99&103 fine tuning

[morgan79]

how do you fine tune these sats. i have a slimline 5 lnb..anybody have pics of what screws to loosen & fine tune with....thanks in advance..my 101 is in the 90's my 110 is in the 90's my 119 is in the 90's 99c is in the high 70's & low 80's same as my 103c....will fine tuning help this matter...

[raoul5788]

how do you fine tune these sats. i have a slimline 5 lnb..anybody have pics of what screws to loosen & fine tune with....thanks in advance..my 101 is in the 90's my 110 is in the 90's my 119 is in the 90's 99c is in the high 70's & low 80's same as my 103c....will fine tuning help this matter...

They definitely need fine tuning. There is a video on this website www.solidsignal.com that should help. Check the technical support link. Good luck!

[litzdog911]

Review the installation videos and manuals here .... http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/directv_dish_antenna_types.asp

[O2BRich]

What are your 103s and 99s levels.

I have the same problem however I have some transponders on 130s and 99s levels in the mid 90's.

I have tried the dither method and just fine tuning with a helper watching the tv with no significant increase in signal.

[fluffybear]

how do you fine tune these sats. i have a slimline 5 lnb..anybody have pics of what screws to loosen & fine tune with....thanks in advance..my 101 is in the 90's my 110 is in the 90's my 119 is in the 90's 99c is in the high 70's & low 80's same as my 103c....will fine tuning help this matter...

This appears to be a common issue. Installers peak the dish to the KU band as it is easier to obtain and ignore fine tuning the KA Band as it takes a little extra work.

[RobertE]

What are your 103s and 99s levels.

I have the same problem however I have some transponders on 130s and 99s levels in the mid 90's.

I have tried the dither method and just fine tuning with a helper watching the tv with no significant increase in signal.

Fine tuning signal levels on the spot beam sats xxx(s) is a fools errand. You need to focus on peaking levels on the conus sats xxx(c). If you don't your going to be wasting your time.

[RobertE]

This appears to be a common issue. Installers peak the dish to the KU band as it is easier to obtain and ignore fine tuning the KA Band as it takes a little extra work.

There's a couple of reasons for this according to DirecTv engineering.

1) A meter that can identify DirecTv 10 & 11 directly would be prohibitly expensive.

2) Even with a Ka meter, DirecTv states that the sensitivty is not good enough to determine a true peak.

3) In one of their training videos (the one with the laser pointer) they demonstrate that just peaking the KU sats don't cut it. One needs to actaully follow the procedure they have put in place to ensure optimiziation of all the sats.

[David MacLeod]

I don't have link, but I've seen the video and it is VERY informative.

[O2BRich]

Fine tuning signal levels on the spot beam sats xxx(s) is a fools errand. You need to focus on peaking levels on the conus sats xxx(c). If you don't your going to be wasting your time.

I think you missed the point.
I tuned to the conus but could not get it above mid 70's but when I check the spot beams I have some in the 90's.
How come I can't get the conus any higher but some of the spot beams are 90+?

[veryoldschool]

I think you missed the point.
I tuned to the conus but could not get it above mid 70's but when I check the spot beams I have some in the 90's.
How come I can't get the conus any higher but some of the spot beams are 90+?
"simple", the spots are "hotter" than the CONUS. Same output power but focused to a narrower beam [area].

[O2BRich]

Fine tuning signal levels on the spot beam sats xxx(s) is a fools errand. You need to focus on peaking levels on the conus sats xxx(c). If you don't your going to be wasting your time.

"simple", the spots are "hotter" than the CONUS. Same output power but focused to a narrower beam [area].

Agreed. But if I can get that good on a spot. Shouldn't I be able to adjust and increase the conus. They both come form the same direction.
In my last house I got mid 80's on the conus that was 5 miles east of where I am now.

I was thinking my dish is to low to the ground. It is pole mounted on the backside of a hill beside my house. But since I get great levels on the spots I think that is not the issue.

I also can't find which spot beam is used for Denver. The list on this site just has the SD channels listed.

[veryoldschool]

Agreed. But if I can get that good on a spot. Shouldn't I be able to adjust and increase the conus. They both come form the same direction.
In my last house I got mid 80's on the conus that was 5 miles east of where I am now.

