DirecTV Receiver and Dish Help needed

[shadoow]

We recently upgraded our DirecTV receiver to an HD-DVR (HR24-500). At the house we have a Slimlime 3 SWN dish. I took the receiver out to the RV today to see if i could get it setup with our RV dish which is an 18" round type. I know with this dish i wouldn't be able to get HD channels; just wanted to get the SD channels to see if the setup works.
As you may have guessed i'm posting cause it ain't working!!. Here's what i've got and seen:
1) dish is directly connected to the HD receiver with coax.
2) i positioned the dish to get fairly good signals on satellite 101 transducers. Most signal strengths are 75 or greater (up to 97). A couple are in the 40's and 50's, some in the 60's.
3) For dish settings the following is selected:
- 18" round dish
- Multiswitch (vs. swm)
- Single tuner (vs. 2)
3) the time shown during setup will update indicating to me the receiver is getting a signal, but when i select 'Continue' after checking signal strengths, the next screen that comes up is titled something like " Advanced Program Guide" or something similar. It says it will download program info over the next 24 hrs. and in the meantime there may not be complete program info. At the bottom of the screen there is a bar graph to show progress and a digital register to give a number. The number remains at 0% and nothing ever shows on the bar graph. After about 5 minutes the receiver seems to reset itself (goes off, comes on, goes thru self-check, etc.), then repeats if you let it go.

Also, i cannot seem to make the audible beep feature work when checking transducer signals. I get a colored bar for Tuner ! (nothing on Tuner 2) but no sound. Tuner 1 is the one selected as the Audio Feedback Tuner.

Am i trying to do something that will not work by trying to use an 18" round dish with an HD receiver?? We'll be getting a SL3 SWM dish to take on the road with us, but in the meantime i was trying to get the 18" dish to work.

[shadoow]

donn0128 wrote:
Skip that part if the setup. Go thru setup again starting from the dash. After you get to signal goto continue. just keep hitting continue. It will eventually load and ask for remote setup. Go to watch TV. That should do it

pretty sure i tried this but it exited to a screen where it was trying to download the guide which it never does. Resets after about 5 min. & trys again...and again..etc.

[shadoow]

2oldman wrote:
a) is this a DTV dish (not a Dish dish)?It is a DirecTV dish
b) don't use the 'transponder' screen to test strength. go to the 'signal strength' ( i think) screen. (The one with the horizontal bar) i'm using the one with the bars that shows only 1 transducer at a time, not the screen that shows all the transducers at once
c) if you have a good signal on the 101 and the guide doesn't load, reset your receiver did that (actually it does it on it's own) and seems to be stuck in a loop cause it doesn't seem to see the satellite signal/s well enough
d) the audible beeps haven't worked for years on an HD receiver OK, good to know that. Thought i was missing something obvious
e) the receiver will keep resetting until you get the latest software download which we've been discussing on another thread the receiver was just taken from the house where it's been for awhile so i'm assuming software is up to date.

[Bill_Satellite]

Actually, it sounds like you are doing all the right things. What kind of antenna are you using? It sounds like you might be using a multiple LNB antenna and it's not really properly pointed. If it's a single LNB antenna (the old 18" round) it's still possible to point at a wrong satellite and get signals on some transponders. If you are pointed correctly you should be seeing 90+ on the 101 satellite transponder #1.
Do not reset the receiver as it will revert to SWM (the last known good configuration). You should see a strong signal on Tuner 1 and no signal showing on Tuner 2 if you have things wired correctly. I apologize for this next statement, but after you have a good signal and verified what I mention above you need to click on Continue and tell me what screen you are actually seeing (it should go to one that says Verifying Setup or something similar.

[donn0128]

Skip that part if the setup. Go thru setup again starting from the dash. After you get to signal goto continue. just keep hitting continue. It will eventually load and ask for remote setup. Go to watch TV. That should do it

[2oldman]

a) is this a DTV dish (not a Dish dish)?
b) don't use the 'transponder' screen to test strength. go to the 'signal strength' ( i think) screen. (The one with the horizontal bar)
c) if you have a good signal on the 101 and the guide doesn't load, reset your receiver
d) the audible beeps haven't worked for years on an HD receiver
e) the receiver will keep resetting until you get the latest software download which we've been discussing on another thread