Wow, and I thought I had it rough with setting my direct-tv dish using nothing but a compass and the tv's meter!! Takes me about 3-5 minutes every time!!
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My suggestion re-sat finder meters is this: Hammer Rock
Use a portable TV, a length of coax (RG-59 will do) and MENU 6-1-1 on a DISH receiver, it's about 1,000 percent better than the standard sat finder meter
Now... If you happen to have a Bird Dog meter (About 400 bucks used) Ignore this post
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wa8yxm wrote: My suggestion re-sat finder meters is this: Hammer (meter) Rock
LOL! I was about this far from doing that yesterday! (Holding thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart)
Quote: Use a portable TV, a length of coax (RG-59 will do) and MENU 6-1-1 on a DISH receiver, it's about 1,000 percent better than the standard sat finder meter
I guess I'll play with it some more, but I felt the response time of the 611 screen was rather slow. The meter is touchy, but it has very a fast response.
Quote: Now... If you happen to have a Bird Dog meter (About 400 bucks used) Ignore this post
I was looking at those, very nice. But a bit overkill for this application. Although I have to admit that I was getting so frustrated yesterday that I probably could've gotten talked into it...
creeper wrote:
ShapeShifter wrote: Lesson Learned: Don't use a DPP Separator when using a finder meter!
I use my cheapo sat finder and have the DPP separator installed. Have had it that way all the time.
I dunno... maybe there's something different in mine that makes it more sensitive to whatever is going on with the DPP separator. All I know is it worked much better without it. Apparently, different meters have different vulnerabilities. Do what works for you, and I'll keep doing what works for me.
The real test will come tomorrow, when we arrive at the dog show and I try to set up the dish for the weekend.
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There's a DC feed for the LNB, and the sat finder meter also uses this. Your DPP separator might've been drawing too much current in conjunction with the finder, or blocking part of it, making the meter flaky.
You'll notice that there are several sats along in the same line, so when you swing the dish back and forth, you'll get a few false peaks. The sat finder meter is just a mindless signal strength meter and could care less about what satellite it's 'looking' at. I've peaked on the wrong sat many times. It's also touchy. Just tightening a dish mount screw can drop the signal because the dish moves less than you can even see with your eyeballs.
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For DTV I just use the $10 signal meter and compass.
Point dish in general direction, move dish up and down a little, turn it sideways a tad and up and down again. Repeat until found. This will find the sat in about a minute under a clear sky but will take longer in wooded areas. I don't even knew what skew is. Turn that meter wide open. If it goes off the scale you know you got something.
Clouds should no make much difference for the signal.
The problem nowadays is that there a lot of sats in the sky and you will get a lot of signals, just have to get the right one.
For OP, in a wooded area I've had much the same problem where you said it would go in and out randomly. Then it is probably a tree branch or bunch of leaves moving in the breeze. And it can be a barely noticible wind.
I believe those meter movements you see are normal occurrences that occur when the system is searching for a satellite signal or transponder. To prevent the unwanted meter movements make sure your TV has the satellite signal strength bar showing from the setup menu (6-1-1). Jack
Beaker wrote: Can someone tell me what a DPP seperator is?
DPP stands for Dish Pro Plus. It is a frequency stacking technology that allows you to feed a dual tuner DVR with a single coax cable, yet still be able to watch two different channels on different satellites at the same time. To understand what it does, you need a bit of background...
When you change channels on any satellite system, the receiver sends commands back to the dish or switch (dishes that can see multiple satellites have a switch built into the dish, other setups can have external switches) to select which satellite it wants to see, and also to select the odd or even transponders on that satellite. Then, the dish/switch sends all of the channels on the selected set of transponders of the selected satellite to the receiver, and the receiver picks out the channel it wants. Switch to a different channel, and you likely will have to switch to a different satellite and set of transponders.
The thing is that each satelite/transponder group is sent from the dish to the receiver at the same frequencies. This is why you can't just use a regular splitter to connect multiple receivers to a single dish. If you did, receiver A would be asking for one set of signals, and receiver B would be asking for a different set of signals. Not only would the dish/switch be confused by conflicting commands, it can't send both sets of signals at the same frequency.
