[Rox]

Hello,
I am new to this forum and new to DirecTV. I hope you can help.
I made the switch a week ago to DirecTV from Comcast cable. DirecTV install is another story in itself that I might relay later if I can’t resolve the current problems of install and TV reception. I am wondering if I made a big mistake making the transfer.
I now have horizontal lines that are noticeable in the darker colors on the screen. I did not have this with Comcast. I had a digital/analog converter from Comcast the picture was great. The DirecTV supervisor told me the lines are present because I do not have a digital TV. He said I will get use to the lines, when I get an HDTV the picture will be beautiful! Well I am not sure when that will happen. I want a good picture now.
I have a Mitsubishi 40” CRT analog TV. I got the DVR - R15-100 with install. The installer used the RF Coaxial connection not the S-Video on my TV. Is this a possible reason for the lines?
I was initially excited about the switch to DirecTV but now I am thinking about canceling because I will not be giving up anything. Any information on possible cause or fix would be appreciated.
Thank you

 

[tcusta00]

Sounds like a ground issue to me but an installer will undoubtedly come along to help you further.

You can always try switching to an S-Video cable to see if that eliminates your lines. You shouldn't have to accept that though - the supervisor is wrong.

 

[Mertzen]

Yeah, coax is the lowest possible quality. Use RCA or better.

 

[Rox]

tcysta00 thank you,
Would you please explain ground issue.

 

[Mertzen]

Installers always dread installs where we have to use coax to hook up the TV with coax afraid of customer calling in. But with plenty of TVs still out there with only one RCA [ most of the times used for DVD] it happens more then you'd think.

 

[veryoldschool]

tcysta00 thank you,
Would you please explain ground issue.

The dish/receiver is grounded. Your TV is connected to the receiver with an analog cable [which has a ground].
What's happening is your TV is grounding [60 cycles] through your connection the receiver, since it now is a better ground than what the TV has.
If you could use a digital connection, while it would still be the ground, it wouldn't show the [analog] 60 cycles, since it's digital.

Try a search for "ground loops" either here or google, and you can find out more.
Thay can be tough to find.

 

[lucky13]

Also check to see if your coax connections to the DirecTV receiver are very near to (almost touching) any other coax--another DirecTV box, OTA cables, old VCR, DVD.

If so, moving the cables apart could solve the problem.

 

[Rox]

I guess I should tell you more about the bad install experience. Two men installed the dish and DVR on Tuesday August 26, 2008. They used the RF Coaxial connection. I know S-Video gives better picture quality than RF Coaxial does. I also have A/V (RCA) connections on my television. They are also better than RF Coaxial but not as good as S-Video. I assumed since they are professional installers that they would know how to do this. I could have told them the difference between the three or actually four ways of bringing the signal from the DVR to my TV. Digital optical is an option too but I do not have that connection on my TV.
They did not test everything on the DVR either. I had to make a call to a technician to figure out why I could not watch a program on a different channel than the one I was recording to DVR. I had to reset… test…
I looked at the back of the house after they left and found out they put the cable from the dish inside the rain gutter. the cables where tucked inside my LeafGuard rain gutters. I took pictures of this, I wish I could include them. This is clearly not acceptable. The cables need to come out. What a substandard job.
I had a supervisor from DirectSat USA out here Saturday morning to address the issues I have (I have more…) He set Wednesday at 8:00 am for a crew to come out and make things right. They never showed up! He of course had an excuse and apologized. He wants to schedule another time. I am at the point of having him take everything off the roof and put things back to the way it was.
I am capable of moving cables on the TV/DVR but this should have been done right the first time. I was initially excited about the switch to DirecTV but now I am thinking about canceling because I will not be giving up anything. I think I might have made the wrong choice unless the nice informative people here can convince me to give it another try.

 

[Mertzen]

Digital optical is an option too but I do not have that connection on my TV.

Digital optical is only for audio but that's besides the point. They use a connection that works, Maybe not to your liking but hooking up RCA or SVideo is realy not all to hard.

This is clearly not acceptable. The cables need to come out. What a substandard job.

