# 129 Signal Loss On Hd Stations



## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

VIP 722 and VIP 622 loss of HD signals from 129 satellite , mainly in PM. Switched to SD and signal comes in strong (ie 200 CNN HD loss, 200 CNN SD signal ok.)
Luckly I have a separate 500 dish pointing to 61.5. Unhooked 129 satellite and replaced with 61.5 to return to HD signals. VERY WEAK HD SIGNAL ON 129!


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## garyhesq (Nov 5, 2004)

I have been having dropouts on 129 for the past few weeks. Even in clear conditions my signal on my 622 and 722 is only about 20 and it will drop to 15 at random times. Other times it just disappears.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Same here and am not sure what is going on. I have a wing dish pointed at 129 and usually have 35-45 or so on most transponders. Until a couple of weeks ago I hadn't had any problems except during heavy cloud cover and storms, which is to be expected.

Now I find I have breakups on a bunch of the 129-located HD channels much of the day, but seems to be worse at night or maybe that is just when I spend most of my time in front of the TV.

Also worth noting... I had a nice storm the other day and signals dropped to around 18-20 on most 129 transponders but I didn't notice any more breakups than I've been having on clear days until the signal dropped below 15 and then cut out when the heavy stuff hit.

So, from my observations, it seems like regardless of the signal strength some transponders seem to be giving me more troubles than others.

In another thread I was asking about smoke interference since we had a forest fire out of control for a couple of weeks in Eastern-NC at the beginning of the month... but I don't think that could still be my problem.

Something seems different, and if others are seeing it more lately too then I'm even more sure it isn't my equipment to blame.


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## SkipperTW (Jan 23, 2008)

Same here... thought maybe it was a tree filling in on the horizon or something but it for sure has dropped out significantly 15 – 20 at times.


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

yes and I live in upstate SC and i see the same problem.. My signal range from 25 to 30.. I to will have to hook up Dish at 61.5 I get a great signal from that location.. all the other satellites are fine... 129w is very low on the horizon... that could be the problem..


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

i'm using a vip722 with dishnetwork plus dish.. with dishpro plus 4x4 switch. I just had it installed over the weekend.. i still have my directv set up as well.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Conway, let us know, if, number one, you have a 1000plus dish, and second, are you having signal loss on 129HD. I have a 1000 but not the plus. Thanks Dewey in Tampa


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

yes its the 1000.2 dish with the 118W location.. Yes it's 129w where the drops occur.. Low signals..


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## Agleisberg (Jun 24, 2008)

I had the same problem.. they detected a LNB drift in my 119 but 129 is still out they think its cause the dvr over heated... i have a new one in house i will post if its just a problem with the dvr or if the problem still occurs


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

i have a dish set up for the 61.5 location with a legacy lnb.. I am using a dp plus 4x4 switch.. I can simply just unhook the 129w lnb and hook it to the 61.5 legacy LNB right.. it should work??


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Conway, I think you are going to have to have a DP lnb. I do not think the Legacy is compatable.I originally had a 1000 dish with a dual and a single DPP lnb that gave me 110, 119, and 129. However, to get HD locals they had to install a 500 dish with a single DPP lnb. This would now give me 61.5 in addition to the others.
Now since I was getting so much drop off from 129 I unplugged it. Now with 61.5 I am not getting HD drop signals. (yet)


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

you know i could always pull off the dpp lnb off the dish 1000.2 and put it on the standard dish


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## hawk2202 (Jun 24, 2008)

I am having the same issue. Loss of complete signal or so weak it will not tune the channel in and hold it. Only seem to have the issue on sat 129 but it is all day. I have called my local and the main dish network contacts. They have asked me to pay the $30 trip charge to have a tech come out. I feel like that is unfair but what can you do. THIS SUX

h


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## lkrupp (Apr 6, 2007)

Just to add my two cents I'm also seeing the low 129 signal levels near St. Louis, MO.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Too early to tell for sure, but I may have accidentally stumbled upon a cure for my specific issues... so I ask a question.

How many folks having problems with 129 are using their ViP receiver to backfeed to another room via COAX?