I was thinking my dish is to low to the ground. It is pole mounted on the backside of a hill beside my house. But since I get great levels on the spots I think that is not the issue.

I also can't find which spot beam is used for Denver. The list on this site just has the SD channels listed.
If you're getting good levels off the spots, "you should be able to" fine tune the CONUS.
If you only tune off the spots, then you can get a good level, but still be slightly off.
Any chance of having a slight LOS issue?
I had good levels off the spots, but not as good from the 99 CONUS and it was a tree branch.

[RobertE]

Agreed. But if I can get that good on a spot. Shouldn't I be able to adjust and increase the conus. They both come form the same direction.
In my last house I got mid 80's on the conus that was 5 miles east of where I am now.

Until you stop obessing about the spot beams, your not going to get anywhere. Forget the spots.

Now as for the conus. Is this the same dish & LNB that you had at your old house? If so, it's possible that the refelector may be ever so slightly bent from the move.


I was thinking my dish is to low to the ground. It is pole mounted on the backside of a hill beside my house. But since I get great levels on the spots I think that is not the issue.

Considering the sat is 23,000 +/- miles out in space, it makes no practical difference if the dish is 1 foot off the ground or at the top of a 100 foot tower. What is important that there is nothing obstructing the line of sight from the dish to the sat.


I also can't find which spot beam is used for Denver. The list on this site just has the SD channels listed.

Again, stop obessing about the spot beams. Whatever sat/transponder they are on today may not be the same one tomorrow.

[O2BRich]

If you're getting good levels off the spots, "you should be able to" fine tune the CONUS.
If you only tune off the spots, then you can get a good level, but still be slightly off.
Any chance of having a slight LOS issue?
I had good levels off the spots, but not as good from the 99 CONUS and it was a tree branch.

No tree branch but it probably just scraps across the top of the roof across the street.

I may raise it up a little and see if it changes.

[O2BRich]

Until you stop obessing about the spot beams, your not going to get anywhere. Forget the spots.

Now as for the conus. Is this the same dish & LNB that you had at your old house? If so, it's possible that the refelector may be ever so slightly bent from the move.



Considering the sat is 23,000 +/- miles out in space, it makes no practical difference if the dish is 1 foot off the ground or at the top of a 100 foot tower. What is important that there is nothing obstructing the line of sight from the dish to the sat.



Again, stop obessing about the spot beams. Whatever sat/transponder they are on today may not be the same one tomorrow.

I am not obsessing about the spots as you put it. I am trying to use what info I have to diagnose the issue. If the spots are good it is my impression I don't have a LOS issue otherwise wouldn't they be affected as well?

This is not the same dish however the package was damaged when it arrived.
I am concerned it is a little bent. But again wouldn't that affect the spot beams for the same dirction 99s vs 99c?

Also it does matter how high the dish is mounted when it is looking up a hill. As you stated it needs a clear line of sight and it might be a little low. It looks good when I stand behind it but it is really hard to tell for sure.

[swillotter]

does your dish have three bolts coming out of the arm in the back attaching the arm to the az/el or does it have four bolts on the side of the arm...the ones with three bolts in the back have a plastic piece which allows the arm to drop 2-3 degrees over the course of a few months and gives odd signal strengths when peaking the dish...i've been replacing at least 1 a day for the last few weeks. they started coming out with those bad dishes about 6 months ago i think

[texasbrit]

I am not obsessing about the spots as you put it. I am trying to use what info I have to diagnose the issue. If the spots are good it is my impression I don't have a LOS issue otherwise wouldn't they be affected as well?

I think you are missing the point. It's not just that the spots come from the same direction as the CONUS beams, many of them are actually on the same satellite. And they are basically useless as a diagnostic tool, because of course only one or maximum two are pointed at you, and if you are in the center of the spotbeam the signal levels will be high anyway. Because of that you could have what looks like a good level on "your" spotbeam and still not be exactly aligned on the sats. You need to get the best signals you can on the CONUS transponders and then the spotbeams will automatically be the best they can be.

[CCarncross]

General rule of thumb is you dont tweak a dish based on spot transponders, you peak it on one of the lower signal conus transponders. If your mount is plumb and your geometry is correct, peaking on a weak conus will bring all the others into place with the dithering adjustments.

