Is Fine Tuning a Slimline Dish Always Necessary?

[shendley]

I just had a service call from DTV to replace my older at9 dish with the newer au9 slimline dish. Since I know my au9's alignment was never fine tuned I hung out with the technician while he did the alignment. When I asked about the fine tuning he said they had been told not to do them, just to peak them on 101 and that should be fine. I told him that didn't sound like what the installation manual said but he insisted. I figured we'd see lower signal strengths than what I had been getting since I had at least "tweaked" my first dish's alignment to improve signal strengths across the board but when we checked everything was either the same or higher than what I had before. Now everything that's not clearly a spotbeam with a 0-60 is in the 90s, mostly mid to high 90s with a few 100s. My 103a readings used to be, for transponders 1, 3, and 5 : 85, 94, and 85. Now they're 90, 96, and 91. And what really got me was when I checked the 103b signal strengths. I had been getting mid 80s on most of the non-zero transponders. But now they're all in the mid to high nineties (except transponders 1-3 and 5 which are zero for me). It was hard to argue with those numbers, especially from the new sat.

So, what do you think? Did my installer just get lucky and hit it right on with just a coarse alignment? Or is this fine tuning stuff exagerated in importance? Or am I missing something here?

[rdiedrich]

I just had a service call from DTV to replace my older at9 dish with the newer au9 slimline dish. Since I know my au9's alignment was never fine tuned I hung out with the technician while he did the alignment. When I asked about the fine tuning he said they had been told not to do them, just to peak them on 101 and that should be fine. I told him that didn't sound like what the installation manual said but he insisted. I figured we'd see lower signal strengths than what I had been getting since I had at least "tweaked" my first dish's alignment to improve signal strengths across the board but when we checked everything was either the same or higher than what I had before. Now everything that's not clearly a spotbeam with a 0-60 is in the 90s, mostly mid to high 90s with a few 100s. My 103a readings used to be, for transponders 1, 3, and 5 : 85, 94, and 85. Now they're 90, 96, and 91. And what really got me was when I checked the 103b signal strengths. I had been getting mid 80s on most of the non-zero transponders. But now they're all in the mid to high nineties (except transponders 1-3 and 5 which are zero for me). It was hard to argue with those numbers, especially from the new sat.

So, what do you think? Did my installer just get lucky and hit it right on with just a coarse alignment? Or is this fine tuning stuff exagerated in importance? Or am I missing something here?

He got lucky which most techs can, but the real questions is how well balanced it will be for 99 later.

-Randy

[Tom Robertson]

He got lucky. Very lucky. (Unless his meter was actually peaking 99° or 103°.)

Now the real question. Did he lock these bolts down good and tight while they are that awesome?! :)

Cheers,
Tom

[shendley]

Yeah, I was checking that stuff too. They looked pretty tight to me. And, as an addendum, the guy was really very nice and amazingly efficient. It was the quickest installation and alignment of a dish I'd ever seen.

He got lucky. Very lucky. (Unless his meter was actually peaking 99° or 103°.)

Now the real question. Did he lock these bolts down good and tight while they are that awesome?! :)

Cheers,
Tom

[carl6]

As long as the mast is perfectly vertical/plumb, and you are using the same manufacturer LNB/dish, I can understand how an installer could preset them all to the correct elevation and tilt for a given geographic area, then peak on 101 and have an overall good alignment.

While that will work in some, perhaps many, cases, it is not the right way to peak a dish. However the way they pay installers I would be tempted to do it that way myself if I were trying to make a living and have an evening to see my family every once in awhile.

Carl

[RobertE]

He got lucky.

As a side note, here's what i use to tigthen everything down.

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=6341

http://www.dbstalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10078&stc=1&d=1190067308


I can tell you this much. It's not going to move on its own. :D

[techrep]

He got lucky.

As a side note, here's what i use to tigthen everything down.

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=6341

http://www.dbstalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10078&stc=1&d=1190067308


I can tell you this much. It's not going to move on its own. :D

It's all in the clutch setting:lol:

[shendley]

I really hope they're doing something like that. It seems pretty short sighted to improperly install all these dishes for over a year and force a lot more work on yourself when you have to come back out in response to people complaining about trouble receiving the new HD stations.

