[dnelms]

We are still getting pixelating on some channels (ESPN, Food Network, TBS) and all local channels. But it is not all the time. It may do it for 30 seconds, it may do it for 2 minutes. Finally gives you a searching for sat 771. Both tuners, on all sats get readings of 91 or better, including the new sats. I even checked the strengths one day when I was home and it happened, all were fine. Checked the same channels on the SD sets (R15 boxes) and there were clear, whiel the HD counterpart was pixelating.

Two weeks ago we had a tech replace the Zinwell6x8 switch that got messed up in a storm. Before I call DTV back, does anyoen had any other things I should check. Could it be the BBC's causing it, but not doing it all the time?

 

[deboxer1]

check all fittings starting from the lnb, if something took out the multiswitch, it probably got the lnb and bbc's. Disconnect them and inspected for any damage, corrosion , or burnt marks.

 

[mark40511]

Just a mention. This same pixilation was happening to me on STARZ HD channels Last week during the day. I never lost signal. Weather conditions were ideal; mid 80's I wouldn't consider hot but it was warm out. Someone mentioned it being a possibility that my LNB may be heat sensitive, but if that were the case, wouldn't it be doing it on all the channels if it were a heat sensitive LNB? At any rate. I haven't noticed it at all the last few days.

 

[pixlpush]

I'd been having pixelation problems for months on my hr20-700 and finally had to schedule a service call. It had gotten so bad that the the audio was dropping out along with the pixelation every 10 seconds when recording with both receivers at once. The tech that came out replaced my bbc's with a newer model and replaced all the coax connectors from the disk all the way to the receiver. It seems to have taken care of the problem for now. I live near the ocean so everything here corrodes much faster than other locations.

One very interesting tidbit he mentioned was that he, a Directv contractor, has switched to Verizon Fios Tv at home and finds it superior. I'm not ready to make that leap yet but I've already got Fios coming into my house as my internet provider, I might need to try out Fios Tv

 

[GregM5]

We are still getting pixelating on some channels (ESPN, Food Network, TBS) and all local channels. But it is not all the time. It may do it for 30 seconds, it may do it for 2 minutes. Finally gives you a searching for sat 771. Both tuners, on all sats get readings of 91 or better, including the new sats. I even checked the strengths one day when I was home and it happened, all were fine. Checked the same channels on the SD sets (R15 boxes) and there were clear, whiel the HD counterpart was pixelating.

Two weeks ago we had a tech replace the Zinwell6x8 switch that got messed up in a storm. Before I call DTV back, does anyoen had any other things I should check. Could it be the BBC's causing it, but not doing it all the time?

Pretty much the same problem here on 2 different HR20-700's. The pixelization is only happening on MPEG4 HD channels, occurres at random times, and lasts from a few seconds to ?? minutes, and it freezes sometimes. The audio also breaks up when the video is pixelating. I also have a HD Tivo that works fine, but doesn't receive MPEG 4 channels. I have had 4 service calls in the last month and the problem has been escalated to the point that I have a Pin # to use when I call about the problem.

They replaced the 2 BBC's on one of my boxes, but I still had the issue. They though that the problem was fixed on the last service call when they discovered that my system wasn't properly grounded. Unfortunately the pixelation happened again the next day. They suggested that it could be the HR20's (but didn't replace them) and also said that it could be the multiswitch (WB68) but didn't replace it. It's driving my wife an I crazy. They are coming out to try to find the problem again tomorrow... but I don't feel very confident about the DTV contractors (Directech) that are trying to resolve the issue.

The kicker is that I have been a loyal DTV early adopter and never had any real problems until the HR20's were installed. Now I am seriously considering jumping ship.

 

[hasan]

Pretty much the same problem here on 2 different HR20-700's. The pixelization is only happening on MPEG4 HD channels, occurres at random times, and lasts from a few seconds to ?? minutes, and it freezes sometimes. The audio also breaks up when the video is pixelating. I also have a HD Tivo that works fine, but doesn't receive MPEG 4 channels. I have had 4 service calls in the last month and the problem has been escalated to the point that I have a Pin # to use when I call about the problem.

They replaced the 2 BBC's on one of my boxes, but I still had the issue. They though that the problem was fixed on the last service call when they discovered that my system wasn't properly grounded. Unfortunately the pixelation happened again the next day. They suggested that it could be the HR20's (but didn't replace them) and also said that it could be the multiswitch (WB68) but didn't replace it. It's driving my wife an I crazy. They are coming out to try to find the problem again tomorrow... but I don't feel very confident about the DTV contractors (Directech) that are trying to resolve the issue.

The kicker is that I have been a loyal DTV early adopter and never had any real problems until the HR20's were installed. Now I am seriously considering jumping ship.

