Aiming a SWM3 with Genie.

OP here. Well the outcome wasn't anything cosmic. Just my head in a place it didn't belong in not being able to find the 101 even though I am a master of doing this. Just an off day I guess. Tech got everything 95+. He did find the 101 aiming very sensitive so maybe there is something with the dish/arm and I should be on the lookout for a new one. Thanks all for your counsel.

maybe,

but since it was my first attempt with direct tv, i had setup in the yard a couple different times, before permanently installing on my roof.

i consistently was above 90's at all times when learning

but i will say. that my mast is DEAD plumb. i used multiple levels when configuring it

good luck to everyone. i found it easier then i thought

LittleBill wrote:

haddy1 wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
There are satellites located 2 degrees apart around the entire Equator of our planet. Nothing real special there. The 99 and 103 satellites do broadcast on the KA band instead of KU which is different. While you will likely not see 100's on your 99 and 103 satellites, you should easily be able to exceed 80. Currently my Trav'ler is receiving the 101 with 95+ and the 99 and 103 are all 85+.

Bill, Those are good numbers and I assume that they are from your SWM Travler. Everyone should be able to come close but unless they have a VERY expensive meter they will only achieve 90's on the Ka's by luck or "dithering" the dish. This is because of the narrowness of the Ka peak compared to the Ku peak.

In other words, you can NOT reliably achieve good numbers on the Ka sats by simply peaking the Ku (101/119). It is possible to vary the Ka's from 70 to 95 while consistantly seeing high 90's on the 101.

The dithering procedure is available online but I can briefly summarize the process if anyone is interested.

First peak the 101 and record your meter reading.
Then adjust the azmuth 2 turns CCW and record again.
Then adjust CW until you see the same reading as in the previous line.
Then split the difference. That will be the azmuth "true peak".

Do the same as above on the elevation to provide the second "true peak".

well i hate to burst your bubble, but i have a sl-5 dish, no meter, used a tv. 5 minutes later i have 97-98 on 101, and 95+ on everything else

its not impossible, and this was only my 3rd time setting one up. i also only aligned on 101, nothing else was needed skew and elevation was set before i started tuning

Oops, I was thinking of another Bill.

Anyway, as the saying goes, "even a blind pig finds a truffle once in a while". In my experience your Ka numbers definitely fall under the "luck" catagory if you only peaked on the 101.

haddy1 wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
There are satellites located 2 degrees apart around the entire Equator of our planet. Nothing real special there. The 99 and 103 satellites do broadcast on the KA band instead of KU which is different. While you will likely not see 100's on your 99 and 103 satellites, you should easily be able to exceed 80. Currently my Trav'ler is receiving the 101 with 95+ and the 99 and 103 are all 85+.

Bill, Those are good numbers and I assume that they are from your SWM Travler. Everyone should be able to come close but unless they have a VERY expensive meter they will only achieve 90's on the Ka's by luck or "dithering" the dish. This is because of the narrowness of the Ka peak compared to the Ku peak.

In other words, you can NOT reliably achieve good numbers on the Ka sats by simply peaking the Ku (101/119). It is possible to vary the Ka's from 70 to 95 while consistantly seeing high 90's on the 101.

The dithering procedure is available online but I can briefly summarize the process if anyone is interested.

First peak the 101 and record your meter reading.
Then adjust the azmuth 2 turns CCW and record again.
Then adjust CW until you see the same reading as in the previous line.
Then split the difference. That will be the azmuth "true peak".

Do the same as above on the elevation to provide the second "true peak".

well i hate to burst your bubble, but i have a sl-5 dish, no meter, used a tv. 5 minutes later i have 97-98 on 101, and 95+ on everything else

its not impossible, and this was only my 3rd time setting one up. i also only aligned on 101, nothing else was needed skew and elevation was set before i started tuning

Bill.Satellite wrote:
There are satellites located 2 degrees apart around the entire Equator of our planet. Nothing real special there. The 99 and 103 satellites do broadcast on the KA band instead of KU which is different. While you will likely not see 100's on your 99 and 103 satellites, you should easily be able to exceed 80. Currently my Trav'ler is receiving the 101 with 95+ and the 99 and 103 are all 85+.

Bill, Those are good numbers and I assume that they are from your SWM Travler. Everyone should be able to come close but unless they have a VERY expensive meter they will only achieve 90's on the Ka's by luck or "dithering" the dish. This is because of the narrowness of the Ka peak compared to the Ku peak.

In other words, you can NOT reliably achieve good numbers on the Ka sats by simply peaking the Ku (101/119). It is possible to vary the Ka's from 70 to 95 while consistantly seeing high 90's on the 101.

The dithering procedure is available online but I can briefly summarize the process if anyone is interested.

First peak the 101 and record your meter reading.
Then adjust the azmuth 2 turns CCW and record again.
Then adjust CW until you see the same reading as in the previous line.
Then split the difference. That will be the azmuth "true peak".

Do the same as above on the elevation to provide the second "true peak".

On tripod my 99 and 103 are usually in the 70s on the xponder screen. I shoot the 101 to 94 on the Test screen. Works fine.

My home system aligned by DTV shows low 90s on 103 and 99.
High 90s on 101. I couldn't hit 80s when it was bent and now I can.
Haven't spent a ton of time but did a little and get better numbers NOT using DTVs
Tilt setting but not sure if its because it is still bent a little. One day I will get a ladder and see what DTVs settings are.

OP. Have you tried running a System Test? It may generate some Error Codes that may help.

There are satellites located 2 degrees apart around the entire Equator of our planet. Nothing real special there. The 99 and 103 satellites do broadcast on the KA band instead of KU which is different. While you will likely not see 100's on your 99 and 103 satellites, you should easily be able to exceed 80. Currently my Trav'ler is receiving the 101 with 95+ and the 99 and 103 are all 85+.

Big Katuna wrote:
I just figured out my slimline had been damaged. I could never get the HDs as high as the one on my house. When I switched to SWM3 a few weeks ago I decided to re-zero out the level, set the skew and tilt the same as the DTV guy did and I still could not get 90s on 99 & 103. I got to looking at my dish and the bracket that the dish bolts on to had been bent at some point in time. One of the tabs was deflected up a skosh.
I took it apart and restraightened it and it helped. I think it is still not right so I am going to watch for a new dish.

An expert might pop up and correct me but I've read the FCC gave DirecTV an exception to park the 103 and 99 within 2º of the 101 slot. To do so, DirecTV had agree to throttle back the power on the 99 and 103. I don't think you can ever get readings on these wing-men as high as the leader's. I have never done it with any of my dishes. I've even tried tweaking them with tilt and shims. Improving one degrades the other.

That said, a change in the arm alignment or the dish contour will noticeably affect signal even though invisible to the eye.

Nothing is wrong with being in the 80's with the wing-men. If you want to tweak, you can play with small fender shims between the dish and the back plate.

I've put a lot of thought into protecting my dish to avoid it getting bent. I remove the arm and insert a foam sleeve on the LNB. The dish travels under the bed. I use a TV4RV.com tripod with the legs spread wide and chains to to restrict further spreading. I anchor it to 5 gal bucket filled with water or rocks depending om the duration of the stay. I tie the bucket to dish eyelet with a turnbuckle. Bungee cords give too much. I try to keep the dish close to the rig on the lee side to keep it out of the wind and away from those wandering through your camp. I have added reflective tape to make it more visible.