[O2BRich]

I think you are missing the point. It's not just that the spots come from the same direction as the CONUS beams, many of them are actually on the same satellite. And they are basically useless as a diagnostic tool, because of course only one or maximum two are pointed at you, and if you are in the center of the spotbeam the signal levels will be high anyway. Because of that you could have what looks like a good level on "your" spotbeam and still not be exactly aligned on the sats. You need to get the best signals you can on the CONUS transponders and then the spotbeams will automatically be the best they can be.


Guys

I appreciate the help but you are not understanding the issue I have. You are trying to interpret why I am asking the questions instead of answering them. (See specific questions below)

The LOS looks good. I have great levels on 101, 110 and 119 (low 90’s to 100). 99c and 103c are in the mid 70’s.

I totally get to not peak the dish based on the spot beams and never have. This is not my first rodeo. I have installed all my dishes since the first in 98.

What I am trying to determine with the spot beam info is do I have as LOS or other issue I cannot easily see that may be affecting the CONUS beams. I have 4 spot beams in my area (Denver, Cheyenne, Colorado Springs and Pueblo). Since those will be aimed slightly north or south of my location is might help determine if I have something blocking my LOS that I am not taking into consideration. My dish is mounted on a pole beside my house about 6 feet below street level. The LOS is real close to the garage roof beside me and the house across the street.

If I have good spot beam would it make sense I have clear view for CONUS? (My highest spot beam is 103s TP 15 at level of 92.)

Would a bent dish give me that kind of disparity between the 2?

I tried today to raise it about 6 inches but no difference at all in levels at all not even 1 point.. If it was one of the roof tops I would have expected a few points of change.

[O2BRich]

does your dish have three bolts coming out of the arm in the back attaching the arm to the az/el or does it have four bolts on the side of the arm...the ones with three bolts in the back have a plastic piece which allows the arm to drop 2-3 degrees over the course of a few months and gives odd signal strengths when peaking the dish...i've been replacing at least 1 a day for the last few weeks. they started coming out with those bad dishes about 6 months ago i think

My dish mounts to the tilt/LNB bracket with 4 bolts then the tilt/LNB bracket mounts to the az/el with 3 bolts. 2 at the top and one centered at the bottom. Sounds like you are describing except the only plastic is the LNB it self all other are steel.


I bought the dish off of E-Bay a year ago.

[eakes]

Having readings in the 90s on 101, 110 and 119 and 70s on 99 and 103 is a common symptom of a misaligned dish. The fact that 101, 110 and 119 read approximately the same indicates that Tilt is correctly set. I cannot think of an LOS situation that would allow good signals on 101, 110 and 119 and restrict signals on 99 and 103. It is highly unlikely that LOS is an issue.

One can't totally rule out a warped or bent dish, but if the dish were somehow misshapened I would expect there would be difficulties in getting 101, 110 and 119 to give good readings at the same adjustment settings.

The logical conclusion is a misaligned dish or a problem with the 99 and 103 LNBs.

[Cap'n Preshoot]

If you follow precise instructions for adjusting for the CONUS birds then your 99 and 103 will be correctly aligned provided that...

The Mast Pipe is absolutely, positively dead-level plumb!

That, boys and girls, is the key. Getting the mast "close" isn't good enough. It must be precise, exact and in all planes pefectly plumb around its entire circumference. High School Geometry class.

It is humanly impossible to accurately align a multi-sat dish for 3 or more birds in different orbital slots using a common reflector on a single mast pipe that is not precisely dead-level plumb. You just can't do it, period.

The install video mentions this, but only in passing and does not adequately stress the vital importance of it.

Why else do you suppose they ship a bubble pipe level in the kit? Doh....
And though now "optional" the outrigger kit is also strongly recommended for rigidity, to "hold" that perfect level once you achieve it.

.

[veryoldschool]

I cannot think of an LOS situation that would allow good signals on 101, 110 and 119 and restrict signals on 99 and 103. It is highly unlikely that LOS is an issue.
One word: "Trees".

[Cap'n Preshoot]

General rule of thumb is you dont tweak a dish based on spot transponders, you peak it on one of the lower signal conus transponders. If your mount is plumb and your geometry is correct, peaking on a weak conus will bring all the others into place with the dithering adjustments.

