DirecTV in Mexico?

[mexsat]

Hi,
I saw commentary about DirecTV signals being available in the Carribean, but what about central Mexico at latitude 20 degrees? Is that within the US DirecTV satellite footprint?

Many thanks in advance for any help on this.
Mark

[Will.Spencer]

Where are you on this map?

[mexsat]

Thanks for your response.

I'm at Latitude 20 degrees 55 minutes, I think that's the right way to say it. Parallel with Cuba, but right in the middle of Mexico. So in Mexico, that puts me just South of the green line on your map.

Thanks again.
Mark

[Will.Spencer]

d'oh! Just South of the green line isn't where you want to be.

If you have unlimited funds for testing, you could try one of the old C-band 6'+ dishes.

[mexsat]

Thanks, Will, it sure didn't look too good when you posted that map. Thanks for your help on this, you have likely saved me a lot of time and frustration.
Mark

[cactus]

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

Where are you on this map?

I'm right above the yellow line in Northwestern Mexico, a DirecTV (US programming) provider here in Sonora told me that I had to install a 100" (2.5m) antenna dish in order to receive every DirecTV channel available, it sounded so damn illogical to me because in another city just 150mi NW of my hometown a regular 60cm antenna dish works out just fine. The response I got from the provider when asked about their request for a 2.5m was that my hometown (Ciudad Obregon) was kind of in a "signal hole"... Could you please tell me if this is true, or are they just trying to sell a 600 dlls antenna dish?

Thanks!!

[Will.Spencer]

The absolute best way to tell what satellite dish will work in your location is to drive around and look at what dishes your neighbors are using.

150km could put you out of range for the strongest satellite signal, or a small dish could work just fine for you.

Personally, if I had the space I would always install the larger dish.

See if you can borrow a small dish, or buy one with a good return policy. Heck, you can find 'em pretty cheap on eBay. If the small disk doesn't work, you'll know to buy the large dish.

[Motroco]

Hi, Im from Culiacan, Sin., Mex., and my city is between the yellow and the red line. What happens is that I had DirecTv with the full programation including HD, but last year I lost the signal and the whole package deconfigured. I have an antenna of 1.10 or 1.20m and 2 of 1.80m. I would like to have the signal back.

What should I do?, Should I change my 1.10m antenna?
I have 3 HD equipments, and I'm not really enjoying anything.
I would appreciate your help.

[Will.Spencer]

It doesn't sound like the issue is your antenna. How can you be sure that your issue is an antenna issue?

Could another portion of your system have malfunctioned?

[Motroco]

Well I really don't know, the thing is that transponders 1, 3, 5, 7.. have no signal, but 2, 4, 6... are in 95-98 of signal.
I've relocated the dish several times, trying to get signal but nothing has happened. And nothing is blocking the dish either.

What can be the issue in this situation?

[Will.Spencer]

Originally Posted by Motroco

transponders 1, 3, 5, 7.. have no signal, but 2, 4, 6... are in 95-98 of signal.

This gets weirder and more interesting.

Is it correct to say that you can not receive these channels:

Transponder 1:
Channels: 107 111 112 114 116 160 184 185 253 317 595 598 623

Transponder 3:
Channels: 117 121 125 151 152 201 224 227 350 366 368 596 601

Transponder 5:
Channels: 118 207 208 231 262 299 301 520 523 550 606 626 809 838 839 840 860

Transponder 7:
Channels: 190 271 302 309 333 404 530 533 597 622 624 802 816 817 820


And that you can receive these channels:

Transponder 2:
Channels: 173 242 256 265 278 290 296 325 327 355 362 526 811 812 828 841

Transponder 4:
Channels: 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933

Transponder 6:
Channels: 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 479 480 481 482 483 484

Does this even/odd pattern continue all of the way up?

Originally Posted by Motroco

I've relocated the dish several times, trying to get signal but nothing has happened. And nothing is blocking the dish either.

It is difficult to completely rule out the dish (i.e. signal strength) as a possible cause of your difficulty, because DirecTV does not publish information on which transponder is on which satellite. In addition, each transponder on a satellite can be set to a different power level.

Examining which channels you can and cannot receive could give us a hint.

However, 95-98 vs. 0 is a big gap. That tends to point away from signal strength issues.

Do you have a spare DirecTV receiver which you can test with?

Also, do you have a second LNB to test with? How many LNB's are present on your current satellite dish?