Routing cable through a gutter is acceptable and gets done on plenty of jobs every day. If you wanted them not to do so you could have communicated this with the technician.
I am not going to make excuses for these techs and from the sound of it it could have been done better.

I think I might have made the wrong choice unless the nice informative people here can convince me to give it another try.

Insist on a lead tech or tech supervisor to come over. Make a list of all you see wrong with the job and be involved. If you want everything your way you'll need to be there every step.

 

[lucky13]

I am capable of moving cables on the TV/DVR but this should have been done right the first time. I was initially excited about the switch to DirecTV but now I am thinking about canceling because I will not be giving up anything. I think I might have made the wrong choice unless the nice informative people here can convince me to give it another try.

I have had varied experiences with installers and technicians.
It's indeed frustrating when you realize that you know more about their product than do the people sent to service it.

I wish I could promise that your setup will be fixed correctly on the next visit. I am pretty sure that, once it's set up properly, you'll be glad you waited to get it done right.

In the meantime, you'll get plenty of support and advice here.

 

[Rox]

I am sorry for all the questions but if I continue with DirecTV I want it done right. I have read some of the info here about grounding. How do I know if they grounded the dish?
Can I send pictures to show what was done on the install?
Thank you

 

[Mertzen]

I am sorry for all the questions but if I continue with DirecTV I want it done right. I have read some of the info here about grounding. How do I know if they grounded the dish?

Somewhere there should be a ground block with wires and ground coming from the ODU aka dish and wires to the boxes and to the house ground.

Can I send pictures to show what was done on the install?
Thank you

Yes, after posting 5 posts. Try to make the pics not too large.

 

[Rox]

I went outside to look for the ground block. I opened the box on the side of the house and it appears to me that they did ground it. I will send some pictures next post.
Thank you

 

[Rox]

I went outside to look for the ground block. I opened the box on the side of the house and it appears to me that they did ground it. I will send some pictures next post.
Thank you

http://images.dbstalk.com/attach/jpg.gif
jpg.gif

This is a picture that I took of inside the box where all the cable come together. Is that the ground block?

 

[Mertzen]

http://images.dbstalk.com/attach/jpg.gif
jpg.gif

This is a picture that I took of inside the box where all the cable come together. Is that the ground block?

Yes indeed. Kinda hard to see and seems like somewhat sloppy work but I think it is grounded as long as the green wire goes to the correct house ground.

 

[tcusta00]

It's good that your system is grounded, but that's not the type of ground problem I was referring to. I was alluding more to was VOS said in post 6 above. Check out this page:

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/video_isolation.html

And you'll understand bit more about it.

As stated above, try to connect the receiver via something other than coax to see if that eliminates the problem. If not, try maybe plugging your TV and receiver into different power strips. Or even the same power strip. It's difficult to isolate problems like this so you have to troubleshoot.

Good luck - let us know how it works out.

 

[Rox]

Yes indeed. Kinda hard to see and seems like somewhat sloppy work but I think it is grounded as long as the green wire goes to the correct house ground.

OK, I think this shows it.

 

[Rox]

It's good that your system is grounded, but that's not the type of ground problem I was referring to. I was alluding more to was VOS said in post 6 above. Check out this page:

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/video_isolation.html

And you'll understand bit more about it.

As stated above, try to connect the receiver via something other than coax to see if that eliminates the problem. If not, try maybe plugging your TV and receiver into different power strips. Or even the same power strip. It's difficult to isolate problems like this so you have to troubleshoot.

Good luck - let us know how it works out.

Thank you for the link. Mine isn't that bad but I do understand what you are getting at. I will tackle the problem and see what I can do. I will let you know what the out come is.

 

[Mertzen]

OK, I think this shows it.

All clear there. I would however seal the holes on both sides where it enters the enclosure to stop moisture flowing in.

 

[tcusta00]

OK, I think this shows it.

This could also be the source of your interference... your sat feeds are within inches (if not touching) your house's 220 line - not once, but twice. I'm no expert, but if you're still having trouble with interference after you check the above suggested things, you may want to pull those cables away from your 220 to see if that helps.