View Full Version : Major Problems w/ mpeg-4 hd
I'm a long time Dtv customer who upgraded to HD in late August (slimline - hr20-700).
All the new hd channels were working pretty well (very little fade) until last week when they started breaking up regularly (like rain fade). :(
Mgmhd is hard to watch or record as is nfl net, shotime hd...
All the old hd channels (hdnet, espn, uhd) are rock solid when the problem is occurring on the new hd's.
My signal strengths on 103 (a) are as low as 42 and are slow to be acquired.
The problem with the new hd's is somewhat intermittant. There are times when
they are ok.
We were overcast this am with no precip and the new hd's were horrible.
I'm tired of watching just parts of recorded shows or movies! :mad:
Please help.
Thanks.
Doug Brott
11-19-07, 10:04 AM
Sounds like your dish needs some adjustment. The Ka band is a bit narrower than the Ku band and all of the new MPEG4 HD are coming down from the Ka band. Your signal levels should not be 42 as that is definitely too low.
Have you contacted D* to have them check the alignment on your dish., and have it adjusted? 42 seems pretty low to me. Someone on this board could tell you how to adjust it yourself, but not me. I'm not good at tuff like that. :o
Radio Enginerd
11-19-07, 10:18 AM
I'm a long time Dtv customer who upgraded to HD in late August (slimline - hr20-700).
All the new hd channels were working pretty well (very little fade) until last week when they started breaking up regularly (like rain fade). :(
Mgmhd is hard to watch or record as is nfl net, shotime hd...
All the old hd channels (hdnet, espn, uhd) are rock solid when the problem is occurring on the new hd's.
My signal strengths on 103 (a) are as low as 42 and are slow to be acquired.
The problem with the new hd's is somewhat intermittant. There are times when
they are ok.
We were overcast this am with no precip and the new hd's were horrible.
I'm tired of watching just parts of recorded shows or movies! :mad:
Please help.
Thanks.What are your sig strengths on 103b? You mention a 42 of 103a but what does 103b look like?
Pole in the ground, concrete, installer bore down on tightening bolts (I observed).
We had very high readings on all the satellites at time of install (at the dish).
These channels, up to a week ago were solid, even in rainy weather.
All my channels fade briefly when storms roll up from the s or sw.
Just clarifying....
On 103(b) all but one (transponder 2 at 68) are in the 70's.
Earl Bonovich
11-19-07, 10:25 AM
On 103(b) all but one (transponder 2 at 68) are in the 70's.
Those are still fairly low.
I would highly recommend a re-allignment.
Radio Enginerd
11-19-07, 10:31 AM
Those are still fairly low.
I would highly recommend a re-allignment.+1. You want as much headroom as possible. Was the install done prior to 103b going on the air?
I would target your lowest transponder to be in the high 80's or low 90's. A good installer should be able to acheive that (depending any line of sight issues you may or may not have).
On 103(b) all but one (transponder 2 at 68) are in the 70's.
Your readings are too low, that's why you have some problems.
If you have the protection plan, i'd say call Directv and arrange an appointment for an installer.
If you don't have their service plan, and if your installation has been done in less than 3 months it will cost you nothing, otherwise you have to pay $70.
If you don't want to pay, you can align the dish by yourself. Take your HR20 and a small TV, bring the whole thing with you outside, plug a temporary cable on your multiswitch WB68 to the HR20 and tweak the dish.
It's not that hard to do. I did mine, and i got high readings on all my sat.
Hope it helps
My line of sight was excellent at install, even had some trees cut to ensure a good window.
If I recall correctly my installer said I was losing some signal between the dish and the receiver(dvr). He also told me that was normal.
The day of the install was overcast with frequent showers.
The installer spent some considerable time tweaking the dish.
Install was done in late August - before the rollout.
My line of sight was excellent at install, even had some trees cut to ensure a good window.
If I recall correctly my installer said I was losing some signal between the dish and the receiver(dvr). He also told me that was normal.
You might lose like 1 to 2% maximum between the dish and the receiver, but not 10 to 30%.
As other members from this forum mentioned (me included) you need to have your dish aligned.
You should have more or less 90+% on each sat (although some TPs on each sat might be lower than 90%, which is normal)
Radio Enginerd
11-19-07, 10:45 AM
My line of sight was excellent at install, even had some trees cut to ensure a good window.
If I recall correctly my installer said I was losing some signal between the dish and the receiver(dvr). He also told me that was normal."some signal" - How long are the cable runs between the dish at the receiver? Do you have a multiswitch or direct runs from the dish to receiver(s)?
