I think you have a cable issue.DaveO said:I've had Primestar, I self-installed Dish 500 and then an added Dish for the 61 satellite. Then around 2000 I switched to D*. Only one SD receiver and one cable which was installed new by the installer. In July of '07 I had an HR20-100s installed along with a Slimline dish.
The installer spliced into the dual coax that was installed with the original Primestar installation in 1996 as it had been cut when the Primestar dish was removed. I have around an 80-85' run to the Slimline.
I had to call D* last fall for an alignment as channels were dropping out. I had them here again on July 28th this year and they found one of the legs to the tripod loose. Channels were coming in pixelated or searching for sat 771. Tightening the leg brought chanels back in and I have pretty good signal strength. There is no question of trees in the way (and agreed to by the installer).
Today channel 86 NY-7 was not watchable-dropped out and pixelated. I called D* tech support to see if I could get the cabling replaced. Well, as you might figure 86 was coming in fine when I called so he said call back next time I had a problem.
In the 80-85' run of cabling (12 year old cable), it has been spliced twice. Once at the dish and once at the house when they installed new siding.
Anyone think I might have a cable problem? I used proper coax connectors when I spliced at the house and have the proper tools to "crimp" the connectors. I'm wondering if I should push for new cabling from the dish right to the box. The shielding looked like it might be corroded a bit.
Bad Cables?
I've had Primestar, I self-installed Dish 500 and then an added Dish for the 61 satellite. Then around 2000 I switched to D*. Only one SD receiver and one cable which was installed new by the installer. In July of '07 I had an HR20-100s installed along with a Slimline dish.
The installer spliced into the dual coax that was installed with the original Primestar installation in 1996 as it had been cut when the Primestar dish was removed. I have around an 80-85' run to the Slimline.
I had to call D* last fall for an alignment as channels were dropping out. I had them here again on July 28th this year and they found one of the legs to the tripod loose. Channels were coming in pixelated or searching for sat 771. Tightening the leg brought chanels back in and I have pretty good signal strength. There is no question of trees in the way (and agreed to by the installer).
Today channel 86 NY-7 was not watchable-dropped out and pixelated. I called D* tech support to see if I could get the cabling replaced. Well, as you might figure 86 was coming in fine when I called so he said call back next time I had a problem.
In the 80-85' run of cabling (12 year old cable), it has been spliced twice. Once at the dish and once at the house when they installed new siding.
Anyone think I might have a cable problem? I used proper coax connectors when I spliced at the house and have the proper tools to "crimp" the connectors. I'm wondering if I should push for new cabling from the dish right to the box. The shielding looked like it might be corroded a bit.
The installer spliced into the dual coax that was installed with the original Primestar installation in 1996 as it had been cut when the Primestar dish was removed. I have around an 80-85' run to the Slimline.
I had to call D* last fall for an alignment as channels were dropping out. I had them here again on July 28th this year and they found one of the legs to the tripod loose. Channels were coming in pixelated or searching for sat 771. Tightening the leg brought chanels back in and I have pretty good signal strength. There is no question of trees in the way (and agreed to by the installer).
Today channel 86 NY-7 was not watchable-dropped out and pixelated. I called D* tech support to see if I could get the cabling replaced. Well, as you might figure 86 was coming in fine when I called so he said call back next time I had a problem.
In the 80-85' run of cabling (12 year old cable), it has been spliced twice. Once at the dish and once at the house when they installed new siding.
Anyone think I might have a cable problem? I used proper coax connectors when I spliced at the house and have the proper tools to "crimp" the connectors. I'm wondering if I should push for new cabling from the dish right to the box. The shielding looked like it might be corroded a bit.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
I think you have a cable issue.DaveO said:
if it only happened once I wouldn't be too worried.. but if it continues (or you get blank recordings) I would worry about that older cable.. you could even run a temp run to verify..
I would check all connections for internal corrosion.
Try swapping the inputs on the HR20 and check the strengths again.
Try swapping the inputs on the HR20 and check the strengths again.
Also, "crimping" does not necessarily make as good of a connection as "compression" fittings, and if the cable is 12 years old I would suspect that may be the case. If you have anout slack in the cable, it may not hurt to whack a few inches off and put on a new fitting.
If you unscrew the current fitting and things look clean, that may not be the case. If they look corroded, I would start there.
If you unscrew the current fitting and things look clean, that may not be the case. If they look corroded, I would start there.
