Advice please on fairly new install

[rrambo]

I installed directv way back in '97... then moved 3 times and re-installed each time myself... in '03 I had to switch to cable so I've been without directv and out of the loop so to speak for years..

In February I had a new system installed for me... AU9-S-SWM dish with one cable lead.. one hr-20 receiver and two SD receivers.. signal strength seemed great at install and have had no problems until about 2 weeks ago..

Basically my signal is gone... all receivers.. it will occasionally work for a few minutes.. then start cutting out.... then no picture, searching for signal..

Of course the first thing I did on all receivers was to reset them... didn't help..
checked signal strength and had some 90's, some 0's, some low numbers.. not exactly sure with all the transponders now, what is what... and what it should look like

Yesterday I went through the satellite setup.. before that, I unplugged everything.. waited a few minutes, then plugged it back in... during the satellite setup, I went into the signal strength section again.. it went through all transponders very quickly with mostly mid 90's and many 100's.. I thought maybe it was fixed... clicked on Done.. then it just sat there.. couldn't find signal.. totally shocked, I went back into the signal strength section and now had 0's for almost everything...... I really don't think the dish has moved... and even if it has, there was no wind and no clouds yesterday when I did this so I have no explanation as to why I went from a great signal to no signal..

I usually do everything myself, but since it was a free install I let directv do it.. I don't want to pay for a service call if I can figure this out and fix it myself.. but I'm kinda lost. haven't gotten up on the roof yet to see if the dish is loose, but I'm fairly sure it hasn't moved..

Does anyone have a clue where I should start?

[Mertzen]

If the install was within 90 days it is still covered under the warranty. You might be just outside of that.

Give us a full set of signal strengths. Mainly 101, 103c and 99c. All from the HR20.

[rrambo]

Yes, I'm outside of the 90 days.. will post up the levels shortly...

[Mertzen]

Yes, I'm outside of the 90 days.. will post up the levels shortly...

I'd say call in and see what the CSR can do for you if you need a truck roll.

But let's see the signals first.

[joe diamond]

I installed directv way back in '97... then moved 3 times and re-installed each time myself... in '03 I had to switch to cable so I've been without directv and out of the loop so to speak for years..

In February I had a new system installed for me... AU9-S-SWM dish with one cable lead.. one hr-20 receiver and two SD receivers.. signal strength seemed great at install and have had no problems until about 2 weeks ago..

Basically my signal is gone... all receivers.. it will occasionally work for a few minutes.. then start cutting out.... then no picture, searching for signal..

Of course the first thing I did on all receivers was to reset them... didn't help..
checked signal strength and had some 90's, some 0's, some low numbers.. not exactly sure with all the transponders now, what is what... and what it should look like

Yesterday I went through the satellite setup.. before that, I unplugged everything.. waited a few minutes, then plugged it back in... during the satellite setup, I went into the signal strength section again.. it went through all transponders very quickly with mostly mid 90's and many 100's.. I thought maybe it was fixed... clicked on Done.. then it just sat there.. couldn't find signal.. totally shocked, I went back into the signal strength section and now had 0's for almost everything...... I really don't think the dish has moved... and even if it has, there was no wind and no clouds yesterday when I did this so I have no explanation as to why I went from a great signal to no signal..

I usually do everything myself, but since it was a free install I let directv do it.. I don't want to pay for a service call if I can figure this out and fix it myself.. but I'm kinda lost. haven't gotten up on the roof yet to see if the dish is loose, but I'm fairly sure it hasn't moved..

Does anyone have a clue where I should start?

Try the simple things. Shake the cables and look for loose fittings. Is the LNB secure in the dish arm? Are all the bolts on the dish & mast snug?
Are you sure there are no splitters in the system? Any cuts or sharp bends in the cable?

The fact that you report all receivers going down leads to the dish, LNB, multiswitbch and or the cable or fittings in that area....Are all fittings compressed? Stuff like that.

Report what it turns out to be PLZ.

Joe

[BattleZone]

I'd check all the connections, but IMO it sounds like the LNB (w/integrated SWM switch) has died.

[rrambo]

That was my first thought.... as it one minute reports a perfect signal and then the next minute, no signal...

[Mertzen]

Have you rebooted the PI?

[joe diamond]

I'd check all the connections, but IMO it sounds like the LNB (w/integrated SWM switch) has died.

+1

Changing out the LNB comes next. If there is a power inserter...PI is it secure?

Joe

[joshjr]

Have you rebooted the PI?

Thats what I was gonna suggest. You need to power down the recievers and then power up the PI and one reciever at a time after that to see if it fixes the issue.

[rrambo]

Thats what I was gonna suggest. You need to power down the recievers and then power up the PI and one reciever at a time after that to see if it fixes the issue.

Yes, it has a PI... I turned the PI and the HR-20 off last night then back on.. but it didn't help.. would disconnecting the other receivers be worth trying?

