[njmurvin]

I have a 5-lnb slimline dish. One of the outputs goes about 150' to my 94-yr old mother in a granny-flat in the back of our property. She has a Directv receiver that's almost as old as she is (not quite, but it is one of the original Sony receivers). She has been getting a lot of "searching for satellite" messages lately. So, I decided to check the signal strength from the receiver. What I'm seeing is a fluctuating signal. It's most pronounced on transponder 2, but is present on all of them. It bounces from 0% unlocked to 94% locked about every second or so. Two of the outputs from this dish go to my family room and one goes to her house. I have no problems with my family room HR21 so it's not a basic dish problem. It's possible (I need to check) that there may be multiswitch and/or an inline amp in the path to her house. Could a failure of either of those cause something like this? Could I run 150' without any amplification from that dish?

 

[jodyguercio]

150' is a pretty long throw. Just guessing you are using RG-6? I think I remember reading around here somewhere that folks have run RG-11 for that distance and don't seem to be having problems.

 

[veryoldschool]

150' is a pretty long throw. Just guessing you are using RG-6? I think I remember reading around here somewhere that folks have run RG-11 for that distance and don't seem to be having problems.

If it's in good condition, it shouldn't be that big of a problem.
150' RG6 has about 15 dB loss at the highest SAT frequency, and RG11 has about 10 dB.
The receivers work down to the -50 dBm [and lower] range and the LNB should have at least -30 dBm output.

 

[jodyguercio]

If it's in good condition, it shouldn't be that big of a problem.
150' RG6 has about 15 dB loss at the highest SAT frequency, and RG11 has about 10 dB.
The receivers work down to the -50 dBm [and lower] range and the LNB should have at least -30 dBm output.

As always you teach me things.....thanks VOS.

 

[Rich]

If it's in good condition, it shouldn't be that big of a problem.
150' RG6 has about 15 dB loss at the highest SAT frequency, and RG11 has about 10 dB.
The receivers work down to the -50 dBm [and lower] range and the LNB should have at least -30 dBm output.

Wouldn't the Sonora amp fix his problem? I realize my model wouldn't work for him, but don't they make in-line amps?

Rich

 

[veryoldschool]

Wouldn't the Sonora amp fix his problem? I realize my model wouldn't work for him, but don't they make in-line amps?

Rich

They make several products.
Now adding an amp instead of repairing/replacing, a damaged/bad cable, isn't the best solution.
DirecTV goes out 125' "approved", so another 25' isn't, or should be, a problem.

 

[lugnutathome]

I've run out to 191 feet without an amp from a SWM(8) off an 8 way splitter actually. I did have a 5DB gain on my older powered multiswitches though. No problems in either case.

Is the cable snug on the receiver? Frequent area dusting by non tech minded clean freaks that lift the machine to dust ubnderneath can cause some loose fittings unexpectedly. (been there, discovered that)

Don "running an inline amp these days off a 4 way but by choice not need" Bolton

They make several products.
Now adding an amp instead of repairing/replacing, a damaged/bad cable, isn't the best solution.
DirecTV goes out 125' "approved", so another 25' isn't, or should be, a problem.

 

[veryoldschool]

I've run out to 191 feet without an amp from a SWM(8) off an 8 way splitter actually.

SWiM & "legacy" systems do have some differences.

 

[NR4P]

If the line is as old as the Sony receiver (not granny) that would make it 10 years old, roughly. So maybe the connections/connectors outdoors or underground if not a straight run of one coax just needs a good remove and replace due to corrosion.

VOS, could the 0 and 94 fluctuation be a partially corroded connection?

 

[veryoldschool]

If the line is as old as the Sony receiver (not granny) that would make it 10 years old, roughly. So maybe the connections/connectors outdoors or underground if not a straight run of one coax just needs a good remove and replace due to corrosion.

VOS, could the 0 and 94 fluctuation be a partially corroded connection?

It would sure suggest a poor/bad connection.

 

[njmurvin]

Looks like it was a bad connection. I traced the line to a multiswitch 4x8. I removed it and connected straight (via inline connector) to one of the leads straight from the dish (to bypass multiswitch). That improved things. Then, I reconnected everything back up to the multiswitch and the signal has now stabilized. Time will tell if it will stay that way. BTW, the cable run is 80% RG6 to the house and then connects to RG59 which is wired in the walls. And, that Sony SAT-A1 receiver is closer to 20 years old.

 

[iceman2a]

Looks like it was a bad connection. I traced the line to a multiswitch 4x8. I removed it and connected straight (via inline connector) to one of the leads straight from the dish (to bypass multiswitch). That improved things. Then, I reconnected everything back up to the multiswitch and the signal has now stabilized. Time will tell if it will stay that way. BTW, the cable run is 80% RG6 to the house and then connects to RG59 which is wired in the walls. And, that Sony SAT-A1 receiver is closer to 20 years old.

Wow, just came across one of them and an old RCA in my basement. I gotta toss those sometime soon

 

[Rich]

Wow, just came across one of them and an old RCA in my basement. I gotta toss those sometime soon

Same thing happened to me a couple months ago. For some reason I called D* and found out they were leased according to their records. Had to do a lot of talking to get them placed in their records as owned. Then I dumped them.

Rich