Signal strength question

[Mikey Palmice]

I am running the signal strength tests in the menu on my new HR20. There are a lot of NA, but the one's that have numbers are all in the high 90's or even 100.

Should I be concerned with the NA's? On the 103A, two of em were in the 70's, is that bad?

Can somebody point me in the direction of a page that says what you should be looking for on each sat.

also, on my 99b, transponder 3 is a 30 and transponder 5 is 0. but the other ones on 99b are 97 and higher

thanks

[hilmar2k]

Nope. Not all transponders are used on all sats. Some of the lower signal strengths you are seeing are probably spot beams that are not for your area. If you get all the channels that you are supposed to, I wouldn't worry.

Edit: Hey, just noticed that we are neighbors. I would be happy to share my signal strength readings when I get home this evening.

[Mikey Palmice]

cool, thanks. let me know what yours are later, and I will see if we are close

[techrep]

TP's listed as NA can be ignored.
103a TP's are spotbeams and I don't think any are used for your area.
99b TP's are also spotbeams and some folks in your area get LIL's from this sat.

The litmus test for alignment: If you get high 80's - 90's on 103b and mid 90's or greater on 119, your dish alignment is just about as good as you can get.

[Mikey Palmice]

103b 53 91 51 88 95 88 95 91
95 91 95 93 96 92 NA NA

119 Other than the NA's, I get 99 100 97 99 100 100 100 100 100 89 100

I wonder why I have a 53 and a 51 on the 103b transponder 1 and 3?

wait, now I ran it again on the 103b and the 50's are 90's now, but one of the previous 95 is now 45. I guess it changes whenever I run it

[K4SMX]

The FW for the 103(b) signal strength panel sometimes doesn't pick up the true reading as it populates. When in doubt, check the individual tp level with the Signal Meter.

[hilmar2k]

Here is what I see:

103(b) - transponders 1-14 are 95 89 93 88 93 89 92 91 92 88 91 92 94 90, 17 is 93, 22 is 95, rest are NA

103(a) - 0 0 0 95 95 83 - rest are NA except 17 is 0

110 - only 3 transponders not NA, they are 90 82 92

119 - transponders 22-32 are 92 100 89 97 97 97 97 97 97 94 97, rest are NA

99(b) - transponders 1-8 are 97 100 15 99 80 100, rest are NA

Let me know if you are seeing any transponders that vary greatly from this. Since we are so close, we should have similar readings. Hope this helps.

[Canis Lupus]

Those numbers look great. As to Mikey's question, just at first glance it looks like you're both seeing different numbers for spotbeams that you likely don't get. In fact, Mikey's concern about 30 on Tp 3 on 99b seems to be a non-issue as you've got 15. Looks like your geographic locations are picking up different levels of non-received spotbeams. I'd say you're both in pretty good shape, unless Mikey is having any channel issues like 771s, dropouts, etc.

Techs? What do you think?

[hilmar2k]

Those numbers look great.

Yeah, I know. Since the OP and I live within a few miles of each other, I posted mine for him to compare his to.

[Canis Lupus]

Yeah saw that, and that was very helpful to be able to compare. Looks like you're both in good shape.

EDIT: your avatar indicates you gotta be all smiles today :)

Yeah, I know. Since the OP and I live within a few miles of each other, I posted mine for him to compare his to.

[Mikey Palmice]

Those numbers look great. As to Mikey's question, just at first glance it looks like you're both seeing different numbers for spotbeams that you likely don't get. In fact, Mikey's concern about 30 on Tp 3 on 99b seems to be a non-issue as you've got 15. Looks like your geographic locations are picking up different levels of non-received spotbeams. I'd say you're both in pretty good shape, unless Mikey is having any channel issues like 771s, dropouts, etc.

Techs? What do you think?

Funny thing is, all this new HD for me to watch, and I'm watching MSG SD for my rangers.:(

From what I have checked out so far on the other channels, they looks great. My name is earl looks really nice, and so does the boston game.

One issue I have noticed though is, a few times when I switched back to MSG, I had a searching for sat problem (771). I have never had MSG go out before, actually I have hardly ever had any channels out before today. thoughts?

