# Dish 500 - Hawaiian Style



## rbgator95 (May 31, 2007)

HI now has a D500 antenna - it is 32 inches width X 31 inches height and houses a Y-bracket slightly wider than the Y-bracket for the DPP twin LNBs used in the mainland. James Long provides a good explanation as to why a DPP twin does not work in HI; it comes down to the greater longitudinal distance between the 110 and 119 slots (compared to that distance at higher mainland latitudes) means the 110 and 119 LNBs must be further apart for a HI antenna.

The HI version of D500 accommodates this extra distance by appropriately spacing two individual DP LNBs - see attached photos. This antenna has very precise leveling requirements and must be mounted to a very sturdy surface as winds are an issue, especially at higher elevations. The antenna comes with reinforcement struts (same as the ones with the Superdish). You would run the two LNBs into a DP34 (or the newer DPP33) switch to get an output equivalent to what a DP/DPP twin gives you. The approximate settings are: azimuth=096, elevation=036 and skew=029.

Additionally, 129 is now viewable in HI (via spot beam) using a 24 inch dish or probably an 18 inch D300. This could fill the third slot for the DP34/DPP33. A note about 129: When I ran check switch, it came back with Even polarity only (since the only transponders associated with HI spot beam are 2, 4, 6, 14 and 16) and the System Info screen showed 129 as red status. However, the guide data still included the valid (available in HI) 129 channels so the red Sys Info indicator was erroneous. Part of the error may be that since HI does not receive the CONUS 129 beam, the receiver does not "see" anything on an odd transponder, so the Sys Info test "fails."

In sum, the full HI lineup can be seen with 2 antennas, 3 DP LNBs, and the DP34 or DPP33 switch. I've occasionally seen questions posted about how to get E* in HI, hopefully this info helps.


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## Kimo (Apr 10, 2007)

Mahalo! Very helpful info.


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## Mertzen (Dec 8, 2006)

Very nice. I wonder if the same dish can be used in AK?


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

Probably not, Mertzen, the angle is larger up there.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

Thanks rbgator95, good to finally see one. Nice touch by Dish to account for the skew when printing the logo.

Is 30x34 the WxH or HxW? And diameter of the mast?


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Wow, that's some tilt!


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## rbgator95 (May 31, 2007)

BobaBird said:


> Thanks rbgator95, good to finally see one. Nice touch by Dish to account for the skew when printing the logo.
> 
> Is 30x34 the WxH or HxW? And diameter of the mast?


hi

I've update the original post to illustrate height is 31" and width is 32". Mast diameter is 2", which is why it has the reinforcement struts.

There is also the HI D300 (designed for a single orbital slot in HI but works anywhere else a D300 works). It is 26" height X 24" width, and 1.5" mast. May also be worth mentioning on the Echostar Knowledge Base page as it contains the Dish Network logo, same as the HI D500 and the CONUS D500 and D300 antennas.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

Done, thanks!


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## Kimo (Apr 10, 2007)

Be aware that there is a $4.99 monthly charge for the 500H upgrade if dealer installed. Not sure if this applies to DIY or new installations. In my case I didn't even get the 500H (they put up an additional 24" instead) and they still charged me for it.


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## Kenblock50 (Aug 26, 2009)

Mahalo for the great info. I live in Hawaii and I am trying to set up a third dish for 129. I am using a 24 inch dish with a dishpro single to test. I am getting wierd results when I use a Dish 301 to check signal levels. I see good levels for transponders 14 and 16 but none of the others. To see the levels on the screen I must tell the point dish screen that I am on satellite 119 or 110. When I do a check switch the result is a direct connection with a DishPro single and all transponders OK. When I back out of the setup screens the reciever starts hunting fo a signal It stars to check all the spot beams but stops at 32. I know the spot beam for Hawaii is 55. Could this be a receiver software problem?


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

:welcome_s to DBSTalk!

The HD channels on 129° are transmitted using 8PSK modulation. Those transponders won't be seen by receivers, such as the 301, that are only capable of QPSK.