I completely forget sometimes that mine was installed this way because I have never used it beyond the initial installation testing... but out of curiosity I took out all the extra splitters/combiners used to backfeed and at least so far tonight the problems I've been having for the past week seem to have gone.

Early to tell, but it has been so consistent every day for a couple of weeks now that I find it hard to believe something else got fixed simultaneously today. Although I suppose there's also the possibility that the "reset" of the power inserter could have done something as well since I had to unplug everything while rewiring.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Direct line from 44 to three HD receivers. No splitters and all connections sealed. Definitely weak signal from 129, thats why I unhooked and just used 61.5 which is giving me no problem. Very remote possibility could be LNB from 129. Believe symptoms would be different. Have ruled this out. JUST A PROBLEM DISH NEEDS TO ADDRESS AND CORRECT.


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## hawk2202 (Jun 24, 2008)

dewey brunner said:


> Direct line from 44 to three HD receivers. No splitters and all connections sealed. Definitely weak signal from 129, thats why I unhooked and just used 61.5 which is giving me no problem. Very remote possibility could be LNB from 129. Believe symptoms would be different. Have ruled this out. JUST A PROBLEM DISH NEEDS TO ADDRESS AND CORRECT.


I completely agree that this is coming from dishs side. I refuse to pay a tech to come out and charge me $30 for a trip fee to tell me he is repairing something. Has anyone had a tech out since the issue started and what did they report?


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## Bradtothebone (Aug 11, 2003)

I've got low 129 signals in Kansas City, also. I trimmed a tree that I knew was interfering over the weekend, and that helped quite a bit, but still my highest TP's are around 30-35. Most are in the 20's. TP 27 usually doesn't even lock. I'm going to try to re-peak on 129 this weekend, and hopefully that will help some more, but until Ciel-2 is launched, I think we're pretty much screwed.

BTW, I have a Dish 1000, DP-34 switch, one 622 and one 722, and no diplexed OTA.

Brad


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## scoobyxj (Apr 15, 2008)

Conway said:


> i have a dish set up for the 61.5 location with a legacy lnb.. I am using a dp plus 4x4 switch.. I can simply just unhook the 129w lnb and hook it to the 61.5 legacy LNB right.. it should work??





dewey brunner said:


> Conway, I think you are going to have to have a DP lnb. I do not think the Legacy is compatable.I originally had a 1000 dish with a dual and a single DPP lnb that gave me 110, 119, and 129. However, to get HD locals they had to install a 500 dish with a single DPP lnb. This would now give me 61.5 in addition to the others.
> Now since I was getting so much drop off from 129 I unplugged it. Now with 61.5 I am not getting HD drop signals. (yet)


Above is correct Legacy LNB's are not compatable with DPP+ equipment.

And for the topic at hand I have not noticed any funky with the 129* on my own system. Nor have I been on any Trouble calls reporting trouble. (Well none that wasn't a LOS problem.)



Conway said:


> you know i could always pull off the dpp lnb off the dish 1000.2 and put it on the standard dish


You can't pull a single LNB off the 1000.2. They are all three built into one unit called a triple. There is an input for a fourth orbital.

What you probably have is a 1000 Dish with a W bracket on it. That would use three dual LNBF's on the 1000, a DPP44 switch, and a 300, or 500 (skew on 90) with a forth dual LNB for the 61.5. All LNBF's being Dish Pro.


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## pcnetwrx (Jun 6, 2006)

HDMe said:


> How many folks having problems with 129 are using their ViP receiver to backfeed to another room via COAX?


I have seen two different manifestations of weak 129 HD:

An error message saying to tune up or down, or a searching for sat message counting from 0 to 5 and usually bringing up the channel while still at 0.

My 622 does backfeed to our bedroom via coax. I have not tried disconnecting it. It seemed to start with the L511 firmware. If I do get the message to tune up or down, when I do that and come back, it usually works.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I know there are otherwise issues with 129, including power and poor line of sight for many of us... so I'm sure I don't have a cure-all, but it is quite curious now that on day 2 after removing all of my backfeed connections I now have had none of the repeatable breakups including on the worst offender 139HD. 176HD was a fast 2nd... and lots of others were having issues to varying degrees, but both of the above wouldn't go more than 5 minutes between glitches, and sometimes 139HD would go into video tourettes for a minute or more solid!