[Mikey Palmice]

interesting, my tuner 2 is either not acquired or very low, while my tuner 1 is very good. And I was getting the dropouts on MSG while the other first tuner was recording. Looks like it's time to troubleshoot my connections:mad:

this problem is only affecting the 101 sat. is that the SD channels, like MSG?

I ran it again, and they are all in the 90's now, I don't get it

[techrep]

Those numbers look great. As to Mikey's question, just at first glance it looks like you're both seeing different numbers for spotbeams that you likely don't get. In fact, Mikey's concern about 30 on Tp 3 on 99b seems to be a non-issue as you've got 15. Looks like your geographic locations are picking up different levels of non-received spotbeams. I'd say you're both in pretty good shape, unless Mikey is having any channel issues like 771s, dropouts, etc.

Techs? What do you think?

TP3 on 99b is a good one to remember for the NY guys. You will see posts from the NY area asking about it because they see these good numbers on TP1 and TP2 and then there's TP3 setting at near 0 and it catches their attention so, they wonder what's up?

hilmar2k's numbers are close to the top 10 percentile.

[hilmar2k]

hilmar2k's numbers are close to the top 10 percentile.

Yup, I am extremely happy with my signal strengths. My 101 numbers are even better. They are about half 100, and half 97/98. The tech that installed my AT-9 obviously knew what he was doing.

[248 F1]

Similar results 40 +/- miles north

[Mikey Palmice]

101
Tuner 1
1-32 98 98 95 99 95 100 96 100
96 98 96 99 97 100 97 100
97 100 97 97 98 100 97 100
97 100 97 70 98 100 95 100
Tuner 2
1-32 68 55 43 55 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 77 0 65 42 73
47 98 55 92 61 91 73 95
78 95 81 53 91 98 87 100

110
Tuner 1
8, 10, 12= 97 92 97
Tuner 2
8,10,12= 96 91 97

119
Tuner 1
22,23,24-32= 99 100 97 100 100 100 100 100 100 91 100
Tuner 2
22,23,24-32= 99 100 97 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 90 100

99b
Tuner 1
1-6= 100 96 31 97 98 97
Tuner 2
1-6= 100 98 31 97 0 98

103a
Tuner 1
1-6,17= 0 71 0 95 94 72 0
Tuner 2
1-6,17= 97 76 0 97 94 75 0

103b
Tuner 1
1-14,17,22= 96 90 93 86 95 90 92 91
95 91 95 95 96 95
98, 96
Tuner 2
1-14,17,22= 95 91 90 86 93 89 87 92
92 91 94 95 95 95
97 96

[Canis Lupus]

That one's a bit bizarre. Lower strengths on Tuner 2 only on the 101. Mikey, maybe swap the cables on the back of your receiver and see if the problem follows to Tuner 1. That might isolate a cable. Do you have a multiswitch and if so what kind?
Also - I'm assuming you don't have any diplexers or anything in those lines for OTA, or any older cable runs that might have something funky in them?

EDIT: also the poorly manufactured BBCs have done weird things as well.

[Mikey Palmice]

That one's a bit bizarre. Lower strengths on Tuner 2 only on the 101. Mikey, maybe swap the cables on the back of your receiver and see if the problem follows to Tuner 1. That might isolate a cable. Do you have a multiswitch and if so what kind?
Also - I'm assuming you don't have any diplexers or anything in those lines for OTA, or any older cable runs that might have something funky in them?

EDIT: also the poorly manufactured BBCs have done weird things as well.

I am doing some recording, but I will try that out tommorrow. The name of my multiswitch starts with a Z, I will have to check that. I don't have any OTA. All my wiring is current, but I noticed one thing which I hope doesn't affect anything.

When the installer moved the dish up higher on the house he used the same wiring that was there on the lower position, so he ran a section of coax to the old dish location and used a splice to connect the two ends. Is this bad?

[hilmar2k]

I am doing some recording, but I will try that out tommorrow. The name of my multiswitch starts with a Z, I will have to check that. I don't have any OTA. All my wiring is current, but I noticed one thing which I hope doesn't affect anything.

