Intermittent Pixelation on HD channel, HR20-700

[AaronF]

For about the last 2 months I have noticed intermittent pixelation and audio drops on all the HD channels at various times. Prior to this, I had no pixelation or audio issues (install was 6/06). The pixelations seem to be occurring every 10-15 seconds on most channels. I do not have the signal strength settings with me at the moment but will put them up latter. At last check all strenths (for both tuners) on 103b were in a range from 85-99%.
Any ideas on the resolving this situation would be great.

[gtonthebus]

Having the same pixel/dropout problem. worse, i often lose signal COMPLETELY -- on BOTH of my receivers, which are an entire apartment apart and use completely diff wiring.
i've been chatting about it on tivocommunity because that is the receiver i was using when the problem began. now i have an HR21. im pulling my hair out over it -- its been going on for a month now. basically, TWO installer visits later, and STILL no solution. i have no idea what it is. can a dish go bad?

concurring with AaronF, any suggestions would be great.

[shotdisc98]

I too have experienced this. I did a search on here for bad lnb and bad bbc and came up with some ideas. First, check all of your wiring. Any place it splits or you have splicing, check all of those connections. If you have a multiswitch, disconnect the multiswitch and check. Next, if it happens on all of your TVs with DirecTV service it may be an lnb, which means you need a tech. Finally, if it's just the one, it may be with your box.
I troubleshooted my system with some of the ideas from this site and found my wiring to be the issue. I had my powerstrip coax hooked up, which was part of my problem, and then also found my BBCs to be the other part. To find this out, I had a straight connection BBC-box and then straight connection to box. Intermittent macroblocking on the MPEG2 channels, such as ESPN 73 or 206, went away. Best of luck to you- try to do as much on your own to save $$.

[RTracey]

I've had some similar strange problems as of late on a HR20-700, but some of it may be channel related (signal strengths are all fine, and no problems on another SD D* receiver). Couple of nights ago, I was getting 771 on one of the tuners, and the last couple nights there has been a lot of audio stuttering occuring on Discovery Channel. Last night I got home and found some of the HD channels would only intermittently tune in when changing channels (HBO and some of the channels in the HD extra pack). Also, when I paused any OTA channel, it wouldn't restart when I hit the play button. Finally had enough, so reset the receiver. Everything seemed to go back to normal except the audio stuttering was still there on Discovery. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the latest software update that I received on Friday; just hope it's not an indication of worse things to come.

Ross

[gtonthebus]

"I had my powerstrip coax hooked up, which was part of my problem,"

im sorry, im new to this...what does that mean??? and BBCs are the thingsys in the back of the new boxes for HD4 right? my box is five days old, and this problem occurred with the HR10-250 too, so its prob not those. im checking my wires now to make sure they are RG6.

otherwise im convinced its nothing to do with me or my equip and everything to do with dtv in some way, since all you folks are experiencing this as well.

[Canis Lupus]

I think what he means by this is he had his SAT cables running through his UPS or other surge protector. This is a no-no unless you have a model that doesn't interrupt certain channel frequencies trying to get through.

The BBCs are small grey boxes between the SAT cable in, and the Receiver, yes.

You say you had the same prob with the HR10-250. Which model receiver do you have now? Was your dish not upgraded when you swapped out the receiver?

Please post your signal strengths on both tuners for your 101 and 103b/c SATs.

"I had my powerstrip coax hooked up, which was part of my problem,"

im sorry, im new to this...what does that mean??? and BBCs are the thingsys in the back of the new boxes for HD4 right? my box is five days old, and this problem occurred with the HR10-250 too, so its prob not those. im checking my wires now to make sure they are RG6.

otherwise im convinced its nothing to do with me or my equip and everything to do with dtv in some way, since all you folks are experiencing this as well.

[gtonthebus]

i had the 5lnb all along. when i moved in june they installed it. now i have an HR21. just went to radio shack and bought a new rg6 just to test it. which i am doing now.

[gtonthebus]

nope. still nada with the new wiring. i swear i have a bad dish.

[Canis Lupus]

OK - what do you mean by "nada". Do you have signals on any SATs, any channels coming in? What are the problem channels?

Do you have a multiswitch and/or did you just run that new RG6 straight from the dish to the receiver?

