Ooops, Tractor 1, Satelite Dish 0

18 years ago

I was out today working with my tractor.

I was plowing my Dad's garden (he lives next door.

Last year I had tried to level the area behind my house.

So I brought a bunch of dirt in and dumped it in a pile.

I never did get far with that project and the pile of dirt

is hard to mow around and looks alful when the weeds grow up.

So today before I parked the tractor, I figured I could take

the plow and scatter that pile out some.

This pile of dirt is right behind our back deck.

A Dish Network Super Dish is mounted low to the ground.

I got too close and clipped it with the tractor tire.

Instantly the two reciever boxes lost signal.

No problem. I probably just knocked it out of alignment.

So I went into the setup menu and got the signal strength meter to re aim the dish.

I put my wife in front of the TV to watch the meter and I

loosened the bolts on the dish and moved it around some.

Signal went back up to 115. All channels came back on the DVR.

Went to the other TV. It has a plain reciever box.

It took a long time to aquire signal but it finally did.

But it doesn't have all the channels it should have.

I poked around in the setup menues and found a screen

that told me input #1 is NC. Inputs 2 and 3 are fine.

But that reciever is missing a bunch of channels and all local channels.

There are 3 cables going to the LNB on the dish.

I'm thinking that when the tire caught it is pulled a wire loose.

And it is probably input #1. But which wire is #1.

Gonna called my local installer tomorrow and see what he says.

He installed the system. He has always been real helpful.

If he will fix it and it gets to billed to DN it will be fine.

But if Dish Network makes me pay for this I don't know what we do.

I was hoping someone here mite have some advice for me.

There are 3 cables going to the LNB on the dish.

Which one is input #1. If I don't see a visible problem how do I test it.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (12)

dgmarie
18 years ago
It is likely that a cable was pulled out of a connector. Dishes these days have multiple "feeds" and each one looks at a different satellite. One of the cables was probably ripped out of its connector. You should be able to remove the mount for the feeds and see the connectors. One will probably look different from all the others and will be obviously missing a cable. It isn't hard to repair this. The connectors are the exact ones used for cable TV (RG-6 cable) and are available from Radio Shack or Home Depot. Instructions for installation are on the back of the package.
Pooh Bear
Original Author
18 years ago
I can see and trace all of the cables from the switch to the LNB.
They all look fine, but one may be internally damaged.
I'm thinking one of them was pulled enough to break the connection,
but not pull it out of the screw on connector end.
So it looks connected, but it is really not.

I'll call the local installer in the morning.
And if he can come out and fix it then fine.
Otherwise, I may just have to look at it myself.
It's a short run from the LNB to the switch.
So I could just replace the whole cable if need be.

