# 129 feed from LNB not working...



## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

To start with, I am a complete DIYer I own my own stuff, installed it, upgraded it, and have been a customer for about 15 years. I also put in a couple of relatives systems. 

I moved a 1000.2 dish the other day for one of my relatives, due to a project at their home where it would be in the way. My previous mount was plumb and level, and I had good signal, with 129 being the weakest, but only lose it if there is a severe and dense storm. So there was no issue prior to the move, equipment has worked for at least 5 years. Two receivers connected. 

After moving the dish and a little realignment, I have a little better than before levels on 110 and 119, but nothing on 129. I ran a Check Switch from both receivers and it shows and X rather than OK for the 129 position. 110 and 119 show ok. Needless to say...most of the HD's are not there. 

I took my identical LNB off, and swapped it to their dish (trouble shoot with a known good part) thinking I would find a bad LNB. Well much to my surprise, it did the same thing. I rebooted both receivers twice (hard reset and unplugged) and the check switch runs, shows same with my good LNB. Nothing else changed with the setup, just the location of the dish. Brought my LNB back home, it works fine. 

From what I know...the Check Switch looks at the LNBs not the signal...so even if it is misaligned, 129 would show OK as the electronics are there, correct?

Appreciative of any feedback I can get...I was going to order a new LNB, but looks like thats not the issue. Both receivers work fine otherwise. 

Any ideas? And thank you in advance.


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## DanB_DISH (Jan 9, 2011)

A checkswitch test measures the signal coming in to the LNBF as well. So if the antenna is misaligned then you will still get an X when running a check switch test. Where did you get the angles to use for this? I recommend going to dishpointer.com this site is free, and You can select a single satellite angle, or you can select a Multi LNB like the 1000.2 and it will give you the approximate angles to get all three sats in at once based on your address. Where as point Dish gives you the angles for one Satellite at a time. This may give you a better starting point. You also want to make sure you are mounting the antenna where it was originally mounted or that there are no trees blocking the new line of site if you are moving it. Hope this helps!


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

Thanks, I will look at angles, but as I said 110 and 119 are great, and what I didn't mention was that I didn't change the skew at all. Both mounts (old and new) were level and plumb measured at the same places. 

Maybe a good question is: how touchy is the 129? could the skew be off just a tad and cause all loss of 129? 

I will check the angles and look at it again when I get a minute. I just found it strange because I moved another one in the same manner one other time, and only had to touch up the angle and azimuth...skew was fine.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

> the Check Switch looks at the LNBs* not the signal*...so even if it is misaligned, 129 would show OK as the electronics are there, correct?


it's doing much more include signal measure:
SNR
lock
sat/tpn ID
TS stream condition


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

P Smith said:


> it's doing much more include signal measure:
> SNR
> lock
> sat/tpn ID
> TS stream condition


So you are confirming that the Check Switch would show no 129 LNB if there is no 129 signal? Rather than IF the 129 LNB (or all 3 per se) is present and functioning?


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

It is possible you could be off about 10 degrees, if you cover the two outer lnb's on the dish, you should lose 110. If you only lose 110 then your dish will only need a slight adjustment. If however you lose 119 your aim would be off 10 degrees as you would be receiving 110 via the 119 lnb and would explain why you are not receiving 129.


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

garys said:


> It is possible you could be off about 10 degrees, if you cover the two outer lnb's on the dish, you should lose 110. If you only lose 110 then your dish will only need a slight adjustment. If however you lose 119 your aim would be off 10 degrees as you would be receiving 110 via the 119 lnb and would explain why you are not receiving 129.


Doing a bunch of Googling...I think that might be the issue. When I moved it everything must be off just a mouse hair...I am going to try the foil trick and aim for 119 only with the middle one...

Thanks


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

I'm really confused and frustrated at this point. Using the foil trick I seem to be getting 119 on the 110 (left side if looking from the rear of the dish), when I have good 119 signal and cover the left one (position 1 on the check switch diagram) I lose signal. 

