[Grentz]

So I know a lot about Directv Systems and all the satellites, aiming, etc. and have tweaked and installed Directv systems no problem.

BUT, I have never done anything with a direcway or other satellite internet dish.

I am going to my family members house and their dish seems to be a bit out of alignment as it is dropping packets. Their system is direcway/hughesnet and based on the DW7000 with a 1 watt transmitter.

Does anyone have any info on how I would go about tweaking the alignment to get it a bit better? I am sure I can fiddle with it, but what about the menus on the DW7000 and such?

I have tried searching on google and such but a lot of conflicting info out there...

 

[Grentz]

No Direcway/Hughesnet guys around?

 

[seltech]

I used to have hughesnet and the DW7000 sat modem. The thing is there is no internal menu's or what not, rather a web interface, I used to have a peice of software that told me the signals for both Rx/Tx. I'm having a hard time remembering the name of it, when i find it i'll edit this post

fyi i had issues with hughes net with perfect alignment, during peak hours it would fall flat on its face, downloading at that time was seriously about 50kbps down from 1.5mbps it was that ridiculously bad during peak hours. At 3am I would download at 1.5mbps no problem. Upload speeds were never effected by the time of day or load issues. there were always consistent at 128kbps. Not to mention god forbid you hit the FAP limits.. gah!

 

[gen2rx7]

Make sure you read the sticker on the back of the dish that says. "Do not stand within 2 feet of this device while it is in operation." I find that a funny sticker because you have to get pretty close to read it LOL

 

[sat4r]

I attempted to realign the Earthlink Direcway dish as I had a signal strength of 42 and that went from bad to worse. When I moved the dish I lost the connection and when I called I was told that I was assigned where I was set and was not to move the dish.The company came out about 3 days later and reconfigured the dish. If I where were you I would look for a wireless ISP and stay away from the satellite internet.

 

[tedb3rd]

I've tweaked my Wildblue dish using a satellite meter. I have never seen the back of a DirectWay dish but the WB dish has a 'screw' that you turn to fine-tune the elevation adjustment. I watched the installer and made him describe to me what he was doing and here's what he did... (after setting to local 'preset' azimuth elevation)

-attach meter to the receiving connection on the LNB
-adjust the azimuth until you get the highest signal, tighten bolts for azimuth
-using the fine-adjustment screw, find the lowest elevation setting where you start to lose strength if you go lower... then turn the fine-adjustment screw so the elevation increases... as you do that, count the number of turns until the signal strength starts to drop again (aka, you've gone too high)... turn the fine-adjustment screw back half the amount that you counted (so it's right in the middle of the low and high elevation points)
-you can try to move the azimuth back/forth again if you want (but, for me, it was peaked the first time)

Satellite internet is WAY more sensitive than TV... I'm like you--had a lot of experience with TV sat dishes/setup. It's certainly not as simple, but not impossible. ...but also be forwarned that if you lose all signal, you might never find it again to tweak--I've heard of others who have tried and lost all strength, just by loosening bolts. Plan some time to do it and warn your the owner that he/she might have to end up calling a tech afterall.

Proceed at your own risk...

ALSO--IMPORTANT!!
--UNPLUG THE POWER WHEN YOU ARE DISCONNECTING / RECONNECTING ANY CABLES. (These toys run on higher voltage and they WILL FRY much easier!) The installer specifically warned me!
--YOU CAN GET RF BURN (Mind the 2 ft warning but mostly the 'lens')
--Don't let the transmit cable touch anything (especially metal) or else ARCY ARCY Fried modem.

Good luck. May the forces of evil be confused in your tweaking.

 

[Grentz]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I know full well what the satellite internet experience is like, not fun in comparison to DSL/Cable, but it is all my relatives can get where they are.

I was more just curious about the aiming process for the dish itself, as it seems to be a bit low. I dont have a satellite meter, but I have aligned slimlines fine (very touchy on 99/103) with the receiver signal meters so I thought I might be able to tweak it a bit.

If anything I will do the old pressure on the edge of the dish trick to see if better signal is even a possibility (as it does shoot through a few trees).