Directv SWM SL3 System Not getting Signal on 103

[Like2Travel]

I have Directv at home with two HR24 DVRs. They are non-SWM using a SL3. When I take my RV off, I take one of the DVRs with me. In the RV, I have a SL3 dish with a tripod. This system is SWM. I have only had this RV setup for a few months. When I first got the system, I tried everything out at home and it worked perfectly. Now I am out of my home area and it doesn't work. This is the second time that I have had this failure. The first time two months ago, I was having to shoot through a narrow opening in the trees. When it failed, I blamed it on that. Now, I am in another campground with zero trees and am having the same problem.

When I go into setup on the DVR, I put in that I am using an SL3 and SWM. THat seems to go OK. I am getting a warning message that says 'SWM not Registered'. With the dish aimed, I am getting 90's on the 101 dish, and 70's on the 99 dish, and nothing on the 103. The 103 shows up as 103(CA) and 103(CB). It shows no signal on 103 at all. And the system will never come on up where we can watch live TV.

I called Directv. The lady told me that the problem had to do with my being out of my home area? She told me to wait until I get home to make a call for a tech to come out and fix the problem. I and DW want it fixed now, not a week from now. She said that the DVR should come on up with everything except any locals but it doesn't come up. We can watch recorded stuff but no live TV.

Any help appreciated.

[Bill_Satellite]

schneid wrote:
I carry my dish wrapped in mover's blanket under the bed.

I wrap the LNB still affixed to the arm in foam and it rides under the couch.

I carry the cables in a tub under the couch.

It is all to fragile and sensitive to allow it to bang around and/or be crushed. Even the connectors are critical.

Some argue but I believe the first step is to establish a perfectly plumb mast. Pre-set the Elevation and Tilt and then rotate until you have a peaked signal on the 101. At that point, you are done especially for a short stop. If bored or picky, you can tweak it a little more.

As stated, you can in-perceptively torque the dish and/or arm enough to seriously affect signal. Store it safely, anchor it well for high wind and try to place it so people won't walk or drive into it. I place a couple of the solar yard lights at the base and have added reflective tape to my tripod. Keep the cable flat so they don't trip over that either.

If anyone argues with that, they have no idea what they are talking about. It takes caution and it take precision. Other than that, it does not take much.

[Like2Travel]

schneid wrote:
I carry my dish wrapped in mover's blanket under the bed.

I wrap the LNB still affixed to the arm in foam and it rides under the couch.

I carry the cables in a tub under the couch.

It is all to fragile and sensitive to allow it to bang around and/or be crushed. Even the connectors are critical.

Some argue but I believe the first step is to establish a perfectly plumb mast. Pre-set the Elevation and Tilt and then rotate until you have a peaked signal on the 101. At that point, you are done especially for a short stop. If bored or picky, you can tweak it a little more.

As stated, you can in-perceptively torque the dish and/or arm enough to seriously affect signal. Store it safely, anchor it well for high wind and try to place it so people won't walk or drive into it. I place a couple of the solar yard lights at the base and have added reflective tape to my tripod. Keep the cable flat so they don't trip over that either.

Schneid. Excellent advice for all.

[schneid]

I carry my dish wrapped in mover's blanket under the bed.

I wrap the LNB still affixed to the arm in foam and it rides under the couch.

I carry the cables in a tub under the couch.

It is all to fragile and sensitive to allow it to bang around and/or be crushed. Even the connectors are critical.

Some argue but I believe the first step is to establish a perfectly plumb mast. Pre-set the Elevation and Tilt and then rotate until you have a peaked signal on the 101. At that point, you are done especially for a short stop. If bored or picky, you can tweak it a little more.

As stated, you can in-perceptively torque the dish and/or arm enough to seriously affect signal. Store it safely, anchor it well for high wind and try to place it so people won't walk or drive into it. I place a couple of the solar yard lights at the base and have added reflective tape to my tripod. Keep the cable flat so they don't trip over that either.

