signal levels on 129

[mikec73]

I have a dish 1000.2 with a 722 and 622. I noticed some pixelation recently and when a tech was by recently to install the 622 I asked him to repoint the dish. He said a tree was getting in the way due to wind causing the issues and 129 was the lowest so my hd would go first (on a turbo hd package) and that 119 should always be the strongest. I looked later after he left and there is one tree under neath the sat line of sight but I cant really tell if it really cuts into it but doubt that wind would make it grow to cover (its two yards down so I cant cut it) The levels on 129 highest was 45, highest on 119 was 80 and 110 was 88. (I like to look at all the transponders because they do vary) This seems a bit low to me and dont think A tree is completely to blame. Any comments? San antonio, tx area.

[BillJ]

My 129 levels have always been in that range. With that low a signal on clear days 129 is the first to go on stormy days. Fortunately I had a 2nd dish pointed at 61.5 and insisted they leave it and install a switch when the Dish 1000 was installed. A year or two ago DISH finally admitted the problem many customers were having with 129 in our region and began mirroring HD locals on 61.5. My receivers still try 129 first but often switch to 61.5 even without major storms in the region. I keep reading that 129 signal strength will be boosted but I've seen no evidence so far.

Re tree and wind: My first dish had to be relocated 3 years after it was installed. A neighbor's ash tree had grown to the point that on windy days it swayed into the dish path enough to block it.

[BattleZone]

On 129, transponders 1-16 are spot beams, which means many signals will be low or zero. 17-32 are "CONUS" (continental US) beams, so those are the ones you should be looking at. If you have partial tree blockage, your signals will be lower. IMO, your signals on the CONUS transponders should average in the mid 50s at least, assuming a clear LOS, which you may not have with the tree.

Also, remember that Dish lowered the reading on the meter; add about 35 points to your current reading to get back to the original scale.

[Mr-Rick]

My 129 levels have always been in that range. With that low a signal on clear days 129 is the first to go on stormy days. Fortunately I had a 2nd dish pointed at 61.5 and insisted they leave it and install a switch when the Dish 1000 was installed. A year or two ago DISH finally admitted the problem many customers were having with 129 in our region and began mirroring HD locals on 61.5. My receivers still try 129 first but often switch to 61.5 even without major storms in the region. I keep reading that 129 signal strength will be boosted but I've seen no evidence so far.

Re tree and wind: My first dish had to be relocated 3 years after it was installed. A neighbor's ash tree had grown to the point that on windy days it swayed into the dish path enough to block it.

Call DISH and let them program the receiver to default and grab HD off of 61.5. We had an install where a tree started to block 129; mainly when the wind kicked up, out went 129. We put up a 61.5 and notified them that the receiver needed to be programmed to grab HD off of 61.5 only. It took about 15 minutes and the receiver went to 61.5 automatically. Hit INFO twice and look on the left side for the orbital location.