[satwood]

Hello,

Please help me if you can before I tear my whole system out and (heaven forbid) just order cable. I have been using DirectTV for 4+ years, traditionally with no reception issues at all. Two years ago I invested in a Samsung HD TIR-360 receiver and put up a 3 LNB dish. Initially I had great signal strength on all transponders and the system performed very well even in horrendous weather. At this point I had two receivers on an older style Sharp 4 output LNB dish. The other receiver is an RCA DRD420 standard definition. About 6 months ago I started losing signal first on the HD channels, then on all the channels. Signal strengths on the 101 transponders went down to the 60s and the image would become ugly green tiles. However, the old RCA receiver never even flinched and still read high 80s and low 90s on the same transponders. So, I tried re-aiming the dish, I tried changing all the cables to brand new copper center RG6, no change. So, Direct TV sent me a new H20 receiver assuming the Samsung was toast. The new H20 actually worked somewhat better, but it still only got 70s (lowest) on the 101, and it regularly blanks out and losses the program guide data.

Assuming finally it was a problem with the integrated switch on the LNBs, I bought a new 5 LNB Wistron dish, and spent all Sunday setting it up. I painfully adjusted, and re-adjusted the aim following all the instructions, only to get basically the same results. I know it is working because I now get the Boston HD channels in addition to everything I had before. However, The H20 still loses signal. On the H20 101 t1 fluctuates from 0 to as high as 83, t2 from 0 to 73. t4 goes to 100. On the RCA I get 88-95 on all the active Ts. I say flutuates because the signal will intermitently just go away, as though it was getting interference or something. When it is gone on the H20, the RCA box still shows great readings. The cables are all brand new, and direct runs from the boxes to the LNB outputs. The H20 cable run length is about 60 feet, the RCA about 100 feet.

I know this is a long post but please has some one had similar experience? Why would two HD receivers behave terribly even on standard def channels, while the old RCA one works great? Is this an interference from some other service that the RCA can't see but the HD units can? Is there a fix or a filter I can buy?

 

[mjones73]

Try swapping the receiver locations in the house, something has to be interfering with the cable or power to the H20 location, curious to see if it still does it where the RCA currently is.

 

[satwood]

Try swapping the receiver locations in the house, something has to be interfering with the cable or power to the H20 location, curious to see if it still does it where the RCA currently is.

Yes, I will try that again. In the past when I tried it with the T360 it travelled with the box, which lead me falsely to disgnose the box as bad.

How meaningful is physically grounding the dish itself? It is grounded through the coax only. It would seem to me that a 50 foot piece of wire to a copper pipe is so many more wavelengths long that it would not matter but what experience have people had? You also mentioned the power. Are there any known issues with AC ground loops I don't know about that might be behind this madness?

Thanks, Steve

 

[iceman2a]

First off, don't trust the signal meter on the H20!

Is 101 the only signal you are loosing?
When you loose signal from 101, do you still have a signal on 99 ( HD locals)?

Does you RCA rcvr work ok when you swap it with the H20?

Seems to me that you have isolated the trouble to the box (or boxes), just seems wierd that both the Samsung and H20 have the same problem!

When you set up the new dish, did you use a signal meter or just the meter off the rcvr! You might want to get a tech out with a meter to check @ the box to see if his meter see's the drop out??

 

[satwood]

Hey, a Pat's fan! Thanks for the comments. The problem definitely moves with the H20, but it seems worse in the normal position than in the bedroom. The RCA operates flawlessly in both locations. The signal went away about 1 hour ago and the signal meter on the H20 for 101 reads:

0 95 0 100 0 95 96
0 100 0 100 0 95 100
0 95 0 95 0 100 100
0 96 0 94 0 100 96

The 110 is all zeros, the 119 is all zeros. I don't get a signal reading on the 99. I suspect because the T1 goes away on the 101, I lose all the programming and it tries to tell me all the channels are not purchased, so I can't get a picture on them anyway. Then, it will mysteriously comes back and reads between 70+ and 100 on all the Ts. The 100s are random, as I usually only get them on 4, 12, and 16. The 110 and 119 ts usually read high 80s - 100s. Meanwhile, the RCA upstairs was reading t1=92 and t2=88 on 101 at the same time I wrote those numbers down and all channels were working fine.

