# Changing LNB



## thyname (May 10, 2015)

I am having an installer come to change the LNB so that I can get the Spanish soccer channels that are on the 119, as I initially did not have that add on package (Directv Deportes). When I scheduled the install, the rep told me that they simply need to swap the LNB (whatever that is) at the Dish without changing anything else or adding any additional cables.

Is that true? I only have one cable coming from the satellite dish to the house. I have Genie HR 44 with two wireless Minis.

Thanks!


----------



## west99999 (May 12, 2007)

Yes that is all they will do as long as your current dish location has LOS to the 119 satellite.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

thyname said:


> I am having an installer come to change the LNB so that I can get the Spanish soccer channels that are on the 119, as I initially did not have that add on package (Directv Deportes). When I scheduled the install, the rep told me that they simply need to swap the LNB (whatever that is) at the Dish* without changing anything else *or adding any additional cables.
> 
> Is that true? I only have one cable coming from the satellite dish to the house. I have Genie HR 44 with two wireless Minis.
> 
> Thanks!





west99999 said:


> Yes that is all they will do as long as your current dish location has LOS to the 119 satellite.


Not quite cuz, you forgot they need to repeat satellite set up to tell the receiver there is a new LNB up there.....


----------



## thyname (May 10, 2015)

No running other cables from the dish to the house, changing splitters, etc?

Repeating satellite setup should be fairly easy.


----------



## thyname (May 10, 2015)

west99999 said:


> Yes that is all they will do as long as your current dish location has LOS to the 119 satellite.


They told me that satellite is in between two satellites that I am currently getting


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

thyname said:


> No running other cables from the dish to the house, changing splitters, etc?
> 
> Repeating satellite setup should be fairly easy.


No, none of that.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

thyname said:


> They told me that satellite is in between two satellites that I am currently getting


They were wrong!! The 119, depending where you are located, could be to the left or to the right of the 103


----------



## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

peds48 said:


> They were wrong!! The 119, depending where you are located, could be to the left or to the right of the 103


Um it can? Pretty sure it's always to the right.


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Yes, always to the right of the other (DirecTV) satellites. Not in between any of them.

Depending on where the thread starter is located, the 119 could be very low in the sky, and line of sight might be an issue. The installer should do both the LNB swap and the sat setup for you. When he leaves, everything should be working properly.


----------



## thyname (May 10, 2015)

Thank you all. The installer is scheduled for 6/13. Is there any way I can locate the satellites LOS myself without any of the tools that the installers use? Something like an app on the iPhone and such? It would be great if I were able to determine whether the 119 (assuming this is the satellite for the hispanic channels, as the directv rep told me on the phone) has LOS. If not, I shouldn't even bother, as I don't want to mess up my current setup.

FYI, when I installed DTV a couple of weeks ago, the installer told me that my dish is 20 degrees above the tree line, and it would take 20 years for that distance from the trees to grow to block the LOS...


----------



## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

Go to Dishpointer, enter your address and select DirecTV 5LNB (toward the bottom of the list). This will show you direction of the satellites. Dishpointer has an app. But it costs about $20. Satellite AR has a free app for Apple & Android phones. But, if the dishpointer site doesn't show any possible obstructions, getting an app isn't necessary.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

inkahauts said:


> Um it can? Pretty sure it's always to the right.


I was under the impression that from the west coast it was opposite that from the east coast


----------



## David Ortiz (Aug 21, 2006)

Those would need to be some magic LNBs.



peds48 said:


> I was under the impression that from the west coast it was opposite that from the east coast


----------



## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

peds48 said:


> I was under the impression that from the west coast it was opposite that from the east coast


Satellites may be left of due south from the western US while right of due south from the eastern US ... but the higher longitude orbital locations are always right of the lower longitude locations. Look south and left to right the satellites are lined up 99, 101, 103, 110, 119 (and all the other locations in longitude order).


----------



## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

peds48 said:


> I was under the impression that from the west coast it was opposite that from the east coast


I think you're confusing left & right with "higher or lower in the sky". From the east, 119 is "lower in the sky" than 99, From the west 99 is "lower in the sky" than 119.

If you were looking at the same satellites from location south of the equator, then the order (right to left) would be the opposite than they are in the US. Similar to how the drivers side of a car is the right side when looking at the car from the front, but the passenger side is the right when looking at the same car from the rear.


----------



## thyname (May 10, 2015)

View attachment DTV.docx



Bill Broderick said:


> Go to Dishpointer, enter your address and select DirecTV 5LNB (toward the bottom of the list). This will show you direction of the satellites. Dishpointer has an app. But it costs about $20. Satellite AR has a free app for Apple & Android phones. But, if the dishpointer site doesn't show any possible obstructions, getting an app isn't necessary.