Pooh Bear
Related Discussions
Rust
Q
Comments (1)
We use a combination of Nickel Plus and K-Phite. It's working great. We spray with both, using a sticker-spreader we got at Tractor Supply. We also add their blue dye now, because it helps us see where we have missed a spot. It isn't very easy to see through goggles, with sweat pouring down in your eyes. Just avoid spraying any blossoms, unless you are really desperate for a blue daylily. We were advised to spray once a week for 3 weeks, then wait 3 weeks before spraying again. I've only sprayed once this fall, since it has been raining off and on ever since. Occasionally, I will have a plant that shows sign of rust, but nothing like it was before I started using the nickel. I wouldn't use anything else. Well, let me take that back. I am going to try some Actinovate on just a few isolated and unimportant plants to see how it works. The only thing I don't like is having to don all that protective gear, but I wouldn't have it otherwise. I'm very cautious. We use goggles, a special pesticide mask we bought at Lowes, chemical gloves (also at Lowe's), rubber boots and a yellow rain slicker. My hubby and our yardman refuse to put on a garbage bag drawstring skirt, but if I'm doing the spraying, I wear that, too. I'll have to get my hubby to take a picture of me in that fancy outfit so everyone can get a good laugh. When the weather is warm, we get very sweaty in all that garb! We start very early in the morning while it is still cool. We have a big tank sprayer on wheels we pull behind our riding lawn mower. It runs on the lawn mower battery. We got an extra length of hose so we can cover more territory. One of us drives the lawn mower while the other sprays. I could do it by myself, but it takes longer to have to keep stopping to move the mower ahead. We wash the tank out thoroughly after spraying and run clear water through the wand when we have finished. Aren't you cold climate people lucky??? Nancy
...See More
Using Dried Molasses in the Garden
Q
Comments (22)
Jill, You're welcome. Dried molasses is one of those things that sounds "odd" until you understand how it works to improve microbial life in the soil, isn't it? I think the molasses sold as a cattle supplement could work as long as you know they haven't addded anything to it that would be bad for your soil or for stuff grown in that soil. From what I understand, when sugar beets or sugar cane are processed to make sugar, sugar is the primary product they're after. So, after they've made the sugar, the leftover syrupy stuff is made into molasses for human consumption and for use in the garden. Then, the lower quality stuff that is left over from that process is turned into cattle feed. Unless something peculiar is added to it for the cattle, I don't know why it wouldn't work to stimulate microbial activity in the soil too. I'm less certain about the corn meal sold as cattle feed. Do you know if it is labeled as "corn meal" or as corn gluten meal" because I think it makes a difference. Corn gluten meal is the one used on the soil. How wonderful that you getting some ripe tomatoes! That is when it really feels like summer! And your daughter sounds like she's on the road to becoming a gardener herself! One funny thing about SunGold is that a lot of people who grow it the first time will complain that it doesn't taste that great, and then all of us who grow it every year are saying "What????" After a while, we figured out that a lot of newbies were harvesting it too early....as soon as it went from green to gold and weren't waiting for it to turn that distinctive golden-orange. So, clearly your daughter knew to wait for the Sungolds to get to the "yummy" stage which makes her a pretty smart cookie! I have tons of tomatoes on the plants, and it is a good thing, because "cool and rainy" are a distant memory here. Since our temps are in the danger zone, and are cranking up even higher this week, I probably won't get much additional fruit set on the plants that produce large tomatoes. If I can keep the cherry, currant, grape and paste types healthy, though, they'll set fruit for months yet. I did a walk-through of every row last night, and I have a handful of plants that look really bad. One of them is Wapisipicon Peach, which has never looked very good--just stayed wispy and wimpy and off-colored the whole time, literally from the day it was transplanted into the garden. It wilted and died over a 3 to 4 day period, so I'll take it out today. Two others that just look really bad and have had early blight for weeks are Caspian Pink and Valena Pink. Both of them are about 5' tall and the early blight has just traveled from bottom to top of the plant very rapidly. I've been trying to baby them along, but think I'll take them out today as they are getting worse and not better. The Valena Pink has two huge tomatoes that must weigh a pound-and-a-half or two. They are some of the largest tomatoes I've ever had on a plant. Those two are far enough along that I can pick them now and I think they will ripen. There are about a half-dozen smaller ones that won't though. Caspian Pink often looks really bad but outgrows the blight most years, but I don't think it will this year. Considering I have 140 plants, taking out a couple is no big deal. I do everything I can to avoid foliar diseases, except I don't spray with a fungicide as a preventive measure, and this is actually the best year ever. Usually I have blight on quite a few of them, so only having a bad case of it on three of them is not too bad. Long ago, I had to give up on the idea of having "beautiful" plants and settle for plants that produce ripe tomatoes! However, this year a lot of them do look pretty beautiful. I guess it is hard for early blight to grow and spread when there is no moisture. : ) Keep looking on the bright side.....because the weather has been wicked this year and you can't let it get you down. I am sorry you aren't going to have a good spring corn crop. Mine went in so late due to the late freezes that I don't know if I am going to get good ears or not. The corn itself looks great and has just tasseled, but with these high temperatures, the pollen may be sterile. I guess time will tell. Sorry about your pumpkins and okra too.....thank God for the fall garden! For fall corn, I think I am going to grow shoepeg corn ("Country Gentleman") because it is DH's and DS's favorite corn. I have "Seredipity" for spring corn and will just keep my fingers crossed that it pollinates before the heat gets too bad. M okra is making a slow recovery from being nibbled to the ground by the deer. About 8 plants came back although the others died. I should get okra from those 8, but have replanted more to replace the ones that didn't survive. One thing about fall gardening that I love (other than the fact that we get a "second chance" with crops that underperformed) is that a lot of the pests' life cycles are geared towards spring and summer crops. I never have as much of a pest problem on fall crops as on spring ones. And, now that I have a fence that truly seems to be deer-proof, I can grow more cool-season crops in the fall. Our deer have always preferred all the cool-season crops to the warm-season ones, especially cabbage and broccoli. Sweet potatoes love heat, so maybe it has been too cool for them to grow and maybe they will kick into gear now that more summer heat has arrived. With all the rain some of you have had, especially in your part of the state, I am amazed you have any garden left at all. I remember last year when my garden stayed wet for