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GNatts Signal discussion (From 0x104 thread)

3482 Views 66 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  RCinFLA, 
gantte
Hi all, I'm new to HD, new to HR20 and new to this forum, but it looks like the only place to get some answers...

I bought a new, never been used HR20-700 from eBay. I installed it last Wed night (Dec 6th), hooked up to my then 3 LNB oval dish from DirecTV. I have 3 old non-HD Hughes DVRs and 2 even older RCA DirecTV tuners.

Based on advice from DirecTV installation tech, it was acceptable to install new HR-20 on my old 3 LNB oval until I could get my 5 LNB KaKu dish installed. I did this and DirecTV said they enabled my HD package service. So far, so good.


This Saturday Dec 9th, DirecTV sent a guy to swap out my old dish for the new
oval 5 LNB KaKu dish. The installer was GREAT! Very very meticulous and I
could not be more pleased with his work. I have PERFECT signal strength, no
LESS than 98% on any bird, on all receivers, including the new HR20. I've
had DirecTV for years, never had this good a signal, I was very happy. :D

Unfortunately on Saturday, I was very late for another commitment, so when
the dish installer was done, we checked the signal strength, and since I had
already activated my service, he and I rushed out for our next appointments.

I came home Sunday night and finally settled down to check out the new
HD content that I assumed was waiting me. What I got instead was an hour
of frustrating run around on the phone with DirecTV!

I still have perfect signal strength, but little to NO HD content. For the record
I have the TOTAL CHOICE PREMIER service and now the HD package as well.

I have never ever once, since having my new 5 LNB KaKu dish installed, received
any HD content. Everything is just "771 searching for Satellite in 1... (or in ...2)
Well... I *do* get Discovery HD Theatre and something called HDnet, both come in great, but I got those on my 3 LNB dish. I don't get any local channel HD or the HBO or Showtime HD channels at all.

Last night I did the RBR procedure 5 times, swapped cables, flipped cable positions, and a few other voo doo techniques, nothing got me HD content.

I'm running 0xfa, I've never had anything other than 0xfa, as that's what loaded
up when I first powered up the HR20 on Dec 6th.

I dunno if 0x104 will get to me this week or not, I'm local to Raleigh NC and being east coast, I assume we will be last for 0x104.

I have a "PM" (afternoon) appointment with DirecTV person tomorrow, again if they don't bring me another HR20, I'm not sure what else they can do.

I do have the "b-band" filters installed and one of the suggestions was to change their positions, although that just seems silly from a troubleshooting perspective.
I have not tried RBR with the B-band filters removed, but if that fixed my problem, that would just be a NEW issue...

I've also done the RBR, 0-2-4-6-8 thing, nothing gained there either.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate you letting me know.

I am amazed at how "fragile" and tedious this HR20 and DirecTV's service is.
I'm a long time, non-HD customer and I just assumed everything would be as rock solid as my past years of service with DirecTV. Apparently not. I find it truly sad that the only solution I can get is to push a red button that wipes out all my customizations and so far, had done absolutely nothing towards getting me a signal. :mad:

Has anyone consider a class action law suit against DirecTV?

Finally, I'll figure out how to make one of those fancy signature things, but until then, here's my list:

1 Phillips DirecTV DVR
2 Hughes DirecTV DVR
1 Hughes HD20-700 DVR
2 RCA single input receivers
Samsung HRS5687 receiver
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Canis Lupus
(Earl - posting here but assuming you're gonna move this 771 discussion).

gantte,
welcome to the forum. it appears from what you're saying here that you're only getting HD content from 1 satellite, the 119 degree. Can u check to see if you also get ESPN2 HD (which I believe is either channel 72 or 73)? If you do, and you're not getting ESPN HD or the others you detailed, then it sounds to me like the installer either did not check the signal strength for ALL of your satellites, or you have a bad LNB assembly on your dish.

