Dish & Wally Receiver

[campermama]

I have the King VQ4550 with the Wally Dish receiver. I have had this setup for a few months now with no problems. Just recently if I turn the TV on in the morning the Wally goes into Starting Up mode. I also notice the signal strength on all satellites (110, 119, 129) are all below 30. I have moved the dish (sitting on a tripod) to a spot where the sky is wide open (facing south), no interference and the signal strength is still the same. I am also missing a few channels. And it still is doing the Start Up mode in the morning (the time is set to reset at 2am).
Is there a problem with the dish? Or the receiver? Why can't I get a better signal?
I am in Fallon Nevada 89406....any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!!


PS once the start up has completed it seems to work fine (except for the few missing channels)

[grampachet]

We have been up near the Canada border, Birch Bay, wide open sky.
Satellite 119 kept dropping and we had to reset many times each day. Sometimes there was no sound either.
We moved about 100 miles south, all things worked better but still problems.
I opened up the dish antenna and discovered that the motor for the rotation was loose. I was able to tighten it up. After synchronization of the gears it all appears to be operating correctly. I’ll try it out tomorrow to see if I solved our issues.
I purchased this used and it has never been as reliable as our old one was.
We made a big mistake after being with dish many years and switched to direct. After 6 months of problems and never being able to stream as promised we went back to dish. But during that 6 months we sold our dish system. But now we are back with dish and happy to be here.

[campermama]

Ok how about can anybody tell me what kind of signal strength you are getting on 110, 119, 129, using your portable dishes??

[Bill_Satellite]

The truth is they will all work about the same. If you are unhappy with 1 dome you will likely be unhappy with the other. Bigger is simply better.

[campermama]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
In theory, two properly working domes should preform about the same. The Pathway X2 would give you better performance due to the larger reflector.

The pathway x2 is just too big and bulky, it sounds like the Winegard playmaker may be better made than the one I have. Besides the pathway, there has to be one that will perform better than the one I have, at least I hope so.

Still looking for somebody who has this one --> Winegard White Company PL-7000 Dish Playmaker

Thanks!

[Bill_Satellite]

In theory, two properly working domes should preform about the same. The Pathway X2 would give you better performance due to the larger reflector.

[campermama]

UPDATE!!

I got the new Wally receiver....still have the same problem. I think King will replace the dome dish, but I'm thinking I want a better dish. I am looking at the Winegard White Company PL-7000 Dish Playmaker Portable Antenna
It's got pretty good reviews.Sounds like it will get a better signal than the one I'm using.
Anybody here have one? Like it? Works good?

Thx!!

[Bill_Satellite]

Range Maggot Bob wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:

Range Maggot Bob wrote:
I don't think it's the receiver; like I said, I've done that also. I think it's the tiny little reflector inside the unit that makes it so hard to hit all the satellites. I can hit them, but that's when there is NOTHING in the sky in the way. The guys with the bigger dishes seem to have a much easier time. But it sounds like you're getting there! Slowly but surely. Believe me, I know.....

The reflector inside a dome can NEVER hit all of the satellites at the same time like the larger open face antennas do. The reflector points to only 1 satellite at a time and the software moves the reflector between the satellites as requested by the receiver.

Bill-makes sense to me. But do the larger carry-out type dish receivers make it any easier? I seem to still have a hard time getting all 3 satellites, like Campermama. So it's the software, huh?

Not really. The Winegard Pathway X2 is really the only one with a larger antenna, is DISH only and still has to move between 3 satellites. However, software in the Winegard X2 and Playmaker works very well but my personal choice is the X2 for performance. Of course the Trav'ler is the gold standard for antennas but it's expensive and not portable.

[Range_Maggot_Bo]

jorbill2or wrote:
My problems on my pathway2 have always been lack of enough power. Too long of a coax to the dish. cheap cable , bad connections etc. Also while I love the wally functionality ,the 211 I carry seems to almost always connect more easily. If I just cant get the dish to lock on I pull out the 211 and it almost always works. The ones with smaller dishes are I think at the limit anyway of being able to receive a useable signal and the Wally reputation for not providing enough power to the dish is earned in my mind.

RG11 nickel-coated water-proof blah blah blah cable made all the difference in the world for us. Even at 100' I still get a full 12V. (or whatever it's supposed to be; can't remember exactly)

[Range_Maggot_Bo]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

Range Maggot Bob wrote:
I don't think it's the receiver; like I said, I've done that also. I think it's the tiny little reflector inside the unit that makes it so hard to hit all the satellites. I can hit them, but that's when there is NOTHING in the sky in the way. The guys with the bigger dishes seem to have a much easier time. But it sounds like you're getting there! Slowly but surely. Believe me, I know.....

The reflector inside a dome can NEVER hit all of the satellites at the same time like the larger open face antennas do. The reflector points to only 1 satellite at a time and the software moves the reflector between the satellites as requested by the receiver.

Bill-makes sense to me. But do the larger carry-out type dish receivers make it any easier? I seem to still have a hard time getting all 3 satellites, like Campermama. So it's the software, huh?

[jorbill2or]

My problems on my pathway2 have always been lack of enough power. Too long of a coax to the dish. cheap cable , bad connections etc. Also while I love the wally functionality ,the 211 I carry seems to almost always connect more easily. If I just cant get the dish to lock on I pull out the 211 and it almost always works. The ones with smaller dishes are I think at the limit anyway of being able to receive a useable signal and the Wally reputation for not providing enough power to the dish is earned in my mind.

[Bill_Satellite]

Range Maggot Bob wrote:
I don't think it's the receiver; like I said, I've done that also. I think it's the tiny little reflector inside the unit that makes it so hard to hit all the satellites. I can hit them, but that's when there is NOTHING in the sky in the way. The guys with the bigger dishes seem to have a much easier time. But it sounds like you're getting there! Slowly but surely. Believe me, I know.....

The reflector inside a dome can NEVER hit all of the satellites at the same time like the larger open face antennas do. The reflector points to only 1 satellite at a time and the software moves the reflector between the satellites as requested by the receiver.

[Range_Maggot_Bo]

I don't think it's the receiver; like I said, I've done that also. I think it's the tiny little reflector inside the unit that makes it so hard to hit all the satellites. I can hit them, but that's when there is NOTHING in the sky in the way. The guys with the bigger dishes seem to have a much easier time. But it sounds like you're getting there! Slowly but surely. Believe me, I know.....

[campermama]

Sooo I called Dish, they are sending me a new Wally, so we will see what happens....upon further investigation, since I was thinking it was possibly the dish alignment....if I move it just a little bit I lose sat 129, but when I look up the coordinates for Sat 129 it shows the elevation of about 43 degrees, this is pointing pretty high up! Like no obstacles could be in the way. Sat 110 & 119 are close to the same elevation. How can the dish be so temperamental? So maybe it is the receiver? Going crazy with this!!

[Happytraveler]

We replaced our Dish DVR receiver with a Wally, plus external hard drive. We were on vacation and couldn't get satellite reception in the living area until after 12:00 P.M. We had no problem with the bedroom TV. It was so weird. We even tried it at home and had the same results.