Signal on 101 dropping A Little

[dreadlk]

Noticed that for the last 10 days the Signal on 101 has dropped by 3-4 points on all transponders but even more so on the Odd TP.

Before the next poster jumps in telling me that its my dish, I checked this against 2 other friends dishes, same problem. No new tree growth etc is causing the drop. Signals on 99 and 103 / 110 /119 remain the same, only 101 has deteriated. Anybody know how old this group of Satellites are?

[xrobmn]

My 6 receivers (different models) are all still 95-100 (except spot beams of course) on the 101.. nothgin has changed.. nor other people that I know...

[dubber deux]

I noticed this too, only a few points just recently. The dish I have was installed many years ago to a solid metal mounting point anchored to the ground with a base of cement as well. Doesn't appear to be tree or weather related either I'm not thinking it is the LNB in this case.

[joe diamond]

Guys!

Relax, those numbers will change for many reasons. Check Ch 100. If it is there you are ok. There are things you can learn from the transponder test but the exact numbers don't mean much.

Joe

[dubber deux]

hey Joe,

I'm not concerned with a three point drop, as long as the signal 25 points on avg above the reliable reception level I have no concerns at all. It is interesting though. I wonder if they are trying to conserve power on board, or possibly doing someking of remote maintenance and this is a sign of it.

Just curious here.

[joe diamond]

hey Joe,

I'm not concerned with a three point drop, as long as the signal 25 points on avg above the reliable reception level I have no concerns at all. It is interesting though. I wonder if they are trying to conserve power on board, or possibly doing someking of remote maintenance and this is a sign of it.

Just curious here.

Perhaps the "Cutting Edge" guys could help. I have engineering pals who can converse for hours without using English. Your interest dips into the proprietary info they may not want to share.

Buy them a beer and they will spill their guts.

Joe

[dubber deux]

Hey maybe they can take a look at this thread.

here.... http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=157062

[David MacLeod]

fwiw I also see 3-4 points. been checking since you posted to see if it was just once, but I see it too. most are now 95-97 where they were 97-100.
no biggie, just thought I'd confirm.

[dreadlk]

Another 1 to 2 points came off again today. This is getting a bit worrying, is 101 dying? Thats now a 5 point drop in one week.

I tried a test on my Dishnetwork dish which is still up and the signal on that is throught the roof, so I doubt its atmospheric problems.

BTW Guys thanks for the confirmations.

[jdspencer]

Check your outside coax connections for corrosion.

[dreadlk]

The signal has increased tonight by about 3 points.
Seemed like someone corrected the problem, thanks to who ever
Did that. I did nothing on my end and the weather has been perfect the whole time.
I figure they had throttled down the signal for some reason.
It's still down a bit but it's better for sure.

[ThomasM]

I have also noticed that the ODD transponders on the 101 were lower than the even ones. This has been going on for some time. It's hard to imagine dish alignment/path obstructions when many of the transponders are at 100 and some are in the upper 80's.

When this first began, I hauled out one of my old 18" dishes and set it up on a temporary mount and aimed it at the 101. Sure enough, the signal strength compared with my Phase III oval dish/multiswitch so I breathed a sigh of relief that everything was still OK.

[dubber deux]

The signal has increased tonight by about 3 points.
Seemed like someone corrected the problem, thanks to who ever
Did that. I did nothing on my end and the weather has been perfect the whole time.
I figure they had throttled down the signal for some reason.
It's still down a bit but it's better for sure.



Same observation here. I am INTRIGUED!!!!! My wild guess is that they were performing somekind of programming update on the SAT systems itself possibly requiring more power be diverted to on board systems maybe?

I find this techie stuff enlessly interesting more so than most of the programming you can see thesedays.

I hope the SAT D* gods are not going to strike me down for speculating about this event. :eek2:

[dreadlk]

Signal has dropped AGAIN, this time by the same 3 points. This started on Sunday Night (3rd May)

I have been monitoring the Signal with a very good digital meter since this started and the signal has gone down by .6db on the ODD transponders on 101. This is a fairly significant drop and could be a sign that one of the Satellites in the 101 group is having Battery problems.

[ShrikeT]

Which one is 101W anyway? DirecTV 8? That was launched in 2005, I'm sure it's fine.