gantte said:
I have never ever once, since having my new 5 LNB KaKu dish installed, received
any HD content. Everything is just "771 searching for Satellite in 1... (or in ...2)
Well... I *do* get Discovery HD Theatre and something called HDnet, both come in great, but I got those on my 3 LNB dish. I don't get any local channel HD or the HBO or Showtime HD channels at all.
Click to expand...
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Groundhog45
Gantte you might need to call D*. Sometimes when changing your service level, they don't reset everything correctly and you don't receive everything you are supposed to. I would call and have them check your service. One time I had to have them turn off the DVR function and then back on to get it to work correctly. Good luck.

GH
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Earl Bonovich
Gantte...

Welcome back to the forums (first post since you started your account in 2003; Good memory on the password).

Do you have a multiswitch installed? If so, by pass it.
And see if the problem continues.

Also, what is your signal strenght on ALL your transponders for the 110 and 119; As when I had my 5LNB setup, the first multiswitch passed all the tests, however it was failing on one transponder.
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gantte
Earl Bonovich said:
Gantte...

Welcome back to the forums (first post since you started your account in 2003; Good memory on the password).

Do you have a multiswitch installed? If so, by pass it.
And see if the problem continues.

Also, what is your signal strenght on ALL your transponders for the 110 and 119; As when I had my 5LNB setup, the first multiswitch passed all the tests, however it was failing on one transponder.
Click to expand...
Earl, HOW do I bypass he multiswitch? I have four coax coming in from my new LNB dish. I have two Sat inputs... What do I do to bypass it? Specifically...

Satellite 110: 3 total at 110:
Transponder 8 = zero
Transponder 10 = zero
Transponder 12 = 43

Satellite 119: 11 total at 119
Transponders 1 thru 21 = N/A
22 = 96
23 = 97
24 = 88
25 = zero
26 = 97
27 = 95
28 = 96
29 = zero
30 = 97
31 = 100
32 = 97
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Canis Lupus
oooh. not so good. This 110 satellite carries most of the rest of your national HD channels.

http://www.lyngsat.com/hd/dtv5.html

gantte said:
Satellite 110: 3 total at 110:
Transponder 8 = zero
Transponder 10 = zero
Transponder 12 = 43
Click to expand...
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D
gantte said:
Hi all, I'm new to HD, new to HR20 and new to this forum, but it looks like the only place to get some answers...
Click to expand...
Hi Gantte,

Do you receive HBO and SHO in SD OK?
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gantte
Canis Lupus said:
(Earl - posting here but assuming you're gonna move this 771 discussion).

gantte,
welcome to the forum. it appears from what you're saying here that you're only getting HD content from 1 satellite, the 119 degree. Can u check to see if you also get ESPN2 HD (which I believe is either channel 72 or 73)? If you do, and you're not getting ESPN HD or the others you detailed, then it sounds to me like the installer either did not check the signal strength for ALL of your satellites, or you have a bad LNB assembly on your dish.
Click to expand...
Here is what I get:
70 HBOH Searching for signal on Sat in 1... (771)
71 SHOH Searching for signal on Sat in 2... (771)
72 ES2H Looks good, full signal
73 ESPH Signal, very weak HEAVY pixalation
74 UHD Signal, very weak HEAVY pixalation
75 TNTH Searching for signal on Sat in 2... (771)
76 DSHD Looks good, full signal
no 77 listed
78 HDNM Searching for signal on Satellite in 2... (771)
79 HDN Looks good, full signal

Finally, all local channels (not OTA) are there, none are showing in HD, not
sure if that's normal or not...
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gantte
Dusty said:
Hi Gantte,

Do you receive HBO and SHO in SD OK?
Click to expand...
I think yes.
HBO channels:
501 Good
502 Good
503 Good
504 Good
505 Good
no 506
507 Good
508 Good
509 Searching for Satellite in 1... (771)
511 Bueno (but in Spanish)

Showtime channels:
537 Good
538 Good
539 Good
540 Good
543 Searching for Sat in 1... (771)
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Canis Lupus
Yep - your 119 appears to be the only satellite you and the installer were celebrating before he left. ;)

Looks like he didn't check the strengths on your remaining satellites - especially the 110.

