[davedusz]

Here is the background on my problem.

Been operating a legacy dish and receiver for many years. A few years ago bought an H21 and connected it (without B-band converters) to the legacy dish for SD programming. All has been well...

A couple of months ago bought an SL3 dish and mounted it next to the legacy dish. Moved the line for the HR21 from the legacy dish over to the SL3, added B-band converter, performed new setup on H21 indicating SL3 dish, called to turn on HD programming -- after a little bit of alignment time, again, all was well.

Until two weeks later, one morning, turned the system on and got the "searching for signal" message. After a couple of weeks I can't figure out what has happened. I assume it is not the H21, since I have connected it back to the legacy dish and I get the SD programming.

So I started the alignment process from scratch, the cheap signal meter tells me there is a sat signal about where I expect it to be (on the azimuth), pointing in the same direction as the legacy dish. I tried a different LNB to be sure that was not the problem. No matter what, I get all 0's even for the 101. What could be the problem?

If the b-band converter was bad I would still get signals on the 101, right?

I guess I could be pointing at a non-directv satellite to give me the signal on the meter. Is there another system's satellite close by? But if my pole is straight and my elevation and tilt is set correctly, and I swing azimuth I should get something right? I do on the meter, but still 0's on the receiver.

I'm not a complete hack. I'm an amateur astronomer with large telescopes so I'm familiar with all types of coordinate systems and critical alignments and mounts.

But I'm stumped. All ideas are welcome on how to isolate the issue.

 

[Davenlr]

There are satellites every 2 to 4 degrees, all across the arc. If you are aiming for the 101, do not use the B band converter in line with the meter. I dont use a separate meter, but Im not sure they are compatable with a b band converter.

Check your coax connections with an ohm meter to make sure there is not a hidden short.

 

[texasbrit]

Just FYI, the Phase III legacy dish aligns on the 110 satellite and the Slimline aligns on 101. There are MANY satellites out there and the cheap meters can't tell the difference between them.

 

[carl6]

Also, the alignment for 99 and 103 (the satellites the HD programming comes from) is much more critical than for 101 (all the SD channels). So you can have really good signals on 101 and still not be properly aligned for 99 and 103.

There is a specific alignment procedure called dithering that you should do to get the best alignment for 99 and 103.

 

[doctor j]

Just FYI, the Phase III legacy dish aligns on the 110 satellite and the Slimline aligns on 101. There are MANY satellites out there and the cheap meters can't tell the difference between them.

From behind the dish the slimline should point almost 10 degrees to the left.

Won't be the "same direction" given the 110 vs 101 centering as above.

Doctor j