help with satellite dish on the ice

[sammy81777]

was up to mille lacs last week in my new wheelhouse and could'nt get a signal i have direct tv any info would be great

[vman11]

Check your vertical angle (the up/down tilt of your dish) - this is pretty critical. I can't remember what it is off hand, but your DirecTv tech will.

I also use a signal meter that connects between the dish and the receiver AND use the receiver to find the optimal left/right tilt. Goto Menu-Parental, Fav's and Setup-System Setup-Sat & Antenna - View Signal Strength-Signal Meters.

This will tell you how strong your signal is. Once you have your vertical angle tightened down, rotate your dish left to right until you catch a signal. Anything over 50 will do.

Double check your coaxial connections as well. Finally, make sure your dish is facing South. Any other direction and your out of luck.

[blue_healer_guy]

Im a huge believer in a non mounted dish. The only thing if you have your axis and stuff aligned before you leave u have to worry about is level. very easy to do with a shovel. Another reason is wind, you can hide the dish and or position doors, heater vent, if not mounted. Easier to move dish on a platform than one mounted to a house. I have dish net and its more s,sw. Takes me less than 5 min, game on.

[mnbuckhunter]

Check your vertical angle (the up/down tilt of your dish) - this is pretty critical. I can't remember what it is off hand, but your DirecTv tech will.

I also use a signal meter that connects between the dish and the receiver AND use the receiver to find the optimal left/right tilt. Goto Menu-Parental, Fav's and Setup-System Setup-Sat & Antenna - View Signal Strength-Signal Meters.

This will tell you how strong your signal is. Once you have your vertical angle tightened down, rotate your dish left to right until you catch a signal. Anything over 50 will do.

Double check your coaxial connections as well. Finally, make sure your dish is facing South. Any other direction and your out of luck.

I agree with everything here. I was up to Mille Lacs last week and was up and running with DirecTV within 5 minutes. Use a signal meter. It makes a big difference. Also, if you go into your satellite setup, you can put in the zip code where you are at and it will tell you what direction to point the dish. I think it was 187 degrees where I was. Get out the compass, make a line in the snow and set your dish (mine is on a tripod). Then use the signal meter to fine tune your aim(left right/up down). Check your signal strength on the receiver and you're good to go. One thing I noticed setting mine up was that the signal meter picked up a lot of signal even if it wasn't pointing in the right direction... meaning there's a lot of satellites to pick up... you just have to find the right one. If you get it pointed in the right direction (as in 187 degrees), you're good to go.

I had to practice this at home a few times before I got the hang of it.

Good Luck

[Jim Almquist]

If you are mounting it to your house you have to make sure that it runs straight up and down or it will throw off all of your other measurements. When it is straight then you put in your zip and it will tell you your Long. and Lat. and what I liked to do is tighten everything snug and then turn on the signal meter and see if you have any signal and if there is none push it a little and see if it picks up any signal. First right then left, then up and then down and if you have it close you should hit it. If you are too far off you might pick up Dish's sat. Make sure to hold it for a few seconds in order for the receiver to pick up the signal.