Help diagnosing 101 signal loss on 3LNB dish -- bad cable or dish alignment?

[leakypuppy]

I'm experiencing low signal levels on the 101 SAT but NO problems with signal on either the 119 or 110 SATs. On the 101 transponders 2,3,10 &11 peak out in the low 70s and drop as low 46, transponder 11 occasionally drops to 0. Most of the other transponders range from the high 70s to the mid 60's and transponder's 4,12, 20 & 26 are strong in the 90's.

On the 119 SAT all transponders are in the high 90's except 31 which is in the 20's and on the 110 SAT I'm in the high 80s and 90s.

Setup: 3LNB dish mounted on neighbor's tree (no other location possible). My neighbors have a 3LNB dish on an adjacent tree that experiences no reception problems so I believe line of sight is good. However, the tree my dish is on is tilted a little bit. I'm talking large stable trees here and the dishes are no more that 8' up the trunks.

The cable run from my dish is approximately 220' and is terminated on a Spaun 5x8 MS. The RG-6 run is spliced at my property line but I've taken care and used high quality connectors and sealant for the splice.

The dish location described above is NEW but because of the location (neighbors tree) I had to give the D* installer $$$ and do the cabling myself. The D* installer aligned the dish using my neighbors DirecTIVO receiver and my recollection from then was that the signal strength on the 101 transponders was never great (90s) but they were rushing to the next installation appointment and I was happy to have HD again.

I have 3 DirecTIVO receivers and have the same signal issues on all of them.

Based on the above I'm trying to determine if I've got a cable problem or dish alignment problem. I've done all the connections myself using high quality compression fittings and barrel connectors but I'm lacking insight into what to check for on the connectors such as length of center conductor, etc.

I know this is a long post and my setup is a bit crazy so thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[DirecTuneup]

I'm experiencing low signal levels on the 101 SAT but NO problems with signal on either the 119 or 110 SATs. On the 101 transponders 2,3,10 &11 peak out in the low 70s and drop as low 46, transponder 11 occasionally drops to 0. Most of the other transponders range from the high 70s to the mid 60's and transponder's 4,12, 20 & 26 are strong in the 90's.

On the 119 SAT all transponders are in the high 90's except 31 which is in the 20's and on the 110 SAT I'm in the high 80s and 90s.

Setup: 3LNB dish mounted on neighbor's tree (no other location possible). My neighbors have a 3LNB dish on an adjacent tree that experiences no reception problems so I believe line of sight is good. However, the tree my dish is on is tilted a little bit. I'm talking large stable trees here and the dishes are no more that 8' up the trunks.

The cable run from my dish is approximately 220' and is terminated on a Spaun 5x8 MS. The RG-6 run is spliced at my property line but I've taken care and used high quality connectors and sealant for the splice.

The dish location described above is NEW but because of the location (neighbors tree) I had to give the D* installer $$$ and do the cabling myself. The D* installer aligned the dish using my neighbors DirecTIVO receiver and my recollection from then was that the signal strength on the 101 transponders was never great (90s) but they were rushing to the next installation appointment and I was happy to have HD again.

I have 3 DirecTIVO receivers and have the same signal issues on all of them.

Based on the above I'm trying to determine if I've got a cable problem or dish alignment problem. I've done all the connections myself using high quality compression fittings and barrel connectors but I'm lacking insight into what to check for on the connectors such as length of center conductor, etc.

I know this is a long post and my setup is a bit crazy so thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.


It sounds to me like your alignment is off.The fact that you have trees in the way isn't helping much either.From the way you describe it, I'd tweak the tilt.I don't know what the tilt deg's should be for you, but mine is optimized at 56 deg.

It also sounds like the installer,as usual, didn't know what the hell he was doing.He should have been using a power meter of some sort connected directly at the LNB output.Not using the receivers power meter.

[davi bauer]

You have a major alignment issue. first thing check and make sure you have the right coordinates for your elevation, azimuth and tilt. Next, make sure your arm/bracket is leveled. Check if you have a clear view. An inclinometer is very helpful on this. When you're ready to test, select transponder 4 on 101 sat (this is a big target). If transponder 4 is in the 90's or higher, all the other transponders will have good signal including the other sats (110,119). Check and make both your odd and even transponders are consistent. Good Luck!