[dubber deux]

Signal has dropped AGAIN, this time by the same 3 points. This started on Sunday Night (3rd May)

I have been monitoring the Signal with a very good digital meter since this started and the signal has gone down by .6db on the ODD transponders on 101. This is a fairly significant drop and could be a sign that one of the Satellites in the 101 group is having Battery problems.


Do you believe it is the batts or possibly the solar panels? Could it be that the panels are not oriented completely correct? Maybe it would be intesting to contact the the owner of the SAT and see what the reply back is.

[jdspencer]

I wouldn't totally rely on the signal meters in the receiver. I believe that they do not report raw signal strength but a signal quality based on several factors. What say the experts?

[dreadlk]

Most of the time when this happens its the Batteries onboard the Satellite that are dying. I think that the ODD Transponders on 101 are located on the oldest Satellite in the Directv fleet.


Do you believe it is the batts or possibly the solar panels? Could it be that the panels are not oriented completely correct? Maybe it would be intesting to contact the the owner of the SAT and see what the reply back is.

[dreadlk]

I am not depending on the receivers meter, I am using a $400 meter that reads the BER and the DB level of the various transponders. As for the receivers own meter, the meter reading I think is generated from BER so it should be fairly accurate.

I wouldn't totally rely on the signal meters in the receiver. I believe that they do not report raw signal strength but a signal quality based on several factors. What say the experts?

[dubber deux]

I seem to remember that Huges owned DirecTV birds like 101? Is that correct?

[Shades228]

I've never read anything that really says what the number is relevant to. I'm sure there's specifications for what they are somewhere as someone had to come up with the basis of the numbers.

As far as seeing points drop and raise I wouldn't get overly concerned. I find it interesting that at night it was higher the the day. I would check this for a week and see if you see a pattern. It could just be a solar issue now that summer is coming.

[dreadlk]

Still .6db down during most of the day. I am watching it to see if it drops lower. Signal seems to go up slightly after sunset but that could be caused by the decrease in solar noise.
1 hour later at the point when the Batteries seem to kick in, the Signal nose dives again and stays that way for 23 hours.

[jdspencer]

Are these 3-4 point drops causing problems with reception?

If not, then don't worry. :)

[tkrandall]

I also noticed recently that the most of the odd transponders from 101w are weaker than the non-spot evens from 101w. For example, last night, transponders 15, 17, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 31 were noticably weaker (in the mid to high 80s on the meter) than all of the non-spotbeam evens (which registered around 95-97 on the meter) or the other odds (around 93-94). Both tuners. Good weather. I have a Slimline 3 LNB and was taking the readings off my trusty HDVR2 DirecTIVO DVR.

[dreadlk]

Yes it is down even more, now a total of 1db in the day, the really telling part is what happens in the early morning hours. The Signal on the Odd Transponders on 101 all go down by about 3db in the 4am - 5 am time period as recorded by my Spectrum Analyzer. This shows that the Batteries on the Sat providing the Odd TP signal are in really bad shape.

For the poster who says "if it's not causing problems don't worry". I would say, you should be worried! This is a significant drop in signal quality, while it does not show up much on your receiver now, it indicates battery problems ands like any other kind of Dying battery problem, it will get worst on an exponential scale.
Maybe they have a spare KU Sat ready to go, lets hope so.

[joe diamond]

Yes it is down even more, now a total of 1db in the day, the really telling part is what happens in the early morning hours. The Signal on the Odd Transponders on 101 all go down by about 3db in the 4am - 5 am time period as recorded by my Spectrum Analyzer. This shows that the Batteries on the Sat providing the Odd TP signal are in really bad shape.

For the poster who says "if it's not causing problems don't worry". I would say, you should be worried! This is a significant drop in signal quality, while it does not show up much on your receiver now, it indicates battery problems ands like any other kind of Dying battery problem, it will get worst on an exponential scale.
Maybe they have a spare KU Sat ready to go, lets hope so.

Yesterday......I hit 100s & high 90s on the 101. AND when I looked later in the day the numbers were down some........I bet as the sun sets ( in the SW) it slightly interferes with transmission. The numbers all came back after the planet rotated a little more.

Joe