[clb4g9]

I just moved across town and in the process of the move I am thinking my LNB on my slimline dish got banged around, because i can't for the life of me get anything to display on the signal meter on my receiver.......I have an old oval dish that I set on the ground just to see if I was pointing in the right direction, and it picks up a signal so there shouldn't be LOS issues.

Is there any way using a multimeter (or some other way) that I can check the LNB to see if it is working properly?

 

[BattleZone]

Without a good sat meter or a receiver, there's no way to know. I'm sure DirecTV's manufacturers have more sophisticated test equipment, but it isn't anything that normal folks have access to or could afford.

LNBs are fairly tough, though. More often, it is the dish itself that gets bent during moves.

 

[Grentz]

What satellite are you trying with?

You should try to rough in the signal with 101 as it is one of the easiest to get at first.

Set the dish settings to what your receiver says for your zip, make sure the mast is plumb, and you should be able to get a reading on 101 roughly with some minor tweaking.

 

[clb4g9]

I am using the slimline 5-lnb dish....my post seems plumb and I still can't get anything on 101. If I switch outputs on the lnb, I have (once) been able to get a reading of 95 on 110, but that's it (using the signal meters on my receiver), I get no readings at all on any of the other satellites. For right now, I have the system rigged up using the old 3-lnb from my oval dish and the slimline dish, with mixed results. I get 101 and 110, but not 113 (The receiver autodetected my lnb and defaulted to the oval dish setup). I have no idea if this is due to pointing or due to the fact that I'm using an lnb that isn't made for this dish. That is why I have kind of centered in on the lnb, since the dish doesn't have any noticeable dents and works with the old lnb just fine. This also leads me to believe my post is plumb. Any other suggestions, or is it time to start looking on ebay for a new lnb. Also, is the new 3-lnb I have seen on ebay made for the dish I have? If it points at one less satellite that sounds good to me!

 

[RobertE]

I am using the slimline 5-lnb dish....my post seems plumb and I still can't get anything on 101. If I switch outputs on the lnb, I have (once) been able to get a reading of 95 on 110, but that's it (using the signal meters on my receiver), I get no readings at all on any of the other satellites. For right now, I have the system rigged up using the old 3-lnb from my oval dish and the slimline dish, with mixed results. I get 101 and 110, but not 113 (The receiver autodetected my lnb and defaulted to the oval dish setup). I have no idea if this is due to pointing or due to the fact that I'm using an lnb that isn't made for this dish. That is why I have kind of centered in on the lnb, since the dish doesn't have any noticeable dents and works with the old lnb just fine. This also leads me to believe my post is plumb. Any other suggestions, or is it time to start looking on ebay for a new lnb. Also, is the new 3-lnb I have seen on ebay made for the dish I have? If it points at one less satellite that sounds good to me!

If your getting stuff on 110 but nothing else your pointed the wrong way. Move it a bit to the east.

 

[K4SMX]

You have said several times that your "post is plumb." What needs to be plumb is the mast or pole on which your dish is actually mounted. I have yet to see a Slimline dish that when pre-set to the spec's for the location and dropped onto a perfectly plumb pole not pick up the 101 by simply swinging the dish through the proper azimuth.

Make sure that you are using the leading edge of the bracket attached to the dish itself, usually but not always painted with a thin red line, to set the EL on the number scale shown on the bracket attached to the lower part of the dish mount. Don't line up on the edge of the bolt head by mistake.

 

[P Smith]

Resistanse should be in a range 2...20 kOhm

 

[clb4g9]

You have said several times that your "post is plumb." What needs to be plumb is the mast or pole on which your dish is actually mounted. I have yet to see a Slimline dish that when pre-set to the spec's for the location and dropped onto a perfectly plumb pole not pick up the 101 by simply swinging the dish through the proper azimuth.

Make sure that you are using the leading edge of the bracket attached to the dish itself, usually but not always painted with a thin red line, to set the EL on the number scale shown on the bracket attached to the lower part of the dish mount. Don't line up on the edge of the bolt head by mistake.

Sorry, I meant to say the pole on which I mounted the dish is plumb. I bought 2" exhaust pipe from the local muffler shop and set it in concrete......like I said earlier, when I stick the old lnb from my oval dish on the slimline mounted on the pole, it picks up 101 without any issues (if I adjust some of the dish settings a bit), but if I lock in 101 and then put on the lnb that came with the dish (and reset the dish to the specified tilt/elevation), it won't pick up anything. This makes me think the dish is pointed in the right direction and there aren't any LOS issues to speak of either. The only thing that does make sense to me is the lnb.....am I crazy?