Doug Brott
11-19-07, 10:47 AM
Install was done in late August - before the rollout.
Now that the new satellite is in position it might be time for realignment ..
I have a multiswitch 9 or 10 feet from the dish and just inside the house.
The run from the multiswitch to the receiver is 25 - 30 feet.
If you think you can align the dish by yourself these links might help you.
http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/Slimline_Dish_Installation_Manual.pdf
http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/at9_install_videos.asp
These videos show installation for the old 5 LNB, but it works as well for the new Slimline (-:
Why would this work for a month or so after the rollout and then cause trouble?
Are these new dishes more wind sensitive than my old RCA?
Doug Brott
11-19-07, 11:25 AM
Why would this work for a month or so after the rollout and then cause trouble?
Are these new dishes more wind sensitive than my old RCA?
The new satellites are more sensitive because the Ka band is narrower .. meaning you have to be even more accurate in your dish alignment than the old dish setup. There could be any number of factors that resulted in your current situation. The only real solution appears to be realignment. A number of folks here had the same issue just after the new sat went online.
I have the Protection Plan.
I'll call DTV.
Thank you to all.
It's possible if your dish's main bolts were not tightened securely, the wind has moved it slightly. This has happened to others. You wouldn't notice this on your old RCA SD receivers, because as stated above the SD KU satellites are much less precise in their aiming requirements than 103(a) and (b).
It's also possible your WB68 multi-switch is going bad. This has also happened to others. You can check it yourself by temporarily bypassing the WB68 with double-female barrel adapter(s) connecting your receiver directly to the dish. You'll need one or two, depending on whether you have an H20 or an HR20. Also check the entire system for loose connectors, another frequent initial installation problem that may not show up until some oxidation has occurred.
RGEGuitar
11-19-07, 06:26 PM
OK, I just went through something similar today.
For almost 2 weeks I have had some of the new HD channels going in and out, at various times of the night and day.
I went and checked, and the signal level on the 103b transponders, when this was happening was going between 0 and 45 or so.
And it was the even transponders only being effected.
At first it was one or two channels, then as time went on, more were flaking out.
When things were working right, odd trans were 80+, even were 50+.
When things went south, odds were 60+, even 40+, dropping to 0 occasionally.
I knew I had a problem though.
I thought at first it might have been the lastest CE somehow involved , but remembered I started having this problem with the NR a while back.
Thought it might be an alignment problem next, since it was installed in August, before MPG4.
Called DTV, and found out I was covered by a 3 month warranty on the slimline, so a tech was sent out.
The first thing he did was walk up to the dish, cut the coax, and start putting on a connector to use his bird dog, and did this before I could even say anything.
Family was inside still watching HD, power on etc., when he did this.
I immediatly had them kill the power, but was a bit shocked he just cut into the coax while it was powered.
He then announced the problem was a dogwood tree, well to the left of 99W.
We either cut the tree, or move the dish.
We moved the dish.
Same problem with the even trans on 103b!
Now it "has" to be the (still very new looking) Eagle Aspen LNB.
Off it comes, and is replaced by a beat up looking WNC unit.
Still same problem!
He then pulls all the cable ( which was new in August) and runs it
.
Same problem!
(At one point he notices I have a different GUI on my guide for the H20, and is ready to DL software, but I insisted I had this problem with the current NR 2021, and held on the my latest CE.)
I finally ask if he has any spare B-band converters in his truck, he does, but doubts that is the problem.
He gets one, and installs it, and like magic, I am back in business.
I will not go into how little he acctually knew about satellite technology, what channels were on which transponders, etc., but suffice it to say the members on this forum know far more about this than this installer did.
But the moral to this story is...
You may want to think backwards on this one.
I wish we had.
Yup, good point. I have had these go from working to non-working/intermittent. If you call them on the phone, ask for tech support, and defeat all the telephone tree recordings, you'll have free, new Rev. 3 BBC's in 2 days by FedEx.
The other thing to check is that there is no splitters or anything else on the cable runs. I had this issue and traced all the cable all the way back and found some worthless splitters in the house probably from some other installation some other time and that had never been removed.
bnglbill
11-20-07, 10:43 AM
Install was done in late August - before the rollout.
Alot of installers did not peake for 103b before the rollout, I had the same problem. I heard the rollout was coming out and called for reallignment, when the guy started to allign the dish, he said it was fine, i had to show him 103 b and explain before i could get him to peake it. By now, they know the deal, i would definately get an allignment so they can peak the 103 b.
Dish was not peaked for 103 at install.
All seems good now (so far)
Thanks again!
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