Correct!!

[texasbrit]

Guys

I appreciate the help but you are not understanding the issue I have. You are trying to interpret why I am asking the questions instead of answering them. (See specific questions below)

The LOS looks good. I have great levels on 101, 110 and 119 (low 90’s to 100). 99c and 103c are in the mid 70’s.

I totally get to not peak the dish based on the spot beams and never have. This is not my first rodeo. I have installed all my dishes since the first in 98.

What I am trying to determine with the spot beam info is do I have as LOS or other issue I cannot easily see that may be affecting the CONUS beams. I have 4 spot beams in my area (Denver, Cheyenne, Colorado Springs and Pueblo). Since those will be aimed slightly north or south of my location is might help determine if I have something blocking my LOS that I am not taking into consideration. My dish is mounted on a pole beside my house about 6 feet below street level. The LOS is real close to the garage roof beside me and the house across the street.

If I have good spot beam would it make sense I have clear view for CONUS? (My highest spot beam is 103s TP 15 at level of 92.)

Would a bent dish give me that kind of disparity between the 2?

I tried today to raise it about 6 inches but no difference at all in levels at all not even 1 point.. If it was one of the roof tops I would have expected a few points of change.

We are not tyring to find out why, what we are trying to say is that you are not really asking relevant questions. You are misunderstanding how this works. As far as your receiver is concerned the other spotbeams are not "aimed north or south of you", they are aimed at you, it's just that because you are at the edge of the spotbeam you have lower signals from any spotbeams that are not yours. All signals from any one satellite travel on exactly the same path from the satellite to your dish, any line of sight issue affects all the signals from that satellite in the same way. So the spotbeam signals will tell you nothing about line of sight issues. And as has been posted a high spotbeam signal will not guarantee that you are aligned correctly, because the signal from "your" spotbeam might be stronger than the CONUS signals anyway.
And despite what might be in another post it is quite possible to have some signals at 90 on 101 etc and still not get great signals on 99/103, the fine tuning is that sensitive.
A signal of 92 on your local spotbeam is not all that good, on a correctly aligned dish it should be 100 or very close. So a conus signal of 70s is perfectly possible with a spotbeam signal of 92. The spotbeam signal is not really telling you anything.
Go back to basics. Fine tune your dish using the available videos as a guide and focus on very small adjustments in azimuth and elevation and try to ge your signals on 99c/103c to the high 80s or mid-90s.

[veryoldschool]

The Mast Pipe is absolutely, positively dead-level plumb!

That, boys and girls, is the key. Getting the mast "close" isn't good enough. It must be precise, exact and in all planes pefectly plumb around its entire circumference. High School Geometry class.

It is humanly impossible to accurately align a multi-sat dish for 3 or more birds in different orbital slots using a common reflector on a single mast pipe that is not precisely dead-level plumb. You just can't do it, period.
While it makes the task easier and there are limits to how far out of plumb, my high school geometry class along with my understanding of dish mounts, says it isn't as important as you're trying to stress. Now if this was a moving dish, where it swept from one location to another, I'd agree, but:
No matter which way the mast is out of plumb, there is an adjustment.
If you start with the centerline SAT [101], leaning right or left isn't going to be an issue with a polarized beam. Back and forth will be compensated with the EL adjustment. Leaning left or right, will affect the other SATs, but the tilt can be used to compensate. If the mast is so far out of plumb, that you don't have enough adjustment, then yes, you need to replumb the mast.
The bubble in the mast is so you're "close" and won't run out of adjustments.

[texasbrit]

While it makes the task easier and there are limits to how far out of plumb, my high school geometry class along with my understanding of dish mounts, says it isn't as important as you're trying to stress. Now if this was a moving dish, where it swept from one location to another, I'd agree, but:
No matter which way the mast is out of plumb, there is an adjustment.
If you start with the centerline SAT [101], leaning right or left isn't going to be an issue with a polarized beam. Back and forth will be compensated with the EL adjustment. Leaning left or right, will affect the other SATs, but the tilt can be used to compensate. If the mast is so far out of plumb, that you don't have enough adjustment, then yes, you need to replumb the mast.
The bubble in the mast is so you're "close" and won't run out of adjustments.

