Dish satellite setup

[dstuart1938]

I have a recently installed Dish system with Hopper & Joey in my home in VT.
I purchased a Dish 1000.2 Sat dish and have a tripod to set it on. I've been fooling around the last week at home trying to get reception on my TV in the motorhome and yesterday through dumb luck actually got everything to work.
I now want to eliminate the dumb luck. I have a cheep satellite finder that installs in line between the dish & the Hopper for initial checking. I have also used the satellite ar app on my android phone which shows all the EchoStar satellites.
My question is - how do I know which satellite to aim at? The manual says I should go to 61.5W but the satellite numbers are 1 thru 15 or so.
I have the tables for reflector angles which got me close but it seems like I should just be able to use the app & point it at the right sat.

[elang]

Originally Posted by dstuart1938

I have a recently installed Dish system with Hopper & Joey in my home in VT.
I purchased a Dish 1000.2 Sat dish and have a tripod to set it on. I've been fooling around the last week at home trying to get reception on my TV in the motorhome and yesterday through dumb luck actually got everything to work.
I now want to eliminate the dumb luck. I have a cheep satellite finder that installs in line between the dish & the Hopper for initial checking. I have also used the satellite ar app on my android phone which shows all the EchoStar satellites.
My question is - how do I know which satellite to aim at? The manual says I should go to 61.5W but the satellite numbers are 1 thru 15 or so.
I have the tables for reflector angles which got me close but it seems like I should just be able to use the app & point it at the right sat.

Hi go on the internet and look for a second hand birddog sat finder, got one for 200.00 they sell for as much as 600.00 new, good luck

[kjburns]

Which app are you using? I use DishPointer Pro, which shows the satellites with their identification.

[Ed-Sommers]

Put tinfoil on the two outer lnb's, then set up the dish IAW the settings indicated on the network page, paying close attention to the compass direction. You should not have that little "screamer" locater doing its job but a little right or left swing may be in order to get the best reception, or pitch from the "screamer".

Now take off the tinfoil from the lnb's any you should be set up, taking little time to do so ounce getting a little practice with this procedure.


Ed

[wa8yxm]

Dish uses 3 satellites for most of the US. 110, 119,and I think 129.. There are 3 "hockey pucks" Lenses on the dish,

First, take that in-line sat meter and position it for launch and send it flying toward the nearest trash can

Now, get a cheap low cost battery operated COLOR TV and some coax.. Hook it to any exterior TV jack (or run the coax out the window and hook it to the hopper) and once you figure out hot to get to the Antenna point page (I Think it is Menu 6-1-1 but sometimes there are a few hoops before you get there) watch it while pointing.

Select your sat and aim. Enter the ZIP Code where you are parked and get your initial set up suggestions, Write 'em down

Now with the dish on the tripod and the tripod mast PLUM (Level in the vertical sense) pre-set elevation and "Skew" (Tilt) on the dish.

I would like to know if this helps. I am unable to try it at this time.. Cover the two OUTSIDE lenses with tinfoil hats.

Slowly swing the dish through the Azimuth suggestion while watching the color TV.. If it locks on a sat it will tell you one of two things.

Assumes you are looking for 119

Satellite 119.. (Lock it down and remove hats) go to Check Switch and test.

Satellite number smaller than 119, WRONG SAT
Try a bit more west
Satellite number HIGHER than 119, Wrong sat
Try a bit more east.

Now, the purist also touches up skew and elevation (you may with to touch up elevation a bit) but once you get one bird peaked on the proper lense.. the other two should be there. plus or minus next to nothing.

[TechWriter]

For my Hopper (with a 1000.4) dish, I use an Accutrac III meter.

Unlike the other meters mentioned, the Accutrac displays signal strength, instead of sat id. Since DISH sats come in 3's (110, 119, 129) and (61.5, 72, 77), if you point your dish in the general direction of these sats, a signal strength meter makes acquiring all 3 sats easy.

The Accutrac displays the signs for all 3 sats at the same time so as you tweak dish alignment, you see the results immediately. No other meter that I know of can display all 3 sat signal strengths at the same time.

Other meters like BirdDog (too much $$$) or FirstStrike (a better buy) work by typically identifying a SINGLE sat and its signal strength.

There are many ways to skin this cat.