[gtonthebus]

when i say "nada" it means a constant "searching for satellite in 1 and 2" on BOTH of my receivers.
i do not have a multiswitch...4 wires out of dish and straight into BBCs then boxes.

every now and then a signal magically appears and i get all channels. only for it to all go away again in a few hours. like right before i just left my house, my signal came back again. im sure by the time i get home from work, it will be gone again.
its maddening. and i feel like dtv people are no help (elevated trains a block away shaking connection loose is one excuse ive heard from a tech...can you believe that? theres 100 dishes on buildings within naked eye view of my roof, im sure they all dont have this problem).

[jwd45244]

Take the BBCs out and see what kind of numbers you get. You may have a bad BBC or two.

[K4SMX]

For about the last 2 months I have noticed intermittent pixelation and audio drops on all the HD channels at various times. Prior to this, I had no pixelation or audio issues (install was 6/06). The pixelations seem to be occurring every 10-15 seconds on most channels. I do not have the signal strength settings with me at the moment but will put them up latter. At last check all strenths (for both tuners) on 103b were in a range from 85-99%.
Any ideas on the resolving this situation would be great.
Where are those 103(b) tp readings, AaronF? BTW, I'm somewhat familiar (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10278926&postcount=2044) with your TV.....:)

[K4SMX]

I've had some similar strange problems as of late on a HR20-700, but some of it may be channel related (signal strengths are all fine, and no problems on another SD D* receiver). Couple of nights ago, I was getting 771 on one of the tuners, and the last couple nights there has been a lot of audio stuttering occuring on Discovery Channel. Last night I got home and found some of the HD channels would only intermittently tune in when changing channels (HBO and some of the channels in the HD extra pack). Also, when I paused any OTA channel, it wouldn't restart when I hit the play button. Finally had enough, so reset the receiver. Everything seemed to go back to normal except the audio stuttering was still there on Discovery. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the latest software update that I received on Friday; just hope it's not an indication of worse things to come.

Ross
The channels you mention are on the 110 satellite, tp's 8, 10, & 12. Please post your 110 signal strengths for those tp's for both tuners 1 & 2.

[K4SMX]

nope. still nada with the new wiring. i swear i have a bad dish.
If, as you say, you have an HR21 and an HR10 connected straight to the dish, and they both are dropping out simultaneously, you probably do have a bad dish (actually the LNB.) Either that or very poor alignment. When you do have solid signals, what are your signal strengths on the 103(b) transponders?

[gtonthebus]

i have a supervisor coming on wed. the CSR case manager assigned to me said it sounds like either
a. bad dish
b. bad wires
c. need a multiswitch to "boost" the power of the signal over the long runs.
so, whatever it is hopefully it ends on wed. thanks to all for help.

[AaronF]

Where are those 103(b) tp readings, AaronF? BTW, I'm somewhat familiar (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10278926&postcount=2044) with your TV.....:)

I have the signal strengths (103b):

103º(b):
95 94 95 95 89 92 95 95
87 91 94 95 90 93 na na
98 na na na na 97 na na
na na na na na na na na


I did have a service call from D* on Saturday (2/2) and he replaced the 5-LNB from the Slimline Dish. This seems to have corrected the problem. The service tech did mention that the "original" LNB's on the initial slimlines tended to be the cause of most of the problems that are similar to mine. He stated that the "new" LNB's are much more solid. I was not aware of any different LNB models/makes but it would stand to reason that D* may have updated the LNB's over time.

He did mention that if the problem does return, that I would need to check the grounding block and also to remove the dish from the grounding block to see if the problem resolves itself. This seems to be consistent from what I have seen on this site.
Thanks everyone.
:)

[K4SMX]

Those are mighty fine. Did you happen to note the brand labels on those two LNB's?

[kaamilo]

it could be that the dish is misaligned a little or the mast is not completely level. are there trees anywhere in front? if there's any wind and the branches get in the way that could be the cause of the sound and/or picture freezing and etc. may be a bad LNB also or the multiswitch as well. when it's a cable problem it usually just shuts off completely and you loose all signal, when a barrel goes bad or if a cable is not fitted correctly it just won't work....

[K4SMX]

kaamilo: Welcome to DBSTalk.com!