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The official "ask veryoldschool" thread

136K views 823 replies 136 participants last post by  jpray72 
#1 ·
Folks,

As many of you know we have a great asset in "veryoldschool", or VOS for short. He's forgotten more about RF and connectivity than many of us will ever learn.

I'd like to start by thanking him for his immense service to this forum, and I'd like to start an official thread for the many questions you all have for him about connected home, whole home viewing, or anything DIRECTV related.

Please keep to topic and if you have a question, please read on to see if it's been answered.

Thanks!
 
#302 ·
cbhpi said:
The PI is a 21 volt. I checked my signal strength again and there are some low numbers, but only for some of the spot beam transponders. (There are also a couple of really high numbers, too.) Reception seems to be good on all the channels that I watch, including local HD channels. If I don't make a fuss and keep the 21 volt PI, will reception likely be affected during rainstorms?
You're most likely "fine". The 21 volt has been dropped for the 28 volt, and even with solid copper core RG6 has had some issues [771] with long coax runs.
While I don't like DC on RG59, if it's working for you then it should continue.
You might want to check if the RG59 is warm at all, as this would be [more of] a sign of a problem.
 
#303 ·
veryoldschool said:
I'm more concerned about the LED status, as that indicates the RF status.
For now let's pass on the whole router/IP/internet and focus on whether there is coax networking.
Go to the 34 and press the guide & right arrow buttons [both] on the front panel. You should see a menu with COAX on the left. Select this and the next screen will show all the DECAs that are connected to the node, along with the loss to each from the 34.
Either post a screen shot or list what you see here and it will help.
Nodes IDs Friendly Names Mac Address Phy Levels

0 Family Rm 14D4FE6F552B N/A
1 Node-90A4DED16460 90A4DED16460 -15

Sorry, when it posts this info it shrinks the space between columns.
 
#304 ·
veryoldschool said:
You're most likely "fine". The 21 volt has been dropped for the 28 volt, and even with solid copper core RG6 has had some issues [771] with long coax runs.
While I don't like DC on RG59, if it's working for you then it should continue.
You might want to check if the RG59 is warm at all, as this would be [more of] a sign of a problem.
Is this a safety/fire issue?
 
#307 ·
Sunner73 said:
..... there is no other receiver currently connected (I'm systematically connecting and setting up one-by-one and I'm wanting to get the internet access working before I connect the other HR's).
veryoldschool said:
So this shows the HR34 being node 0 and one other DECA being node 1 with a MAC of 90A4DE16460.
Do you only have a HR34 and the WCCK?
Yes, currently only the HR34 is connected while I work on getting the Internet accessable.
 
#308 ·
Sunner73 said:
Yes, currently only the HR34 is connected while I work on getting the Internet accessable.
Not quite sure why you're doing it this way "but" you might try rebooting the WCCK, and then rebooting the HR34, since the DECA RF signal is present, this may simply be that the WCCK was added after the 34.
"The normal" setup/reboot cycle is to have everything connected, and power up the WCCK, then each receiver one by one.

If this doesn't resolve it, I'd reset all the network settings to defaults, which is easy on the 34, but requires finding the recessed button on the WCCK.
Once you've got them "talking [34 -WCCK-router] you can then play with static IPs/MAC filtering etc.
 
#309 ·
veryoldschool said:
Not quite sure why you're doing it this way "but" you might try rebooting the WCCK, and then rebooting the HR34, since the DECA RF signal is present, this may simply be that the WCCK was added after the 34.
"The normal" setup/reboot cycle is to have everything connected, and power up the WCCK, then each receiver one by one.

If this doesn't resolve it, I'd reset all the network settings to defaults, which is easy on the 34, but requires finding the recessed button on the WCCK.
Once you've got them "talking [34 -WCCK-router] you can then play with static IPs/MAC filtering etc.
I did power up the HR34 before I plugged in the CCK power supply but I have used the "reboot" button while I was accessing the setup on the CCK (through the browser). I've unplugged the CCK and hit the red reset button but no change.... still no coax light.

I was just wanting to get the HR34 installation up and totally running "before" adding the other HR24s.

I've even just did a "reset" on the CCK (little hole above the ethernet jack) and another red button reset (HR34). Still no coax light. (when the CCK goes through the restart process the green coax light does flicker a few times but then nothing.)
 
#310 ·
Sunner73 said:
I did power up the HR34 before I plugged in the CCK power supply but I have used the "reboot" button while I was accessing the setup on the CCK (through the browser). I've unplugged the CCK and hit the red reset button but no change.... still no coax light.

I was just wanting to get the HR34 installation up and totally running "before" adding the other HR24s.

I've even just did a "reset" on the CCK (little hole above the ethernet jack) and another red button reset (HR34). Still no coax light. (when the CCK goes through the restart process the green coax light does flicker a few times but then nothing.)
So at this point I'm leaning towards a bad WCCK, and would use the ethernet port on the HR34, and then connect the rest of your system up as you'll be running [and or find your next issue].
The HR34 will act a a bridge between the DECA and your home network.
 