weeks and weeks, and even in the raised beds the moisture levels stayed incredibly high, and everything suffered greatly. To think y'all are having that kind of mositure again is mind-boggling. It is hard (but not impossible) to give peppers too much moisure (or soil that is too rich). Are your peppers off-color and dropping leaves? That probably would be too much moisture OR a nitrogen deficiency because the water-clogged roots can't take up nutrients because they are so full of water. If your tomatoes and peppers are in beds with identical drainage, the peppers "ought to" thrive if the tomatoes are thriving. Of course, your tomato plants probably are much larger than the pepper plants, so they can and do use more moisture. So, thinking about it in those terms, I can see why the peppers might be suffering. Last year I just kept my peppers in containers all summer and had a really good harvest and I don't think they would have done well here in last year's moisture. Too hot and dry....too cool and wet....too much this, and too little that. I'd like to have one year, just one year, with AVERAGE temperatures and AVERAGE rainfall. Instead, we seem to swing from one extreme to another, which IS (unfortunately) normal for us. At least we aren't in poor, flooded Iowa or in the San Francisco area where they are having temps in the 100s to 110s instead of their usual 70s and low 80s. A lot of California gardeners on the Tomato Forum have been begging for "hot weather plant tips" and, as you know from living here, there's not a lot you can do about the heat except hope it cools off. Our weather may be odd, but it still is pretty much what we and our gardens are used to having. Dawn
...See More
Think Small. Furnish A Camping Kitchen.
Q
Comments (24)
We have a 30' class A RV. With your space constrictions (we used to tent camp with everything in totes and coolers), I would say 1 skillet, 1 sauce pan, and a dutch oven with a lid. Lids for them all if possible. 1 flipper, 1 spatula/scraper, 1 slotted spoon, 1 solid bowl spoon. Collapsable bowls and collander. Pot holders/mits. Matches. Salt, pepper, paprika, italian seasoning, chili powder, what ever seasonings you would usually use at home. Tones makes tiny containers with a large selection of spices/seasonings for around $1, that are about the size of Annie's film cans. Portable gas grill. Dish soap, dish towels, paper towels. A friend gave me the idea of using a paper towel holder bungie corded to the awning post to have them handy outside when cooking/eating. Table ware can be stored in small plastic totes. Dish pan. That tiny sink will be a pain in the you know what to do dishes in, so take a dish pan and do them outside when possible. As to packaged food. Check the book sites for a book called Make-A-Mix. There is a volume two, I think. I have the first one. That is my where my sloppy joe recipe came from. Tastes pretty much like manwich. I leave out the green peppers and garlic, but I don't like green peppers and am allergic to the garlic. Still really good. I thing Grainlady mentioned the make a mix books in another thread. Many good recipes for mixes in there. You can use very small plastic zip bags that I find in the jewelry dept of the craft stores to store the seasoning mixes like the sloppy joe mixes in, writing the date made and any needed instructions in marker on the bag. Store a bunch of the small bags in a larger one. Tea bags, coffee, hot chocolate mixes (can find one in the make a mix book, but I have a better one. If you want it, I'll look it up and post it). A camp coffee pot works for boiling water for tea, hot chocolate, coffee, and heating water for dishes. The camp percolater, figure out how many cups it makes, add the amt of coffee you like for that amount of water, and after it starts to perk, time it for 8 minutes. If you want it stronger, go 9, no more than 10 minutes or it gets bitter. And it takes up less space than a counter top coffee maker. We use more paper plates and plastic silver ware than use regular, but your choice. Cereal bowls. Sugar, flour, cornmeal, all in small amts, in airtight containers. If it's airtight, you can leave it there all season, same with the spices. I don't even take the jars of flour and stuff like that out in the winter. Instant rice. dcarch, we have the E2000 generator, and it weighs lots more than the one you have listed. It is very quiet, tho. It would store great on the grate in the hitch, too! So would a portable gas grill. If you want the hot chocolate recipe, and don't get a reply here in this post, email me thru my page, incase I forget to check the thread! I'm getting forgetful! Tami
...See More
August 2020, Week 5-September 2020, Week 1
Q
Comments (63)
Yay for the violets, Nancy! And...you still have summer squash? The bugs killed ours long ago. Even the C. Moschata. I am pooped. So tired. We shopped today and I don't have to tell anyone that shopping is very unpleasant right now. However, Dillards allows you to try on clothes and I found a dress. It's not exactly the bohemian/fairy princess dress that I wanted. But it fits nicely and its a forest green color...and it's Robin Hoodish (not really), so I bought it. Paid more than what I wanted to pay, but it's done. DONE! Came home around 3 and sliced, breaded and froze okra. Then figured out how to use my pressure canner as a water bath canner and pickled some okra. On my own. The lids sealed so hopefully we're good. My house is getting to the point that I am very unhappy. I know a clean house isn't the most important thing in the world....but I enjoy a clean home. It just feels nice to me. However, a clean house isn't anywhere in my near future. I am hoping the robot vacuums are cheap this Christmas. That will at least help. We are celebrating Mason's BD tomorrow and that will be fun. It's at a very good restaurant that I haven't been to in a long time. Then grocery shopping and then maybe starting more lettuce seed. In between all of those things is animal care. Lots of animal care. There's always one of them doing something they shouldn't be doing or somewhere they shouldn't be hanging out. One of the fat buff orpingtons has figured out how to get out of the chicken yard. And she isn't swift. She is dumb--beautiful but dumb and wanders over by the dogs. So, I'm constantly leaving whatever task I'm working on to catch her or entice her back to the yard. And everyone is always hungry all the time. The 3 young pullets mingled with the main flock today. It went very well. Having a good rooster helps with that. They're roosting in their own coop, though. It will be a gradual thing as always. Momma Blossom will be tired of her chicks soon and those two chicks will need to move to the pullet coop at that time. Although, at least one of those chicks is a cockerel. Tom may or may not start doing meat birds and these two could be the start of it. They won't be THE meat birds, but they might be the parents of. I've named the one I think is a girl. Her name is Gwendolyn, which is sorta funny because Gwendolyn (actually related to Jennifer/Guinevere.) means white ...and Gwendolyn is a dark cornish. I'm simply rambling now.
...See More
Pooh Bear
Original Author
18 years ago
I called my local installer today.
He told me if I had all channels and everything was fine with one reciever,
then the the problem would be with the other reciever and not the dish.
He told me to unplug it and leave it unplugged for at least 30 minutes.
Then plug it in and test it. I'm going to leave it unplugged overnight.
I'll try it tomorrow sometime and see if this fixes it.

