# Signal Strength for Hopper 3?



## MONSTERMAN (Aug 18, 2007)

Hello,

Just had the Hopper 3 and Joey 4k installed this last Thursday. When the tech was here he was getting over a 100 signal strength at the dish. I got distracted and didn't look at the signal strength on the DVR before he left.

Not familiar with Dish's signal strengths in comparison to Directv's. I know with Directv you have to have a high signal strength for bad weather conditions.

Is this the same with Dish? I'm averaging between 37 and 50 for signal strength, is this what you guys are getting with the Hopper 3?

Thx


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## fudpucker (Jul 23, 2007)

Part of the equation for signal strength is location: the further north you are, the lower, on average, the signal strength. There are some installers that post here that may be be able to tell you what to expect in your area (NV is see?)

I'll have to check when I'm home for lunch, but I'm pretty sure my numbers are on avergage in the 60s and I'm pretty far north (NW Iowa.) I will say that, having had Dish and Directv both in the same house with the dish in the same location, Directv seems a bit more resistant to rain fade than Dish; that said, both seem better than they used to be years ago for some reason. (Years ago = late 90s early 2000s - I've had satellite since 1995)


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The meters built into the receivers are more of a quality meter than a signal strength meter. They were recalibrated about a decade ago and show lower numbers than the original receivers.

Higher numbers are always better (especially when looking at a quality based meter). 50s and 60s are good numbers. The numbers you should expect varies based on the footprint of each satellite received (not necessarily higher numbers in the south). I would not worry about 50-60s unless you are seeing artifacts in the channels you are watching.


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