I have an "F" connector crimper only. What kind of tool do I need for a compression fitting? I think I am going to buy my own dual cable coax somewhere and re-do it from the LNBs to the HR20.JLucPicard said:Also, "crimping" does not necessarily make as good of a connection as "compression" fittings, and if the cable is 12 years old I would suspect that may be the case. If you have anout slack in the cable, it may not hurt to whack a few inches off and put on a new fitting.
If you unscrew the current fitting and things look clean, that may not be the case. If they look corroded, I would start there.
The D* tech I talked to would not accept the "transponder map" as it was not a D* product. I told him I had low signal strength on the transponder/sat for channel 86. As happens, 86 was working when I called him and he said there was nothing we could do if it is working. Well, it has been pixelated and searching for signal on and off but never when I want to call them so I guess I'll just bite the bullet and put my own cables in.
Anyone know of a good source?
I've checked all connections from the HR20 to the dish. the only suspect is the old cable and I put new connectors on about 10' back. The outer shield still appears corroded at that point so I guess cable is the answer. Having two splices in the line is also not a good idea either.
If it looks bad, it probably is bad. Could be very lossy.DaveO said:.....The outer shield still appears corroded at that point so I guess cable is the answer. Having two splices in the line is also not a good idea either.
http://www.amazon.com/DataShark-70018-Compression-Stripper-Connectors/dp/B000934F3Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1218572189&sr=1-2
Although I'm no fan of the included cable stripper, it should work decently for the few cables you're dealing with. The compression tool is fine, and this little kit even includes a few compression fittings to get you started. It might be enough to do your whole job, but if not, you can get more.
http://www.hometech.com/learn/coaxterm.html
The above is a good pictorial guide on how to properly install compression (or even crimp-on) F-connectors, but do yourself a favor and use only compression connectors.
Although I'm no fan of the included cable stripper, it should work decently for the few cables you're dealing with. The compression tool is fine, and this little kit even includes a few compression fittings to get you started. It might be enough to do your whole job, but if not, you can get more.
http://www.hometech.com/learn/coaxterm.html
The above is a good pictorial guide on how to properly install compression (or even crimp-on) F-connectors, but do yourself a favor and use only compression connectors.
I found a compression tool and "blue" compression connectors on ebay for a good price. Also bought dual cable coax and an entrance kit.IIP said:http://www.hometech.com/learn/coaxterm.html
The above is a good pictorial guide on how to properly install compression (or even crimp-on) F-connectors, but do yourself a favor and use only compression connectors.
I'm going to do the entire run over. I have one question though: It's about an 85' run to the slimline. When the tech installed it he ran new dual coax about 4' from the slimline dish and that's where he joined into my old wires using a junction block.
Would it be ok to connect to that junction block instead of going right onto the dish? Would I have much loss by doing that?
That junction block most likely is a grounding block. I'll leave it to those more learned to talk through those aspects, but I would guess that you will be utilizing that and won't want to be bypassing it.
I had some bad cable issue due to the fact that the installer just spliced into my existing instead of dropping it all the way down the wall.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the coax should, among other things, be rated at (I think) 2.4ghz for HD. What they originally ran in my house, before the splice, was 3ghz. I know for a fact that any f/f couplers need to be rated at 2.4ghz. I think they're the blue ones.
Anyway I ran new copper and all is good now.
As someone suggested, you can switch cables/tuners and see if there is any change.
How I had discovered this was when I had bad pixelation on let's say channel 1. I switched to channel 2 and set it to record. Now tuner 1 is engaged and recording channel 2. Go back to the bad feed on channel 1 (which is now being fed on tuner 2). See if the problem persists.
Using this method I found that the cable feeding tuner 1 was very old and was the bad seed. Good luck.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the coax should, among other things, be rated at (I think) 2.4ghz for HD. What they originally ran in my house, before the splice, was 3ghz. I know for a fact that any f/f couplers need to be rated at 2.4ghz. I think they're the blue ones.
Anyway I ran new copper and all is good now.
As someone suggested, you can switch cables/tuners and see if there is any change.
How I had discovered this was when I had bad pixelation on let's say channel 1. I switched to channel 2 and set it to record. Now tuner 1 is engaged and recording channel 2. Go back to the bad feed on channel 1 (which is now being fed on tuner 2). See if the problem persists.
Using this method I found that the cable feeding tuner 1 was very old and was the bad seed. Good luck.
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