# Problem connecting to satellite 61.5W



## cherokeeafton (Mar 12, 2006)

I live in South Texas where we cannot receive from 129W. I did not find this out until after I purchased a Dish 1000. I have now aimed the Dish 1000 at 61.5W and get a good signal on my cheap little Satellite Finder. However, when I connect it to my receiver and do a Check Switch Test, it verifies the signals from 110w and 119w from my Dish 500. My reception strength from these two satellites range from 90 to 117 on all transponders. However, it tells my my Dish 1000 is not connected (shows an X).
I have the Dish 1000 Dual LNB connected to the third input on a DP 34 switch. I believe it is connected properly but not working for some reason. I do not know much about this stuff so forgive my ignorance. I have my switch outputs connected to a couple of DISH 811s. I am in the process of getting 211 receivers to replace them with. I do not expect to receive any programming from 61w with the 811s but I thought I could get a jump on things by getting my Dish installed and aimed at 61W. I have not contacted Dish network about anything yet. Could it be my problem is that the 811 receiver cannot recognize 61w or is it because I have not had Dish network turn me on or something? Hopefully it is one of those things and not a bad switch or LNB. I would appreciate any suggestions or comments concerning my problem. Thanks


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## Rogueone (Jan 29, 2004)

does the 1000 have DP or DPP lnbs? don't think DPP's would work with the DP34


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## cherokeeafton (Mar 12, 2006)

Rogueone said:


> does the 1000 have DP or DPP lnbs? don't think DPP's would work with the DP34


The dish 1000 has a Dish Pro Plus Twin and a Dish Pro Dual. I connected the Dish Pro Dual to my DP 34 switch. When I do a check switch test, it recognizes my DP 34 switch and it shows Ports 1 and two from my dish 500 as OK for 110w and 119w. Port 3, which comes from the dish 1000, shows the Dual as connected but no signal. Any suggestions? Thanks


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

cherokeeafton said:


> The dish 1000 has a Dish Pro Plus Twin and a Dish Pro Dual. I connected the Dish Pro Dual to my DP 34 switch. When I do a check switch test, it recognizes my DP 34 switch and it shows Ports 1 and two from my dish 500 as OK for 110w and 119w. Port 3, which comes from the dish 1000, shows the Dual as connected but no signal. Any suggestions? Thanks


The DP34 will not work with DishProPlus equipment. Check the twin for an input, you should be able to connect the dual into that.


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## cherokeeafton (Mar 12, 2006)

garys said:


> The DP34 will not work with DishProPlus equipment. Check the twin for an input, you should be able to connect the dual into that.


I am confused by what you said. I did not connect to the DishProPlus LNB. I connected to the DishProDual. Are you saying to connect the dual to the twin then the twin to the switch? Thanks


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

Dual to the twin to the receiver. The DPP twin has switch built into it.


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## Fifty Caliber (Jan 4, 2006)

How many receivers are being hooked up in this installation?


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## cherokeeafton (Mar 12, 2006)

Fifty Caliber said:


> How many receivers are being hooked up in this installation?


Garys, Thanks for the info but I have four receivers I must go through the switch.

Fifty Caliber, I have four receivers. One vip 211, one 811 and 0ne 322 which is a dual receiver. Any suggestions? Thanks


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

cherokeeafton said:


> Garys, Thanks for the info but I have four receivers I must go through the switch.
> 
> Fifty Caliber, I have four receivers. One vip 211, one 811 and 0ne 322 which is a dual receiver. Any suggestions? Thanks


Then you need DPP44 switch, not DP34.


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## cherokeeafton (Mar 12, 2006)

garys said:


> Then you need DPP44 switch, not DP34.


I was told by Dish that a DP 34 would work. I now own it and cannot afford to toss it and buy a DP 44. Plus it would be a lot more trouble to wire it. I thought the only difference is the DP 44 will receive from four satellites, which I do not need . Is there some other LNBF that will work with the DP 34 switch?


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

cherokeeafton said:


> I was told by Dish that a DP 34 would work. I now own it and cannot afford to toss it and buy a DP 44. Plus it would be a lot more trouble to wire it. I thought the only difference is the DP 44 will receive from four satellites, which I do not need . Is there some other LNBF that will work with the DP 34 switch?


Strange they would say that, are you sure the twin is DishProPlus. For only three locations a DishPro would work, and with the DP34 as well. If you do have a DishPro Twin, then is may be a bad DP34 switch or a bad Twin. Try running twin wire direct to receiver and see what happens.