Seems like you have a dish alignment problem. If you want to try for now, and you can reach the dish, have someone inside talk you through the strengths on the 110 as you move the dish around ever so slightly (I would recommend starting with the azimuth [side to side] movement as your elevation appears to be ok). This will at least potentially get you your 110 channels until an installer can come out to fix it properly.

You probably dont need to mess with the multiswitch and cabling quite yet, as Earl has suggested. You can deal with those later if problems persist.

gantte said:
Here is what I get:
70 HBOH Searching for signal on Sat in 1... (771)
71 SHOH Searching for signal on Sat in 2... (771)
72 ES2H Looks good, full signal
73 ESPH Signal, very weak HEAVY pixalation
74 UHD Signal, very weak HEAVY pixalation
75 TNTH Searching for signal on Sat in 2... (771)
76 DSHD Looks good, full signal
no 77 listed
78 HDNM Searching for signal on Satellite in 2... (771)
79 HDN Looks good, full signal

Finally, all local channels (not OTA) are there, none are showing in HD, not
sure if that's normal or not...
Click to expand...
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gantte
Canis Lupus said:
(Earl - posting here but assuming you're gonna move this 771 discussion).

gantte,
welcome to the forum. it appears from what you're saying here that you're only getting HD content from 1 satellite, the 119 degree. Can u check to see if you also get ESPN2 HD (which I believe is either channel 72 or 73)? If you do, and you're not getting ESPN HD or the others you detailed, then it sounds to me like the installer either did not check the signal strength for ALL of your satellites, or you have a bad LNB assembly on your dish.
Click to expand...
The installer ONLY used his meter, at the dish, and then only on one of the four coax wires. I specifically asked him (cause I was holding the ladder) if he only had to test one wire and he said yes. (I dunno, was he right?)

I get 72 fine, 73 is heavily pixelated.
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veryoldschool
gantte said:
Earl, HOW do I bypass he multiswitch? I have four coax coming in from my new LNB dish. I have two Sat inputs... What do I do to bypass it? Specifically...

Satellite 110: 3 total at 110:
Transponder 8 = zero BAD
Transponder 10 = zero BAD
Transponder 12 = 43
Click to expand...
You will need to use barrels to connect the two cables from your HR20 directly to two of the four cables from the dish.
Have you gone into the setup menu and selected the 6x8 multi switch?
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Canis Lupus
Where are you located? I don't have locals on the SAT, but someone here might be able to tell you which satellite is carrying your locals.

gantte said:
Finally, all local channels (not OTA) are there, none are showing in HD, not
sure if that's normal or not...
Click to expand...
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veryoldschool
gantte said:
The installer ONLY used his meter, at the dish, and then only on one of the four coax wires. I specifically asked him (cause I was holding the ladder) if he only had to test one wire and he said yes. (I dunno, was he right?)
I get 72 fine, 73 is heavily pixelated.
Click to expand...
One cable would be fine IF he changes to look @ the other SATs. It does look like a problem with the
110 SAT [C], but if the others 101 & 119 are good, then I'm not sure it's alignment [as it's the center one].​
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Canis Lupus
Someone else may be able to answer that, but he should have at least checked your signal strengths at the receiver before he left. But as you said, you both were in a hurry.

gantte said:
The installer ONLY used his meter, at the dish, and then only on one of the four coax wires. I specifically asked him (cause I was holding the ladder) if he only had to test one wire and he said yes. (I dunno, was he right?)