[jpitlick]

Yes, it has a PI... I turned the PI and the HR-20 off last night then back on.. but it didn't help.. would disconnecting the other receivers be worth trying?

Unplug the PI and all receivers. Then replug one at a time after plugging in PI.

[RobertE]

My money is on a bad splitter.

[Getteau]

I had a similar issue when I first installed my DTV back in 99. I could get 2 receivers running without any issue. As soon as I powered up the 3rd, I lost the signals on either the even or odd transponders (It's been 10 years, so I don't remember which set). Anyway, I went back and re-did all my cable ends and the issue went away.

Since this sounds like it's pretty reproducible, I'd disconnect all but one of the receivers and let it run. If it doesn't fail, bring up a second. Let that run and if it doesn't fail, bring up the 3rd. Somewhere in there, you may have a bad cable connector that is causing a short or isn't grounded. Since you're using the SWM setup, I'm guessing the cable is pretty old and who knows what shape it's in.

[harsh]

How about an underachieving PI?

[rrambo]

I had a similar issue when I first installed my DTV back in 99. I could get 2 receivers running without any issue. As soon as I powered up the 3rd, I lost the signals on either the even or odd transponders (It's been 10 years, so I don't remember which set). Anyway, I went back and re-did all my cable ends and the issue went away.

Since this sounds like it's pretty reproducible, I'd disconnect all but one of the receivers and let it run. If it doesn't fail, bring up a second. Let that run and if it doesn't fail, bring up the 3rd. Somewhere in there, you may have a bad cable connector that is causing a short or isn't grounded. Since you're using the SWM setup, I'm guessing the cable is pretty old and who knows what shape it's in.

The SWM is old? I was told it was the newest setup by the installer and when I looked for parts, my dish was listed as the newest one available.. 5-LNB and one cable lead.. the wiring from the dish to the splitter is only a few months old... the rest of the wiring is probably only a couple of years old...

[Getteau]

The SWM is old? I was told it was the newest setup by the installer and when I looked for parts, my dish was listed as the newest one available.. 5-LNB and one cable lead.. the wiring from the dish to the splitter is only a few months old... the rest of the wiring is probably only a couple of years old...

Sorry, since you were using an SWM, I was making an assumption that you were in an older house that had existing wiring (probably RG-59). The SWM is new in the past year and was designed to go into houses where wiring multiple runs to each location was hard if not impossible. Or locations where there was only one run to the outside that may or may not be RG-6.

[harsh]

The SWM is new in the past year and was designed to go into houses where wiring multiple runs to each location was hard if not impossible.While the SWMLine LNB assembly is relatively new, SWM switches were first introduced here (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=844795#post844795) in February 2007.

[rrambo]

Got home yesterday and decided to take some variables out of the equation.. I disconnected the splitter to take the SD receivers, wiring, and splitter out of the loop so that all I had was the run to the HR20... walked in and the HR20 was up and running... thought the problem was basically solved.. I ran a signal test and while I didn't write it down (because I assumed everything was ok) I had mid 90's and even several 100's on almost all transponders... left the TV on and decided I would look for a new splitter today.......

About 15 minutes later my daughter yelled out that the TV was messing up again.. went in there and the picture was frozen, but no message on the screen.. tried to change the channel and the channel wouldn't change.. got the little audible "bonk" sound when you try to do something that's not right..

Reset the receiver and when it came up.... Searching for signal.. ran a signal test and got this on 101

0 0 0 0 0 0 96 0
0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0
0 0 0 71 97 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Didn't see any point in writing down the rest of the satellites..

So all that's left now is the LNB, the cable from the LNB to the PIS (which is new) the PIS and the HR20.. something is very wrong...

[joe diamond]

Got home yesterday and decided to take some variables out of the equation.. I disconnected the splitter to take the SD receivers, wiring, and splitter out of the loop so that all I had was the run to the HR20... walked in and the HR20 was up and running... thought the problem was basically solved.. I ran a signal test and while I didn't write it down (because I assumed everything was ok) I had mid 90's and even several 100's on almost all transponders... left the TV on and decided I would look for a new splitter today.......

About 15 minutes later my daughter yelled out that the TV was messing up again.. went in there and the picture was frozen, but no message on the screen.. tried to change the channel and the channel wouldn't change.. got the little audible "bonk" sound when you try to do something that's not right..




Reset the receiver and when it came up.... Searching for signal.. ran a signal test and got this on 101

0 0 0 0 0 0 96 0
0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0
0 0 0 71 97 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Didn't see any point in writing down the rest of the satellites..

So all that's left now is the LNB, the cable from the LNB to the PIS (which is new) the PIS and the HR20.. something is very wrong...

Got a spare LNB?......Go out and tap on the thing with the signal meter running and a kid on the cell phone.........note changes.

Joe