That's not to say I have perfection... sometimes there are minor glitches in TBS and TNTHD... but when at my father's house I see them on his too sometimes in the same way and he is a Time Warner customer so I suspect these types of glitches are actually from the source and not a Time Warner or Dish problem.

I guess what it may be coming down to is that there may be other things that make the 129 problems worse... so folks in marginal areas or who have had recent increased troubles may want to investigate things like I did with my backfeed before springing for a tech service call that may or may not help.

Meanwhile, now that they lit up the Raleigh DMA on 61.5 I have the option of considering a repoint back to there and scrapping my 118.7 location to maximize my 110/119 again too.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

I would think if the problem is from the source, I would encounter the same with 61.5. Like I said earlier, I have a single line to each of three hd receivers from the 44 with no splitters. Is there some other place you were getting a back feed.
I guess my alignment could be slightly off. It was set by a tech. However, all three lnbs are on the one 1000, 110,119, and 129. If you move one you move all three. Not having problems with 110 and 119.
Just glad I have a 500 separate dish to pick up 61.5, otherwise I would be SOL.


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## Cap'n Preshoot (Jul 16, 2006)

One problem with 129 and the superdish is mast alignment. Whether pole mounted, roof mounted, eve mounted or etc, it is absolutely critical that the vertical portion of the mast pipe be perfectly "dead-level-plumb". There is no such thing as "close enough" - it's either perfectly plumb or it isn't.

The signals from 129 are already weak (it's an old, aging bird) so for best results you've got to be precisely on it. Since 129 is not the bird the installers align to (they use 119), and since the dish physical geometry is fixed, the accuracy of your 129 alignment is solely dependent on the accuracy of "level and plumb" on your mast.

If you find having a separate dedicated dish for 129 is what it takes, then your superdish mast was not plumb to start with. It really is that simple.

Of course along with perfectly plumb also comes rigidity. If things wobble around, all bets are off.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Thanks for the information. I will do exactly as you say with the mast and will try for the greatest signal on 129. 110 and 119 should follow. I have a dish 1000 not a Super dish. I do not think that matters much. Well let you know. Thanks Dewey in Tampa


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Just finshed recommendation by Capt Preshot. My mast was not true vertical, sorting leaning toward weight of dish and lnb's.
Got shaft straight and remounted antenna. Put my meter on 129 this time, not 110 or 119 and got the highest signal possible. When the strength was 28 before it was now 40, however, this created a drop in both 110 and 119 of about 18 points. So far seen on problems with either.
These lnb 's should be all coordinated together on the 1000 dish where when one is pinpointed all should be.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

dewey brunner said:


> Just finshed recommendation by Capt Preshot. My mast was not true vertical, sorting leaning toward weight of dish and lnb's.
> Got shaft straight and remounted antenna. Put my meter on 129 this time, not 110 or 119 and got the highest signal possible. When the strength was 28 before it was now 40, however, this created a drop in both 110 and 119 of about 18 points. So far seen on problems with either.
> These lnb 's should be all coordinated together on the 1000 dish where when one is pinpointed all should be.


IMO, you give up some to gain some. Dish finally installed a separate dish for 129 and peaked 110 and 119 on the other. I think that's the best way to get the maximum signal from all three satellites.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

That's a great Idea, however, I have two dishes now, one separate for 61.5 so I could receive HD Locals, and a 1000 for 110, 119, and 129. I am going to see if I have any problems with with 110 and 119 after re-aiming for max 129.
I can now watch a local program(antenna) and record another local(satellite) all at the same time. Before I had to choose which I wanted to do.
Anyway thanks for all your help. If I have more problems, I might have to install a third antenna as you suggested. Now getting them to install another dish would be some kind of battle!!!