When the installer moved the dish up higher on the house he used the same wiring that was there on the lower position, so he ran a section of coax to the old dish location and used a splice to connect the two ends. Is this bad?

Although not ideal, splicing itself shouldn't create an issue.

[Canis Lupus]

K - you prolly have the correct switch if it's a Zinwell WB68 which sounds likely.
Let's forget about swapping those lines for now, although you may want to revisit that.
If done right, couplers should be fine, but one question for you.
When the installer placed the new dish, he should have run 4 lines from the Dish to the switch. did he do that? If not, that needs to happen.
If he did, it's possible it could be a coupler problem on the line running into Tuner 2, so swapping lines on the receiver and checking signals might indicate that as the problem.



I am doing some recording, but I will try that out tommorrow. The name of my multiswitch starts with a Z, I will have to check that. I don't have any OTA. All my wiring is current, but I noticed one thing which I hope doesn't affect anything.

When the installer moved the dish up higher on the house he used the same wiring that was there on the lower position, so he ran a section of coax to the old dish location and used a splice to connect the two ends. Is this bad?

[Mikey Palmice]

yes, it is the Zinwell WB68. And yeah, there are four lines, it was originally used for my HR10-250 and two SD boxes

[Mikey Palmice]

oh damn. I was just watching the Prestige on StarzHD and my picture froze and the box reseted. At least it froze on scarlett johanson's beautiful face though.

[Canis Lupus]

OK - as long as there are 4 lines from the Dish to the switch (not the switch to the receivers), then maybe try swapping cables at your receiver to see if the problem follows to Tuner 1. ;)

[Canis Lupus]

did the box reboot by itself?

oh damn. I was just watching the Prestige on StarzHD and my picture froze and the box reseted. At least it froze on scarlett johanson's beautiful face though.

[Mikey Palmice]

did the box reboot by itself?

damn, yeah, and it just happened again too:mad:

[Mikey Palmice]

Just happened a third time!! Is this a problem that has been reported with the HR20's? Wonder if it's the box or the install

[Canis Lupus]

k - at what point is the box rebooting. what's on the screen when it reboots?
also - do you have it networked? if so, pull the ethernet cable

[Mikey Palmice]

k - at what point is the box rebooting. what's on the screen when it reboots?
also - do you have it networked? if so, pull the ethernet cable

it's not networked. it is resetting while watching StarzHD. The last two times it happened probably a minute after the reboot was done.

actually, I will have to mess with it tomorrow, I have to get some sleep.

thanks for your help

now it seems like it's not booting up. stuck on the "checking for satellite settings" screen. step 1 of 2

[Canis Lupus]

k - go ahead and unplug it overnight if you catch this post b4 you sleep. if in the morning, unlug it and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.

[Canis Lupus]

Mikey,
houskamp suggests it could be an overheating problem. is your HR in a cabinet, or otherwise amongst other devices or not being able to breath? Spontaneous reboots like you had point to possible heat issues.
strong suggestion here to unplug the box when you see this, for at least 10 minutes, then respond with your cabinet etc. setup.

[Mikey Palmice]

Interesting. I didn't unplug it last night, but I reset it and went to bed. when I checked it this morning, it was still on the boot up screen where it says "step 1 of 2". I held down the red reset button and now it's totally dead. I tried unplugging the power and still dead.

About the head issue. I have it in a shelf that is open all around, but I did put my old HR10 on top of it to finish off my tivo list in the coming weeks. There were no vents on top of the HR20, so I figured it was ok to do this.

I called the installer that directv sent and told them about the problem and about the coupling on top of my roof where the installer didn't run new lines from the dish. They are sending out another tech to run new lines into my basement multiswitch. I told them about the strange sat signals, so they said they would fix that, but to call direcTV about the box, which I will do today.

any other suggestions?
thanks a lot for the help, much appreciated

[Canis Lupus]

K - when you try to power it up, do you get just a dim power light followed by nothing?
If so, you might try reseating the access card before you try booting it, but many signs are pointing to a failing hard drive, so you might add a replacement HR-20 to that installer visit. If that happens, it's recommended you have nothing on top or near the HR, as they run pretty hot. You want to keep as much available air to it as possible.

