# When will 129 be replaced?



## gonzalo8575 (Feb 21, 2007)

Hi. Does anyone know if Dishnetwork has the intention to change the satellite on location 129 anytime soon?

Thanks!


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## harmil2 (Nov 22, 2003)

gonzalo8575 said:


> Hi. Does anyone know if Dishnetwork has the intention to change the satellite on location 129 anytime soon?
> 
> Thanks!


I also would like to know the answer. It seems many of the new HD cannels are going on 129 which means blackout every 15 minutes or so for us folks out west. I am very disappointed and ready to go directv.


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## Larry Kenney (Aug 19, 2005)

harmil2 said:


> I also would like to know the answer. It seems many of the new HD cannels are going on 129 which means blackout every 15 minutes or so for us folks out west. I am very disappointed and ready to go directv.


What are you using for an antenna? I'm in San Francisco and don't have any problems with the signals from 129. I have a separate 500 dish pointed at 129, the one that used to be pointed at 148 for locals before they moved, and it gets solid signals.

Larry
SF


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## cbcampbell (Jan 13, 2006)

regarding poor 129 reception in the west (eugene oregon in my case): when they put CMAX on 129 I got fed up and called my local sat provider. in two days I had a new (free) antenna pointing at 129. works perfect. no more 129 problems. No charge to me. The locals get reimbursed from E* for the work.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

Echostar 5 at 129 will be replaced by Ceil-2 sometime in 2008, probably in the Fall.


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## BNUMM (Dec 24, 2006)

Lyngsat is indicating a launch as "Late 2008"


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## archer75 (Oct 13, 2006)

harmil2 said:


> I also would like to know the answer. It seems many of the new HD cannels are going on 129 which means blackout every 15 minutes or so for us folks out west. I am very disappointed and ready to go directv.


blackouts? Maybe you need to repoint your dish. I'm in Gresham, Oregon and have had no blackouts from HD.


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## harmil2 (Nov 22, 2003)

Thanks for the replies. Dish provided an extra large 24" dish pointed only at 129. It was an improvement, but still has too many dropouts to enjoy Voom, History, Cinemax, ect. on 129. Two different installers have tried and told me everyone on the northwest coast is having the same problem. One installer brought up the signal meter so I could watch as the numbers slowly went up and down to the point of losing signal before rising again. The other sats were very stable with little drift. I am not aware of how far east and south these problems persist. It is good to know they will replace 129 sometime next year...at least there is hope. In the meantime I will check out Directv, though I hate to change. I have had great picture on non 129 programs and love the 622 receiver with 750gig USB backup, which sounds better than anything D has to offer. Can anyone direct me to more information on the 129 replacement sat as this info may help me decide whether to switch to D?


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## harmil2 (Nov 22, 2003)

Here is a post I found from August 2006 over at Satguys which explains alot for those interested:

EchoStar V, which is currently located at the 129 degree orbital location, was designed to operate a maximum of 32 transponders at approximately 110 watts per channel, switchable to 16 transponders operating at over 220 watts per channel. Momentum wheel failures on this satellite in prior years resulted in increased fuel consumption and caused a minor reduction of spacecraft life. During 2005, we determined those anomalies will reduce the life of EchoStar V more than previously estimated, and as a result, we reduced the estimated remaining useful life of the satellite from approximately seven years to approximately six years effective January 2005. EchoStar V has been utilized as an in-orbit spare since February 2003. On June 30, 2005, the FCC approved our request to use this satellite to provide service to the United States from a third party Canadian DBS orbital slot located at the 129 degree orbital location. Due to the increase in fuel consumption resulting from the relocation of EchoStar V from the 119 degree orbital location to the 129 degree orbital location, effective July 1, 2005, we further reduced the satellite’s estimated remaining useful life from approximately six years to approximately 40 months. These reductions in estimated remaining useful life during 2005 increased our depreciation expense related to the satellite by approximately $9.2 million in 2005 and will increase it by approximately $15.3 million annually thereafter. Prior to 2005, EchoStar V experienced anomalies resulting in the loss of five solar array strings out of a total of 96 available, reducing solar array power to approximately 95% of its original capacity. During August 2005, EchoStar V lost an additional solar array string. The loss is not expected to impact commercial operation of the satellite or its remaining useful life. There can be no assurance that future anomalies will not further impact the useful life or commercial operation of the satellite. 


According to that, Echo V has about 2 years left in the tank..


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## rocatman (Nov 28, 2003)

There is the possibility that when the E-11 satellite is launched to 110 W probably in late 2007 or early 2008 that either the E-6 or E-8 satellite would be moved to 129 W. It is also possible that when AMC-14 is launched probably in the same time frame as E-11 that it could be placed at 129 W.


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

harmil2 said:


> Thanks for the replies. Dish provided an extra large 24" dish pointed only at 129. It was an improvement, but still has too many dropouts to enjoy Voom, History, Cinemax, ect. on 129. Two different installers have tried and told me everyone on the northwest coast is having the same problem. One installer brought up the signal meter so I could watch as the numbers slowly went up and down to the point of losing signal before rising again. The other sats were very stable with little drift. I am not aware of how far east and south these problems persist. It is good to know they will replace 129 sometime next year...at least there is hope. In the meantime I will check out Directv, though I hate to change. I have had great picture on non 129 programs and love the 622 receiver with 750gig USB backup, which sounds better than anything D has to offer. Can anyone direct me to more information on the 129 replacement sat as this info may help me decide whether to switch to D?


