[skirkh]

After Ike passed through here on Saturday I lost all signal to my receivers. Basically signal strength = not acquired and all transponders on the three satellites showing zero. Can anybody suggest a course of action to remedy the problem? Dish alignment, Multi-switch failure etc.
D* have given me a date nearly three weeks out for service so I am compelled to try to work this out myself.

Receiver: HR21
Dish: slimline 5LNB
M/S: Zinwell WB68

Also if anybody knows of a good service/repair tech in the West Houston area I would appreciate some contact details.

 

[Mertzen]

How many IRDs do you have? Since you have the WB68 i guess more then one. And all are out? Most likely dish has been knocked out of alignment.
On the signal screens are you getting plain 0s or just very low.
use dishpointer.com to check the area you dish needs to point. Do you see a big difference? Very to see if the dish is still mounted correctly.
Try to align by using the 101 sat. Mae AZ/ EL adjustments in small 2 degree steps.

 

[skirkh]

Thanks for the reply. I have five IRD's. Signal is plain 0's on all satellites. I have never aligned a dish before so what equipment do I need to get started?

 

[Mertzen]

1/2" wrench or nut driver to loosen bolts on the dish.
Have you checked the condition of the outside part of the system? Dish, wires, connectors, switch? If all but dish look OK then an alignment is most likely the culprit.

 

[skirkh]

Everything looks good. Connections are tight and there appears to be no noticable damage to the dish.

 

[Spanky_Partain]

I find the easiest way to try and align these things are with a remote handset of the telephong with the base turned onto speaker phone and set the alignment page up for audio. That way you can be on the roof, move the dish a little at a time and listen to the audio signal go up/down.

It has been a long time since I have tried this, so I can not be sure if it stills apply to do it this way.

 

[BattleZone]

Most of the new receivers don't make noise.

 

[JLucPicard]

First thing I would start with is a level and check to see if the mast is plum. It could be the mast is a bit off-kilter and making it plum may fix it without having to get into all the other aspects of realignment.

 

[skirkh]

Ok guys. I reset the mast which was off center. Also found a loose RG6 connector and replaced it. I now have signal in the 90% range on tuner 2 for all three satellites on most transponders. However I still have not acquired on tuner 1. Any suggestions and will the system work with signal on tuner 2 only?

 

[skirkh]

Thanks guys. Found a broken cable. Problem fixed. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[jodyguercio]

Glad it all worked out and that you came through Ike relatively unscathed it appears.