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## homeskillet (Feb 3, 2004)

Bradtothebone said:


> I've got low 129 signals in Kansas City, also. I trimmed a tree that I knew was interfering over the weekend, and that helped quite a bit, but still my highest TP's are around 30-35. Most are in the 20's. TP 27 usually doesn't even lock. I'm going to try to re-peak on 129 this weekend, and hopefully that will help some more, but until Ciel-2 is launched, I think we're pretty much screwed.
> 
> BTW, I have a Dish 1000, DP-34 switch, one 622 and one 722, and no diplexed OTA.
> 
> Brad


I'm having about the same signal quality as Brad has. I live in Kansas City as well and I would go with the other satellite but I have an apartment building in my way.

I have a 1000.1 dish with a direct line to my 722.


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## Bradtothebone (Aug 11, 2003)

homeskillet said:


> I'm having about the same signal quality as Brad has. I live in Kansas City as well and I would go with the other satellite but I have an apartment building in my way.
> 
> I have a 1000.1 dish with a direct line to my 722.


I spent about 3 hours yesterday trying to repeak my dish for 129. After all was said and done, it was slightly better on some transponders (notably, #27), but maybe not as good on others (notably, #7 and #11). What I noticed during the process is how much the signal varies over time. I had one TP (#31) that was in the 40's some of the time and in the 20's some of the time. I suppose that's due to the satellite's "wobble" problem, but I didn't realize how much it varied over, say, a 15-minute period.

I guess I have 3 options:

Put up a separate D500 for 129.
Change out the 1000 for a slightly bigger 1000.2 (anyone done this?).
Buck up and wait for Ciel 2.
Brad


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

The signal on 129 is not necessarily weak.

The problem with 129 is a couple of the gyros have failed and Dish has to use the positioning thrusters to keep it pointed properly at earth, so it occasionally wanders off target and has to be bumped back into position - thusly the oscillation in signal strength.

Some transponders are weaker than others but by peaking one transponder you peak them all, regardless of the individual strength of each TP.

A larger single lnb dish will give you stronger signal from 129, but it still will oscillate, just not enough to drop signal like it did before.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Jim, when you are saying a larger dish, which one would you recommend. I have a 500 installed for 61.5 and a spare 300 with lnb. If the 500 would do the trick I could aim it at 129 and install the 300 for 61.5. The 500, however, looks the same size as the 300. Thanks Dewey


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

The 500 is designed for 2 lnb's and thusly the dish is horizonally defocused.

The 300 is designed as a 1 lnb dish and if they are the same size the 300 would be better than the 500.

300 is 18 inch round, 500 is oval 18X20inch.

Others are using 24 and 30 inch single lnb dishes.

I'm still using my old Dish 1000. I peaked it myself on 129 about a year ago, and my signal levels on 129 are on the upper 30's for 2-3 lnb's and most of the others are in the high 40's and a few even in the mid 50's.

If I have a big thunderstorm in the ssw I loose 110, 119 and 129, but only for the duration of the storm.

I had a Dish 500 on 61.5 but swung it around to 148 to pick up my locals last fall.


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## Conway (Oct 29, 2002)

My Signal Levels on 129 are as follows 

34
28
35
41
44
25
34
38
46
43
32
43
48
40
45
25
33
46
27
35
37
41
47
36

thats all from 1-32.. some transponders are not active..


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

It's cloudy and rainy out today.

Here are my numbers on 129

47
37
39
52
54
32
39
48
56
46
37
54
57
57
57
33
37
58
36
40
40
48
53
52


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## SkipperTW (Jan 23, 2008)

I had a tech over Sunday (A friend who happens to work for Dish) and he adjusted the dish a little and I got back on track (Up to 40 -45 on Trans 13). Took him all of 2 mins (but obviously knew what he was doing). He did say that if I continue to have trouble we could add another dish for 61.5 but 40 percent seems to work fine for me... 

I do find it funny that Dish chose to put all their HD on an old dying bird like the 129 appears to be. Is their any plan to remedy this?