Yes, VOS is correct, the geometry will all work even if the mast is not plumb. The problem is that if the mast is not plumb, adjusting one parameter like elevation moves the other parameters of the dish, so alignment can become really REALLY difficult. That's why we say getting the mast perfectly plumb is a critical first step in alignment. Without that, you can be there for hours trying to get the dish aligned. And as VOS says, if you run out of adjustment "range", you're stuck until you replumb the mast.

[RobertE]

:new_popco

[veryoldschool]

What I am trying to determine with the spot beam info is do I have as LOS or other issue I cannot easily see that may be affecting the CONUS beams. I have 4 spot beams in my area (Denver, Cheyenne, Colorado Springs and Pueblo). Since those will be aimed slightly north or south of my location is might help determine if I have something blocking my LOS that I am not taking into consideration. My dish is mounted on a pole beside my house about 6 feet below street level. The LOS is real close to the garage roof beside me and the house across the street.

If I have good spot beam would it make sense I have clear view for CONUS? (My highest spot beam is 103s TP 15 at level of 92.)

Would a bent dish give me that kind of disparity between the 2?

I tried today to raise it about 6 inches but no difference at all in levels at all not even 1 point.. If it was one of the roof tops I would have expected a few points of change.
As I posted earlier, I had a tree branch knock my 99c down to the mid 60s, while my 99s "my spot" was reading 100%.
I wouldn't think a roof would act the same. They tend to be "all or nothing".
I just checked my 99/103. Spots within a few hundred miles are 98-100% on both 99 & 103. My CONUS levels are mid 80s to mid 90s. These have read slightly lower since I moved over to [first] the SWM8 and [then] the SWMLNB.

If your dish [reflector] is slightly tweaked, the overall gain will be less.
The 101/110/119 & spots off 99/103, might not show this as must as the CONUS 99 & 103 would.

[veryoldschool]

Yes, VOS is correct, the geometry will all work even if the mast is not plumb. The problem is that if the mast is not plumb, adjusting one parameter like elevation moves the other parameters of the dish, so alignment can become really REALLY difficult. That's why we say getting the mast perfectly plumb is a critical first step in alignment. Without that, you can be there for hours trying to get the dish aligned. And as VOS says, if you run out of adjustment "range", you're stuck until you replumb the mast.

read, understand, an follow the instructions.
even if not plumb, after an hour, if you're not done, read #1.
what should only take 15 mins, shouldn't take more than 3 times more with an out of plumb mast.
Robert, hope that isn't a big bucket of popcorn. :lol:

[RobertE]

read, understand, an follow the instructions.
even if not plumb, after an hour, if you're not done, read #1.
what should only take 15 mins, shouldn't take more than 3 times more with an out of plumb mast.
Robert, hope that isn't a big bucket of popcorn. :lol:

Yep. Just sitting back, enjoying the show. ;)

[O2BRich]

The Mast Pipe is absolutely, positively dead-level plumb![/B]
.


It was when I installed it but I have not double checked since. We have had a very wet spring and summer it may have shifted.

Thanks

[O2BRich]

Having readings in the 90s on 101, 110 and 119 and 70s on 99 and 103 is a common symptom of a misaligned dish.

I agree but I have tried to peaked it 4 times now with no major improvement in levels for these 2 sats.

That is whay I am looking at other possible issues.

I am really leaning to a bent dish.

[O2BRich]

One word: "Trees".

No trees... I live in the plains. Only houses Eagles and coyotes

[O2BRich]

We are not tyring to find out why, what we are trying to say is that you are not really asking relevant questions. You are misunderstanding how this works. As far as your receiver is concerned the other spotbeams are not "aimed north or south of you", they are aimed at you, it's just that because you are at the edge of the spotbeam you have lower signals from any spotbeams that are not yours. All signals from any one satellite travel on exactly the same path from the satellite to your dish, any line of sight issue affects all the signals from that satellite in the same way. So the spotbeam signals will tell you nothing about line of sight issues. And as has been posted a high spotbeam signal will not guarantee that you are aligned correctly, because the signal from "your" spotbeam might be stronger than the CONUS signals anyway.
And despite what might be in another post it is quite possible to have some signals at 90 on 101 etc and still not get great signals on 99/103, the fine tuning is that sensitive.
A signal of 92 on your local spotbeam is not all that good, on a correctly aligned dish it should be 100 or very close. So a conus signal of 70s is perfectly possible with a spotbeam signal of 92. The spotbeam signal is not really telling you anything.
Go back to basics. Fine tune your dish using the available videos as a guide and focus on very small adjustments in azimuth and elevation and try to ge your signals on 99c/103c to the high 80s or mid-90s.