(Oh, and great point on the bolt head/EL thing, I do have that set correctly but thanks for the suggestions....I keep thinking there has to be something that I'm missing, but the dish was set for elevation/tilt at my house across town (that was installed by a DirecTV installer), so that is what I kept the dish set at the first time I tried to install it at the new place.)

 

[K4SMX]

.....like I said earlier, when I stick the old lnb from my oval dish on the slimline mounted on the pole, it picks up 101 without any issues (if I adjust some of the dish settings a bit), but if I lock in 101 and then put on the lnb that came with the dish (and reset the dish to the specified tilt/elevation), it won't pick up anything......am I crazy?

You shouldn't have to make adjustments. I think you're pointed at the wrong satellite. Set the EL to spec and turn your dish to the left to acquire the 101.

 

[clb4g9]

You shouldn't have to readjust the EL. I think you're pointed at the wrong satellite. Set the EL to spec and turn your dish to the left.

Sorry, you're right, I didn't adjust the elevation, just the tilt (and I only did this when using the lnb that wasn't meant for the dish). With the lnb meant for the oval dish, I am getting good readings on 101 and 110, and am watching directv now.....

 

[K4SMX]

Those Slimline LNB's are pretty rugged. The DirecTV installer I was working with at my across-the-street neighbor's house the other day dropped one on the driveway from a height of 5', and it worked fine afterward. Unless yours shows obvious signs of physical damage, I doubt if anything happened to it.

In answer to your earlier question, the new Slimline 3 (99/101/103) LNB will work with your dish. Make sure you don't confuse it with the normal Slimline 5, which appears to have 3 LNB's, but has 3 satellite positions (99/101/103) covered by what appears to be one LNB.

 

[joe diamond]

You have said several times that your "post is plumb." What needs to be plumb is the mast or pole on which your dish is actually mounted. I have yet to see a Slimline dish that when pre-set to the spec's for the location and dropped onto a perfectly plumb pole not pick up the 101 by simply swinging the dish through the proper azimuth.

Make sure that you are using the leading edge of the bracket attached to the dish itself, usually but not always painted with a thin red line, to set the EL on the number scale shown on the bracket attached to the lower part of the dish mount. Don't line up on the edge of the bolt head by mistake.

Exactly!

Joe

 

[br408408]

With the lnb meant for the oval dish, I am getting good readings on 101 and 110, and am watching directv now.....

With this old LNB you now have on your slimline dish, you have to point the dish at the 110. With the Slimline LNB, you have to swing the dish to the left and point it at the 101. The old triple LNB centers on the 110 not the 101 as the Slimline LNB does. You can not use the same azimuth setting with the two different LNB's because they don't center on the same satellite. If you had an old oval dish and a Slimline mounted right next to one another, the Slimline would be point more to the left (east) than the old oval dish even though they are both seeing the 101, 110 and 119, with the Slimline also seeing the 99 and 103 also, of course. This is caused by the LNB and not the dish it self, so if you swap LNB in the same dish, you have to change your azimuth.

 

[clb4g9]

With this old LNB you now have on your slimline dish, you have to point the dish at the 110. With the Slimline LNB, you have to swing the dish to the left and point it at the 101. The old triple LNB centers on the 110 not the 101 as the Slimline LNB does. You can not use the same azimuth setting with the two different LNB's because they don't center on the same satellite. If you had an old oval dish and a Slimline mounted right next to one another, the Slimline would be point more to the left (east) than the old oval dish even though they are both seeing the 101, 110 and 119, with the Slimline also seeing the 99 and 103 also, of course. This is caused by the LNB and not the dish it self, so if you swap LNB in the same dish, you have to change your azimuth.

Yeah, the azimuth is supposed to be at 193 for the slimline and 208-ish for the oval dish......but I have swung the slimline dish w/the slimline LNB pretty much along the entire southern sky, and I still can't get ANY readings on 101....from what I have read on here, 101 is usually the easiest to get at least some sort of reading, so that is why i thought it might be the lnb, since the oval lnb picks all of the satellites up w/out any problems......