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## Cap'n Preshoot (Jul 16, 2006)

dewey brunner said:


> Just finshed recommendation by Capt Preshot. My mast was not true vertical, sorting leaning toward weight of dish and lnb's.
> Got shaft straight and remounted antenna. Put my meter on 129 this time, not 110 or 119 and got the highest signal possible. When the strength was 28 before it was now 40, however, this created a drop in both 110 and 119 of about 18 points. So far seen on problems with either.
> These lnb 's should be all coordinated together on the 1000 dish where when one is pinpointed all should be.


On the 1000.2 or superdish as some call it, you should align on 119 and set the skew looking at 110 or 129. If adjusting the skew does anything to your 119 readings then something is loose somewhere. If you're unable to get maximum peaks on 110 and 129 with the same skew setting then look once more at your mast plumb & level. If that mast is anchored you should be able to swing on it and have the dish pop back into perfect alignment as soon as you let go of it. Alternatively, look into putting up three individual dishes. They're much more forgiving, you only have azimuth and elevation to work with, and the mast can be listing 30 degrees and you can still pull in the bird.

If your mast leans under the weight of the dish and LNBF assembly then look at how it's anchored. Gable, eve and roof mounts (anything into wood) are notoriously "flexible" If you have a brick chimney (see my avatar), anchored there means anchored! Barring the availability of a chimney mount the next most solid is a ground (pole) mount with the pole sunk 3' into the ground and set in 80 lbs of sakrete with an 8" dowel pin sticking cross-ways through the pole (in the concrete) to prevent twisting.

A good installation with one of the heavy multi-sat dishes starts with a sturdy, solidly-anchored, perfectly plumb mast.


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## DJ Lon (Nov 3, 2005)

Jim5506 said:


> The problem with 129 is a couple of the gyros have failed and Dish has to use the positioning thrusters to keep it pointed properly at earth, so it occasionally wanders off target and has to be bumped back into position - thusly the oscillation in signal strength.


I self-installed my 1000.2 last week (after having a Dish 500 and wing Dish 300 at 61.5°) and noticed the signal variations on 129° while I was peaking the dish. I get an average of 80-90 on 119°, 70-80 on 110° and 40-50 on 129°. But if I leave the point dish on a 129° transponder for a while, like 32 for example, it's highest strength will be 53 but will drop to 28 and return to 53 over time. This is during clear skies, no clouds and no wind. Levels on 110° and 119° remain constant (for example, tp 21 on 119° always reads 75).

Does 129° really move that much?


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

> On the 1000.2 or superdish as some call it,


They shouldn't - those are entirely different things.


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## kucharsk (Sep 20, 2006)

So I have an HD installer coming next week to, I assume, put in a 1000.2 to replace my 500.

Is it a more robust solution to leave the 500 and have them install a dish for 61.5?

Of course since I have legacy LNBs on the 500, I suspect they'll need to replace some bits anyway.


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## plarkinjr (Feb 12, 2008)

Here in Dallas, with a "Super Dish" (?), I get values ranging from 8 to 14 on 129, and dropouts in HD programs.... wife saying "not even worth it". On 110 and 119, I have signal values in the mid to hi 40's. Dish was pro-installed several months ago. Had to take down the dish I self installed back in the 90's. Is this something I can repeak myself or is it far more complex than the old dual LNB dishes?


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

In Dallas with a Dish 1000, I get between 25 and 50 on different TPs on 129. Most TPs are in the 40-50 range. I think you need your dish repointed for a better 129 signal.


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## igleaner (Aug 22, 2002)

Since I switched from a 942 to a VIP722 one week ago, most of my HD channels are exhibiting pixellation breakup every 10-15 seconds. And I'm NOT using 129. Channel HD300, HBO, is especialy bad.

I have one dish pointed at 110 and 119, while a second dish points to 61.5. Both dishes were installed by a tech and precisely aligned. 

Prior to the 722 install, I had a single dish looking at 110 and 119. When the new MPEG4 receiver was installed, the tech added the 61.5 dish.

I also recently installed a VIP222 box and it exhibits the same pixellation issues, so I don't think the boxes are the problem.

When I had the 942 with a single dish pointed at 110 and 119, all HD stations including 300 for HBO, performed perfectly. 