If you are just going to be condescending I would prefer you just kept your thoughts to your self.

I You have no idea what I know or understand.

It is totally your opinion if it is relevant or not. Agian YOU are making assumptions about what I have tried and not tried.

You assume I have not tweeked the dish at all or read any instructions or watched any of the videos. See my earlier post whee I described the methods used to tweak the dish

Your above assumptions or not even close to what I was sayiing because again you are trying to interpert why I want to know about the spot beams instead of answering the question.

Eaxample:
If I have a higher reading from the spot beam in Colorado Springs than the one for Denver that may indicate a bent dish or some other issue.

Example:
Spot beams may come for the same sattilite but they are directed at a small target on the ground. Otherwise we would pick all of them up at the same levels. If your dish is misaligned or some other issue that may give you a higher reading on one of those.

Example:
You say all signals from a specific satellite come from the same direction and if I have good signals on a spot beam I have no LOS for that satellite.
That is exactly the question I asked. But istead of just answering it you start asuming what I know or don't know.

[O2BRich]

As I posted earlier, I had a tree branch knock my 99c down to the mid 60s, while my 99s "my spot" was reading 100%.
I wouldn't think a roof would act the same. They tend to be "all or nothing".
I just checked my 99/103. Spots within a few hundred miles are 98-100% on both 99 & 103. My CONUS levels are mid 80s to mid 90s. These have read slightly lower since I moved over to [first] the SWM8 and [then] the SWMLNB.

If your dish [reflector] is slightly tweaked, the overall gain will be less.
The 101/110/119 & spots off 99/103, might not show this as must as the CONUS 99 & 103 would.

Vos

Thanks for the direct answer. I have no trees where I live it is on the western edge of the plains. We have some planted but they are less then 20ft tall.

I was thinking the roof might be sightly in the edge of the beam and just lightly reduce the strength.

But based on your comments I am really leaning toward a bent dish.

The box was real beat up and there is even scrathes (more like deep groves) on an edge of the actual reflector.

Thanks

[veryoldschool]

Eaxample:
If I have a higher reading from the spot beam in Colorado Springs than the one for Denver that may indicate a bent dish or some other issue. No

Example:
Spot beams may come for the same sattilite but they are directed at a small target on the ground. Otherwise we would pick all of them up at the same levels. If your dish is misaligned or some other issue that may give you a higher reading on one of those.
"Not really". The spots are pointed at different locations on the earth, but you can't tune a dish to one spot and not get all spots that are pointed your direction, though any not pointed directly at you will be lower levels.

"Why you don't want to use spots" to align your dish: their signal power is higher, but if you're using the receiver's meter/levels, they stop at 100%. If they would show higher levels, then you could see the true peak [which might be 125%], but since you can't, you could be slightly off and still read 100%, which would have a problem with lower level signals off the CONUS beams.

[veryoldschool]

The box was real beat up and there is even scrathes (more like deep groves) on an edge of the actual reflector.

Thanks
Without seeing it, I too think you're having problems with that dish, if it shows signs of damage.

[carl6]

"Why you don't want to use spots" to align your dish: their signal power is higher, but if you're using the receiver's meter/levels, they stop at 100%.

Not only do they stop at 100%, they are NOT signal level readings, they are bit error rate readings. You should never use a spot beam (on any satellite) to align, or verify alignment, of a dish.

[O2BRich]

"Why you don't want to use spots" to align your dish: their signal power is higher, but if you're using the receiver's meter/levels, they stop at 100%. If they would show higher levels, then you could see the true peak [which might be 125%], but since you can't, you could be slightly off and still read 100%, which would have a problem with lower level signals off the CONUS beams.

Vos

Thanks for the quick response.