I've seen some random pixellation on SpikeTV recordings, as well as a few on 212 (NFL Network). They are very brief, but on my recordings (I've seen none live), they last perhaps 1 to 2 sec. and occur a few times during a show. I've not seen them on any other channels, and have not seen any live, so at this point, I'm assuming it is just a transient issue that they will get worked out over time.

If they were happening all over the place and live, I'd be concerned about equipment/connections/alignment, but based on two years' experience with the HR20-700, it doesn't look box/cable/equipment/connection/signal related. Being they just turned on a new bird, and have gone to a lot of MPEG-4, I'm assuming some shake down issues are going to be part of the problem.

 

[Uglydude]

We are still getting pixelating on some channels (ESPN, Food Network, TBS) and all local channels. But it is not all the time. It may do it for 30 seconds, it may do it for 2 minutes. Finally gives you a searching for sat 771. Both tuners, on all sats get readings of 91 or better, including the new sats. I even checked the strengths one day when I was home and it happened, all were fine. Checked the same channels on the SD sets (R15 boxes) and there were clear, whiel the HD counterpart was pixelating.

Two weeks ago we had a tech replace the Zinwell6x8 switch that got messed up in a storm. Before I call DTV back, does anyoen had any other things I should check. Could it be the BBC's causing it, but not doing it all the time?

Did you check the signal on sat 99c? When the made the conversion from mpeg2 to mpeg4 my hd channels got all messed up. They had to come out and realign the dish.

 

[GregM5]

I've seen some random pixellation on SpikeTV recordings, as well as a few on 212 (NFL Network). They are very brief, but on my recordings (I've seen none live), they last perhaps 1 to 2 sec. and occur a few times during a show. I've not seen them on any other channels, and have not seen any live, so at this point, I'm assuming it is just a transient issue that they will get worked out over time.

If they were happening all over the place and live, I'd be concerned about equipment/connections/alignment, but based on two years' experience with the HR20-700, it doesn't look box/cable/equipment/connection/signal related. Being they just turned on a new bird, and have gone to a lot of MPEG-4, I'm assuming some shake down issues are going to be part of the problem.

I've had the pixellation on recordings and also live. In fact, I had bad pixellation yesterday on live tv (HD local channels), so I started recording it to show the techs that it is still happening. I just hope they find the problem before football season gets going. If they do fix it I will post what was done. I would guess it is a hardware problem of some sort.

 

[jdjeff]

I've been having this problem on 8 DVRS (mix of 20's and 21's). On all boxes simultaneously, all local channels as well a bunch of other HDs (HBO, ESPN, etc...) do the break up, freeze, . They've replaced the multiswitch, changed the multiswitch, did a bs peaking of the dish, replaced the connections, removed the ground, put the ground back, replaced the BBCs blah blah blah. Still having the same problems. Basically makes everything we watch or record unwatcheable. Thank goodness for my AM21 or I wouldn't be able to watch TV, and that's only only on one box. This is totally ridiculous. They are coming out again tomorrow but I feel your pain. I wish I had a solution to offer (and I wish anyone had a solution to offer me!). Not sure what else they can do other than replace all the boxes.

 

[dnelms]

Did you check the signal on sat 99c? When the made the conversion from mpeg2 to mpeg4 my hd channels got all messed up. They had to come out and realign the dish.

Yes, checked all sats with both tuners... nothing below a 90, except an occasional spot beam signal.

I'm going tell my wife to stop deleting the recordings when it happens, so we can show the tech if we have to make that service call again.

 

[deboxer1]

I've been having this problem on 8 DVRS (mix of 20's and 21's). On all boxes simultaneously, all local channels as well a bunch of other HDs (HBO, ESPN, etc...) do the break up, freeze, . They've replaced the multiswitch, changed the multiswitch, did a bs peaking of the dish, replaced the connections, removed the ground, put the ground back, replaced the BBCs blah blah blah. Still having the same problems. Basically makes everything we watch or record unwatcheable. Thank goodness for my AM21 or I wouldn't be able to watch TV, and that's only only on one box. This is totally ridiculous. They are coming out again tomorrow but I feel your pain. I wish I had a solution to offer (and I wish anyone had a solution to offer me!). Not sure what else they can do other than replace all the boxes.

You did not mention if the lnb was ever replaced. It would be the one constant since it has a built in multiswitch, that the external multiswitches and bbc's have to go through.

 

[K4SMX]

Yes, checked all sats with both tuners... nothing below a 90, except an occasional spot beam signal.

I'm going tell my wife to stop deleting the recordings when it happens, so we can show the tech if we have to make that service call again.

If that's your only HD receiver, it could be the receiver or the LNB, since you've already replaced your multi-switch. I would tend to suspect the LNB, but you also need to eliminate all possible sources of RF interference such as electric light dimmers, closely co-located PC's, motorized devices, and multi-switches improperly grounded to outside devices like A/C's. Every one of these and possibly others have been reported here as causes of your symptoms. Time to head for the breaker box next time this occurs, even though they're less likely than the LNB. Then on to the LNB.

