Sats 110 and 119

Not phased out. Up until now they have carried "legacy" HD Conus channels like ESPN, Discovery in MPEG-2. That is being phased out now that these channels are in MPEG-4 on 99c and/or 103c along with all other conus HD channels. 110 carried only HD as of late, and it is beleived it and/or 119 will be carrying international programming soon as the 95W sattelite may get phased out. Aside from the legacy HD, 119 also carries latino programming, and also has spot beams for SD local channels for some markets.

Bottom line is if you don't subsribe to the latino programming and your local market SD channels do not come from 119, then you have no need for either 110 or 119 anymore. 99/101/103 carries all core SD and HD programming along with all local HD channels, and local SD channels for many/most markets - at least the major ones. If you have no LOS to 119, it is best to have a Slimline 3 dish, not the slimline 5

If you have no line of site to 119, you should try to get the Slimline 3 dish .. This is not the same thing as the old Phase III (3-LNB) dish.

tkrandall said it perfectly.

110/119 are not required unless your locals come from there (only a few areas) or in the future if you are going to want international programming. The plan as of right now is to use 99/101/103 for the main items and then 110/119 for international/specialty items.

Slimline 3 will see 99/101/103 while the Slimline 5 sees 99/101/103/110/119. The Slimline 3 is just starting its rollouts so many areas do not have them as standard install equipment yet and most CSRs do not know about them. Best way to guarantee one is to purchase one yourself off of eBay or somewhere else. You just need the LNB (end piece with white cap that goes on the extended arm) as the actual dish is the same between the SL5 and SL3.

It is being reported the 3LNB Slimline has very limited availablity, new installation only, in limited markets. You may have to purchase the LNB on your own and see if your installer will put it in your new Slimline during your upgrade.

a bit smaller since it does not need to see as wide an area of the sky, or is it just the existing slimline dish with a new LNB?


Sorry -- I see ths question was answered above while I was posing the question. However, it seems like wasted dish since we are now looking at only a 4 degree area of the sky. I would think D* would want to make a smaller dish to save cost. I know my wife would want a smaller dish.

I believe it is the same dish. If not, someone please chime in.

well I just had mine installed today...new service and everything....uses the same slimline dish the the 5lnb uses....just different lnb's

I have long been shocked why DirecTV doesn't work out some kind of TP swap or sale for the 3 110 TPs. Is it really worth having a whole satellite there for 3 TPs?

The dish is the same size. The reason we believe is because of the Ku signals (99/103) which are much pickier and are more easily knocked out by rain fade and such. The larger reflector helps combat this.

HDRoberts said:

I have long been shocked why DirecTV doesn't work out some kind of TP swap or sale for the 3 110 TPs. Is it really worth having a whole satellite there for 3 TPs?

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TPs are worth a LOT of money. Prime reality up there in space

So I assume that with the new 3 lnb setup the dish center-line axis will point at the 101 position in the sky versus the 5 lnb setup which I believe points at the 110 position. surely they would not leave the 3 lnb setup off axis.

Grentz said:

TPs are worth a LOT of money. Prime reality up there in space

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So are satellites. Now DTV has to keep a satellite to feed 9.4% of the available space at 110. A trade with Dish for 3 TPs could save DTV a lot of money, or enable them to use the sat elsewhere, or not have to replace it.

And if they are not needed, why sit on a pot of gold? If they don't make sure they stay in constant use with useful services, the FCC might take it away for no cash.

Grentz said:

The dish is the same size. The reason we believe is because of the Ku signals (99/103) which are much pickier and are more easily knocked out by rain fade and such. The larger reflector helps combat this.

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Ku is 101/110/119, Ka (which is much narrower) is 99/103.

The reason for the larger dish is to get a higher gain on the Ka location. The Slimline doesn't seem that big to me, but yeah, it's bigger than the old "round" dish. Plus, the same dish can be used just swap out the LNBs.

HDRoberts said:

So are satellites. Now DTV has to keep a satellite to feed 9.4% of the available space at 110. A trade with Dish for 3 TPs could save DTV a lot of money, or enable them to use the sat elsewhere, or not have to replace it.

And if they are not needed, why sit on a pot of gold? If they don't make sure they stay in constant use with useful services, the FCC might take it away for no cash.

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Perhaps, but I'm not sure that DISH would want to give up 3 transponders at 119 in trade .. DIRECTV made the business decision long ago to use the 110 slot .. Likely aging satellites will be moved to that location to end their life since 3 transponders require much less power than 32 .. It may not even be a real problem now that there are so many satellites in the pipeline.

Doug Brott said:

Perhaps, but I'm not sure that DISH would want to give up 3 transponders at 119 in trade .. DIRECTV made the business decision long ago to use the 110 slot .. Likely aging satellites will be moved to that location to end their life since 3 transponders require much less power than 32 .. It may not even be a real problem now that there are so many satellites in the pipeline.

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Dish probably would, with some cash or some other considerations (like 2 119 TPs for 3 110 TPs). DirecTV would get the benefit of freeing up a satellite. Dish's only benefit (aside from any considerations) would be that ability to move 3 TPs to the super powered Echostar 11 from the weaker Echostar 7. I had read that DirecTV did try to work out a swap, but they wanted like 6 TPs of 119, which I found odd given that DirecTV would see the most benefit.

And besides D12 (a Ka bird), what is in the pipeline for Ku? I'm a Dish guy, so I don't know.

davedusz said:

So I assume that with the new 3 lnb setup the dish center-line axis will point at the 101 position in the sky versus the 5 lnb setup which I believe points at the 110 position. surely they would not leave the 3 lnb setup off axis.

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All Ka/Ku dishes have always been pointed at 101. 110 and 119 are picked up at an angle (a considerable one for 119).

The SL3 lnb looks just like a SL5 LNB if you cut off the 110 and 119 feedhorns.

I am a current Slimline 5 user in my RV so size matters. I have seen the 3 LNB module only for sale for $39.99 at Solid Signal.

I'm wondering if that LNB module might be adapted to the old oval dish previously used for the 101,110,119 sats. I feel certain that if properly positioned the 101 would be a cinch but would the 99 and 103 fall in place, given the shape of the oval.

Seems to make sence to me but I'm sure there are a lot smarter people on this forum than me.

jmikestock said:

I am a current Slimline 5 user in my RV so size matters. I have seen the 3 LNB module only for sale for $39.99 at Solid Signal.

I'm wondering if that LNB module might be adapted to the old oval dish previously used for the 101,110,119 sats. I feel certain that if properly positioned the 101 would be a cinch but would the 99 and 103 fall in place, given the shape of the oval.

Seems to make sence to me but I'm sure there are a lot smarter people on this forum than me.

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This thread discusses doing exactly that.

Understand going in that peaking this dish will be very difficult, and your resistance to rain/wind fade is going to be considerably lower due to the reduced size of the reflector. You will NOT get the same performance out of this setup as you would with a standard-size Slimline (wind/rain fade). If you can live with that, then it may work for you.