Multiswitch / LNB Problems?

[EJB]

Hope you don't mind me starting a separate thread for this question. I have seen a lot of posts about multiswitch problems on the "Issue Thread: HR20 - 0xcc" thread. I just had a problem tonight and would like your opinion on if it is a multiswitch or an LNB issue.

I started getting the searching for sat / 771 message everyone was talking about when my kids tried to go to channel 300. I went to the bedroom where we have an old RCA DirectTivo and sure enough, same problem on that one. Both Tivos (old and new HR20) have separate lines run to them. I called support and after rebooting, tuning to channel 490-494 she concluded that only sat 110 is out which means it could be a multiswitch or lnb problem. A tech will be coming out on Thursday morning to take a look.

Why are so many people having problems? Is this a problem with the new 5LNB dish or something else? Should I push the tech to change both the LNB and the multiswitch? I don't recall reading a thread where someone else had it out on both the HR20 and an old system.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

Earl (but not that Earl)

[PoitNarf]

Hope you don't mind me starting a separate thread for this question. I have seen a lot of posts about multiswitch problems on the "Issue Thread: HR20 - 0xcc" thread. I just had a problem tonight and would like your opinion on if it is a multiswitch or an LNB issue.

I started getting the searching for sat / 771 message everyone was talking about when my kids tried to go to channel 300. I went to the bedroom where we have an old RCA DirectTivo and sure enough, same problem on that one. Both Tivos (old and new HR20) have separate lines run to them. I called support and after rebooting, tuning to channel 490-494 she concluded that only sat 110 is out which means it could be a multiswitch or lnb problem. A tech will be coming out on Thursday morning to take a look.

Why are so many people having problems? Is this a problem with the new 5LNB dish or something else? Should I push the tech to change both the LNB and the multiswitch? I don't recall reading a thread where someone else had it out on both the HR20 and an old system.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

Earl (but not that Earl)

Connect one of your receivers directly to the dish if possible. If you can get those channels with the multiswitch out of play then it certainly looks like a bad multiswitch.

[EJB]

Connect one of your receivers directly to the dish if possible. If you can get those channels with the multiswitch out of play then it certainly looks like a bad multiswitch.

Hmmmm .... The old RCA Tivo in the bedroom is connected directly to the dish. The installer ran 2 brand new lines to that room. As far as I can tell, there is no multiswitch in the mix for that one (the lines actually go from the dish, down the roof to the room - it does not pass through the attic and I see no switch outside).

The tech on the phone tonight said the multiswitch was built into the dish. Is this true???

Also ... As far as I can tell (so far) only channel 300 gives me that message. How can I tell which channel would be affected by this problem other than scrolling through everything I have access to?

Thanks!

Earl (but not that Earl)

[PoitNarf]

The tech on the phone tonight said the multiswitch was built into the dish. Is this true???

Yes, I had forgotten about that one.

[EJB]

Further to my other post above ... I just sat down and went through all the channels under 100 (local and HD), as well as all the channels between 200 and 379 (man that took a long time!).

Here are the ones that are out for me:

260
294
300
367

Next time someone on here gets the "searching for satellite 771" message, I would like for you to check one of the above to see if that is what is giving you trouble as well. In the past when I have seen this message on the HR20, I flip to the next channel and the message goes away. I never checked these to see if that was giving the message.

Thanks!

Earl (but not that Earl)

[EJB]

*sigh* The 4 channels in question just came back on. Guess that is a good thing, but it is kind of hard to get a tech to "fix" something if it isn't broken when he gets here.

Oh well ... will see what happens when he comes out on Thursday ....

Earl (but not that Earl)

[jstaffin]

Hmmmm .... The old RCA Tivo in the bedroom is connected directly to the dish. The installer ran 2 brand new lines to that room. As far as I can tell, there is no multiswitch in the mix for that one (the lines actually go from the dish, down the roof to the room - it does not pass through the attic and I see no switch outside).

The tech on the phone tonight said the multiswitch was built into the dish. Is this true???

Also ... As far as I can tell (so far) only channel 300 gives me that message. How can I tell which channel would be affected by this problem other than scrolling through everything I have access to?

Thanks!

Earl (but not that Earl)

For the 5 LNB dish, don't all 4 cables from the dish need to be connected to the WB68 multiswitch?? How could he have anything connected directly to the dish if all four have to go to the multiswitch?

[PoitNarf]

For the 5 LNB dish, don't all 4 cables from the dish need to be connected to the WB68 multiswitch?? How could he have anything connected directly to the dish if all four have to go to the multiswitch?

You only need a WB68 if you need more than the 4 outputs provided by the dish. The HR20 and 5LNB do not require a multiswitch.

[jstaffin]

You only need a WB68 if you need more than the 4 outputs provided by the dish. The HR20 and 5LNB do not require a multiswitch.

Yes, but the orginal poster is talking about his multiswitch being a pssible problem, he can't have both an external multiswitch and have his hedroom reciver connected directly to the dish and have things work properly, which one is it?

