Wounded by the Dish
Southern US
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Joined: 05/20/2003
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Thank you all for the kind feedback. It is really nice to know I was able to find and help some other people with the same problems I was having. Please feel free to copy and pass around the information in any way you like, with or without attribution. I don't need any credit; I just want to help other people keep the hair they have!
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deerby
Irondequoit, NY
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Joined: 01/24/2002
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One thing I learned about Dish Network (500) is that there are very few channels on the 110 sat. that are worth watching. I usually skip the 110 and go for the 119 bird. That way I have no need to do the switch check while setting up. The 119 bird has HBO and the network feeds as well as most of the news networks. Unless you have the need for pay fo view stuff it save a lot of agrivation getting both birds. Just a thought.
Dennis(Firefighter/EMT) & Florine(RN)
2000 Rockwood T2502 Ultra-Lite
2003 Ford F-250 SC "True Blue Metalic" 6.0L PSD FX4 Off Road
Tekonsha PRODIGY---- Fold-A-Cover hard Tonneau cover
Twin Honda eu2000i's--- Dish Network Satellite
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Wounded by the Dish
Southern US
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Joined: 05/20/2003
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I agree about the 110 not having that many channels worth watching. Omitting it from your setup however, will not affect the problem caused by the receiver having been setup last on a different kind of switch. The setup menus tell you to connect only to the 119 during initial Dish aiming anyway so that's no change. The problem is there will be no beeping if, the last time it was set up, your 301 receiver was connected to a DishPro LNB (which incorporates a different switch than the "21 switch" attached to the cables from my RV's dual LNB, described in the original post).
By the way, if you're using a Dish 500 antenna, setting the skew is all that's necessary to get channels from the 110 satellite, once you've aimed the dish for the strongest signal from the 119, assuming you have a view of the 110's sky. I have found setting up the 110 to be a bit of a no-brainer - IF your dish can see it, which may be more of a challenge in Rochester. Optimizing the signal from the 119 always gives me a strong signal from the 110. Fine-tuning the skew doesn't seem to be that important, so I just never change it if I'm within a day's drive of home.
Of course, viewing channels on the 110 is a matter of preference, but it has local channels on it, too. We usually camp close enough to home still to be able to get them. We also like getting weather forecasts that include our camping area. We were camping in Rusk, Texas near Palestine, TX when the space shuttle came down. We were awakened by multiple booms that sounded like blasting in a quarry 200 yards away! REALLY loud. The DFW stations seemed to be news central for that story. By the way, we found and notified the authorities about four pieces of shuttle debris. My wife has this incredible ability to pick out what she's looking for among clutter. She can actually look at a patch of clover and point, saying, "There's a four-leaf clover. And there's another one." Amazing. She found three pieces of shuttle debris and I found one - blowing across the road in the breeze before she walked outside!! The shuttle came down in SO many little pieces (the ones we found were about an inch by two inches) and in such thick woods finding all of it seems quite impossible. Those pieces we found were all in the state park where we camped and all were in clear areas within twenty feet or so of a road. We could see that a rain and especially leaves falling in autumn would have obscured every piece we found. As interesting as all of that was, one could never forget that somewhere there were pieces of very talented people, too. We found it to be a profoundly sad experience.
If you're talking about finding a place where you can see one of the satellites through the trees but not both, just giving up on the 110 is a potentially sanity-saving idea! We seem to be blessed with a lack of thick or tall forests here in Dallas/Fort Worth and points west. ;-) I usually choose a camping site has the view of the sky I need for both satellites, so I can drive myself crazy, figuring out how to set up this dish! It's a challenge!
Thanks very much your post. That's a great idea when you're setting up in the woods (and another reason to go with DirecTV where everything is in one place). Threading the needle through the branches is quite possible with one satellite, but essentially impossible with two - unless you're a REAL glutton for punishment.
I see you're a fireman and your wife is an RN. Thank you both for dedicating your lives to helping others. We appreciate your work!
*This Message was edited on 25-May-03 02:19 PM by Wounded by the Dish*
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95Flair
Bethel Pa.
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Joined: 05/17/2003
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We also have a Dish 500 system. It`s a roof mounted Dish. Biggest RV mistake I`ve made. Forget about camping in the shade of trees. You`ll search forever and not find the signal.
The LNB`s at home are different(Dual) while the one on the MH is a single LNB. I found out by mistake that if you aim it 110 degree you`ll get all your premium channels. Aiming at the 119 degree satellite will get you your basic channels.(Or vice versa) You need to switch between the two to recieve all the channels. This is fine but another added hassle.
Hope this helps anyone
95 Flair
A wife, 2 daughters, and a dog named Zelda located in Pa. Dutch Country
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Wounded by the Dish
Southern US
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Joined: 05/20/2003
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I didn't know there was such a thing as a Dish 500 system with a single LNB. Do you have the DishPro integrated dual LNB (looks like a fat LNB, but is really two)? It would say DishPro on the LNB itself. Does your dish have Dish 500 painted on it? I can't figure out why anyone would sell you a dish that's specifically made to receive two satellites and only put one LNB on it.
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lonestarkeystone
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
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Joined: 05/11/2003
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I use the Wingard tripod from Camping World. I threw away the screw in the ground mount and, instead, bought a 35lb barbell plate from Wal-mart. Put in on the ground under the tripod and loop a bungy cord down through it ... Mine has stayed stable and stead though the worst of Texas storms.
On a separate but related topic, how does one go about getting a waiver to receive the NYC and LA network TV stations. I spend most of my time in Texas but do go to Colorado and NM out of Network range quite often, and would liek to have Network TV there. The DIsh cust Service people told me I had to call from the zip code that doesnt have local service and do it from there. That doesnt sound right to me as I have heard of other people filling out an RV Waiver and then having the remote network service added.
--
2004 Gulfstream Yellowstone Model 34FBR
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Wounded by the Dish
Southern US
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Joined: 05/20/2003
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Hi, lonestarkeystone. I do not have network feeds because so far, we've only camped close to home. But I found the following two documents on Dish Network's site: http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/locals/rv_truck/index.shtml
This document says that all the requirements to qualify for distant feeds are on the waiver form. This URL is to the waiver form: http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/programming/RV_DECLARATION_6_LOCALS.pdf and it does not say anything about having to call from away from home. According to the two documents all you need to do is fill out the form, attach a copy of your RV's registration, choose which feeds you want and mail it in. Maybe since you are apparently not required to contact Customer Service at all, that's why different CS reps give such different info on this subject; they might not be trained on it at all. I hope this helps.
*This Message was edited on 26-May-03 07:42 PM by Wounded by the Dish*
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Wounded by the Dish
Southern US
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Joined: 05/20/2003
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Deleted based on new information I have incorporated into the original post - top of page one. WbtD
* This post was
edited 02/27/04 11:13pm by Wounded by the Dish *
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Tlempicke
Greenwood, SC
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Joined: 05/23/2003
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That waiver form is because the FAA requires them to have it in order to allow you to view programming that is not in your home territory.
We have the waiver and use the New York local channels because they are on the 119 Sat. Since we have our Sat dish installed on top of the coach dish 500 is not an option unless I want to set up a dish on a tripod.
2006 Kountry Coach
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid Toad
AB4YV
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95Flair
Bethel Pa.
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Joined: 05/17/2003
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I wasn`t sold a single LNB, I just never up graded the MH LNB when I did the House. So this is how I make do for the time being. I bought everything before they added a Dish 500 lineup and forced us all to upgrade and I just didn`t want to go ahead and buy all new MH stuff all over again.
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