[brucknerdoc]

First post - lurking for a while waiting for OTA to arrive...

I currently have a setup of 6 receivers from a 3LNB oval dish, including 2 HD units (H10 & HR10-250) - supplied thru a Terk 5X8 multiswitch. Additionally, I pass OTA HD from an outside antenna thru the multiswitch along the same single cable run to the receivers, using a Terk diplexer (BDS-P1) at the receiver. All has been well.

I decided to add the HR20 after OTA was activated, but no joy...

If I run my sat cable (after the diplexer), I got "0" signal strength on all satellites during setup. Running the combined signal directly into the HR20 (before the diplexer) gives signal on all staellites for tuner 2 (all transponders 90+). But, on tuner 2, signal is poor - 101 shows 60-70 on only odd or even transponders, 110 is in 40's, and 119 is 40's only 0n 22 & 24 (rest are 0). As a result, I receive "failed" messages for confirming setup on sat 101 & 119 - only 110 is "ok".

Rest of receivers in house still show signals 90+, including the same feed I am trying to add the HR20 to - resetting (several times) is no better.

I'm assuming this has something to do with the multiswitch/diplexer setup - I have no immmediate plans to go AT9/5LNB anytime soon.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[sansabar]

Sounds like bad voltage. I would omit the diplexer altogether (both ends) and see if that corrects the satellite situation. Another thing to try is to run the OTA directly, again omitting the diplexer. Work up the to the point of addition that is causing the problem.

 

[baeverly]

First post - lurking for a while waiting for OTA to arrive...

I currently have a setup of 6 receivers from a 3LNB oval dish, including 2 HD units (H10 & HR10-250) - supplied thru a Terk 5X8 multiswitch. Additionally, I pass OTA HD from an outside antenna thru the multiswitch along the same single cable run to the receivers, using a Terk diplexer (BDS-P1) at the receiver. All has been well.

I decided to add the HR20 after OTA was activated, but no joy...

If I run my sat cable (after the diplexer), I got "0" signal strength on all satellites during setup. Running the combined signal directly into the HR20 (before the diplexer) gives signal on all staellites for tuner 2 (all transponders 90+). But, on tuner 2, signal is poor - 101 shows 60-70 on only odd or even transponders, 110 is in 40's, and 119 is 40's only 0n 22 & 24 (rest are 0). As a result, I receive "failed" messages for confirming setup on sat 101 & 119 - only 110 is "ok".

Rest of receivers in house still show signals 90+, including the same feed I am trying to add the HR20 to - resetting (several times) is no better.

I'm assuming this has something to do with the multiswitch/diplexer setup - I have no immmediate plans to go AT9/5LNB anytime soon.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

I had the same problem. It is definitely your switch. DirecTV should replace this with the new Zinwell WB68 6X8 Multiswitch. Once I replaced my old switch with the new one the exact problems you describe were corrected! Call DirecTV and request that they install the new MS. They also installed the new Slimline dish for me as well. The installer technician said it was the MS not the dish that was causing my problem.

 

[brucknerdoc]

I had the same problem. It is definitely your switch. DirecTV should replace this with the new Zinwell WB68 6X8 Multiswitch. Once I replaced my old switch with the new one the exact problems you describe were corrected! Call DirecTV and request that they install the new MS. They also installed the new Slimline dish for me as well. The installer technician said it was the MS not the dish that was causing my problem.

Multiswitch it is, then... :righton:

I'll give it a try - probably do it on my own since I'm not quite ready for a new dish setup yet.

Thanks!

 

[texasbrit]

Multiswitch it is, then... :righton:

I'll give it a try - probably do it on my own since I'm not quite ready for a new dish setup yet.

Thanks!

If your multiswitch works for the other receivers it should work for the HR20 since you are using a 3-lnb dish....what happens if you swap the Hr20 to one of the other cables? And I was a bit confused by how many receivers/tuners you have in total - 4 receivers, 2DVRs and a total of eight tuners??

 

[brucknerdoc]

I got 6 receivers all together - not including the HR20.

The HR20 is being setup on a feed that I have already working with an H10 - that tuner works fine with the existing cables for both SAT and OTA. The HR20 is failing on 2 of 3 satellites, although the feeds work for all other receivers - poor signal on tuner 2 seems to be the issue with my setup.

So, could it be the multiswitch? The WB68 seems to be relatively cheap, so maybe I'll give it a try...

Any other thoughts?

 

[Knon2000]

Just to make sure, you are using a DIPLEXER and not a simple signal splitter are you? Signal splitters are not diplexors.

 

[brucknerdoc]

Indeed, I have a diplexer - the current cable run is already fine for the H10, just not the HR20...