I don't believe I am swung west enough, just to be eyeballing it (its along the same side of the house that it was before, so relatively speaking). Again, the previous mount was level and plumb, I checked it on the vertical tube before moving it, and the new tube is a fence post, which I drove in and it is level also. 

I tried going both down and up several degrees, and during each swung from where I was (indexed on the pipe as it is rotating, but not loose) which seems too far south, to farther than it should be going west. Dishpointer gave good info, but it's just not working. 

I have done 3-4 of these, and I know I had trouble getting 129 once before, but it didn't take long to fix. Skew is right on where it should be, and matches my dish at home that works fine. I know an inch here is miles out there...but just agitated at this point.

My 1 and 3 show ok....2 (129) is gone and it was ok before the move, which by "move" I literally mean 15 feet west of where it was. No obstructions either. As above, I swapped a known good LNB and found same, so it can't be the LNB. 

Any other ideas?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

could you post a picture from that screen ?

I recall it was 1:119, 2:110 and 3:129 from old days ...


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

You are correct, mine at home shows that.

This one is showing 1 - 119, 2- X, and 3-110. I discovered that when looking at mine at home.

I also noticed that on mine "Super Dish" is NOT checked.....I think on the other one I am working on...it was. Will that make a difference in what the receiver "sees" or what it thinks it should be looking for? I didn't realize that was checked until just now when I looked at my own. 

Also double double checked my own elevation and skew again at home...it's right on the same as the other one I am working on.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

don't use superdish checkmark
it was for old combination of DSS and FSS sites [105,121W]

so, we are back to square one: you got wrong aiming; need get cover two L/R "eyes" keep middle one for aim to 119W, then open right - check 110 , microtune to it, then open left - get 129, microtune to it constantly verify 119 and 110 same time


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

That's what I tried today, still couldn't get 119 in the middle. I can't be off that much...I must be getting old! 

When you say left and right, you do mean from the back of the dish looking a the lnb?

Also, do I need my receiver I'm tuning with connected to the #2 port?

Thanks again


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

quarterwave said:


> I'm really confused and frustrated at this point. Using the foil trick I seem to be getting 119 on the 110 (left side if looking from the rear of the dish), when I have good 119 signal and cover the left one (position 1 on the check switch diagram) I lose signal.


The left side LNB looking from the rear of the dish is 129. The dish is a reflector - so think like a reflection in a mirror where 110 bounces off the dish and hits the LNB on the right (west most) and 129 bounces off the dish and hits the LNB on the left (east most).

Have you adjusted the dish back to where the above is true (119 on the "left" or east LNB)?

If so, select a transponder on 119 for your Point Dish meter. Pick a transponder between 17 and 21 (I'd pick 21). Turn the dish slightly toward the west (clockwise) ... you will lose the 119 signal. Keep turning and you should hit 129. The signal may be weak ... if you had your signal peaked for the best 119 signal you will need to change the elevation of the dish as you turn it. You should hit 129 before turning more than a 10 degrees ... so if you do not see it go back to 119 and try again with a little bit more elevation. (You are basically trying to line up the reflection of 119 that you are getting on the left / east LNB with the center LNB.)

Once you start to receive 129 adjust the dish to get a decent signal then run a check switch. Once you run the check switch you should have all three, with 129 on the left / east LNB head. Then adjust the aiming to get the best average signal from all three locations, changing satellites and transponders on the point dish screen.

You can still use the first output on the LNB. Your dish receiver is using the switch in the LNB to select which head has which satellite. Thanks to your last Check Switch your receiver uses the left / east LNB when you ask for a transponder from 119. That is why you need to move the dish until you see 129 on the left / east LNB while telling your receiver to show you 119.

Do not use transponders 1-16 for aiming 129. They are spotbeams that may or may not be available in your area. 17-21 are available on both 119 and 129 so they are good to use to find a signal. If you get 110 while trying this tuning you have gone the wrong way.


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

"Have you adjusted the dish back to where the above is true (119 on the "left" or east LNB)?"

Yes...and will do. 

Thank you.


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## quarterwave (Nov 21, 2009)

Thank you James Long. That worked, I was able to get it fixed today, took about 15 minutes. Thank you x 10.


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