[Like2Travel]

As Paul Harvey would say, now for the rest of the story. This should be a final posting unless someone has questions.

After becoming convinced that the LNB was bad, I ordered a new one from Amazon. It came yesterday. This morning, I got everything out here at home and set it up just as I would when off in my 5th wheel.

Here is what I found. 1. The LNB that I had was good and so is the new one. 2. My dish arm was slightly bent downward, too little to see or measure comparing to my house SL3 dish.

I started out making sure the mast was plumb. This appears to be very critical. Then using the AAS, I zeroed in on the 101 with a 95 signal. With the dish tilted 70 degrees (for home) I discovered that I had nothing on the 99 or 103. In trying different things, I discovered that if I tilted the dish back up to 90 (no tilt) I had a weak signal on both the 99 and 103. But, if I tilted it to 70, where it should be, I got nothing. I then tilted it back to 70. At this point, I slipped the LNB out of the arm so that I could move it around by hand. What I found was I could move the LNB up, higher than the arm, and get a good signal on both the 99 and 103. Then, I got myself where I could pull up on the arm as much as I could. I couldn't tell that it moved but it must have. After that, I found that I was now getting the 99 and 103 signals in the mid 80's and still getting 95 on the 101.

So, no problems with the LNB or coax. I was using the same ones today that I was using last week. It was a dish problem all along. I plan to be a lot more careful with my dish putting it and and taking it out of my 5er. I plan to make sure it is as secure as possible while driving. When in the 5er, I plan to keep the LNB and my tripod mast off of the dish.

One thing else I found out last week. I did get the dish to work with very weak signals on both the 99 and 103. The signals on both were in the 20's and 30's. What I found was if the sky was very clear, I could see most everything. But, any clouds could make things much worse. It is much better to start out with good signal numbers. That way if it clouds up or rains, you can still be watching TV.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

[Bill_Satellite]

While the LNB might be at issue, a good working SL3 SWM LNB will give you good signals. Mine is 95-100 on 101 and 85+ on 99 and 103. I still do not understand what the SWM transponder screen means but mine always reads 100.

[Like2Travel]

I am back home now and have been looking into what needs fixed. The LNB and/or the dish itself seem to be the most likely suspects. I took the LNB out and did a Google search on the model number which is SL3S4NR3-01. Man, did I get a good hit. I found a forum on Directv's web site that involved installers complaining last year about this exact LNB. Guess what one of the major problems. Low signal on the 99 and 103. I am going to buy another LNB to replace this one and give it a try.

Wish me luck. For anyone else, if I get a final answer, I will post it for anyone else in the future.

[Big_Katuna]

I believe the HD sats are much higher freq than the 101. May be you have damaged cable somewhere?

[schneid]

That sounds right. Really sounds like something is kaput.

[Like2Travel]

schneid wrote:
Just a thought. Is OP tilted correctly? An AAS can be read wrong. He needs to use the marks on the Slimline. Set as published and move on.

If standing behind the dish, it is rotated clockwise or to the right. I did use the marks on the Slimline to set the tilt. This is after making sure the post is plumb.

[schneid]

Just a thought. Is OP tilted correctly? An AAS can be read wrong. He needs to use the marks on the Slimline. Set as published and move on.

[schneid]

Align-a-Site

http://www.alignasite.com/

Very slick IF properly setup first.

[Bill_Satellite]

There is NO signal meter on an AAS! The AAS is also not a meter, it is a sighting tool. The signal info is coming from the receiver as he reads it on his TV.

[2oldman]

Ok, thanks. Obviously I'm not all that familiar with those meters. I was concerned that you may be shooting the wrong satellite which is not that hard to do with a meter. As long at the receiever is happy, that's what counts.

[Like2Travel]

2oldman wrote:

Like2Travel wrote:
I did still use the Align-A-Site...I immediately got a 95 on the 101 signal meter.

Does this mean you got a 95 on the AAS, or the TV meter?

AAS has no meter. The 95 is on the TV which is coming out of the HR24 DVR.