I would request a second dish to be used solely for 129. That's what they did with my install (and I've heard others on the west coast got this also). I have two dish 500's, one for 110 & 119 and the other for 129. This could solve your problems.


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## Mavrick (Feb 1, 2006)

This could possibly delay one of their launches for Echostar had contracted with ILS to launch one of their new sat in 2008 and since ILS has now had a failure it will probably cause launch delays in the same way the sealaunch failure has.

http://www.ilslaunch.com/zmedia/newsarchives/newsreleases/rec163/


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Now, why would someone from Mexico City bring this up?

Is 129 viewable in Mexico City?

Legally?


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

rocatman said:


> There is the possibility that when the E-11 satellite is launched to 110 W probably in late 2007 or early 2008 that either the E-6 or E-8 satellite would be moved to 129 W. It is also possible that when AMC-14 is launched probably in the same time frame as E-11 that it could be placed at 129 W.


I'd say that would only happen in the event of a catastrophic failure of E5, and then only temporarily. Ceil-2 is being built by the Canadians, and it's going to a Canadian slot at 129.


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## Mauiguy (Jul 14, 2007)

Can anyone tell me if 129 is viewable from Hawaii? Or am i going to have to go out and just try to tune it? I have been unable to find a footprint map for that bird...


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## grooves12 (Oct 27, 2005)

Mauiguy said:


> Can anyone tell me if 129 is viewable from Hawaii? Or am i going to have to go out and just try to tune it? I have been unable to find a footprint map for that bird...


It is not viewable... which is why there is the special Hawaii/Alaska HD package.


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## clarkbaker (Sep 23, 2006)

129 is 100% solid.. and I'm in Northern California. Change your 129 LNB and see if that helps. Sounds like you have a bad aim.. or you have a signal loss or -db loss at the LNB. Most likely its the LNB if your aim on 110 and 119 are solid if your using the Dish 1000.


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## Lyle_JP (Apr 22, 2002)

Larry Kenney said:


> What are you using for an antenna? I'm in San Francisco and don't have any problems with the signals from 129. I have a separate 500 dish pointed at 129, the one that used to be pointed at 148 for locals before they moved, and it gets solid signals.
> 
> Larry
> SF


Same here. If you're having trouble with 129 signal strength, stay away from SuperDish 1000 dishes. Go with separates and switches. I have a Dish 300 pointed at 129 and I've never had a dropout.


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## cebbigh (Feb 27, 2005)

harmil2 said:


> Thanks for the replies. Dish provided an extra large 24" dish pointed only at 129. It was an improvement, but still has too many dropouts to enjoy Voom, History, Cinemax, ect. on 129. Two different installers have tried and told me everyone on the northwest coast is having the same problem. One installer brought up the signal meter so I could watch as the numbers slowly went up and down to the point of losing signal before rising again. The other sats were very stable with little drift. I am not aware of how far east and south these problems persist. It is good to know they will replace 129 sometime next year...at least there is hope. In the meantime I will check out Directv, though I hate to change. I have had great picture on non 129 programs and love the 622 receiver with 750gig USB backup, which sounds better than anything D has to offer. Can anyone direct me to more information on the 129 replacement sat as this info may help me decide whether to switch to D?


Wow, there have been ongoing problems with 129 for a long time especially for those of us in the PNW. I was very close to looking into DTV too and this was with a 24 inch dish. Last week I purchased a 30 inch dish on my own and it appears to have resolved the 30 min signal drops enough that I don't lose signal anymore. I am now getting signals in the 60 plus range (new scale) on the tp's for the channels you mentioned. It also seems to have drastically reduced the bottom numbers on the drops. Instead of dipping below 10 they now bottom in the 40's. If you check my signature you'll see the model number and maker of the dish.


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## Brad B (May 26, 2006)

I think that Dishnetwork is going to lose a lot of customers because of this issue, maybe they don't have a clue. I don't know, but I do know I'm sick of it. I have two dishes for my Dish 1000 HDTV setup and still get ****ty 129 all the time. I'm always dropping on 129, but not on others. If I wasn't going on a trip soon, I'd be looking into Comcast full time or Directv.


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## mickeytwo (Jul 9, 2007)

I was informed last week that the new satellite to replace 129 is being launched in October 2007. This by a dish tech rep, who told me she was reading it from a service bulletin. I asked why I get a different answer from each tech rep when I call, some denying any knowledge of a problem at all here on the PNW coast, others insisting my dish is pointed incorrectly (just had it re-alighned and a larger dish installed for 129...same results, History Channel HD is ajoke, drops a signal about every ten minutes) On , Sep 20, when my larger dish was installed, the service tech installer also told me the new satellite will be launched in October 2007. I can find nothing on the internet , either from Dish, Sea Launch, or anywhere to substantiate this. The Dish tech rep who told me about the new satellite said the other tech reps don't often read their update bulletins. She told me the new satellite launch date was October 4, 2007. We can only hope....


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## levibluewa (Aug 13, 2005)

It's the hunk of junk satellite thats falling out of the sky. Even when it isn't falling out of the sky, about every 30 minutes, its footprint doesn't cover the entire US. The NW, especially N of Seattle is on the fringe, and it has been a pain in the a** from the beginning.


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