I get 72 fine, 73 is heavily pixelated.
Click to expand...
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Canis Lupus
That's true, which could potentially point back to the bad LNB assembly as well. There is also the matter of setting the LNB assembly to the correct "notch" on the 5LNB dish depending on which zone you're in. I've heard installers have missed that detail also.

veryoldschool said:
One cable would be fine IF he changes to look @ the other SATs. It does look like a problem with the
110 SAT [C], but if the others 101 & 119 are good, then I'm not sure it's alignment [as it's the center one].​
Click to expand...
​
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veryoldschool
Canis Lupus said:
That's true, which could potentially point back to the bad LNB assembly as well. There is also the matter of setting the LNB assembly to the correct "notch" on the 5LNB dish depending on which zone you're in. I've heard installers have missed that detail also.
Click to expand...
By "notch" do you mean tilt? With the 101 & 119 good it sound like that is set right. A bad LNB sure could be it. I wonder if the multi-switch is new to the system [from the working 3LNB setup] which might need looking at also.
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gantte
veryoldschool said:
One cable would be fine IF he changes to look @ the other SATs. It does look like a problem with the
110 SAT [C], but if the others 101 & 119 are good, then I'm not sure it's alignment [as it's the center one].​
Click to expand...


oh.... now this sounds familiar... when I had my 3 LNB dish... "SAT C" (the one
in the middle) also had zero strength... I'm beginning to wonder if there is a tree
in the way of that bird...

The installer that came out Saturday gave me his cell phone number. I just called him and he suggested that my 110 LNB may be dead or dying, but I'm wondering
now if it's not more that the dish is properly aligned, just that there is something between the dish and the 110 bird...

Regardless, DirecTV has someone coming out tomorrow in the afternoon to check things out... I'll let you all know what they find.

Here are my readings, for those who know how to interpret them, let me know what you think:


Sat 101:
1 - 8: 98 89 97 95 96 96 97 89
9 - 16: 97 97 97 86 96 97 96 88
17 - 24: 96 67 96 94 95 95 96 88
25 - 32: 97 0 95 95 97 96 95 95

Sat 110:
1- 8: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0
9-16: N/A 0 N/A 42 N/A N/A N/A N/A
17-24: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
25-32: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Sat 119:
1-8: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
9-16: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
17-24: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 96 97 88
25-32: 0 98 95 96 0 97 100 97

Sat 99(b)
1-8: 69 95 74 95 68 0 N/A N/A
9-16: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
17-24: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
25-32: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Sat 103(a)
1-8: 0 96 97 15 24 77 N/A N/A
9-16: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
17-24: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
25-32: N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A​
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Canis Lupus
No not tilt. There's a 3 zone setting (with notches) on the LNB assembly itself that you're supposed to select depending on where you are in the country. Don't know if this has any bearing on the OP's situation though.

And yes - the multiswitch could be the next logical step for sure as well as the LNB. Some people have reported LNBs having to be replaced, especially from the company "Andrew".

veryoldschool said:
By "notch" do you mean tilt? With the 101 & 119 good it sound like that is set right. A bad LNB sure could be it. I wonder if the multi-switch is new to the system [from the working 3LNB setup] which might need looking at also.
Click to expand...
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G
gantte said:
Earl, HOW do I bypass he multiswitch? I have four coax coming in from my new LNB dish. I have two Sat inputs... What do I do to bypass it? Specifically...

Satellite 110: 3 total at 110:
Transponder 8 = zero
Transponder 10 = zero
Transponder 12 = 43

Satellite 119: 11 total at 119
Transponders 1 thru 21 = N/A
22 = 96
23 = 97
24 = 88
25 = zero
26 = 97
27 = 95
28 = 96
29 = zero
30 = 97
31 = 100
32 = 97
Click to expand...
Hi,

I had a similar problem with my first installers...it turned out they did not point the dish correctly...an experienced troubleshooter came out, using the proper tool, and everything is now working corrrectly...this after the first installers recommended that I replace my HR-20. From my humble experience, it seems like there is a large difference between pointing the old dishes vs the 5lnb...
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