Community Forums

Ron & Dee · 10-15-2009, 05:00 AM

Well, I finally did it, I signed up for Dish Network. The $20 a month for a year was misleading, it really winds up $20 a month for 12 months and then $35 a month for another 12 months, that's a 24 month contract

I should have gone back with Direct TV, but it looks like I'm stuck with two years of frustration

Direct TV was quick and simple to set up, but it looks like Dish Network is going to be rather complicated and difficult.

I was in hopes I could use my old protable antenna that I got 5 years ago Winegard Portable Digital Satellite Antenna - Item - Camping World
it has been very compact, easy to set up and no problems getting a fix on the Satellite signal.

The antenna that the Dish Network technician set up is larger, heavier, and very difficult in acquiring a signal.

I'm really confused about the whole process of aiming the antenna to acquire the signal, and the signal strength. The tech only had a 50% signal with the antenna sitting on the ground. After everything was set up and the receiver had acquired a signal, I tried to fine tune the antenna to get a better signal, and was able to increase the signal strength to 75%.

Latter on I disassembled the antenna from the mount and reassembled it to see if I could aim the antenna and acquire a signal. The process was time consuming and frustrating. The first time the antenna locked on to the wrong Satellite, so I had to readjust and it finally locked on to the correct satellite.

I'm confused about pointing to the correct satellite

I see the coax is connected to the LNB that says 119, but when I'm trying to point the antenna to the satellite, I don't know which satellite the receiver is trying to lock on to until I go inside the MH and view which satellite the receiver has locked on.

I tried to use my old antenna but I could not get a signal at all. Any suggestion on how I can use my old antenna, or a new protable antenna.

Thanks for your help,

Ron

Jobert · 10-16-2009, 08:58 PM

On your receiver inside, set it at 119. You will need a device of some kind, I use a satbeeper which squeals in your ear louder as the signal gets stronger. There is also a meter available, but I did not care for that at all. When we move, I usually do not even do a check switch. We are aiming at 3 sats as we also have dish HD so we hit 110,119 and 129. If you have non hd, you are probably using the dish 500 and it is much easier to aim only using 110 and 119. The two are about 5 degrees up or down from each other and maybe 8 degrees left or right. If you get one, look at your screen and figure out by changing the dish representation how many degrees up or down the other is and which way left or right. On most ocassions, I can have the dish set up and aimed in less than 10 minutes. This is not always the case, but usually. On the other hand, I tried helping someone aim a Direct setup and had no clue how to get it. It is whatever you become familiar with. There are other threads that give you a step by step instructions for setting up a dish and aiming it.

Hope this will help a little. Happy Trails Bert

Ron & Dee · 10-19-2009, 04:13 AM

Thanks Bert,

That helps a little but I'm still confused about the satellites and the antenna.

I'm not at all happy with the antenna as it is much heavier and bigger than my portable antenna. With Direct TV all I had to do was aim the antenna to the satellite until I got a good signal, set the antenna on the ground, weight it down with a gallon jug of water, and I was good to go.

The antenna for my Dish Network is a Dish 500, but is not as portable as my old portable antenna I used with Direct TV.

Does anyone know if there is a way I can change the LNB on my old antenna to use for satellite 119?

Thanks for your help,

Ron

Bill Adams · 10-19-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron & Dee

Thanks Bert,

That helps a little but I'm still confused about the satellites and the antenna.

I'm not at all happy with the antenna as it is much heavier and bigger than my portable antenna. With Direct TV all I had to do was aim the antenna to the satellite until I got a good signal, set the antenna on the ground, weight it down with a gallon jug of water, and I was good to go.

The antenna for my Dish Network is a Dish 500, but is not as portable as my old portable antenna I used with Direct TV.

Does anyone know if there is a way I can change the LNB on my old antenna to use for satellite 119?

Thanks for your help,

Ron

Dish Network delivers their programming from 2 satellites, but the majority of the programming comes from the 119 satellite. If you can get by with just the programming from this one, then you can use the same antenna you used for your DirecTV service. It's the same LNB, just capable of only pointing to one satellite. Give it a try and see if what's on 119 is enough. If so, problem solved.