#311 ·
I'm at a total loss.... there isn't even any literature on how to hard wire a WCCK.

After using paperclip to "reset" the CCK, I did a red button reset on the HR34...twice.... and no difference.

Why is this not allowing at least the green coax network light to illuminate?

Perhaps I should disconnect the CCK from my router to see if I could even get the coax network to light up. Probably won't light up without a connection to the router.. be my luck.

Any ideas?
 
#312 ·
veryoldschool said:
So at this point I'm leaning towards a bad WCCK, and would use the ethernet port on the HR34, and then connect the rest of your system up as you'll be running [and or find your next issue].
The HR34 will act a a bridge between the DECA and your home network.
Just my luck... who would have thought a new WCCK being bad. To bad I didn't play the Mega last night.

I was trying not to run an ethernet cable to the HR34 being it's 20ft from the CCK and ethernet hub on the other side of the room but looks like I've not too many choices. We know that it should be working but alas....

So just to confirm since I will be connecting the HR34 directly to the router, I should "NOT" have anything plugged into the ethernet jack on the CCK? Obviously I will have to add the HR34's mac address to the router's filter though.
 
#313 ·
Sunner73 said:
Just my luck... who would have thought a new WCCK being bad. To bad I didn't play the Mega last night.

I was trying not to run an ethernet cable to the HR34 being it's 20ft from the CCK and ethernet hub on the other side of the room but looks like I've not too many choices. We know that it should be working but alas....
Since the DECA nodes are there, the green LED should be lit too.
Figure the ethernet cable is merely a "temp fix" that lets you verify everything else is working.
Once you have a second receiver connected, you might try the WCCK "just to prove" it isn't the 34 [which I don't think it is, but.....]
 
#314 ·
Sunner73 said:
So just to confirm since I will be connecting the HR34 directly to the router, I should "NOT" have anything plugged into the ethernet jack on the CCK? Obviously I will have to add the HR34's mac address to the router's filter though.
Two connections to your router will cause problems, but since the WCCK doesn't seem to be working, even leaving it connected shouldn't matter, and if it does, that might give a good troubleshooting data point.
 
#315 ·
veryoldschool said:
Since the DECA nodes are there, the green LED should be lit too.
Figure the ethernet cable is merely a "temp fix" that lets you verify everything else is working.
Once you have a second receiver connected, you might try the WCCK "just to prove" it isn't the 34 [which I don't think it is, but.....]
As soon as I unplugged the cable from the CCK jack the green coax light lit up. I then verified that the cable itself "was" good, so still not sure why it wasn't working but it does now and I have verified internet access. I still hope to run the ethernet cable from the CCK to my router as the Ethernet cable laying next to the baseboard is not the way my wife likes it (actually neither do I).

We'll see how the rest of the install goes Sunday.

Thanks VOS!
 
#316 ·
Well, since VOS seems to be the man to ask about these sorts of things, I hope maybe you can answer a quick question for me?

I've been reading on here about splitters and loss and how it can affect rain fade and things like that. I have a question on my installation I want to verify to see if it has any effect on my total system loss.

I have a SWM system and I'm assuming there's a SWM-8 multiswitch on the roof by the dish (it's not in my cable box on the outside of the house and I've never been up close and personal with the dish, I just know I have support for 8 tuners). From the dish, the cable runs into a box on the house and into a 4 way splitter.

On that splitter, line 1 (power passthrough) goes to my office and hooks into another 4 way splitter (all I had at the time). Line1 on that splitter goes to the SWM power injector and a CCK that's connected to the power injector. Line 2 on that splitter goes to an Hr24 receiver. Lines 3 and 4 are terminated with the little caps.

Back on the main splitter, line 2 goes to an H24 DVR, line 3 goes to another Hr24 receiver and line 4 goes to another H24 DVR. There are no other splitters or breaks in the cable.

I'm wondering if the 4-way splitter in my office connected to the power injector is going to have any effect on the total system loss of my setup or if it would only likely have any effect on the Hr24 connected to the same switch. Rain fade isn't terrible on all receivers, but I do get 771 errors from time to time, especially on the DVRs - even when the weather (both near and to the south) is clear and beautiful.

Thoughts?
 
#317 ·
rmmccann said:
Well, since VOS seems to be the man to ask about these sorts of things, I hope maybe you can answer a quick question for me?

I've been reading on here about splitters and loss and how it can affect rain fade and things like that. I have a question on my installation I want to verify to see if it has any effect on my total system loss.

I have a SWM system and I'm assuming there's a SWM-8 multiswitch on the roof by the dish (it's not in my cable box on the outside of the house and I've never been up close and personal with the dish, I just know I have support for 8 tuners). From the dish, the cable runs into a box on the house and into a 4 way splitter.

On that splitter, line 1 (power passthrough) goes to my office and hooks into another 4 way splitter (all I had at the time). Line1 on that splitter goes to the SWM power injector and a CCK that's connected to the power injector. Line 2 on that splitter goes to an Hr24 receiver. Lines 3 and 4 are terminated with the little caps.

