Dish 500 ports 1F & 2D

[bmike1]

I am going to be installing a dish500 soon and when I was seeking advice on how I should proceed I was told to lock the 118 because that is the more difficult satellite to site. Then the genmtleman stressed that I needed to remember that the 118 is on port 1F. He hasn't responded to my query as to what that meant and web searches haven't revealed the answer to me so I figure this question deserves its own thread. I figure that 1F is the designation for the center horn and since 118 is the satellite in the middle we pin that satellite. Is this a good assumption? Another question I have is why that bird is more difficult to site?

As I was researching this query another 'designation' became apparent; that of 2D. What is the meaning of this? Is it like each horn has its own designation?

A while ago, as I was talking with another tech, he mentioned something about tieing two horns together. Would this be done to pick up multiple satellites and so tieing the two together would space them correctly? And so this means that each satellite doesn't have it's own special horn. Any horn can be used for any satellite.

I have so many questions! The next one deserves its own thread.

[bmike1]

I was inspecting my parents dish500 to see if I can teach myself what I need to do to install it. Well, I took their dish apart and see that the ports are labled '1', '2', '3', and '4'. From prior conversations I was told to lock 118 on port 1F. I asked what 1F was but have yet to receive an answer. I am going to assume that port 1F is the first port with the label of '1' on it. From my own research I learned that there is a port called, '2D', which I extrapolate to be the port labeled '2'. Is this correct? What are the designations for ports 3 and 4 and what do the letters represent?

[teched]

You should read the Dish 500+ and 1000+ install instructions:
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Products/Dishn...structions.pdf

The + (plus) is significant because it means the LNB is capable of receiving the signal from 118.7 and 119 making it very different from a Dish 500 (no plus) setup.

[bmike1]

with a dish 500 I need a multiswitch because the lnb doesn't have one built in while thhe 500+ is built in? Would a 500+ LNB fit in there?

[teched]

You might or might not need a switch - it depends on the LNB(s) and the receiver(s).

For a vanilla Dish 500 you don't need to worry about 118 (only worrying about 110 and 119).

Can you take photos of the pieces you have? Photos of the connectors as well as the front & back of the LNB assemblies would help.

If photos aren't an option you could try to match up what you have with DishNetwork DishPro, Plus, Legacy LNB LNBF Dual Single DSS Standard and Universal but it introduces additional opportunities for error.

[bmike1]

I'm pretty sure that it is a vanilla dish500. Too site multiple birds with it would I pin 118 and that would give me the 119 and the 110 satellites?

[bmike1]

Someone already answered this elsewhere.

[bmike1]

It's like this...

You got a dish 500 pointed at 119 and 110. Your skew is set and elevation is set according to whatever zip code your in... me I tuned off the 119, peaked it in... that was it. Everything else falls into place.

You got a dish 1000 pointed at 119, 110, 129. Your skew is set and elevation is set according to whatever zip code your in.... me I tuned off 119, I would then connect to 129 and peak it on 129. Everything else falls into place.

You got a 500+/1000+ pointed at 119,110,129,118.7. Your skew is set and elevation is set according to whatever zip code your in... me I tuned off 119, I would then connect to 118 and peak it on 118. Everything else falls into place.
- - - -
However, the answer does leave me with another question. On line 6 he talks about being 'tuned off' of one satellite but that you 'peak' off of another one. Pray, tell! what does he mean to do? My birdog only locks onto the bird selected.

[pmb1010]

Peaked on 119 (very strong circular sat) that lines up the dish - for the most part.

Now, switching to weaker 118 and now peak that because since you have it in the mix and now want it - it's the "more difficult" one. You have to sacrifice some "119" to peak 118.

The birddog only looks at one sat.
THe dish500+ dish is elliptical and looks at multiple sats at one time.

I hope that makes some sense. Even confuses me...

[bmike1]

yea... I think I get it. With the birdog I can just locate the 118 and not worry about the 119.