[EJB]

Yes, but the orginal poster is talking about his multiswitch being a pssible problem, he can't have both an external multiswitch and have his hedroom reciver connected directly to the dish and have things work properly, which one is it?


Quick follow-up to my note. Not sure I can answer your question about the multiswitch since I don't fully understand it on the new dish. It was the CSR that said it might be a switch problem. What I have is 4 coax wires come out of the LNBs down the dish. Just below the mount point to the chimney, these 4 coax wires come to a type of bridge where they tie into 4 other coax wires. Doesn't really look like a multiswitch, but maybe it is. The 4 wires coming out of the bridge (switch?) are split - 2 go into the chimeny, across the attic to the main TV where the HR20 is located. The other 2 go down the roof, along the gutter to the ouside wall of the bedroom. It then goes through the brick, directly to the back of the old DirectTivo. There is no switch in the house behind that TV.

I played some more with the searching for sat 771 problem. I can actually repeat it as follows.

- Tune the HR20 to channel 300.
- Turn TV and HR20 off (in standby mode)
- Turn everything back on. Channel 300 comes in nice and clear
- Tune to channel 72
- Normally I get the 771 message. If not, try to tune back to 300. Message will come up then.

To get it to go away, I have to tune to 72, then go to a SD channel that does work (like channel 200) then tune to 300. Channel 300 will come back at that point. I don't fully understand the odd/even process but I am guessing that sequence somehow invokes the problem at the dish. Switching back the way I describe in this paragraph somehow fixes the issue. I have not tried this process on the old RCA unit since I can't catch channel 72 in there. Not sure how to repeat it there.

Thanks!

Earl (but not that Earl)

[jstaffin]

From your description, you do not have a multiswitch in your installation (except the one built into the dish itself).


it could be a problem with only a few of the ports on the dish however.

On the HR20, when you change channels, the box continually rolls from tuner to tuner so for example you turn the box on and it's on 72 and we'll just say that it's on tuner 1, ( I haven't figured out how it decides which one is the first tuner when you turn it on) then you change to 73, now you'll be watching over tuner 2

this will continue as you change channels, continuously swapping tuners for you.

You can make sure you are one one tuner or the other by locking a tuner in by recording something.

Then when you change channels you will always be on the other tuner, because the first one is locked in recording the program you were on.

[EJB]

jstaffin,

Thanks for the follow-up. The tech came out today and the problem occurred while he was here. He replaced the whole dish. Said he could not really replace the single LNB in the middle (the one used by Sat 101), so he replaced the whole thing. The multiswitch is bolted onto the LNB, so when you replace one, you replace both. The problem is now solved (at least for now).

One interesting note ... After he had everything re-connected and was adjusting the dish, I got all of the channels back except the 4 in question. They were still "searching". I went outside to ask if he was done, because the problem was still there. He said he was done connecting it, but needed to fine tune the angles to make it all work. Sure enough, after he adjusted the dish, everything (including the 4 channels that were lost before) were working fine now. My little sequence of channels could not make the problem come back. Makes me wonder if the original problem was really a dish alignment problem as opposed to a LNB problem. Guess I will never know ....

Earl (but not that Earl)

[SFS97]

Just going to chime in on this subject. I've been having the same issue but only on the HR20. H20 and R10 never had any problem and I never had any problem before the HR20. I just changed the channel to 300 then to 72 and the message went away. Thanks!

Also, mine only seems to do this while I am recording something. Makes it hard to do a reset even with the R10 backing up everything..

[EJB]

Weird isn't it? I asked the installer if this is common (bad LNB and all). He says yea, they seem to come from the factory that way. All they can do is change them out.

As a side note ... I have not had the problem reported earlier with the 4 channels since he put the new dish in place earlier today. However ... I did get the "searching for sat 771" message a few times after that when flipping through the Audio channels located in the 800's. I haven't figured out the exact sequence that causes it, but it only happens on the HR20 (not the old RCA Tivo) and only when I went to channel 1000, then worked backwards down the audio channels. Seemed to happen around channel 868. When it does happen, I go down another channel or two and the message goes away. Since I don't listen to the audio channels, I think I will let this problem go for now. If I start to loose normal channels again, then I will complain.

Earl (but not that Earl)

[MVANHOU]

Weird isn't it? I asked the installer if this is common (bad LNB and all). He says yea, they seem to come from the factory that way. All they can do is change them out.

As a side note ... I have not had the problem reported earlier with the 4 channels since he put the new dish in place earlier today. However ... I did get the "searching for sat 771" message a few times after that when flipping through the Audio channels located in the 800's. I haven't figured out the exact sequence that causes it, but it only happens on the HR20 (not the old RCA Tivo) and only when I went to channel 1000, then worked backwards down the audio channels. Seemed to happen around channel 868. When it does happen, I go down another channel or two and the message goes away. Since I don't listen to the audio channels, I think I will let this problem go for now. If I start to loose normal channels again, then I will complain.

Earl (but not that Earl)

Same problem here, my problem seems to occur recording our local channel 5 (NBC) on MPEG 4. Changing channels as suggested seems to make it go away. Now I can't seem to re-create it.