trouble with A&E HD and UniversalHD

[jakexxl]

I'm having trouble picking up signal for A&E HD and Universal HD. I have a 622 -- have never had any problem at all with any of the other HD channels. Anyone know why these 2 channels in particular would be different from the others?

I've had problems with A&E HD since they turned it on awhile back. I normally don't watch Universal HD so don't know how long I've had that problem -- just noticed it this week when trying to watch the US Open. When I go to either channel, it just goes straight to the dreaded "acquiring signal" message and then never works.

[Taco Lover]

A lot of people have had problems with these 2 channels. Cinemax is in the same boat. It's because it's on transponder 27 of satellite 129, a troublemaker of a transponder.

[jakexxl]

So ... I'm just screwed or what? There's no fix or lingering solution?

[Taco Lover]

Well, a lot of people here suggested re-peaking the dish, which worked for some. I went the route of e-mailing dishquality@echostar.com to tell the techs about the problem. Apparently, they did something and it fixed it for me and others.

Unfortunately, I'm not at home to check the channels to see if I'm having issues.

[jvbh]

I don't know how much it helps (except maybe that you can have company while you wallow in misery), but I've had the same problem on the Universal HD channel. It's irritating, because the recordings I make from UNIHD crash the receiver (ViP622) when the "no signal" portion of the recording is reached. Sometimes I can skip past it; sometimes not. The signal loss seems to happen almost like clockwork at about half past the hour (so I get enough of my show to be interested before it kills the receiver and leaves me hanging), and seemingly more often in the evening.

Anyway, last night, I was watching something on that channel, and saw it happen (signal lost). I went right to the signal meter for 129 tp 27, and saw it down in the red at about 5 (on the New & Improved meter), and over the next minute or two I watched it slowly climb back up to about 40. Kind of surreal; I figured there was some arcane problem with my receiver or the two-dish installation I've got, but maybe not, if that transponder is just cursed or something.

[Lincoln6Echo]

I've only had problems with these channels back when I was having general signal problems back when I first had the HD system installed. And that turned out to be a loose barrel connector up in the attic where two coaxials came together. Since then I haven't had a problem with any channel.

So, what I'm saying is that loose connections do make a difference. And I mean all connections. Which means that if you have any additional connections/splices from your dish to your receiver, check those, as each connection other than a straight line will reduce your signal strength a bit. Perhaps from 1-3%, but enough to where it interferes with your receiver to correctly switch to certain channels.

[Bob Ketcham]

A lot of people have had problems with these 2 channels. Cinemax is in the same boat. It's because it's on transponder 27 of satellite 129, a troublemaker of a transponder.

Well, apparently Dish has decided that there is a real problem here. All three channels are scheduled to be off-line tonight at 2 am (according to the program guide). Let's hope they fix the drop outs.

[richiephx]

I don't think that A&EHD is showing any hd content. All the programs that were shown in HD, like CSI Miami, is all stretched and distorted like TNT. I hope it doesn't stay like this permanently.

[Bob Ketcham]

I don't think that A&EHD is showing any hd content. All the programs that were shown in HD, like CSI Miami, is all stretched and distorted like TNT. I hope it doesn't stay like this permanently.

Problem is not the TP discussed here. It is a fire at the uplink facility. Details are here...

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6477667.html

[Hunter Green]

I hope no one was hurt in the fire.

[jakexxl]

Problem is not the TP discussed here. It is a fire at the uplink facility. Details are here...

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6477667.html

That fire occurred in the last few days. The problems I'm having (addressed in the original post) have been around for months -- noticed it whenever A&E HD was turned on.

[Taco Lover]

That fire occurred in the last few days. The problems I'm having (addressed in the original post) have been around for months -- noticed it whenever A&E HD was turned on.
Like I mentioned, those 2 channels (plus CinemaxHD) are on the satellite at 129, and it's known to put out a low signal. What's worse, they're also on Transponder 27, which has been known to be the worst on that bird.

It sounds like a re-peaking of your dish is what you need. If the dish is not peaked properly, it's likely these channels are the first to go. Do you have DHPP?

[jakexxl]

Nope, don't have DHPP

[Taco Lover]

Nope, don't have DHPP
Without DHPP, a service call can be $99. Are you able to re-peak the dish yourself?

What are your signal levels on 129 Tp 27? Mine are at 16 on the new scale. Dangerously low, IMO.