# Skew&Elevation settings for Dish 500+,Dish 500



## redbowtie (Jun 18, 2010)

Could someone explain why the skew scales on the Dish 500 and Dish 500+ are completely opposite? On my Dish 500, the scale has low degrees at the bottom of the Dish and these increase towards the TOP of the Dish, going clockwise. On a Dish 500+, just the opposite is true. The low degrees are at the top of the Dish and they increase towards the BOTTOM of the Dish going, counter-clockwise. Is this the way it's supposed to be?
Also, when I set the elevation, is it the centre of the bolt, the edge of the washer that counts? There are no markers on the 500+ unlike the pointer for the skew angle to indicate what one should use to set the elevation.


----------



## shadough (Dec 31, 2006)

Not sure, but you can try this link here: http://www.satelliteone.com/support-files/DISH_500p_and_DISH_1000p_Installation_Instructions.pdf

It includes AZ/EL for your location.


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

redbowtie said:


> Could someone explain why the skew scales on the Dish 500 and Dish 500+ are completely opposite? On my Dish 500, the scale has low degrees at the bottom of the Dish and these increase towards the TOP of the Dish, going clockwise. On a Dish 500+, just the opposite is true. The low degrees are at the top of the Dish and they increase towards the BOTTOM of the Dish going, counter-clockwise. Is this the way it's supposed to be?


The dish moves the same direction, it's just that the assemblies work a bit differently requiring a bit of difference in how they are marked. You use the same settings for both dishes, and likewise the same settings for a 1000/1000.2 and a 1000+.



> Also, when I set the elevation, is it the centre of the bolt, the edge of the washer that counts? There are no markers on the 500+ unlike the pointer for the skew angle to indicate what one should use to set the elevation.


For DBS dishes, you *always* use the edge of the metal support, and not the center of the bolt, as your elevation pointer:


----------



## redbowtie (Jun 18, 2010)

As we're supposed to align on the 119 to begin on a 500+, if I look up the settings at dishpointer.com I get 38.2 for the skew and 16.6 for elevation. But if I take into account all three LNB's (110, 118.7 and 119) at dishpointer.com I receive a skew of 126.4 and an elevation of 19.5. My question is when I align for 119 first to get as strong a signal as possible do I use the setting for 119 alone or all three LNB's? As the installation manual says not to touch the skew after it's set, I assume I would use the 3 LNB setting. But the skews are completely off from that of 119 alone and even the elevation is different. I'm assuming that this is a compromise to try and get all 3 satellites at the same time sacrificing some signal loss to obtain this? If that's the case the settings are not that critical as long as they're within the two elevation readings I should still get some signal for the 119 satellite and that fine tuning comes after obtaining some lock on 119. Is my thinking faulty? If so, why are the settings for 119 and all 3 satellites so different especially the skew? Thanks for your response.


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

You should not be using DishPointer's skew settings (which are designed for linear LNBs), but rather Dish's settings from the Plus Dish installation guide.

All multi-sat dishes have to compromise a bit to get more than one sat, yes, but that's not the real issue. You need to use Dish's pre-calculated settings for your ZIP code.


----------



## redbowtie (Jun 18, 2010)

You mean if I select Multi-LNB setups and pick Dish 500+ (110W, 118.7W, 119W) the settings are incorrect? They give me elevation 19.5, Azimuth (magn) 255.9, Dish Skew? 126.4. If I hover my mouse over the ? after skew it pop ups a balloon "the scale on the dish should read the value shown here, but some dishes have the scale reversed, in that case the scale would read 180 minus the value shown here. The installation manual gives me the same skew 126.
Also. not to trouble you with the elevation bolt (your diagram is great) but is it the left side of the washer as it appears in the drawing?


----------



## redbowtie (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks for the tip about the edge of the washer being the point you use for the elevation. I assumed it must be the left edge as if you use the right you couldn't get down to 10 degrees on the scale.
After some finagling BINGO! I got all 3 satellites 119, 118.7 and 110. By the way you CAN use the settings on dishpointer.com with a Dish 500+ as long as you select the multi-lnb setup. I used them and got the signal after some azimuth turning.


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

42 degrees of elevation.









53 degrees of elevation.

In both of these pics you can see a painted red edge on the metal support tab that the bolt goes through. On some dishes, this paint is white, and other dishes lack the paint completely, but in all cases, you use the metal tab, and NOT the screw or the washer, as the pointer.


----------

