# first trip out this year with glitches



## gas20 (Feb 17, 2009)

Went out Easter weekend for the first time in a year. Had a few glitches but the worst was no sat. tv. I have used in the past a portable sat. dish on a tri-pod with the receiver from one of the spare bedrooms. Well earlier this year we had a up grade on our receivers with hi def in the living room and standard receiver in the bedrooms. When I went to hook up the dish at the campground I could not feceive or find a sat. signal. The sat. finder I was using would not pick up a signal or the signal strentgh through the receiver would work. A camper nex to me was also using Sat. TV and also Direct TV. He helped me with the correct asmut and elevation but still got no signal. When I got home and set it up to the exact settings it still would not work. My question is Would the receiver and dish not be working together, this is the only thing I can think of. HELP


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

What service are you using. DirecTV and Dish operate differently but it starts with being able to find the proper satellite. I find Satellite Finders not helpful because they don't always find the RIGHT satellite.

For example, for Dish network, there are three. At home I must find all three to get everything I've paid for. On the road I use a round dish because the TVs in the rig don't support HD. Then I must find satellite 119 to get my programming. Sometimes I find 110 first, then end up with only partial channels. Sometimes aiming that dish can be very discouraging and other times I just place the stupid thing on the ground and WHAM it's there.

There are many other "problems" with Dish but since I've learned to overcome them I'm no good to go. We have not been without our service since. I've used both Dish and DirecTV.

Here's some more things to think of:

What kind of TVs do you have in the rig?
Are you familiar with how to make the proper connections in the rig to the satellite receiver?
Are you using RG6 cable EVERYWHERE?
Are you using a round dish or an oblong one?
Is the dish/tripod or whatever you use, oriented and leveled correctly?
Are you using the HD receiver or SD receiver?
When you orient the dish, how are you using the compass (do this wrong and you will never get this working)?
Are the connections and connector solid?
Have you tried just connecting the receiver to the dish and a TV to the receiver to ensure the basic connection and your aiming are working correctly?
Is there some way that you can test this while you are not at the campsite (I practiced at home with my rig on my driveway because this is where I store my rig.) I've learn the good and bad about this stuff there. I don't have the bad things when we are out anymore. You will need patience!

There are other things to check, but this is enough so far.


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## gas20 (Feb 17, 2009)

I am using Direct TV, I am using a standard receiver not HD, I tried the direct hook up sat. dish to receiveer to TV. I also tried it at home this morning and still nothing. I have hooked it the same way and same cable as was used in the past. The only thing different is a newer upgrade receiver than I was using before. The tri pod is level in my drive way. The receiver when you go to the menu botton to set the zip code it will not do anything. The sat. finder I have used in the past will not even make a bleep at the sat. direction I have used in the past.


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

There are a couple but unlikely possibilities like a bad dish, or LNB, or the wrong types are other possibilities if you've never used this combination before but I think these are highly unlikely.

I've seen this so many times that the aim is critical and can be difficult to find. I'm afraid the problem is probably the aim if you are using a round dish and that receiver it should work. Some days finding that needle in the sky can be difficult. This is what I'm guessing.

Are you putting the level on top of the post? The best type of level tool is a bubble level. And with orienting with the compass do not put it anywhere near any metal or this will disorient the aim of the compass when you are looking for Magnetic north.

Then adjust the elevation (use the correct mark). Then using the optimal azimuth slowly move the dish from right to left, stopping at about every half degree and waiting for a lock. If no lock, then move again. If you have gone a few degrees in either direction, move the elevation up or down and do the azimuth stuff again.

I'm sorry if I'm just repeating what you are already doing, but I know this can be frustrating sometimes. Good luck with finding that needle in the sky. To obtain the coordinates, I use this site. This is more reliable than the documentation in the CG papers - I don't know why, but this internet site works better (the numbers will vary from what is written). I think these numbers are more accurate because they go by a map location and NOT a zipcode.

Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com


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