[chisox63]

Hello,

I'm having issues on all three of my HDTV's with pixelation and garbled audio. I've had a number of tech's at my place to try and address the issue, but it's pretty clear none of the tech's know what they are talking about. I've been told by 2 or 3 of the techs that 103 and 99 satellites aren't in use and don't matter....which obviously is not a good start. One guy came to my house, looked at the SWM and SWS-8 in my wiring closed, and admitted he had no idea what to do with it.

Anyone have suggestions about what I could tell the next tech who comes out here to address the issues? This problem is definitely coming from somewhere between the dish and my receivers because it does not happen when watching the same channels via an AM21 OTA.

I have 2 HD DVRs (HR21) and 1 HD non-DVR receiver.

Here are my signal readings (Chicago),

101
1-8 90 88 86 0 86 96 87 96
9-16 88 92 90 0 89 97 85 97
17-24 82 98 85 0 89 97 88 96
25-36 86 10085 83 91 97 88 98

110
1-8 na na na na na na na 86
9-16 na 88 na 89 na na na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

119
1-8 na na na na na na na na
9-16 na na na na na na na na
17-24 na na na na na 95 0 92
25-36 92 96 95 95 90 96 0 97

99C
1-8 77 83 74 82 76 81 72 80
9-16 76 82 73 79 79 84 na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

99s
1-8 69 79 76 80 76 92 na na
9-16 na na na na na na 0 92
17-24 85 94 82 91 0 0 0 0
25-36 na na na na na na na na

103s
1-8 62 35 77 88 63 0 na na
9-16 na na na na na na 0 0
17-24 0 86 0 95 29 0 0 0
25-32 na na na na na na na na

103c
1-8 83 85 81 82 79 83 79 80
9-16 72 82 80 82 79 83 na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

SWM
1-8 98 98 97 98 0 95 86 86
9-16 86 82 80 82 79 83 na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[curt8403]

Hello,

I'm having issues on all three of my HDTV's with pixelation and garbled audio. I've had a number of tech's at my place to try and address the issue, but it's pretty clear none of the tech's know what they are talking about. I've been told by 2 or 3 of the techs that 103 and 99 satellites aren't in use and don't matter....which obviously is not a good start. One guy came to my house, looked at the SWM and SWS-8 in my wiring closed, and admitted he had no idea what to do with it.

Anyone have suggestions about what I could tell the next tech who comes out here to address the issues? This problem is definitely coming from somewhere between the dish and my receivers because it does not happen when watching the same channels via an AM21 OTA.

I have 2 HD DVRs (HR21) and 1 HD non-DVR receiver.

Here are my signal readings (Chicago),

101
1-8 90 88 86 0 86 96 87 96
9-16 88 92 90 0 89 97 85 97
17-24 82 98 85 0 89 97 88 96
25-36 86 10085 83 91 97 88 98

110
1-8 na na na na na na na 86
9-16 na 88 na 89 na na na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

119
1-8 na na na na na na na na
9-16 na na na na na na na na
17-24 na na na na na 95 0 92
25-36 92 96 95 95 90 96 0 97

99C
1-8 77 83 74 82 76 81 72 80
9-16 76 82 73 79 79 84 na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

99s
1-8 69 79 76 80 76 92 na na
9-16 na na na na na na 0 92
17-24 85 94 82 91 0 0 0 0
25-36 na na na na na na na na

103s
1-8 62 35 77 88 63 0 na na
9-16 na na na na na na 0 0
17-24 0 86 0 95 29 0 0 0
25-32 na na na na na na na na

103c
1-8 83 85 81 82 79 83 79 80
9-16 72 82 80 82 79 83 na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

SWM
1-8 98 98 97 98 0 95 86 86
9-16 86 82 80 82 79 83 na na
17-24 na na na na na na na na
25-36 na na na na na na na na

Thanks in advance for any advice.

103 S is low. dish needs peaking. have them check the signal strengths

 

[chisox63]

103 S is low. dish needs peaking. have them check the signal strengths

I've brought it up to every single guy, including the original installer. My problem is that they keep telling me 103s isn't in use yet so that's why it's low. I argued with one guy for 10 minutes, but it didn't help.

 

[curt8403]

I've brought it up to every single guy, including the original installer. My problem is that they keep telling me 103s isn't in use yet so that's why it's low. I argued with one guy for 10 minutes, but it didn't help.

the term is Bravo Sierra. tell them to call their installer support services number or their tech supervisor.

(as an alternative, report them)

 

[kschaper]

I've brought it up to every single guy, including the original installer. My problem is that they keep telling me 103s isn't in use yet so that's why it's low. I argued with one guy for 10 minutes, but it didn't help.