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## Kenblock50 (Aug 26, 2009)

Using previous entries in this thread as a guide I sucessfully added a 211k receiver to my system in Waimea on the big island. I already had a 24 inch dish for the 119 location and a 30 inch dish for the 110 location. I added a 24 inch dish for the 129 location. Since I already had the 24 inch dish around the house, this was a lot cheaper and easier than buying one of the new 500H dishes. I bought 3 dishpro singles and a the receiver on Ebay. They were all new and very reasonably priced. I bought a DVI 3x4 dishpro switch from an internet vendor. Using an internet search I found a site that gave me the aiming coordinates for the 129 satellite. They are azmuth 113.5 magnetic and elevation 51.70. Dish has not updated the aiming table on the 211k for the 129 receiver in Hawaii. After aiming the 129 dish with a meter and hooking everything up I ran check switch. It ran with no problems and downloaded the software for the new receiver. I called Dish for activation. I did have some problem here. It took three attempts by the Dish representative to get my receiver authorized. I used to be a Dish dealer and knew that this was not uncommon in Hawaii. I kept insisting that he try again . On the third try the magic words authorizing appeared on my TV. After that it took a while for the receiver to figure out it was in Hawaii and download all the available programing to the smart card. I am happy with the HD quality and the new features on the receiver. The only thing I don't like is that all the HD for Hawaii is inthe 5500 + numbers and there is no map down.


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## Randall DBS (Aug 4, 2002)

Good grief that thing is almost the size of my dish 1000+. :eek2:


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## IslandTech (Feb 24, 2010)

BobaBird said:


> Thanks rbgator95, good to finally see one. Nice touch by Dish to account for the skew when printing the logo.
> 
> Is 30x34 the WxH or HxW? And diameter of the mast?


I know this is an old post, but wanted to anwser your question:

The dish he has shown is a 500H
The 500HW is the same dish but it has a different 'LNB' bracket it cant be used for 110, just 119 and 129


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## DeanEvans (Jul 27, 2010)

Island Tech, Will the 500H receive signals from 110,119 & 129 or just the first two?

Dean from Maui


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## rbgator95 (May 31, 2007)

DeanEvans said:


> Island Tech, Will the 500H receive signals from 110,119 & 129 or just the first two?
> 
> Dean from Maui


500H has a bracket for 110 and 119 (separate LNBFs)
500HW has a bracket for 119 and 129 (separate LNBFs)

Either way, to get all 3 slots, folks in HI need 2 dishes and 3 DP LNBFs. If you have the space for it, I would recommend the 500HW and a separate 30" dish for 110 - which (to me) is the toughest slot to receive due to its low elevation and greater incidence of weather outages. I would make 110 the dedicated second dish, while signals on 119 and 129 are strong enough that you can "compromise" with a 500HW dish.


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## puckwithahalo (Sep 3, 2007)

Just to add a little. Someone earlier asked about using it in AK. No, but there are now Dish 500 AK's and Dish 500 PR/VI's. I can post more info on those later or in another thread if anyone is interested in knowing about them.


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## DeanEvans (Jul 27, 2010)

rbgator95 said:


> 500H has a bracket for 110 and 119 (separate LNBFs)
> 500HW has a bracket for 119 and 129 (separate LNBFs)
> 
> Either way, to get all 3 slots, folks in HI need 2 dishes and 3 DP LNBFs. If you have the space for it, I would recommend the 500HW and a separate 30" dish for 110 - which (to me) is the toughest slot to receive due to its low elevation and greater incidence of weather outages. I would make 110 the dedicated second dish, while signals on 119 and 129 are strong enough that you can "compromise" with a 500HW dish.


I agree, with your recomendation however, I can't find anywhere to buy the 500H or 500HW? If anyone knows please let me know? I'm heading back to Maui in a few months and would like to get what I need.

Aloha,
Dean


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## Kenblock50 (Aug 26, 2009)

Dish is installing the 500H and 500HW for new customers and as an upgrade for current customers. They require a 2 year contract and charge an extra $6.00 a month. A local dealer might sell you one but they can charge any price they can get. You can get all the programming available in Hawaii with three standard 24 inch Hawaii dishes. Buy what you need before moving to Maui and you save the exorbitant shipping charges. There are many sources for d mount 24 inch dishes. See my previous posting for my installation in Waimea on the big island.


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## Tom_P (May 8, 2002)

The Skew for the new antenna in Puerto Rico(similar model to Hi and AK) is 154. The difference ois the bracket..

