weather will not cooperate. I'm still getting a watchable signal, so no real urgency. If we get a break in the weather, I'll get back up there.

Thanks
Ok, let me know if you need any help.