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## Rogueone (Jan 29, 2004)

cherokeeafton said:


> I was told by Dish that a DP 34 would work. I now own it and cannot afford to toss it and buy a DP 44. Plus it would be a lot more trouble to wire it. I thought the only difference is the DP 44 will receive from four satellites, which I do not need . Is there some other LNBF that will work with the DP 34 switch?


do you understand the terms DP and DPP? DP is older, and when used with say the DP34, you can bring 3 LNB feeds into the switch and feed 4 receivers.

But DPP is different. DPP LNB's have a switch built in, they combine BOTH LNB signals onto a single cable, and into the Receiver. The receiver unbundles the signal itself. In the case of a dual tuner box, Dish provides a special splitter so that both inputs can have the signal from both LNB's.

If you have a 1000, and a 500, why aren't you just using the 1000 for everything?

ok, so lets start over in case there is confusion. dish 500 with DP lnb's pointing at 110/119 yes? Dish1000 with 2 DPP lnbs and single DP lnb, and the single looks at 129? you have 3 wires into the home, into a dp34, but only see the signal from 110/119 yes? First, swap the position for the inputs of the 129 and either of the other cables. Make sure you don't have a bad input on the 34. If switch test still only shows 110/119, take the 129 feed and run it directly to a receiver. See what Check Switch says now. If you see the word PLUS after Dish Pro, then it ain't gonna work.

Sounds like you definitely need to start by double checking what type of LNB each is, and make sure all the inputs of the 34 are good. (mabye you have a bad coax even)


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

cherokeeafton said:


> I live in South Texas where we cannot receive from 129W. I did not find this out until after I purchased a Dish 1000.


Your best solution would be to sell the Dish1000 (it is a liability in your situation) and acquire a Dish500. Friends or neighbors who no longer subscribe are always a good source. You can always buy one if you feel you must. The nice part is that the Dish500 aiming information is readily available.

Your setup should work _if_ you are actually pointed at 61.5 with the Dual (the one with the single feed horn) and not some other satellite. My guess is that you're not aimed at the right bird. Is your Dish1000 facing somewhere near due East?


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## cherokeeafton (Mar 12, 2006)

harsh said:


> Your best solution would be to sell the Dish1000 (it is a liability in your situation) and acquire a Dish500. Friends or neighbors who no longer subscribe are always a good source. You can always buy one if you feel you must. The nice part is that the Dish500 aiming information is readily available.
> 
> Your setup should work _if_ you are actually pointed at 61.5 with the Dual (the one with the single feed horn) and not some other satellite. My guess is that you're not aimed at the right bird. Is your Dish1000 facing somewhere near due East?


Update: First, thanks to everyone who provided me with info.

Harsh, you hit it on the head. I was getting a strong signal on my $10 Satellite Finder, but it was the wrong satellite. That is why my receiver was not getting a signal. I was using elevation and skew settings I had found online. I started over and moved the dish about ten degrees from where I had found the strong signal and found another one. I then did a Check Switch and it was 61.5w. I messed around a little with the skew, elevation and azmuth and did get an improvement on the signal strength. These settings were totally different from what I found online for my zip code. That may be because I am using the Dish 1000 which was not designed for 61.5w. My signal strengths are not as good as what I get off of my Dish 500 on 110 and 119. Here is what I get on each transponder:

Transponder Strength

1 76
2 95
3 76
4 0
5 75
6 97
7 77
8 97
9 80
10 84
11 79
12 96
13 77
14 108
15 76
16 78
17 77
18 83
19 79
20 92
21 76

I am not sure what is the Norm off of this satellite but these strengths are an average of 10 points below what I get off of 110 and 119. How do these numbers compare to what is expected off of 61.5w?

One last question, what programming can you receive off of 61.5 for free? I will be getting a VIP 211 and the Platinum pack in the near future but just curious as to what else is there for free. Thanks again.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

cherokeeafton said:


> what programming can you receive off of 61.5 for free? I will be getting a VIP 211 and the Platinum pack in the near future but just curious as to what else is there for free.


Pentagon channel and HD Demo.


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

cherokeeafton said:


> Update:
> 
> I am not sure what is the Norm off of this satellite but these strengths are an average of 10 points below what I get off of 110 and 119. How do these numbers compare to what is expected off of 61.5w?
> 
> One last question, what programming can you receive off of 61.5 for free? I will be getting a VIP 211 and the Platinum pack in the near future but just curious as to what else is there for free. Thanks again.


They are a couple points lower than mine, but I'm using an old 300 dish so that could be the difference.

Also Classic Arts Showcase, Good Samaritan Network, Holistic Television Network and Panhandle Area Ed. Consotium with those Harsh mentions. And CBS-HD if you qualify.


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