Just to be clear I am not using the spots to align my dish. I am trying to see if that info might help identify another issue that is keeping me form obtaining a higher reading ont 103c and 99c.

It makes no since to me that I would get a higher reading on a spot that is not mine 103c 15. (Mine is 103c 23 from what I can gather from the TP map on this site) unless there is something wrong.

However with that said it is an assumption (ass u and me) because I cannot confirm 103c 15 is not my spot.:eek2:

[O2BRich]

Not only do they stop at 100%, they are NOT signal level readings, they are bit error rate readings. You should never use a spot beam (on any satellite) to align, or verify alignment, of a dish.

Carl

Even if it is above a certain level?

Say 65 or higher?

Or are you saying all levels are bert?

Just curious?

[veryoldschool]

However with that said it is an assumption (ass u and me) because I cannot confirm 103c 15 is not my spot.:eek2:
In the receiver SAT/TP screen, "c" has no spots. All spots are on the "s" screen, even if the come from the D10/11 SAT and not the Spaceways.
Spaceway TPs are listed from 1-8, then you see the N/As and then D10/11 are listed.

[veryoldschool]

Carl

Even if it is above a certain level?

Say 65 or higher?

Or are you saying all levels are bert?

Just curious?
RF is analog [duh :lol:] and everything the receiver is showing is digital and therefore a bit error rate.

[terrelliott]

Careful with the DUHs. Some people get really offended by them, even if they're meant in a jovial manner.:p

[veryoldschool]

Careful with the DUHs. Some people get really offended by them, even if they're meant in a jovial manner.:p
Which was why it was followed with the :lol:. We all must keep some sense of humor here.

[O2BRich]

In the receiver SAT/TP screen, "c" has no spots. All spots are on the "s" screen, even if the come from the D10/11 SAT and not the Spaceways.
Spaceway TPs are listed from 1-8, then you see the N/As and then D10/11 are listed.

Dooh

It was early here.

I meant 103s and 99s

[O2BRich]

RF is analog [duh :lol:] and everything the receiver is showing is digital and therefore a bit error rate.

Even if digital isn't there a carrier wave and a strenght to that wave?

Or in the case of what I work on a DB level or loss to the transport signal.
IE. T1, E1, PRI, DS3, etc

[veryoldschool]

Even if digital isn't there a carrier wave and a strenght to that wave?

Or in the case of what I work on a DB level or loss to the transport signal.
IE. T1, E1, PRI, DS3, etc
Yes, but you'd need to use an RF meter to measure it [in the analog world]. These receivers simply don't seem to have those circuits, but can count "good bits"/sec.

[texasbrit]

Vos

Thanks for the quick response.

Just to be clear I am not using the spots to align my dish. I am trying to see if that info might help identify another issue that is keeping me form obtaining a higher reading ont 103c and 99c.

It makes no since to me that I would get a higher reading on a spot that is not mine 103c 15. (Mine is 103c 23 from what I can gather from the TP map on this site) unless there is something wrong.

However with that said it is an assumption (ass u and me) because I cannot confirm 103c 15 is not my spot.:eek2:

Denver locals use both TP15 and TP23 on 103s (from the DirecTV10 satellite, which is the same one carrying CONUS at 103c.). To complicate the issue, I am pretty sure the Denver locals are also still carried on DirecTV11 at 99s, because DirecTV needed two spotbeams to cover the state - maybe someone can confirm that.

[carl6]

Carl

Even if it is above a certain level?

Say 65 or higher?

Or are you saying all levels are bert?

Just curious?

As VOS noted, yes - always.

In general, it is a valid indicator as the better your signal, the lower your bit error rate. However there are things other than signal level that can effect bit error rate, therefore the readings cannot be specifically interpreted as signal strength.

[O2BRich]

Denver locals use both TP15 and TP23 on 103s (from the DirecTV10 satellite, which is the same one carrying CONUS at 103c.). To complicate the issue, I am pretty sure the Denver locals are also still carried on DirecTV11 at 99s, because DirecTV needed two spotbeams to cover the state - maybe someone can confirm that.


Thanks that clears up that confusion a lot.

I did see on the list that both 99 and 103 carried some of the newer channels for Denver and both on TP23.