Where in Chicago are you located? I work in the northern suburbs and yes the 103 is in use. The problem seems to be alignment.

 

[chisox63]

Where in Chicago are you located? I work in the northern suburbs and yes the 103 is in use. The problem seems to be alignment.

Thanks for the reply. I'm in the city. Would you mind posting your 103s numbers so I can get an idea of how far off I am?

A tech actually just left since I posted my original message. Same story. He replaced the LNB and re-aligned the best he could. Minor improvements on just about everything, except 99s and 103s. Unfortunately we got into the same discussion about 99s and 103s...and he insisted that those were not live and he had no way to get the signal higher. I honestly don't think he was trying to lie to me...he just doesn't know any better.

Very frustrating. I'm definitely not confident my pixelation or garble problems will be solved. Clearly I'm going to have to try and fix this myself by peaking the dish. What a pain. This is exactly why people stay with cable. I'm regretting the day I decided to change. (sorry for the rant)

Anyone have any tips on what adjustments I should try in order to get my 99s and/or 103s numbers up?

 

[texasbrit]

curt8403 is I think mistaken, 99s and 103s are not really relevant to alignment, because they only carry spotbeams for locals and seeing lots of low or even zero signals is absolutely normal.
If your 99c signals are good, then you are aligned on 99 (c and s). If your 103c signals are good, then you are aligned on 103 (c and s). In fact the higher numbered transponders on 99s and 103s come from the same satellite as the 99c and 103c signals (DirecTV11 and DirecTV10). The lower transponders on 99s and 103s come from Spaceway 2 (at 99) and Spaceway 1 (at 103), but the satellites are so close together your dish can't see the difference between the two satellites in the same slot.
Your 99c and 103c signals are slightly lower than I would like but significantly higher than DirecTV's threshold and certainly nowhere near low enough to cause pixelation in clear weather.
Your Chicago HD locals are I believe on 103s and are probably on TPs 18 and 20.
There is nothing about your signal strengths that suggests you have any signal problems. So pixelation has to be coming from somewhere else. Is this on any particular channels?

 

[curt8403]

TexasBrit, you are correct, I misread the info. I would disconnect the b band converters, check strengths again and see if there is a difference.

beyond that I would check cables

 

[chisox63]

There is nothing about your signal strengths that suggests you have any signal problems. So pixelation has to be coming from somewhere else. Is this on any particular channels?

Thanks for the insight. I was experiencing the problem about every 15 minutes during the Olympics on my local NBCHD channel. I've also noticed it on DisneyHD and on a few other local HD channels during live sporting events. My wife said she hears the audio garble on some of XM radio channels.

I honestly haven't watched enough TV yet to narrow it down to specific channels. I'm concerned that this will be a big problem once the NFL regular season starts.

I guess I should try running a cable directly from the SWS-8 to one of my receivers and determine if the wiring in my walls is the problem.

 

[texasbrit]

Thanks for the insight. I was experiencing the problem about every 15 minutes during the Olympics on my local NBCHD channel. I've also noticed it on DisneyHD and on a few other local HD channels during live sporting events. My wife said she hears the audio garble on some of XM radio channels.

I honestly haven't watched enough TV yet to narrow it down to specific channels. I'm concerned that this will be a big problem once the NFL regular season starts.

I guess I should try running a cable directly from the SWS-8 to one of my receivers and determine if the wiring in my walls is the problem.

Your pixelation on NBC during the Olympics was coming from NBC, many people reported the same problems. I had occasional problems with pixelation and audio garble here in DFW on both the DirecTV ND NBC and also on the OTA signal. I have also seen some other reports of occasional pixelation on other Chicago HD locals.
I doubt whether the pixelation and audio garble is anything to do with your equipment or setup.

 

[texasmoose]

NBC's feed was terrible for the OLYMPIX. I talked, as well, with many people who experienced major pixelation on all broadcast outlets: Cable, OTA, SAT.

 

[davring]

I think all things considered, NBC did a remarkable job, heck, I wish the baseball games I watch from 10 miles away looked that good

 

[texasbrit]

I think all things considered, NBC did a remarkable job, heck, I wish the baseball games I watch from 10 miles away looked that good

I agree. 99.9% of the time my pictures were perfect. But in some cities the picture quality was reportedly terrible. Since all the local stations received the same national feed, any major problems must have been at the local affiliate.

 

[harsh]

103 S is low. dish needs peaking. have them check the signal strengths

Depends on where the OP is located. Both 99(s) and 103(s) have a transponder in the mid 90s so it is likely that the dish is pretty well peaked.

I suspect an issue with the SWM.

Is OTA diplexed in this scenario by any chance???