See attached. Hard to tell, but it looks like I am going to be OK? Thanks!


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Bill Broderick said:


> I think you're confusing left & right with "higher or lower in the sky". From the east, 119 is "lower in the sky" than 99, From the west 99 is "lower in the sky" than 119.


that is was it. Thanks. I knew there was a difference.

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


----------



## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

Bill Broderick said:


> I think you're confusing left & right with "higher or lower in the sky". From the east, 119 is "lower in the sky" than 99, From the west 99 is "lower in the sky" than 119.


Or maybe the "opposite" effect he was confusing refers to the opposite mirror imaging process of the satellite reflector to an LNBF's multi-sat feedhorns.

Since the slimline dish is actually centered on 101, the 119 satellite is going to be to the right and progressively lower on the horizon in relation when viewed from behind the dish at locations moving east of 101. Therefore the 119 feedhorn needs to be to the left and higher up on the LNBF (produced by the dish tilt) than the 99, 101, 103 feedhorn assembly to receive it when viewed from behind the dish.

For locations moving west of 101, the opposite applies where the 119 satellite appears to the right and progressively higher on the horizon from behind the dish. So the 119 feedhorn needs to be to the left and lower (produced by the opposite dish tilt) than the 99, 101, 103 assembly.

IOW, due to the reflector's mirroring if an off-axis satellite is to the right of the dish's boresight axis then the feedhorn of a milti-sat dish LNBF needs to be on the left and maybe higher. And when the off-axis satellite is to the left then the feedhorn needs to be on the right and maybe lower.

Now there is actually an additional complication to this where if you observe very carefully that multi-sat dish feedhorns, particularly if they need to be relatively far apart are actually positioned in an upward curve on the LNBF opposite the Clarke belt's downward curvature, but I won't get into that here.

If someone wants more on this, see here for instance.

http://www.satsig.net/pointing/multi-lnb-dish-pointing.htm


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

thyname said:


> DTV.docx
> 
> See attached. Hard to tell, but it looks like I am going to be OK? Thanks!


That is the path to the 101 satellite. You need to check the path to the 119 orbital slot. The 5-LNB actually looks at 99, 101, 103, (used to do 110) and 119, but is aimed at the 101. So 119 is going to be about 18 degrees to the right of where your green line is. Go back to dishpointer and do a line for 119 degrees.


----------



## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

carl6 said:


> That is the path to the 101 satellite. You need to check the path to the 119 orbital slot. The 5-LNB actually looks at 99, 101, 103, (used to do 110) and 119, but is aimed at the 101. So 119 is going to be about 18 degrees to the right of where your green line is. Go back to dishpointer and do a line for 119 degrees.


You can also zoom in on the satellite image to get a better view of any possible obstructions.


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

HoTat2 said:


> Or maybe the "opposite" effect he was confusing refers to the opposite mirror imaging process of the satellite reflector to an LNBF's multi-sat feedhorns.
> 
> S


That I knew. Bill got it right.


----------



## thyname (May 10, 2015)

UPDATE: The installer came today (not a DirecTV installer - looked like a contractor, in an unmarked minivan). He put a ladder, climbed in my roof and swapped the LNB in less than ten minutes. A few minutes more with the Genie menus, and that was all. I did not climb with him in the roof, but he told me he did not have to align the dish at all - just swap the LNB. A quick call to DTV to add the DirectV Deportes package, and I am now all set. He told me that the 119 satellite was to the right of all my current satellites, with clear LOS


----------



## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Awesome. Thanks for the update.


----------



## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

If you were in S America then 119 would be on the left of the satellite array!


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

studechip said:


> If you were in S America then 119 would be on the left of the satellite array!


If you are south of the equator, then it would be. Parts of South America are north of the equator.


----------



## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

carl6 said:


> If you are south of the equator, then it would be. Parts of South America are north of the equator.


True, and some of S America is far enough east that you don't have a los to 119. Eastern Brazil has a -2.9° elevation!


----------



## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

carl6 said:


> If you are south of the equator, then it would be. Parts of South America are north of the equator.


But none of South America is within the footprint for the satellite in question ... so the point is moot.


----------



## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

studechip said:


> If you were in S America then 119 would be on the left of the satellite array!


And if you are veiwing from say Hawaii, since the angle of the Clarke belt is almost perpendicular to the horizon, there isn't much right or left to speak of, but really "up and down" between 101 and 119. 

Sent from my SGH-M819N using Tapatalk


----------

