Dish Setup issue- Newbie - need help!

Jack,

You can change to the 61.5 slot in the dish point screen to aim the dish but after you get a signal you need to run the switch test (on the same screen) to tell the receiver what slot it is getting the signal from.

From the information that you are providing us it appears that the dish is not aimed correctly.

To aim the dish set the slew for 90 (no slew) if you are using a dish 500. Then set the elevation and azimuth for what the dish point screen tells you. If you don't have a signal move the dish slowly about 10 degrees (either way) from your azimuth setting. If that does not work move the dish the other way. If you still don't have a signal change the elevation a couple of degrees and try again. A good transponder to peak on is 12.

You can go to this link: http://www.dishuser.org/61-5list.php to see what transponder the channel you are looking for is on.

It could be a number of things. is the mast plumb? do you have the skew set properly? do you have a clear line of sight? The dish is offset by 20 something degrees, so if you have it under a roof overhang, or pointing under a tree, it could be blocked even though thedish arm looks like it is pointing into clear sky.

Also try dishpointer.com to view the direction you need to aim the dish in.