As long as the mast is perfectly vertical/plumb, and you are using the same manufacturer LNB/dish, I can understand how an installer could preset them all to the correct elevation and tilt for a given geographic area, then peak on 101 and have an overall good alignment.

While that will work in some, perhaps many, cases, it is not the right way to peak a dish. However the way they pay installers I would be tempted to do it that way myself if I were trying to make a living and have an evening to see my family every once in awhile.

Carl

[MBA]

With all this signal talk I checked mine, I've got from 97-100 on all 101's but not so good on 103-b low to mid 80's ? so I checked my set-up menu, my zip is 29072 my settings should be az. 221, elev.45, tilt 62. This is the first time I have looked at my dish closley and was surprized to see settings of elev. of 90, tilt of 28 not sure about az. I do seem to lose my signal during what I consider light rain, or much lighter than with my smaller dish, Before this install I watched the instalation video on solid signal, believe me he didn't do it like the video. But I had desent reception so I never complained. But it sure seems like these basic settings should be much closer than they are??? This was a Directv install, I thought they knew what they were doing?????

That should be elev. 28 , tilt 90

[gulfwarvet]

I really hope they're doing something like that. It seems pretty short sighted to improperly install all these dishes for over a year and force a lot more work on yourself when you have to come back out in response to people complaining about trouble receiving the new HD stations.

job security :grin::rolleyes:

[reverett1522]

So can it be as easy as peaking on 101 with a slimline?? I ask because for tailgating (a mobile install) it would be neat once all the new HD launches to be able to get that at the game with the slimline. I always get mid 90's with the 3 LNB and about 1 minute of aligning.

Thanks,
Rob

[Racer88]

He is either very lucky or not telling you the whole truth. Did you see what type of meter he used? If it was a higher end meter then I bet you he aligned to the 99/103 birds and is just blowing smoke about the 101 thing.

[doctor j]

I use an AU-9 dish at football tailgates.
I have setup various experiments with multiple single, triple, AT-9 & AU-9 dishes on tripods.
I have an Acutrac III , a Super Buddy and a BirDog meter.

I can tell you absolutely , If you correctly preset Elevation and Tilt and have a plumb mast , that within a minute with hand "fine tuning" only on 101 via Azimuth adjustments you can nail > 90 signal strength on all 5 sats!

Doctor j

[shendley]

I don't know anything about what sort of signal meter he used. And I'm pretty sure he mentioned peaking 101. I think I would have noticed if he'd said 99 or 103 as that wouldn't have been something I expected to hear. But I'm not absolutely positive about that.

He is either very lucky or not telling you the whole truth. Did you see what type of meter he used? If it was a higher end meter then I bet you he aligned to the 99/103 birds and is just blowing smoke about the 101 thing.

[davring]

If you align on the 101 with the correct "tilt" it is fairly easy to find 103 and 99. The tilt is VERY important.

[Anonuser]

I can tell you absolutely , If you correctly preset Elevation and Tilt and have a plumb mast , that within a minute with hand "fine tuning" only on 101 via Azimuth adjustments you can nail > 90 signal strength on all 5 sats!

Doctor j

I agree with this statement. I installed a Slimline a couple of weeks ago. I took extra time to ensure the mast was perfectly plumb. I was surprised how easy (and quickly) the alignment was. I preset my elevation and tilt settings before I mounted the antenna. I hand tuned my azimuth to bring the 101 TP1 to 95.

My local HDs are on 99 TP 1 and TP3 with 99 and 100 readings respectively. I am receiving low to mid 90s on 103.

Maybe beginners luck....

[shendley]

Those numbers sound about like mine. I've got 100s on tps 2 and 6 on 99 and low to mid nineties on 103a.

I agree with this statement. I installed a Slimline a couple of weeks ago. I took extra time to ensure the mast was perfectly plumb. I was surprised how easy (and quickly) the alignment was. I preset my elevation and tilt settings before I mounted the antenna. I hand tuned my azimuth to bring the 101 TP1 to 95.

My local HDs are on 99 TP 1 and TP3 with 99 and 100 readings respectively. I am receiving low to mid 90s on 103.

Maybe beginners luck....

[JakeTalon]

Just out of curiosity....why did you get your AT9 replaced with the newer AU9?Was it tech problems or you jus didnt like the dish?