So, what this means is that normally, if you have a dual tuner receiver, you need two lines run from the dish to the receiver. That way, each tuner can get its own set of signals without interference.
The Dish Pro Plus technology gets around this by using frequency stacking. The dish is set up so that it can accept two sets of commands from a dual tuner receiver, one for each tuner. It then sends the signals for tuner 1 out at the normal frequencies, and sends the tuner 2 signals out at a higher frequency. These two sets of signals can then travel down the same coax. When they reach the receiver, it hits the Dish Pro Plus Seperator (which looks like a regular old splitter, but isn't) which breaks apart the signals, and send the higher frequency signals to tuner 2, and the normal frequency signals to tuner 1. Tuner 2 then converts those frequencies to the normal range, and processes them to extract the desired channels.
So, it all boils down to it being a special little box that allows two tuners to use the same wire. And I think that is the gist of the problem -- with two tuners accessing the same cable, and therefore feeding power and commands to the same tuning meter, I guess it can get certain meters confused. By taking out the DPP Seperator, and just using the tuner 1 output, there doesn't seem to be the confusion, and my meter seems to be a lot happier.
Mont G&J wrote: I believe those meter movements you see are normal occurrences that occur when the system is searching for a satellite signal or transponder. To prevent the unwanted meter movements make sure your TV has the satellite signal strength bar showing from the setup menu (6-1-1). Jack
A good point. But I did have the receiver at the point dish menu, with the proper dish type and satellite selected.
Skew doesn't apply to a dish that only sees one satellite. For those that can see two or more, the skew setting twists the dish on it's mounting axis. If you've ever seen a dish that seemed to be mounted crookedly, such that the LNB arm isn't at the bottom of the dish, but kind of off to the side, that is the skew.
The satellites are direcly above the equator. When you look up in the sky, the line where they are parked is slanted -- it's highest when looking due south, and drops down as you move east or west. When the dish is looking at multiple satellites, it has to be tilted to the same angle. If you don't once you are locked onto one satellite, the aiming point to the other satellites will be either too high or two low.
Quote: Turn that meter wide open. If it goes off the scale you know you got something.
If I turn it wide open, it's always off the top of the scale. It must be picking up some background noise and going nuts. The gain control on my meter is very sensitive, maybe overly so.
As a side note, when I was playing with it in my back yard, a couple times I locked onto a strong signal (according to the meter) but the receiver said nothing was there. When I looked to see where the dish was actually pointing, it was pointing to the dishes mounted on the side of the house! Apparently, the LNBs are leaking enough energy within the meter's passband that it had no trouble picking them up!
Quote: Clouds should no make much difference for the signal.
Normal cloud cover shouldn't have much of an effect. But thick dark rain clouds can degrade the signal. The frequencies used are easily attenuated by water, which means that clouds, rain, slow, and even tree leaves can have a marked effect on the signal strength.
Quote: The problem nowadays is that there a lot of sats in the sky and you will get a lot of signals, just have to get the right one.
Yep, it's easy to lock onto nothing.
Quote: For OP, in a wooded area I've had much the same problem where you said it would go in and out randomly. Then it is probably a tree branch or bunch of leaves moving in the breeze. And it can be a barely noticible wind.
Last weekend, I was at a campground that had a lot of trees. There were small gaps between them, that should've been big enough to aim through, but I was having no luck finding anything. That's why I picked up the Align-a-site earlier this week. Next time that happens, I should have much less trouble finding a clear line of sight.
I've arrived at camp, got everything else set up, and prepared myself for the dreaded battle with the dish.
I get out the mount, plop it on the ground, and attach the dish without plumbing the mast. I attach the Align-A-Site, and using its bubble levels and compass I dial in the dish position. All this takes about 30 seconds.
Next, I attach the meter, and it immediately starts screaming with a strong signal. Any slight movement of the dish causes the signal strength to dip. Could it be that I hit the target right off the bat?
Incredulous, I go in and check the receiver, and it's got a strong signal on both 110 and 119! Holy cow! A direct hit on the first try!
I'm now sitting here relaxing with a cold one, long before I thought I would be. I'm a happy camper!
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Although I have to admit that I was getting so frustrated yesterday that I probably could've gotten talked into it...
But I did have the receiver at the point dish menu, with the proper dish type and satellite selected. 