Back on the main splitter, line 2 goes to an H24 DVR, line 3 goes to another Hr24 receiver and line 4 goes to another H24 DVR. There are no other splitters or breaks in the cable.

I'm wondering if the 4-way splitter in my office connected to the power injector is going to have any effect on the total system loss of my setup or if it would only likely have any effect on the Hr24 connected to the same switch. Rain fade isn't terrible on all receivers, but I do get 771 errors from time to time, especially on the DVRs - even when the weather (both near and to the south) is clear and beautiful.

Thoughts?
"More than likely" you have a SWiMLNB on the dish.
The first splitter looks to be a good choice.
The second splitter isn't a good choice, so swapping it for a 2-way would increase the signal level to the HR24. This won't change the levels to the other receivers, as the power split to them is before this.
If you have rain fade on the other receivers, the only place to help would be at the dish by making sure it's aligned as well as it can.
Now if the office receiver is the first to show rainfade, changing the splitter "should help" by a few dB.
Some recent testing has shown the LNB to be the limiting factor in rainfade, so there isn't anything that can be done after the LNB to improve this. You can make it worse with too much loss, but if the loss between the receiver and SWiM is "only" 30 dB, it's within the operational range and nothing will improve rainfade other than a better aligned dish, or moving to a larger dish, to increase the gain there.
 
#318 ·
Thanks VOS. I hardly use the receiver in the office (only on Sundays during the NFL season) so I'm not worried about loss so much there; just wanted to make sure that it wasn't having a negative effect on everything else.
 
#319 ·
veryoldschool said:
So this shows the HR34 being node 0 and one other DECA being node 1 with a MAC of 90A4DE16460.
Do you only have a HR34 and the WCCK?
VOS, Here are my latest Coax Network stats;

I experienced a Whole Home DVR failure 3 times while watching a recording on a HR24 that was on the HR34. I don't know what to make of these readings.... any thoughts? It just lost the connection, it took about 20 seconds and the list showed the show again and I resumed.....3 times though.



Node Ids Friendly Names MAC Address Phy Levels

0 14D4FE6F552B -28
1 NODE-FFFFFFF90A4DED1646D FFFFFFF90A4DED…… -26
2 NODE-FFFFFFFDCD3216A0172 FFFFFFFDCD3216…… N/A
3 NODE-FFFFFFFDCD32169FD5C FFFFFFFDCD3216…… -24
 
#320 ·
Sunner73 said:
VOS, Here are my latest Coax Network stats;

I experienced a Whole Home DVR failure 3 times while watching a recording on a HR24 that was on the HR34. I don't know what to make of these readings.... any thoughts? It just lost the connection, it took about 20 seconds and the list showed the show again and I resumed.....3 times though.

Node Ids Friendly Names MAC Address Phy Levels

0 14D4FE6F552B -28
1 NODE-FFFFFFF90A4DED1646D FFFFFFF90A4DED…… -26
2 NODE-FFFFFFFDCD3216A0172 FFFFFFFDCD3216…… N/A
3 NODE-FFFFFFFDCD32169FD5C FFFFFFFDCD3216…… -24
Your levels are good, or the losses between nodes are well within range.
Did this screen show "dropped sessions", or was the count 0?

The next thing to look at are the Phy rate Mesh, which is the second test that you run.
It will display a matrix of the nodes across the top and down the left side.
 
#321 ·
veryoldschool said:
Your levels are good, or the losses between nodes are well within range.
Did this screen show "dropped sessions", or was the count 0?

The next thing to look at are the Phy rate Mesh, which is the second test that you run.
It will display a matrix of the nodes across the top and down the left side.
Yes, sorry about that, dropped sessions was count 0.

Nds 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0 246 249 249 251
1 249 242 247 248
2 247 251 238 247
3 252 250 250 247
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

I've also attached a Excel page with the proper columns.

Thanks VOS

.
 
#322 ·
Sunner73 said:
Yes, sorry about that, dropped sessions was count 0.

Nds 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0 246 249 249 251
1 249 242 247 248
2 247 251 238 247
3 252 250 250 247

I've also attached a Excel page with the proper columns.

Thanks VOS

.
So what it looks like here is the DECA networking isn't the problem.
If I understand the problem, it's the HR34 causing issues sending the signal to the HR24, which is expected to be addressed with a software update "soon".
If you scan the HR34: Version 0x054C Issues/Discussion thread you should see similar issues.
 
#323 ·
I'll be checking out that thread.
At least my coax network is working.
Thanks VOS
 
#326 ·
I have a SWM8 with an HR 23 on one drop and the power inserter on the other with a 4 way splitter feeding a HR21 & HR24 with the CCK on 3rd drop with the unused output caped. I am planing to replace the HR23 with HR34 and the SMW8 with a 16. I see the SMW 16 has a port for the power inserter, can it be powered the same way the SMW8 through the signal port?
Thanks VOS
 
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