Signal Problems?

[bp123]

Hello SatFIX!
Hoping to pick your brains...
I installed my very first dish, with dual LNBs for 2 sats (82/81), and have to say, not too shabby for a beginner.
Now, it was pretty tricky to align, due to the fact that I installed it on a metal fence post, but get about 70-85% signal strength on both sats, even though the sat meter on 91 says otherwise (nice and tight on the post, no wobbling). Now, I get good reception, and clarity, usually, but it snowed last night, with heavy clouds, and the signal dropped to 60-62%, and although my server states connected, still get scrambled channels. I asked around, and apparently, my receiver was asking for C W0rds sporadically, and not steadily (not a problem on server end). I have good connections as far as internet and servers go, but not requesting c w0rds.
Could this be due to the cloud cover? Or do I need to tweak dishes?
Any ideas?

Thanks!

[StanW]

Hello SatFIX!
Hoping to pick your brains...
I installed my very first dish, with dual LNBs for 2 sats (82/81), and have to say, not too shabby for a beginner.
Now, it was pretty tricky to align, due to the fact that I installed it on a metal fence post, but get about 70-85% signal strength on both sats, even though the sat meter on 91 says otherwise (nice and tight on the post, no wobbling). Now, I get good reception, and clarity, usually, but it snowed last night, with heavy clouds, and the signal dropped to 60-62%, and although my server states connected, still get scrambled channels. I asked around, and apparently, my receiver was asking for C W0rds sporadically, and not steadily (not a problem on server end). I have good connections as far as internet and servers go, but not requesting c w0rds.
Could this be due to the cloud cover? Or do I need to tweak dishes?
Any ideas?

Thanks!
Did you clean of snow from the dish/lnbs ? If you did and Q ( not signal) is still low you will have to tweak the dish slightly .

edit : which tps did you use to aim the dish ?

[bp123]

Did you clean of snow from the dish/lnbs ? If you did and Q ( not signal) is still low you will have to tweak the dish slightly .

I did not do that yet, and can't until after work. But when I looked at the dish, it wasn't looking too bad, just a small amount of snow on it. From what I understand, that shouldn't affect signal unless there's like a foot on it... Am I wrong?
Thanks for your reply!

[StanW]

Any snow will affect signal quality , especially if on the face of the lnb or if the dish is off a bit .

[bp123]

But my indirect question was, if the signal quality isn't where it should be, even though im locked on to the sat, will that affect my stb asking for a c w0rd?

Thanks again, I appreciate your input.

[StanW]

It shouldn't . Which receiver are you using?

[bp123]

iLink 9600. As it stands, it worked great for a while, snowed, then nothing. I do however get the other sats with a dish that was prev. installed.

[StanW]

I'm not familiar with your receiver . I've moved your thread to the appropriate forum, hopefully someone will be along shortly to answer your questions in more detail.

Good luck.

[JCO]

I would use a cheap sat meter to aim the dish.. A lot of the receivers are not accurate with their signal meters..
I also remember reading that Ilinks had issues with bev on PS..

[bp123]

I would use a cheap sat meter to aim the dish.. A lot of the receivers are not accurate with their signal meters..
I also remember reading that Ilinks had issues with bev on PS..

I think I have it now.
I used a birdog to tweak it, and cleaned it off, as there was a residue covering the dish. iLink does have issues, but my resolve was disabling other p$ while on B3V. It's a pain, but works.

Thanks for your help.

[Terryl]

It's also in the type of coax you used and how long the run from the dish to the receiver, the types of LNB's you used and what switch is in line.

The coax used is very important, the stuff used for CATV or TV wont work for satellite, also if the run of coax is over 75 feet, then RG-6 quad with a pure copper center should be used.

And grounding the switch and dish is also a big help.