I have a tech coming out this Sunday and I suspect the problem might be a bad LNB or wiring connection on the roof. But after reading this thread, I'm not sure the tech will be able to do anything.

By the way, my signal strengths are in the 50-55 range on the problem stations, but they seem to fluctuate by several points, while the good stations show a more stable signal strength level.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

I have been contemplating replacing my 1000 dish with the 1000.2. Some say the larger disc will lessen pixilation in rain plus seems to get 129 with less problems.
I would like to know if there are any out there that think the 1000.2 might help with 129.
I have tried everything except replacing the 129 lnb, and nothing seems to work.
129 signals are all over the board all the way from none to 50, and nothing related to weather or obstruction. 
Thanks 
Dewey in 
Tampa


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

CONWAY you do not have a 1000.2, you have a 1000 + the 1000+ is for 119/118/110 and 129. Remove the 129 LNB from the 1000+ and put it on a dish pointed at 61.5, forget 129 you do not need it with 61.5


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## reddice (Feb 18, 2003)

Since I am getting HD installed soon I should leave it with my Dish 500 and second Dish at 61.5. The tech guy should not install a Dish 1000.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Dewey, you do realize you are outside the recommended coverage area for 129 and should not expect stable reception. New England, nearly all of Florida and deep south Texas are outside the conus beam of 129 and are receiving refracted signal, not direct beam. See http://ekb.dbstalk.com/pictures/Dish1000Exclusions.jpg


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## bbq99 (Jul 7, 2007)

im in south florida and dish wont let us put up the 1000 dish anymore. only 61.5 . 129 signal is too weak on the 1000, when you peak the 129 you loose on the 110 and 119 side. 1000 is not allowed in this management area. i would figure it would be the same in tampa but i quess not if some of the guys here have it. my 2 cents


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Since my 1000 was installed by a tech I assumed I had the best direct signal possible. Then with all the losses with 129 the tech installed a 500 for 61.5. Still I had reception problems all over. 
I have a signal meter I purchased years ago which connects in the line with an ear piece that emits the strength of the signal for more precise direction.
I found out that both the 1000 and the 500 had not been corrctly aligned. They were off a little, however, just enough to give me weak signals.
When I tweaked the 61.5 It gained between 25 and 30 points increase. The 1000 also increased substantially.
This 500 was installed only a couple months ago, so should have been perfect.
It would not hurt for those still having problems to get a second opinion or do like me if you have equipment and knowledge to do so. I think I purchased my meter over e bay for around ten dollars.
With my being outside the "zone" the installer should have never just installed a 1000. Dish can lose customers when this happens and they only get sporatic reception. Good luck Dewey in Tampa


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## Cap'n Preshoot (Jul 16, 2006)

dewey brunner said:


> Since my 1000 was installed by a tech I assumed I had the best direct signal possible.


Unfortunately you've assumed facts not in evidence. Their techs are hardly what I'd call "Technicians". These guys all work by the job, not by the hour, so their only interest is in how quickly they can button things up at your place and get on to the next. They also have very little (if any) technical knowledge or expertise. They've each been taught how to properly assemble the dish and how to properly install the mount and how to properly align the dish. Unfortunately for the customer, doing it properly takes time which takes away from the number of jobs they can complete in a day which takes away from the amount of money they can make.

After their classroom training they then work with seasoned techs who show them "shortcuts" to virtually every classroom procedure they were taught. The end result is the customer gets a poorer quality installation than they should have and as you've personally witnessed, the dish is not "peaked".

With a multi-sat dish there's *four* points of concern, not three.
 Azimuth (left & right)
 Elevation (up & down]
 Skew (angular twist
 *level and plumb mast*

The first 3 are only approximate without the 4th one and this is the one they will consistently fudge-on or race through. You go back and check and find that the mast isn't level/plumb and from that point it's "game-over". Without a perfectly plumb & level mast it is impossible to accurately and precisely align a multi-sat dish and achieve a peak reading on all the birds simultaneously. Succinctly stated, without first having a perfectly plumb & level (and tight) mast, you cannot do it, period.