Ron & Dee · 10-19-2009, 08:54 AM

Bill,

Quote:

Give it a try and see if what's on 119 is enough. If so, problem solved

Bill,

119 is enough. Both myself and the Dish Network tech tried to get a signal with my old antenna but couldn't. I tried again after the tech left but still couldn't get a signal.

From what I gether from imformation for my old portable antenna, the LBN will not work with the antenna for Dish 500.

The antenna that Dish Network gave me is a bigger one with a dual LBN but I'm only connect to the 119 side.

I would like to know if there is a single LBN that I can use with my old portable antenna to pick up the 119 signal from the satellite?

Thanks for your help,

Ron

KSDP_PA · 10-19-2009, 08:59 AM

We have an automatic (not in-motion) KVH satellite on our MH. We were going to sign up for Dish NOW but were one month late. From what I can gather, Dish cancelled that program in July 2009 and we started looking forward to signing up in August.
Since we are only part-timers, we only need satellite a few times a year. Don't want to pay for something every month if the rig is not on the road.
Does anyone know of a setup similar to Dish NOW?

If we ever do decide to go with Dish, will do you think that our automatic dish on the roof will be as hard to lock in ?

Bill Adams · 10-19-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron & Dee

I would like to know if there is a single LBN that I can use with my old portable antenna to pick up the 119 signal from the satellite?

Thanks for your help,

Ron

Yes, the one you now have. The LNB that you have with your old dish WILL work (unless you have a bad LNB).
You would likely want to change the settings in the receiver to Dish 300 to let it know that you will only be using the 119 satellite, but otherwise the dish you have will work just fine.

Spikester · 10-19-2009, 09:43 AM

Here is a list of what channels that were assigned to 119, keep in mind Dish changes channel location a lot. Also no HD channels, your 08 KSDP is HD compatible.

Spike

Ron & Dee · 10-19-2009, 10:28 AM

Thanks Bill,

I will try my old antenna again, it was working ok with direct Tv so it should work with the Dish NW. I am still confused about the two lens as the Dish tech calls them. I am only hooked up to one which is the 119, and the tech said that all the switching is done in the receiver to be able to get locals that are supposed to be on 110. I set my new dish 500 antenna up over the weekend at my Astromony Club's viewing site and was able to get all the channels plus locals that I had signed up for. How did I get everthing if I was only pointing to one satellite and receiving a signal from 119?

__________________________________________________ ______________

Spike,

Quote:

your 08 KSDP is HD compatible.

What is KSDP?

Thanks,

Ron

hardy1000 · 10-19-2009, 11:01 AM

I had Dish network and when I picked up my new dip from Dimartini they could not keep it on 119 because Dish uses 2 satellite's and every time I would change channels it would be searching for the satellite for that channel. The tech recommended Direct because it uses one satellite and I had him install Direct and no more problem. I have an auto search KVH antenna for 2 years with no problems yet.

I hope you get it fixed Ron.

Spikester · 10-19-2009, 12:25 PM

Ron & Dee,

KSDP is Kountry Star Diesel Pusher by Newmar, was referring to the post from KSDP_PA. Sorry I probably confused the issue.

Spike

Ron & Dee · 10-19-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

KSDP is Kountry Star Diesel Pusher by Newmar, was referring to the post from KSDP_PA. Sorry I probably confused the issue.

OOOPs

That clears it up

I'm still confused as to why I have to use a skewed antenna when I'm only using one satellite?

Ron

Bill Adams · 10-19-2009, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron & Dee

OOOPs

That clears it up

I'm still confused as to why I have to use a skewed antenna when I'm only using one satellite?

Ron

You do not.

William Willard · 10-19-2009, 06:19 PM

I`ve had Dish Network for over 2 years, using a KVH Dome -- All was well until recently -- The KVH will lock on 110, & will not move off 110 & the reciever is on 119 -- It shows "Wrong Satalite" -- What went wrong? Thanks for any help -- Bill Willard