View Full Version : Direct TV question
bendog
03-26-2007, 11:01 AM
I'm not picking up signal. The dish pointing assistance says my azimuth is off 3degrees. I know what that is, but realistically how difficult is this to fix?
Normally I wouldn't ask, but I sprained my good knee, and now my plantar's gone out (because I didn't stretch it with the knee that didn't bend) so I won't be climbing ladders for a couple of weeks. I can send my 6th grade little girl dog up, and she probably can use a compass better than me, but I don't want her up there for an hour while I limp in to see if we've got a signal.
I'm looking at the sat dish this morning, and I'd guess one would have to just hold the compass on the little ball thingee in the middle of the dish, find true north, aling the ring thingee on the compass, and move to the correct azimuth. But, practically speaking, how easy is this?
Call the installation guys, or buy a compass and send the kid up on the roof?
TailgateNut
03-26-2007, 11:09 AM
I'm not picking up signal. The dish pointing assistance says my azimuth is off 3degrees. I know what that is, but realistically how difficult is this to fix?
Normally I wouldn't ask, but I sprained my good knee, and now my plantar's gone out (because I didn't stretch it with the knee that didn't bend) so I won't be climbing ladders for a couple of weeks. I can send my 6th grade little girl dog up, and she probably can use a compass better than me, but I don't want her up there for an hour while I limp in to see if we've got a signal.
I'm looking at the sat dish this morning, and I'd guess one would have to just hold the compass on the little ball thingee in the middle of the dish, find true north, aling the ring thingee on the compass, and move to the correct azimuth. But, practically speaking, how easy is this?
Call the installation guys, or buy a compass and send the kid up on the roof?
I had a problem similar to yours last spring. What had happened is that the giant tree in my neighbors yard had grown sufficiently to prevent a clear "shot" at the satelite.
Just a thought!
bendog
03-26-2007, 11:17 AM
hmmm, that's not unlikely as my neighbor has a maple tree in the LOS. What was your solution? Climb on your roof and move the azimuth or cut down your neighbor's tree?
dbfan4life
03-26-2007, 11:18 AM
I had a similar problem with DTV. Right after I had it installed, I was having signal problems. The problem was with the mounting screws (it was installed on top of the roof). Since the work was still under warranty, a service guy came and moved the location to the edge of the roof. A couble days later, same problem. This time I fixed it myself by wedging a 2X4 behind the satellite for support. More than likely, your problem is with the mounting of the dish.
houghtam
03-26-2007, 02:19 PM
We had to put a 2X4 behind the bracket for support as well. Try that first.
cmhargrove
03-26-2007, 05:46 PM
If you are going to mess with it, make sure to have your signal meter on (in the satellite receiver menu settings). That will take out a lot of unnecessary trips and guesswork. You can make small adjustments and see exactly how your signal changes (by percent).
TailgateNut
03-26-2007, 05:54 PM
hmmm, that's not unlikely as my neighbor has a maple tree in the LOS. What was your solution? Climb on your roof and move the azimuth or cut down your neighbor's tree?
I moved it two feet to the south, and it fixed the issue. (at least until the tree grows some more)
bendog
03-26-2007, 05:55 PM
Since I can't get up there, and you guys were mentioning hardware problems, and just not azimuth stuff. I just called them. Supposedly, they're sending some guy out tomorrow. I pay 50bucks for relocating the dish, but what they're gonna do is give me a dvr dish for free (five bucks extra a month), deactivate my old one (but leave it in case I want to activate it for a seconc tv assuming my wife get's her parent's **** out of my den, or I put a tv in the kid's room).
I wanted to wait to upgrade until I could afford Hi-def, but ..... I'm so old and cheap I prolly won't do it even if I can afford it.
Since I can't get up there, and you guys were mentioning hardware problems, and just not azimuth stuff. I just called them. Supposedly, they're sending some guy out tomorrow. I pay 50bucks for relocating the dish, but what they're gonna do is give me a dvr dish for free (five bucks extra a month), deactivate my old one (but leave it in case I want to activate it for a seconc tv assuming my wife get's her parent's **** out of my den, or I put a tv in the kid's room).
I wanted to wait to upgrade until I could afford Hi-def, but ..... I'm so old and cheap I prolly won't do it even if I can afford it.
That's always the right move. Just call and complain and they will send somebody out. The customer is always right. Works for me.