I fought with them and had their "techs" {sic} back a total of 4 times - these idiots kept wanting to replace the receivers..... They'd go outside and dink with the dish, then come back in, look at the sat signal levels and insist on replacing the receivers (both naturally, since both were showing identically poor signals.

Oh, did I mention I had a 6' pole mount? These bozos fought with that for days and finally dug a new hole and sank a new pole, which this time I supervised, making sure it was both level and plumb as well as rock solid. Gee, what an amazing difference it made.

.


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## alangant (Jul 25, 2005)

I am one of those unhappy customers with a single dish pointed at 110/119/129, and significant dropouts on HD from 129. This dish was installed when I added a 622 to my 942 about 6 months ago. A few weeks ago, I started getting dropouts on 129. Previously, I had a Dish 500 aimed at 100/119. They left that 500 connected to my 501 and 508, and added the Dish 1000+(?) with the new 3 LNB single piece which is direct connected to a 622 and a 722. Both are installed on a plumb, vertical mast attached to my brick chimney.

Now, I did Dish 500 alignments years ago; can someone give me some tips so that I can try and peak the new dish for 129, without sacrificing 110 and 119 too badly? I have no professional alignment tools, so I guess I'll be using the signal strength on screen.


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## tcatdbs (Jul 10, 2008)

Interesting, I would think if you can tweak the 1st 3, then the mast shouldn't matter... (left, right, up, down, twist, what else is there besides zoom?) I had a 2 dish install the other day, one "looks" plumb, the other looks like the bracket is off about 5 degrees... I'll go up and check this weekend. But I hate to mess with it with no pixalization on any channel.



Cap'n Preshoot;1696008 said:


> Unfortunately you've assumed facts not in evidence. Their techs are hardly what I'd call "Technicians". These guys all work by the job, not by the hour, so their only interest is in how quickly they can button things up at your place and get on to the next. They also have very little (if any) technical knowledge or expertise. They've each been taught how to properly assemble the dish and how to properly install the mount and how to properly align the dish. Unfortunately for the customer, doing it properly takes time which takes away from the number of jobs they can complete in a day which takes away from the amount of money they can make.
> 
> After their classroom training they then work with seasoned techs who show them "shortcuts" to virtually every classroom procedure they were taught. The end result is the customer gets a poorer quality installation than they should have and as you've personally witnessed, the dish is not "peaked".
> 
> ...


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

Alagant, I simpathize with your problems. Yours is exactly what I had. I had one dish, 1000, I tried aiming 129, which was not good enough,. and then 110 and 119 was off, 129 was so erratic I finally went with what others recommended.
I totally disconnedted 129 and replaced it with 61.5. which I used a 500 dish. The tech putting it up just did not get alignment correct. I purchased a meter and finally got 61.5 dead on.
Then I aimed and reset 110 and 119 mounted on the 1000. The mast was not perfectly vertical. I corrected and aimed 110 and 119 which picked up at least 30 points.
Now the occasionally drop out is with heavy thunderstorms here in Florida. I tried everything and this setup was the only one that really worked for me.


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## peano (Feb 1, 2004)

I did the same. I tried a 1000 and a 1000.2 because I wanted only one dish but 129 was terribly unreliable. 

I now have two 500s. One for 110 and 119 and one with the I-adapter for 61.5. Its night and day.

Dish should give up trying to provide HD on 129 until they replace that "satellite".


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

Charlotte NC area. Running Dish 1000. Seems better than most have reported, but I still have drop outs at the sightest sign of bad weather... Works better than my weather monitor! 

tran	signal
01	38
02	37
03	41
04	43
05	43
06	32
07	40
08	42
09	46
10	50
11	39
12	48
13	49
16	46	
17	43	
18	34	
19	38
21	45	
22	37	
23	41	
27	45	
30	50	
31	57	
32	46


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## Beanie (Jan 8, 2008)

I too am having problems seeing 129. Signal strengths on 110 and 119 appear to be in the low 20's. I've looked over this thread and am still as confused as ever. Has anyone found a cure for this problem? I have a tech coming out Saturday, but dang that's going to seem like forever! Should I have much hope he will be able to do anything for me??