 

[K4SMX]

You did not mention if the lnb was ever replaced. It would be the one constant since it has a built in multiswitch, that the external multiswitches and bbc's have to go through.

Good question.....

 

[mapod]

We are still getting pixelating on some channels (ESPN, Food Network, TBS) and all local channels. But it is not all the time. It may do it for 30 seconds, it may do it for 2 minutes. Finally gives you a searching for sat 771. Both tuners, on all sats get readings of 91 or better, including the new sats. I even checked the strengths one day when I was home and it happened, all were fine. Checked the same channels on the SD sets (R15 boxes) and there were clear, whiel the HD counterpart was pixelating.

Two weeks ago we had a tech replace the Zinwell6x8 switch that got messed up in a storm. Before I call DTV back, does anyoen had any other things I should check. Could it be the BBC's causing it, but not doing it all the time?

:bang :barf: So, I was having the same issues, drove me up the wall....our house had an old electrical breaker box (circa 1950ish) put in a new 200amp service with proper grounding...and poof all pixelation is gone...on all HD channels I had problems with. The only issue I see is when the garage doors open and close...I will have to ground them with a ground rod and some 12 gauge wire. Hope this helps bad grounding seems to be a big issue with the HD recievers.
Good luck!! :icon_da:

 

[K4SMX]

While these types of problem are fairly rare, they have been verified on quite a number of occasions. The Ka HD mpeg4 signals seem to be the ones that are effected. It's just something to keep in mind when the signal strengths appear normal and you have pixelation. Primarily these are LNB problems. And those aren't that common either.

 

[BlueSnake]

Just a mention. This same pixilation was happening to me on STARZ HD channels Last week during the day. I never lost signal. Weather conditions were ideal; mid 80's I wouldn't consider hot but it was warm out. Someone mentioned it being a possibility that my LNB may be heat sensitive, but if that were the case, wouldn't it be doing it on all the channels if it were a heat sensitive LNB? At any rate. I haven't noticed it at all the last few days.

I called DirecTV about the Starz channels last week. That was on their end as they could even see it there. It seems to have been corrected.

 

[mangust]

Sounds a lot like what I am experiencing.
I am one of the early HR20-700 adopters having received mine almost two years ago.
For quite some time I’ve had pixelation problems including picture freezes on HD channels. However it was never frequent or severe enough where I felt like calling D* about it.
A couple of weeks ago I lost all signals and the technician replaced the LNB. Originally, I though that the dying LNB was probably responsible for the pixelation as well, but the problem is still here and it is more severe. With the Olympics we frequently turn to the local NBC feed during prime time and are always guaranteed several pixelation outages. This happens regardless of the weather which has been nearly perfect lately anyway. The local HDs are affected the most though other HDs are not much better. The lost signal (771) message was only observed on one day and the SD reception has always remained good. I called DirecTV on Monday and twice on Tuesday and they had me try:
-resets
-checking and swapping coax cable connections
-checking and swapping BNC connections
-swapping hdmi cables and hdmi inputs on TV
Nothing helped.
Finally, a tech visit was scheduled for this Saturday.
Yesterday, when pixelation froze the picture again I tried swapping cables again and noticed the HR20 hard drive was making a lot of thrashing noise as if it was desperately seeking data. The noise went away once the picture came back.

I know getting a good tech is like playing a Russian roulette so I was wondering if any of you had any ideas on what could be the problem?

 

[thekochs]

We are still getting pixelating on some channels (ESPN, Food Network, TBS) and all local channels. But it is not all the time. It may do it for 30 seconds, it may do it for 2 minutes. Finally gives you a searching for sat 771. Both tuners, on all sats get readings of 91 or better, including the new sats. I even checked the strengths one day when I was home and it happened, all were fine. Checked the same channels on the SD sets (R15 boxes) and there were clear, whiel the HD counterpart was pixelating.

Two weeks ago we had a tech replace the Zinwell6x8 switch that got messed up in a storm. Before I call DTV back, does anyoen had any other things I should check. Could it be the BBC's causing it, but not doing it all the time?

It's on DirecTV side.......I've seen it for awhile...especailly ESPN and ESPN2 going back to college world series.

 

[dnelms]

Well today has been horrible, lots of channels pixelating. So when it happened thsi time, the signals on tuner 1 were all zeros. So I swapped sat lines (had swapped BBC's earlier as a test), still getting zeros on tuner 1. Tuner 2 was getting all 90+ numbers. So a reset receiver and both tuners now are back to 90+ all the way around, every single sat. I'm fixing to call DTV again to see what we can do.