SlimLine - 5 Lnb Dish

[MikeeLikee]

I inherited a 5 Lnb, SlimLine dish from someone who changed over to cable.
Reading over the install booklet (online) states to align with the 101 and 119 sats at the same time. I'm pretty certain that there's nothing I need on the 110 or 119 sats. Can I just align with the 101 sat which should put me pretty close in aligment with the 99 and 103 sats? The dish has the newer type 2 back on it and is about a year old.

I clicked the link "5-LNB Multi-Satellite Dish" in the "HD Receiver Installation FAQ" but the link is dead or doesn't work for me.

Would it be beneficial to get a 3 Lnb to replace the 5 Lnb?

I have an Accutrac 22 Pro meter to aid in aligment.

Thanks,

MikeeLikee

[wolfman730]

http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/Slimline_Dish_Installation_Manual.pdf

[carl6]

As long as you have line of sight to the 5 orbital slots, you can go ahead and use that LNB. But you do need to do the alignment very carefully. Pay special attention to the fine tuning, or dithering, instructions.

Start by aligning 101 and 119 per the instructions. Peak and dither. Then use your receiver to check 99c and/or 103c. You should have good solid signals on both (85+). If you do, great. Lock it down. If you don't, then continue to fine tune while observing 99 and 103 and get those the best you can.



I inherited a 5 Lnb, SlimLine dish from someone who changed over to cable.
Reading over the install booklet (online) states to align with the 101 and 119 sats at the same time. I'm pretty certain that there's nothing I need on the 110 or 119 sats. Can I just align with the 101 sat which should put me pretty close in aligment with the 99 and 103 sats? The dish has the newer type 2 back on it and is about a year old.

I clicked the link "5-LNB Multi-Satellite Dish" in the "HD Receiver Installation FAQ" but the link is dead or doesn't work for me.

Would it be beneficial to get a 3 Lnb to replace the 5 Lnb?

I have an Accutrac 22 Pro meter to aid in aligment.

Thanks,

MikeeLikee

[MikeeLikee]

Link to manual.
Thanks for the link Wolfman, I already have this manual.


As long as you have line of sight to the 5 orbital slots, you can go ahead and use that LNB. But you do need to do the alignment very carefully. Pay special attention to the fine tuning, or dithering, instructions.

Start by aligning 101 and 119 per the instructions. Peak and dither. Then use your receiver to check 99c and/or 103c. You should have good solid signals on both (85+). If you do, great. Lock it down. If you don't, then continue to fine tune while observing 99 and 103 and get those the best you can.
Thanks Carl,
But I fail to understand why I would need to align to 101 and 119 per the instructions unless this is the only way to aling a 5 Lnb dish. I pass by a new install on a house which has the 3 Lnb SlimLine dish. Hence my question of changing the 5 Lnb to a 3 Lnb. Then it should be a much easier and narrower window to aling to the 99, 101 and 103 sats.

Could I just aling the 5 Lnb dish as if it were a 3 Lnb instead?

MikeeLikee

[netraa]

the new 3lnb heads have an internal switch that duplicates the guide data off 101, and copies it to the 119 guide feed,

If you have a 5LNB head, and don't 'see' 119, you won't get the second half of the guide data and it will cause issues.

[doctor j]

You align to 119 to set the tilt correctly.
The preset tilt is almost always correct however to maximize signal strenth on 99 and 103 relative to 101 the tilt angle has to be correct.
The fact that 119 is farther away from 99 or 103 makes the adjustment "more" finely tuned. An analogy would be a lever. Longer arm = more force. 119 relative to 101 on the tilt angle makes exact adjustments more likely than 99 or 103 relative to 101.
You don't really need 119 but if you use it, you are more likly to get best initial signal quicker using it. You still need to "fine tune" using 99 and 103.

Doctor j

[MikeeLikee]

the new 3lnb heads have an internal switch that duplicates the guide data off 101, and copies it to the 119 guide feed,

If you have a 5LNB head, and don't 'see' 119, you won't get the second half of the guide data and it will cause issues.
Okay... You lost me there. I didn't know anything about the guide data being copied off the 101 to the 119. You are talking about the new standard 3 head lnb and not a 3 head SWM Lnb?


You align to 119 to set the tilt correctly.
The preset tilt is almost always correct however to maximize signal strenth on 99 and 103 relative to 101 the tilt angle has to be correct.
The fact that 119 is farther away from 99 or 103 makes the adjustment "more" finely tuned. An analogy would be a lever. Longer arm = more force. 119 relative to 101 on the tilt angle makes exact adjustments more likely than 99 or 103 relative to 101.
You don't really need 119 but if you use it, you are more likly to get best initial signal quicker using it. You still need to "fine tune" using 99 and 103.

Doctor j
Doctor j,
Now I get it! Very good explanation which a dummy like me can understand!
Thanks,

MikeeLikee

[netraa]

Okay... You lost me there. I didn't know anything about the guide data being copied off the 101 to the 119. You are talking about the new standard 3 head lnb and not a 3 head SWM Lnb?


The data that populates the program guide comes off of 2 satelites. the 101, and the 119 and rcvrs look for both streams to properly populate the guide data.

The new 3 lnb, (99, 101, 103) has an internal switch that 'tricks' the rcvrs into thinking they are getting both guide streams. If you tell your rcvr that your using a 3 lnb head, and your actually using a 5 LNB head, it won't have that special switch that duplicates the guide stream and errors will begin to show up.

edit
here is a link to another thread discussing this in greater detail.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=141090

[MikeeLikee]

Now I understand!
Thanks for the very good explanation netraa!

I've installed a few sat dishes over the years including the old "C" band ten footers but only a few of the small 18" round DTV dishes. I'm a little behind the times.

Thanks again,

MikeeLikee

[Johnnie5000]

If you tell your rcvr that your using a 3 lnb head, and your actually using a 5 LNB head, it won't have that special switch that duplicates the guide stream and errors will begin to show up.


And if you tell it you're using a 5 when it's actually a 3, you will get "Multiswitch Error Ext 749" Popping up on your screen every ten minutes.