Oh, and for him to come out it would cost me $60.
So I hope the unplugging the reciever works.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear
Pooh Bear
Original Author
18 years ago
Well, I left it unplugged for two days.
Plugged it back in today. Still don't got all the channels.
So I guess my next move is a call to Dish Network to see what they say.

My DVR works fine. Just the other regular unit giving me problems.

Pooh Bear
vegomatic
18 years ago
Undo them one at a time out at the dish and see which one does not lose more channels. That has to be the bad one. It should be safe to do this without unplugging anything or shutting it off.

Or buy a new cable and substitute it for one. If it comes back, you got it first try. If not, take the cable you just removed and sub it for the second and so on.

-Ed
Pooh Bear
Original Author
18 years ago
I know you are right about doing that.
It would be the most sensible thing to do.
And I will probably try it tomorrow sometime.

When I called my local installers office,
I only got to talk to the girl answering the phones.
She told me to unplug the unit and leave it for a while.
She also told me that since one unit gets all channels,
then the problem is not with the dish, but with the box.
Or it could be a bad switch.
I looked at the switch. There was some slack in the cables on that end.
If the cables had been pulled any at all from that direction,
then the slack would have been pulled out of the cables.

So I suspect the problem is on the other end.
The cables took a pretty hard pull when I caught them with those ag-bar tires.

Cable looks to be 6 or eight feet long from the dish to the switch.
Can I get an RG6 cable that length or does one need to be made.
I have anothe cable from another dish but it is about 30feet long.

Pooh Bear
vegomatic
18 years ago
6 foot and longer prepared cables are "off the shelf."

For testing, the long cable would probably work alright, you wouldn't lose much signal.

You could cut the long cable and put a new fitting on the cut end. It's not that hard and you can probably skip buying the crimping tool, just use pliers and care. Still, you have to make sure the ground braid or metal sheath over the inner insulation does not short out to the center conductor, plus get a good clean and tight connection without crimping the cable. With the cheap do-it-yourself connectors, it's tedious to get a secure connection without the special tools or more expensive fittings. If you're not experienced with such things, it may be easiest to just buy a more rugged prepared cable, as it's probably only a few bucks anyway.

If there's a TV shop, pawn shop, second hand or flea market, you may find they have a box of such cables just kicking around.