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

I sure hope this tech really knows what he is doing. My opinion is get rid of 129 amd replace with 61.5 This will require two dishes, one for 61.5 and one for 110 and 119. Your readings should be double what you have now if you have a proper installation.
Post and let us know results after tech visits. Good luck


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

I see no good reason why they mess with 129 in NC,SC,GA or FL 61.5 is stronger and a better look angle.


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

We've been experiencing low signal/no signal on 129 off and on slightly for the last few months and really badly for the last couple of weeks. Some of the things we've dvr'd are unwatchable due to the pixellation and one of the episodes of Jurassic Fight Club pixellated so badly that it just ended up going to 'end' due to loss of signal. Sometimes we tune to one of the HD's like Discovery or TLC and it unsuccessfully searches for satellite then when we tune back to it a few minutes later, it's fine. I would be inclined to believe it is satellite-related or uplink-related as we've had no wind or storms here. Especially after reading in another thread that they had a nationwide outage Tuesday due to storms over the uplink center in Wyoming.


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## s0121 (Jan 13, 2005)

alangant said:


> I am one of those unhappy customers with a single dish pointed at 110/119/129, and significant dropouts on HD from 129. This dish was installed when I added a 622 to my 942 about 6 months ago. A few weeks ago, I started getting dropouts on 129. Previously, I had a Dish 500 aimed at 100/119. They left that 500 connected to my 501 and 508, and added the Dish 1000+(?) with the new 3 LNB single piece which is direct connected to a 622 and a 722. Both are installed on a plumb, vertical mast attached to my brick chimney.
> 
> Now, I did Dish 500 alignments years ago; can someone give me some tips so that I can try and peak the new dish for 129, without sacrificing 110 and 119 too badly? I have no professional alignment tools, so I guess I'll be using the signal strength on screen.


 Since Jul 12 when my system was upgraded by a Tech. to VIP 211k and Dish 1000.2 - I have had nothing but problems. Echostar said they would have another Tech on Oct 2.. (DOH) so I decided to try my self.
1. I did a signal strength ck ... start Sat 110-51, Sat 119-54, Sat 129 - 7 to 11.
I used a rubber mallet and a block of wood. loosing the elevation slightly then taping with mallet, check sig on stat 129 lost sig totally, so moved the elevation other way... found and had sig 12, after several taps i went to sig 28. went back next day. and same procedure.. found by tapping elevation to 44.5º I had sat 110-53/54, sat 119-68, sat 129- 38/40. have left it that way.. SW Kansas elevation 44.5 º and Skew at 117º. seems to be almost right..
I check my neighbors new setup different tech and we both now have the same settings. Make sure you write down the current elevation and skew settings before you mess with them.


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## mikeap (Jun 17, 2007)

dbconsultant said:


> We've been experiencing low signal/no signal on 129 off and on slightly for the last few months and really badly for the last couple of weeks. Some of the things we've dvr'd are unwatchable due to the pixellation and one of the episodes of Jurassic Fight Club pixellated so badly that it just ended up going to 'end' due to loss of signal. Sometimes we tune to one of the HD's like Discovery or TLC and it unsuccessfully searches for satellite then when we tune back to it a few minutes later, it's fine. I would be inclined to believe it is satellite-related or uplink-related as we've had no wind or storms here. Especially after reading in another thread that they had a nationwide outage Tuesday due to storms over the uplink center in Wyoming.


I too live in So Cal and am having the same trouble. I don't fully understand how the 61.5 option is viable. Does it carry the same channels as 129? Are they in MP4? I'd love to get a second dish for 61.5 or do something to fix my 129. Can someone expand a bit on 61.5 vs 129.


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## dewey brunner (May 1, 2006)

61.5 gives me everything 129 ever did plus 61.5, gives me all local HD stations which I could not get before other than from an outside antenna. 61.5 gives me all hd stations plus, without the sporatic wobbling of 129. I just unplugged 129 and put up a 500 dish for 61.5. At least it works great for me here in Florida.


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