question on DIY slimline dish install

h2hu2fta said:

Ok, here is my situation. I am a current subscriber to DTV with a HD subscription. I am buying a second house and would like to put up a slimline AU9S dish on my second house. I have installed other dishes (both DTV and Dishnet) before with 100% success. I was alway able to install those other dishes without the use of a sat meter. I just used a receiver to reach the optimal peak. Now, I'm a bit stumped interms of installing this slimline AU9S dish. I have the install manual for the slimline dish, but unable to understand the pointing of each lnb. My area code of this dish install is 94121. Can someone tell me if I need to point each lnb separately or just one or two to get the rest of the sats to come it? Please advise, TIA.

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There is nothing magical or mystical about aligning the Slimline dish.

1. Go to dishpointer.com, put in your address/gps and select Directv 5 LNB and get your magnetic azimuth, elevation, and skew settings.

2. Set the elevation and skew(tilt) before you hoist the dish up.

3. Mount the dish on the mast, NOT tightening the three mast clamp nuts, connect the feeds to the receiver and point the dish (azimuth) to the compass heading you got from dishpointer.com.

4. Use the receiver Signal Strength meter screen and select 101 satellite. "Find" and peak the signal by slowly adjusting the dish's azimuth by hand (adjusting elevation, if necessary, to "find" it)

5. Tighten the three mast clamp nuts...You're in the ballpark.

6. Adjust azimuth and elevation fine-tune screws to peak the 101.

7. Loosen the three nuts on the tilt mechanism and set the signal strength screen to the 119 satellite. Carefully adjust the dish's tilt, by hand, to peak the 119.

8. Tighten the tilt nuts.

9. Set Signal strength screen to 103 c and peak the signal, using az/el fine adjustments again.

10. Repeat steps 6 thru 9 as necessary.

11. Be sure to tighten all lockdown nuts!

Piece o' cake

Tiger62 said:

There is nothing magical or mystical about aligning the Slimline dish.

1. Go to dishpointer.com, put in your address/gps and select Directv 5 LNB and get your magnetic azimuth, elevation, and skew settings.

2. Set the elevation and skew(tilt) before you hoist the dish up.

3. Mount the dish on the mast, NOT tightening the three mast clamp nuts, connect the feeds to the receiver and point the dish (azimuth) to the compass heading you got from dishpointer.com.

4. Use the receiver Signal Strength meter screen and select 101 satellite. "Find" and peak the signal by slowly adjusting the dish's azimuth by hand (adjusting elevation, if necessary, to "find" it)

5. Tighten the three mast clamp nuts...You're in the ballpark.

6. Adjust azimuth and elevation fine-tune screws to peak the 101.

7. Loosen the three nuts on the tilt mechanism and set the signal strength screen to the 119 satellite. Carefully adjust the dish's tilt, by hand, to peak the 119.

8. Tighten the tilt nuts.

9. Set Signal strength screen to 103 c and peak the signal, using az/el fine adjustments again.

10. Repeat steps 6 thru 9 as necessary.

11. Be sure to tighten all lockdown nuts!

Piece o' cake

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Tiger62, thanks for the step by step. This will difinitely make my install a piece of cake. Like I said previously, I've done many dish installs before (most recent installs consist of a Dish1000 Plus and a Superdish121 w/ a 118.7 repoint kit). Both of these are Dish Network dishes. The install of these particular dishes requires that I use a specific sat/bird (most specifically 119 W). Once I get the optimal peak signal from 119 W, the other sats comes in automatically.

This is exactly the information I need, thanks again.

veryoldschool said:

The "hardest part" should be getting the receiver/TV to where you can watch it while you're making the adjustments. Unlike older receivers, there is no tone to "hear" from a distance.

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Not going to be a problem, but thanks for the heads up anyway. I have a portable DVD player with A/V in and out which I use along with whatever kind (DirecTV or Dish Network or FTA) receiver I happen to be installing up on the roof with me. I'm prepared!

Just to take it up the next higher level of abstraction here's whats going on.

The sats are arrayed in a line across the sky. The dish has its LNB assembly that is preset so that the LNBs are arranged in a line to match the line in the sky. Your job is to get the dish line matched up with the sat line in the sky. You just have to get two points on the line to get the dish aligned to the sats.

First, get the mast plumb. Plumb makes it work. Next lock onto the 101 sat, which is the centerline of the dish. One point on the line. Next adjust the tilt to get 119. If the mast is plumb, 101 setting will stay centered and not move. Now you have two points on the line and all you need. The last part is using the fine adjustment knobs to tune in the peak of the new Ka sats using 103c as the target. The Ka sats are much more touchy than the older 101/119. As you fine tune the Ka sats, you're actually fine tuning all five sat locations at the same time.

It's actually pretty easy. Just sit yourself behind the dish and reread the instructions and visualize how it works.

One important note for the first time you do this is that to make sure the lock down nuts are loose before using the fine tuning knobs. They will have some resistance because the dish is heavy, but they should not be "hard" to turn. The treaded rods can do damage to the dish if you really crank on them.

Mertzen said:

LOL. But it makes it much easier for a novice. Especially without a birdog / superbuddy. :hurah:

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Tiger62 & I seem to be on the same page over this.

If you aren't sure of what you're doing, then you need all the help you can get, and starting off with a plumb mast is a good start.
If though, you happen to have some condition where a "perfectly plumb" mast isn't achievable [the first thing that comes to mind is a roof mount that is plumb in only one direction] due say to needing to mount to a rafter [a solid mount being more desirable], then with the AT/AU-9 being centered off the 101 SAT, it isn't going to take much more time/effort to "nail" all of the SATs, as the AZ & EL are there just for this, and unless it's "way off" the tilt will bring 119 in fine with little effect on 101. Now the fine tuning of the 99/103, might be a bit skewed, but since there are two axis to adjust, you would still find the center.