Tom


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## rbgator95 (May 31, 2007)

Kenblock50 said:


> Dish is installing the 500H and 500HW for new customers and as an upgrade for current customers. They require a 2 year contract and charge an extra $6.00 a month. A local dealer might sell you one but they can charge any price they can get. You can get all the programming available in Hawaii with three standard 24 inch Hawaii dishes. Buy what you need before moving to Maui and you save the exorbitant shipping charges. There are many sources for d mount 24 inch dishes. See my previous posting for my installation in Waimea on the big island.


Kenblock50: Is Dish charging you the extra $6/month for Hawaii configuration, since you are not using a 500H or 500HW?


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## Kenblock50 (Aug 26, 2009)

Dish is not charging me the $6.00 a month. Since I supplied the dish and did the installation myself there is no extra monthly charge. I get the impression that all new customers in Hawaii are getting the Dish 500H as part of their installation and are charged the $6.00 fee.


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## Kenblock50 (Aug 26, 2009)

Ever since I installed My three dish Hawaii system I have had intermittent trouble getting my program guide updates. I have tried all the recommended procedures to get the updates. Nothing seemed to work. When the receivers would begin to update the activity would stop in 20 seconds with no update. I theorized that the problem had something to do with the fact that we do not get any odd transponders on 129 in Hawaii and the program guide is on an odd tranceiver. The other day I ran into Ron The Satellite Guy while he was on a call in my neighborhood. He suggested I do a check switch with the alternate box checked. When I did this the check swith did an extra step that detected the fact that I had even transponders and one spot beam. I followed the new check switch procedure on all of my receivers and the program guide downloaded perfectly on the first try. It seems that no one at Dish support nows about this. IT is interestin that reception is verified on all LNB's but the one for the 129 LNB is colored red.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

rbgator95 said:


> 4/1/0/2/7/18985.attach
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Interesting;

Though with all due respect to James and others who may hold this view, I never really understood it that way.

Since the dish's diameter is larger for increased gain due to the weaker signal area in Hawaii, and assuming the same F/D ratio is to be maintained, the focal length of a parabolic reflector to the LNBF must be increased as well by the same proportion.

So for a multi-sat dish which receives both satellites off-axis, the two focal points for 110 and 119 are now further apart than for the domestic D500 due to the longer focal length. Therefore the feedhorns of the LNBFs must be spaced further apart as well by that same amount.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Pure ray tracing idea ... angles are slightly different and a focal point is far for bigger dish. 
Sats slots still the same, just taking in account you ground station position.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Since Hawai'i is much further south that the continental US, the angle between 110 and 119 is greater there than it is in North America (you are slightly closer the satellites than we are), so, your lnbs need to be further apart or the dish needs to be moved closer to them (you might try a stack of washers on the back of the reflector - I haven't the slightest idea how many - trial and error I guess).


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

Jim5506 said:


> Since Hawai'i is much further south that the continental US, the angle between 110 and 119 is greater there than it is in North America (you are slightly closer the satellites than we are), so, your lnbs need to be further apart or the dish needs to be moved closer to them (you might try a stack of washers on the back of the reflector - I haven't the slightest idea how many - trial and error I guess).


But if what you're saying is true, then that would mean if the D500H was installed somewhere in the CONUS, it wouldn't work. As the 110 and 119 focal points would miss their respective feedhorn throats on the LNBFs.

Now, I've only been a DIRECTV sub. but its a similar situation with their Alaska/Hawaii dish solution. A larger 1.2m dish reflector with a longer focal length and correspondingly increased physical spread between the 99, 101, and 103 feedhorns as well as with the 110 and 119 LNBFs on the (now seldom used) 110/119 1.2m companion dish over their CONUS versions.

Yet I know for a fact both these dishes work here on the mainland U.S. with the expected increased signal strengths due to their greater gain and higher signal power levels of the satellite footprints as opposed to them on the territory of Hawaii or Alaska.

I really think in lieu of the satellites some 23,500 mi. distance, (from earth's center) the angular separation between them as seen from earth shouldn't vary significantly with the observer's latitude or longitude to have to spread the LNB feedhorns like this. But is necessary for an increased diameter multisat dish with a longer focal length to maintain the same F/D ratio.


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