 

[Knon2000]

I got 6 receivers all together - not including the HR20.

The HR20 is being setup on a feed that I have already working with an H10 - that tuner works fine with the existing cables for both SAT and OTA. The HR20 is failing on 2 of 3 satellites, although the feeds work for all other receivers - poor signal on tuner 2 seems to be the issue with my setup.

So, could it be the multiswitch? The WB68 seems to be relatively cheap, so maybe I'll give it a try...

Any other thoughts?

If I understand you correctly, you had an H10 working in the location that you are wanting to use the HR20 in. If that is correct, you would only have one tuner capable of recording since you only have one cable run to it. A diplexer is only used for combining and uncombining an OTA and Sat signal. It cannot work as a "splitter" for a sat cable. If you need dual tuners, you will need to run a second run for the second tuner.
If I misunderstood, sorry, but that is what I understood from reading this reply.

 

[Knon2000]

Indeed, I have a diplexer - the current cable run is already fine for the H10, just not the HR20...

Please clarify, how many cable runs are there from the multiswitch to the reciever. Are there one or two cable runs? A dual tuner reciever will need two cable runs direct from the multiswitch. If there is only one cable, for now, you will only be able to use one tuner. Eventually, they are planning on offering signal stacking, but for now, there is only the ablitily to run the one tuner off the one cable.

 

[brucknerdoc]

Sorry for the confusion - I tried to describe my setup in my original post as best I could.

Indeed, I realize the diplexer is not a splitter - it is being used to separate a single run from the multiswitch to the tuner, carrying both SAT and OTA from an outside antenna.

When I mentioned "tuner 2", I was referring to what I noticed in checking thru signal strength when setup failed - with all satellites, tuner 1 was consistantly 90+ (as it is fall all my other tuners), but tuner 2 strength is poor - that is why I thought the problem lies somewhere there.

I only have one SAT cable going into the HR20.

 

[Knon2000]

Sorry for the confusion - I tried to describe my setup in my original post as best I could.

Indeed, I realize the diplexer is not a splitter - it is being used to separate a single run from the multiswitch to the tuner, carrying both SAT and OTA from an outside antenna.

When I mentioned "tuner 2", I was referring to what I noticed in checking thru signal strength when setup failed - with all satellites, tuner 1 was consistantly 90+ (as it is fall all my other tuners), but tuner 2 strength is poor - that is why I thought the problem lies somewhere there.

I only have one SAT cable going into the HR20.

That would most likely be your problem. In order to use both tuners, you would need to have two sat cables running to the reciever. If you are only using one cable, you are only able to use one tuner. If you want to enable both tuners, you would need to have a second cable run for you. If you do have a second cable run, it would also be a good idea to have another cable run for OTA.

 

[brucknerdoc]

I'm not really trying to use two tuners at this time - I can't get passed the initial setup - at the confirmation screen (before downloading the program guide), the HR20 reports that sat 101 and 110 "failed". And since I have excellent signal on tuner 1, I guessed the weak signal on tuner 2 was causing my failed setup.

So, if I don't need two tuners - and only have one feed - why do I get a signal strength at all on a second tuner, and my HR20 won't complete setup?

 

[Knon2000]

do you have anything at all connected to the second tuner?

 

[brucknerdoc]

Only one RG6 cable in.

 

[Knon2000]

That is weird. I would say that there is an internal problem in the reciever since the individual tuners should be discrete. I think that Hasan from this forum had said that he only has one tuner connected on his reciever, but I cannot say for certain. Maybe a PM to him would be a good idea. Either way, the fact that you are showing signal strength on a tuner that is not currently connected seems very unusual, and I doubt that the multiswitch would be responsible.

 

[bpayne]

Only one RG6 cable in.

You're most likely getting "null 0" readings on tuner 2. "Null 0" is my nickname for it, not a formally adopted one. Basically, boxes that are getting a zero signal from the satellite are performing a calculation and still coming back with a value. These values read as wildy flucuating ones- 40, then 90, then 0, then...
This is a bug that seems to inflict every box with the NDS software at least initially. D11s for some reason, are especially prone to it and the matrix-style signal meter, even on a patched box, may display a false reading on transponder 1 before moving on down the line to xp 2, 3, 4 etc.

Hook up tuner 1, force the latest software patch and go through guided setup again.

Ignore any warning messages.

Get into live tv, bring up the signal meter (the individual one, not the 'matrix'-style) and make sure tuner 2 reads correctly as 0.

It's certainly possible it's something else, but if a tech called me up and explained the symptoms you describe, this is the first thing I would have them do.

 

[brucknerdoc]

Thank you, bpayne - your suggestion worked!

Life is good...