No, I did not use a meter to align the dish and I don't doubt that it has some mis-aligment, but even if I just peak it out to the 101 using the RCA box, I still get this same problem. Plus, the old dish did the same thing with the Samsung and H20, and I know that dish was spot on because I did have it aligned with a meter. Since I put the H20 on an isolation transformer the problem is more sporadic, seems like only during the day now. I've ordered a 4 port grounding block for the coax lines as I don't have them all grounded at the moment, just the one to the H20 is grounded.

What do you get for signal levels on these satellites in the Boston area?

I appreciate any further thoughts you have.

 

[satwood]

My latest experience is that with the cables grounded and the H20 on an isolation transformer the system ran all afternoon even during a moderate rain storm with decent signal strength. Then tonight the H20 is down again. It boots up, loads the program guide, then loses signal on all sats & Ts in about 5 minutes after coming on. I've ordered an L142a amplifier from Solid Signal and will try grounding the dish itself this weekend when I have time to climb out the window again. Old RCA box is still at full strength and great picture. Go figure.

 

[satwood]

Well, see if anyone can figure this out. System same as described above in previous posts. I added a 4 terminal grounding block and connected it to a water pipe in the basement. This gave a slight improvement in stability on the H20 receiver, but still low signal readings and some fits with lost sattelite signal. I inserted a Sonora LA142a in line with H20 and the signal strength readings went down, not up. Does that make any sense? TP1 is now in the 50s. Also, the program guide shows only "Regular Schedule" in most entries. I don't know if there is any dropout yet -- at least it hasn't happened yet.

OK, I fell really dumb! I reversed the connections on the LA142a and the situation improved significantly. It looks like the label on the amp unit was put on backwards (or I am mis-reading it). I have the LNB port going to the receiver and I now have the signal strength back plus a little bit more. Clearer head in the morning.

I have ordered a signal meter to use for aligning the dish. That way I'll know if that part is at least correct.

Any more thoughts folks? Thx Steve

 

[satwood]

Hi All,

If you have looked at my thread you know I have been struggling with this for months now. I have all four leads and the dish grounded to both cold water pipes and 8 foot ground rod. I have even installed new ground cables from the electric panel to the ground rod. I have peaked and then dithered the at9 dish per the instructions with an Accutrac22Pro meter. In all locations I get 90+ signal strength on most active transponders for the 101, 110, 119. Even my old Samsung box is getting great signal now, except it really does have a problem with a few of the higher frequency transponders and it's constant, not intermittent.

The new H20 receiver still randomly loses signal on all channels, irregardless of sat or transponder, or more often now it just changes to a random channel like the jewelry channel and none of the channels match what are in the program guide (clearly the mapping data is getting corrupted) . I can watch the signal strength with the Accutrac and see nothing change when the H20 goes berserk. And, whenever the H20 is dead, the rest of the receivers are still working fine.

I've installed power conditioners, used isolation transformers, measured AC ground loops, looked at the cables with a TDR, re-inspected every single F-connector crimp, and sacrificed a few live chickens :eek2: !

My latest conversation with D* produced no help at all. They won't swap my H20 unless I have an installer come and tear out everything I have done and re-do it themselves. They say they no longer support or allow customer installed equipment to be used on their systems. I won't have more holes drilled in my house and I'm not going to put up with days of missing work just to wait for someone to come and scratch their head and do nothing. When it works, it works great and when it doesn't, it's toast.

If anyone has an idea I haven't tried please let me know. We live too far away for over the air HD. I hate the cable company, and for 4 years prior I have throughly enjoyed DirectTV but my wife is ready to throw all the stuff out the window and just buy the bundle from Charter and be done with it. I'm not sure I have another argument.

Happy New year everyone.