-Ed
Pooh Bear
Original Author
18 years ago
Ok, went out today and tested a few things.
Since the 301(?) box said NC for input #1,
First I traced from the switch port input #1 to the dish.
I unplugged cable # 1. Lost local channels on the DVR.
Every thing else was un affected. So plugged back in cable # 1.
Local channels came back when the cable was plugged back in.
Unplugged Cable # 2 from the dish. Didn't seem to affect anything.
So I thought AHA. I have found the problem.
I got the 30ft cable from my old dish so I could replace cable # 2.
First mistake was sending someone else up the ladder to get it.
The old dish is still on the roof. I am in a wheelchair. I don't do ladders.
I sent my Dad up the ladder to get the cable.
He is hard of hearing. I said cut the the tie wrap cable.
He heard cut the cable. So he cut the cable.
Ok, so I had a shorter cable now and I put an end on it.
I'm not sure the end was on there good.
And when I plugged the cable in there was still no change.
No local channels on 301 box. I removed the cable.
I'm not sure the cable was any good at this point.
So, to be sure of my cables. I unplugged cable # 1 at both ends,
and plugged it in place of cable # 2. and I plugged cable # 2
into cable # 1's place. No change. DVR works fine. No Locals on 301 box.
So at this point I'm sure the problem is not with the cables.
I put the cables back like they were originally and put the
plastic covers back on the dish LNB. Everything is just like it was.
So I moved on to the switch. I know nothing of these switches.
It has 7 outputs. 4 to reciever boxes, 3 to a second switch if needed.
My 301 box was plugged into output # 1. The DVR was output # 2.
I unplugged output # 1 and moved it to (unused) output # 3.
No change. everything is as it was.
Ok, I unplugged the 301 box from output # 3 and plugged it into
output # 1 to the (non existant) switch # 2.
Lost channels on both recievers at this point.
So I unplugged it again and put the 301 line to output # 1 like it was originally.
Everything is originally like it was.
And I'm no closer to a solution.
Is it the switch. Or is it the # 2 output of the LNB.
Or is it something else altogether.

Pooh Bear

**For each test I reset the 301 box by pressing the power button on the box and holding it. This made sure to start with a fresh onscreen guide and channel list each time.
vegomatic
18 years ago
Boy, I'm kinda lost myself.

Do you have some way of testing your "spare" cable on some other connection, say indoors from the cable box to your set? If it works there, you've verified the spare is at least good.

Now, you could substitute that for any outdoor cable, then bring the suspect indoors for testing like we just did on your spare.

In this way you could once and for all eliminate cables or find the faulty one.

Another alternative is to use a multimeter to check each cable for shorts and continuity.

-Ed
Pooh Bear
Original Author
18 years ago
I get signal from 1 and 3 on the dish. Unhooking cable 2 causes no change.
Swapping cables 1 and 2 elimated any chance that it was a bad cable.
It is either the center unit of the LNB (little pointy thing)
or it is the switch. I'm reasonable certain of this at this point.
But I have no way of testing either one. I don't know how.

Either way, this looks expensive to fix.
My 2 year agreement with DN is up. I may switch to cable.
My ISP is moving to cable internet anyway. So I may have to switch.

This is a super dish. I also have a regular dish that is not being used.
Does it have the little pointy LNB thing in it.
If so, I can swap them out and try it. (I don't think it has that.
I have a neighbor with a super dish he no longer uses.
Can I swap out his LNB to test mine. (if he lets me).

I rattled the dish really hard when I caught it with the tractor.
I'm thinking I damaged something in the LNB.
The slack wasn't pulled out of the cables on the end to the switch.
So I'm thinking it would be a coincidence for the switch to go bad just as I hit the dish.
If the cables test good then it has to be the LNB.

Pooh Bear
vegomatic
18 years ago
Maybe it's not pointed correctly if you shook the dish itself. Just swapping out parts here may mean you'd need to repoint. It might be easy or could be an exercise in frustration. I know the installer here made many trips up and down the ladder setting ours, and he had a van full of test gear!

-Ed
Pooh Bear
Original Author
17 years ago
I have local channels back.
I have no idea why or what happened.
I have not done anything to the system since I last posted.
I heard my son in there watching a show on a local channel.
So I went to investigate. All channels work fine.
I don't understand it. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

I wonder what happened.

Pooh Bear

Ooops, Tractor 1, Satelite Dish 0

Comments (12)

dgmarie

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Related Discussions

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author

vegomatic

Pooh Bear
Original Author

vegomatic

Pooh Bear
Original Author

vegomatic

Pooh Bear
Original Author

vegomatic

Pooh Bear
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Ooops, Tractor 1, Satelite Dish 0

Comments (12)

dgmarie

Pooh BearOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Pooh BearOriginal Author

Pooh BearOriginal Author

vegomatic

Pooh BearOriginal Author

vegomatic

Pooh BearOriginal Author

vegomatic

Pooh BearOriginal Author

vegomatic

Pooh BearOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author

Pooh Bear
Original Author