Need help with Dish

Did you look at the signal strength? It is an option in the utilities. I don't have Dish but I did at one time. My parents have Dish because there is no cable where they live. Several things can go wrong.

(1) Wind can knock the alignment of the satellite off if it isn't tight. Do you know how to readjust it?

(2) Heavy cloud cover or rain can interrupt. But that is rare.

(3) Trees are a big problem if they are in the line of site to the satellite. It has to have a clear view of the western sky as the satellites are approximately over Arizona for Dish in North America.

(4) You could have a loose cable or a bad connection. Who installed the cable from the dish to the receiver?

I know this doesn't really solve your problem but it may give you some ideas.

Did you know a satellite receiver will go out for 1 minute twice a year? It is when the sun is positioned such that the satellite is directly between your receiver and the sun. That happens as the earth rotates and tilts.

Good luck.

Alabamason, It might be a loose cable that you mentioned. A Dish Satellite rep. installed it for me. They charge a fee to send a technician out to fix the problem and that kind of bites, if you know what I mean?

To fix the problem call Direct TV

I second the recommendation that you check the signal strength. You can find it by :
menu button
System Setup
Installation
Point Dish/Signal

You should get a signal bar down at the bottom . Should be getting above 60% but this time of year, on a clear night you should get over 80%.

If not, and you can get to the dish (without falling off the house), if you can get someone to look at that signal bar while someone else loosens the bolts holding the dish and moves the dish A LITTLE bit one way or another . (Little bit here being the operative words). The signal should go up or down.
Whoever is moving the dish should set it to maximum level and tighten down the bolts. Actually a real easy 2 person job, and easier yet said assuming you have relitavely easy access to the dish.
I have actually set mine (at my place on the coast) by turning up the volume and listening . A one person job if you can hear the sound from the dish as it has a tone that goes up or down as well as a bar.

The up and down should be set and not have to be messed with as it is most likely ok once it was put in unless you moved it across changes in latitude.

The steps I told you for getting to the signal strength bar are as they are on my Dish 500. They may vary a little if you have a newer system.

Before you start however, it is best to check that nothing is blocking the air space between the dish and the SW sky like a tree limb that has grown that you haven't noticed.

quote:

Originally posted by Smooth operator:
To fix the problem call Direct TV

I got Dishnet myself because Direct TV people were too stupid to deal with.

Jimbo, I may be your gal tonight!
My parents Direct TV Dish was doing the same thing earlier & I went to check it for them,
and guess what, it was FROZEN! So you might want to check it & pour some hot water (just from your sink) over the eye & onto the dish! It cleared it right up & is still working great as of 5 minutes ago when I called to check! Hope that helps!

)ne thing I forgot to mention. Get a level and make damm sure the post that the actual dish attaches to is vertical. Straight up and down. Plumb. (well you get the idea)
If it is not, you will never be able to properly adjust the dish.

Jmbo are you running the HD Dish? I rarely had problems out of my Dish Network for the last 5 to 6 years until I recently installed HD. Turns out, the problem lied in the "barrells" which connected the wires which ran from the satellite to the house. The old connectors were apparently fine for standard definition but weren't adequately handling the load from the high definition signal.