Setting up our satellite TV dish

We have a three-LNB dish so that we can watch local channels in different areas. DirecTV uses the 101 satellite for its national level programs and either the 119 or 110 satellites for local programming (which one depends on the area). This means that there are three settings for the dish - tilt, elevation, and azimuth - and these all three vary with the location. You would think that DirecTV would have these settings listed at their web site, but they do not. You have to get them from the receiver setup system itself. You go into the setup area of their onscreen menu, enter your ZipCode, and read out the three numbers. Then you go set up and aim the dish with those values and you should be properly aimed and ready to receive programming.

But....

If you haven't reset the system for your next location before you move then you can't always get into the starting point of the menu where that info is available. For some strange reason it starts you out at step 5 or 6 of 9 steps! I have never been given an easy way to cancel this out so I can get back to step 1 - until today. DirecTV does give you elevation and azimuth settings at their web site by entering your zip code, and that is what I started with today. Though I got a strong signal, as measured by the signal meter I use, I could not get programming. So, I finally called their tech support and the person told me to hold down the INFO button on the remote for 10 seconds and the menu starting point would appear. It worked! I have explained at least 20 times in the past that I could not get back to step 1 from step 5 or 6, and no tech representative had ever told me to do that. So easy.

So, that got me into the menu where I needed to and I entered the Zip Code and got the three settings. But, wait a moment: their web site gave me elevation 42 and azimuth 147 for 85029 Zip Code and now the setup routine gives me 52 and 164! No wonder I could not get the satellite signal - I was pointing the dish to a totally different part of the sky! Once I used these new settings I got a good signal and away we go - watching TV!

Let me share a secret that even DirecTV does not tell its subscribers. DirecTV uses what is called spot beams that cover different areas of the US. Each spot beam has the local programming for that area but not for adjacent areas. So, if we want the local programming when we are in the Seattle area we need to use the spot beam for Seattle. Cheyenne, Denver, Mobile, Tampa, Boston, and so on, each have their own spot beam. The trick I learned is to change our SERVICE ADDRESS with DirecTV to an address within the spot beam we want; not the billing address, just the service address. Then, when our dish is properly set up we receive the local channels for that area. Since I don't always know the street address of where we will be staying I just go online and look up the address for a Wal-Mart or some other large store somewhere within the spot beam area! It doesn't matter how close that address is to where you will be staying. In fact, once you change the service address to within a spot beam you can get the local channel programming no matter where you move to within the spot beam area! How do you find where these spot beams cover? Go to www.scottandmichelle.net/scott/dtv.html.