If you can get it to at least boot up, you might try one more thing which would be to "Reset Everything" This will unfortunately erase your entire drive and all of its settings, but it may also repair the bad sectors on the drive (if any) and it could recover.

There could be nothing wrong with your cabling after all, as it appears your HR kinda went down that dreaded failing hard drive path. But have the installer check everything again of course ;)

[Mikey Palmice]

K - when you try to power it up, do you get just a dim power light followed by nothing?
If so, you might try reseating the access card before you try booting it, but many signs are pointing to a failing hard drive, so you might add a replacement HR-20 to that installer visit. If that happens, it's recommended you have nothing on top or near the HR, as they run pretty hot. You want to keep as much available air to it as possible.

If you can get it to at least boot up, you might try one more thing which would be to "Reset Everything" This will unfortunately erase your entire drive and all of its settings, but it may also repair the bad sectors on the drive (if any) and it could recover.

There could be nothing wrong with your cabling after all, as it appears your HR kinda went down that dreaded failing hard drive path. But have the installer check everything again of course ;)

thanks for the info. They put me on the cancellation priorty list, so if there is an opening they will send somebody saturday. If not, I have an appointment for the next saturday morning. I will call direcTV when I get home from work

[Mikey Palmice]

Ok, now the receiver tries to boot but goes to a black screen after it says "just a few moments more"

I called DirecTV and they had me reset it and hold down the rec and down arrow together after the screen goes black after it says "just a few moments more", but nothing happened. He said I need a new HR20, but they might not be able to come till next saturday.

I am on hold with retention now though.

Ok, retention was able to get me an appointment for saturday from 1-5, tommorrow. They said they will replace the box if it's bad, and re-run my four wires from the dish to the multiswitch.

[Canis Lupus]

I believe Rec and Down arrow might be reset everything. He really should have told you you were going to wipe the drive. But that may be the only solution left as it def seems like hard drive failure. Seems like each new boot you're getting incrementally further away from a successful startup. :(
Have you tried booting it with the access card completely out?

Ok, now the receiver tries to boot but goes to a black screen after it says "just a few moments more"

I called DirecTV and they had me reset it and hold down the rec and down arrow together after the screen goes black after it says "just a few moments more", but nothing happened. He said I need a new HR20, but they might not be able to come till next saturday.

I am on hold with retention now though.

[Mikey Palmice]

strange, I woke up today and tried powering up again, and it actually went all the way past step 2 and downloaded the information, but went black before the channels came up.

and now it's just totally dead, no lights at all

I have an appointment for this afternoon, so I would guess I will be getting a new receiver

[techrep]

strange, I woke up today and tried powering up again, and it actually went all the way past step 2 and downloaded the information, but went black before the channels came up.

and now it's just totally dead, no lights at all

I have an appointment for this afternoon, so I would guess I will be getting a new receiver

It could still boot up. give it a little more time.

[Mikey Palmice]

Ok, the tech just left. The box was deemed bad and was replaced. Everything works great now. And the signal strength is great on all the sats and the same across both tuners. The tech said it could have just had to do with the box.

thanks for the help everybody

Wow, I'm loving all this HD now. Hope this box doesn't crap out too

[WayBog]

Hello Putnam/Dutchess neighbors ! I'm in Pawling.

From what I've read on this board, Transponder 3 on 99b is where the spotbeam is for NYC locals MPEG4 High Definition. Soooo, if you, like I, have a low signal on that transponder, odds are your viewing of the HD channels on 2,4,5,7, etc will be heavily pixelated (I dont know at what level they become unwatchable. My signal strength is around 12-17 there).

Watching the mpeg2 HD versions up in the 80-88 channel range is not a problem. But the mpeg4 HDs in the 2-7 are.

Until the problem is resolved, I never bother recording or watching the 2-7 range anymore. I am forced to record the mpeg2 version instead which takes up more disk space. Bummers.