Dish 500 - Hawaiian Style

[rbgator95]

HI now has a D500 antenna - it is 32 inches width X 31 inches height and houses a Y-bracket slightly wider than the Y-bracket for the DPP twin LNBs used in the mainland. James Long provides a good explanation as to why a DPP twin does not work in HI; it comes down to the greater longitudinal distance between the 110 and 119 slots (compared to that distance at higher mainland latitudes) means the 110 and 119 LNBs must be further apart for a HI antenna.

The HI version of D500 accommodates this extra distance by appropriately spacing two individual DP LNBs - see attached photos. This antenna has very precise leveling requirements and must be mounted to a very sturdy surface as winds are an issue, especially at higher elevations. The antenna comes with reinforcement struts (same as the ones with the Superdish). You would run the two LNBs into a DP34 (or the newer DPP33) switch to get an output equivalent to what a DP/DPP twin gives you. The approximate settings are: azimuth=096, elevation=036 and skew=029.

Additionally, 129 is now viewable in HI (via spot beam) using a 24 inch dish or probably an 18 inch D300. This could fill the third slot for the DP34/DPP33. A note about 129: When I ran check switch, it came back with Even polarity only (since the only transponders associated with HI spot beam are 2, 4, 6, 14 and 16) and the System Info screen showed 129 as red status. However, the guide data still included the valid (available in HI) 129 channels so the red Sys Info indicator was erroneous. Part of the error may be that since HI does not receive the CONUS 129 beam, the receiver does not "see" anything on an odd transponder, so the Sys Info test "fails."

In sum, the full HI lineup can be seen with 2 antennas, 3 DP LNBs, and the DP34 or DPP33 switch. I've occasionally seen questions posted about how to get E* in HI, hopefully this info helps.

[Kimo]

Mahalo! Very helpful info.

[Mertzen]

Very nice. I wonder if the same dish can be used in AK?

[coldsteel]

Probably not, Mertzen, the angle is larger up there.

[BobaBird]

Thanks rbgator95, good to finally see one. Nice touch by Dish to account for the skew when printing the logo.

Is 30x34 the WxH or HxW? And diameter of the mast?

[tkrandall]

Wow, that's some tilt!

[rbgator95]

Originally Posted by BobaBird

Thanks rbgator95, good to finally see one. Nice touch by Dish to account for the skew when printing the logo.

Is 30x34 the WxH or HxW? And diameter of the mast?

hi

I've update the original post to illustrate height is 31" and width is 32". Mast diameter is 2", which is why it has the reinforcement struts.

There is also the HI D300 (designed for a single orbital slot in HI but works anywhere else a D300 works). It is 26" height X 24" width, and 1.5" mast. May also be worth mentioning on the Echostar Knowledge Base page as it contains the Dish Network logo, same as the HI D500 and the CONUS D500 and D300 antennas.

[BobaBird]

Done, thanks!

[Kimo]

Be aware that there is a $4.99 monthly charge for the 500H upgrade if dealer installed. Not sure if this applies to DIY or new installations. In my case I didn't even get the 500H (they put up an additional 24" instead) and they still charged me for it.

[Kenblock50]

Mahalo for the great info. I live in Hawaii and I am trying to set up a third dish for 129. I am using a 24 inch dish with a dishpro single to test. I am getting wierd results when I use a Dish 301 to check signal levels. I see good levels for transponders 14 and 16 but none of the others. To see the levels on the screen I must tell the point dish screen that I am on satellite 119 or 110. When I do a check switch the result is a direct connection with a DishPro single and all transponders OK. When I back out of the setup screens the reciever starts hunting fo a signal It stars to check all the spot beams but stops at 32. I know the spot beam for Hawaii is 55. Could this be a receiver software problem?

[BobaBird]

to DBSTalk!

The HD channels on 129° are transmitted using 8PSK modulation. Those transponders won't be seen by receivers, such as the 301, that are only capable of QPSK.

[Kenblock50]

Using previous entries in this thread as a guide I sucessfully added a 211k receiver to my system in Waimea on the big island. I already had a 24 inch dish for the 119 location and a 30 inch dish for the 110 location. I added a 24 inch dish for the 129 location. Since I already had the 24 inch dish around the house, this was a lot cheaper and easier than buying one of the new 500H dishes. I bought 3 dishpro singles and a the receiver on Ebay. They were all new and very reasonably priced. I bought a DVI 3x4 dishpro switch from an internet vendor. Using an internet search I found a site that gave me the aiming coordinates for the 129 satellite. They are azmuth 113.5 magnetic and elevation 51.70. Dish has not updated the aiming table on the 211k for the 129 receiver in Hawaii. After aiming the 129 dish with a meter and hooking everything up I ran check switch. It ran with no problems and downloaded the software for the new receiver. I called Dish for activation. I did have some problem here. It took three attempts by the Dish representative to get my receiver authorized. I used to be a Dish dealer and knew that this was not uncommon in Hawaii. I kept insisting that he try again . On the third try the magic words authorizing appeared on my TV. After that it took a while for the receiver to figure out it was in Hawaii and download all the available programing to the smart card. I am happy with the HD quality and the new features on the receiver. The only thing I don't like is that all the HD for Hawaii is inthe 5500 + numbers and there is no map down.

[Randall DBS]

Good grief that thing is almost the size of my dish 1000+.