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Slimline setup problems

10K views 44 replies 7 participants last post by  highdefjeff 
#1 ·
Presently have a H-20 receiver and a 3-LNB (18x20) dish Switch type 02 Multi switch. The LNB is BSNA4-2028. All works fine. Now I want to get the HD channels so I got a Slimline Dish with a SWM SL3S4NR2-01 LNB
I got the correct dish settings for my zip code 39 elevation and 67 tilt. I can't get any signal. Went through setup and am not having any luck. Can't get any signal at all. I have the dishes on poles right beside each other. I have tried moving the azimuth very slowly back and forth but still can't get anything. Any ideas?
 
#28 ·
Molerj said:
I have been noticing at times the picture breaks up. I tried fine tuning the dish. I adjusted the dish using the bolt on the dial until I lose the pic then go the other way until I lose it and then set it in the middle. Did that on both tilt and azimuth. Also moved it side to side. I had numbers in the 90's on 101 and even some at 100. The picture doesn't go out alot just enough to be annoying. I had that happen on the old dish, but it was alot worse, and it turned out to be the LNB. Any ideas?
Set the Tilt on the dish to what the initial setting numbers tell you and do not mess with that anymore.
Work with the Elevation and Azimuth only. Move it just a tiny bit each move. Give it a few seconds each move to get the signal before moving it again.
Remember, you are aiming at a target that is thousands of miles away and a little bit can be a long way off at the target.
 
#30 ·
Molerj said:
ok, i adjusted the azimuth a bit and now i get
99C 82 to 89
103ca 87 to 93
103cb 90-91
SWM 94-100
Maybe that's all that was wrong.
That should make a huge difference.
Excellent job.
 
#32 ·
studechip said:
That's an improvement, but I'll bet you could do better with some more tweaking.
Yea. that is much better, but as mentioned above, it should be no lower than 85 on any transponder to keep rain fade to a minimum. You should peak AZ, then peak EL, then repeak AZ, then repeak EL until you cannot get the numbers any higher. The numbers you have now will be sufficient for all but the heaviest of rainshowers tho.
 
#34 ·
BobStokesbary said:
Given the numbers you posted before on 101 you should not touch the elevation or azimuth. You should just set the tilt to 112.3 degrees. You can then move a bit above and below that number for the best signal on 99 or 103. But, you should not mess with your elevation or azimuth any more.
Set the tilt to 112.3? I thought the tilt was supposed to be 60?
Still having some issues, I am going to try adjusting a bit more. If this doesn't solve the problem I may just buy a new LNB. Picture breaks up from time to time. Not a lot but it happens enough to be annoying.
 
#35 ·
Molerj said:
Set the tilt to 112.3? I thought the tilt was supposed to be 60?
Still having some issues, I am going to try adjusting a bit more. If this doesn't solve the problem I may just buy a new LNB. Picture breaks up from time to time. Not a lot but it happens enough to be annoying.
My bad. But we are both wrong. I just plugged your zip (43943) into my receiver and got the readings of azimuth = 218, elevation 39 and skew 68. I would go with those as my base and tweak from there.
 
#37 ·
Address: 43943
Latitude: 40.2326°
Longitude: -80.7325°

Satellite: DirecTV SL3 (99W, 101W, 103W)
Elevation: 39.0°
Azimuth (magn.): 218.4°
Dish Skew / Twist: 67.7°

This is from Dishpointer dot com.
 
#38 ·
This is what I get when I go to system setup
Dish Type Slimline-3S (SWM)
Switch type 01:SWM
In the black box I get
Dish SL3-S
Azim. 229
Elev. 35
Tilt 60

I had the other settings originally (39 & 67) as I stated in earlier posts and couldn't get anything. SWM is what changes the settings.
 
#39 ·
Are the zip codes being used the same as what is in your receiver ?
It is strange that there is so much difference between what you are getting and what dish pointer is showing.

You say SWM is making the difference. If you choose the non SWM dish, the numbers change ?
If yes, that is odd because they use the exact same satellites.

These numbers are for a 3LNB / NOT for a Slimline 3 These match what you are getting from your Black Box..
Address: 43943
Latitude: 40.2326°
Longitude: -80.7325°

Satellite: DirecTV 3 LNB (101W, 110W, 119W)
Elevation: 34.6°
Azimuth (magn.): 229.6°
Dish Skew / Tilt: 60.0°

No matter what the numbers are, they are starting points and once you get a signal and tweak it to it's best you can get, they do not really matter at that point.
 
#40 ·
The dishpointer.com site shows Skew (as in LNB skew} not tilt (as in dish tilt).
For my location, it shows 12.5 skew on dishpointer, where my HR34 says 76.
For stationary i.e. not multiple satellite dishes, the dishpointer reading shows how
much to skew the LNB from vertical. It does not accurately tell you how much to
skew a dish. With a 5LNB dish, it was easy to peak 119 to adjust skew. Not so
much now with a SL3.

Also make sure you are selecting the 101W satellite, not 99 or 103 to get your readings.
 
#41 ·
Tilt, skew, rotation all equal the same. They all mean how much to ROTATE the dish either clockwise or counter clockwise on the mounting backing plate.

Azimth=rotation east west on the MAST.

Elevition=up down of the main arm.


jimmie yes, some times the settings given by dishpointer will change by one or two numbers for a differant dish and will also be a little differant from readings in the reciever.
 
#42 ·
cabletech said:
Tilt, skew, rotation all equal the same. They all mean how much to ROTATE the dish either clockwise or counter clockwise on the mounting backing plate.

Azimth=rotation east west on the MAST.

Elevition=up down of the main arm.

jimmie yes, some times the settings given by dishpointer will change by one or two numbers for a differant dish and will also be a little differant from readings in the reciever.
After the last couple of posts I checked the dishpointer and my receiver. The tech did not enter the zip so I had to go back thru the setup and enter it.
The elevation and twist matched within a half a number and the rotation / azimuth varied just 2 numbers between them.
 
#45 ·
I have been out of the business a while. It caught my eye when you said you were using a 3 lnb multisat with a multiswitch. I think you may have to use a wide band 6X8 switch with a ka/ku dish. you could try to run a cable directly from the dish to the receiver to check the switch and alignment. I am not trying to sound like a know it all. I just know how hard it is to work on something that just keeps giving problems. Jeff
 
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