SWM HR20-700 Local HD pixelation/breakups

846 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by jwd45244, Sep 20, 2008

seadan

Discussion Starter · Sep 18, 2008

I live in a condo building that's just had the MFH-1 system upgraded to MFH-2. I have (2) HR20-700s that are both connected to the SWM and for the most part, working perfectly. Here's the problem:

On a fairly regular basis (almost every morning, from at least 6-8am), my local HD channels (Seattle) won't come in. I'll see a black screen, or a highly pixelated screen with no audio, and nothing really changing. Every other channel, SD, HD MPEG2, HD MPEG4, comes in just fine. SD versions of the locals come in just fine. But all 5 HD locals (4,5,7,13,22) exhibit the same issue. I believe it affects both tuners, and it definitely affects both DVRs. It seems to clear itself up and the rest of the day just works fine.

The local techs have been inspecting the system and they say all appears to be fine. Signal strengths across the SWM and all sats look OK, the only thing I'm not 100% of are which spot beams I should be getting (and which my locals are on).

Both HR20's have firmware 0x254, and SWM firmware 1.0.8 and SWM library 1.0.0. Is this any kind of 'known issue'? Any tips on where to look to track this down? Or next time it happens, how to try and troubleshoot? Any help would be appreciated!

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Rabushka

· #2 · Sep 18, 2008

I have the same problem with the NY City locals but it occures at night. The HR 20 700 seems to be more prone to this than the HR20-100 but both units are affected. One tech at D* said solar activity was the cause but I doubt it. So far no one seems to have any solution.

All signals aproach the ideal and the installation is rock solid. I know of no RF interference in the area. In a few weeks I will replace the LNB and see it that make a difference.

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gsslug

· #3 · Sep 18, 2008

I always get the picture but I get occasional pixelation and audio dropouts. Use to be a lot worse. My signal strengths on the local sat were in the 50s. They came out and aligned the dish and that made a big improvement but not perfect. It can be frustrating when you miss a key piece of dialog because of an audio dropout.

If your signal strengths are above 80 then I don't know what may help. It takes a new and expensive meter to tune in the local sats. Ironwood doesn't issue them and most techs won't buy them. If you get lucky and get a tech that bought his own he might be able to fix the problem. I heard DirecTV bought Ironwood or something so now all techs that use to work for Ironwood are now DirecTV employees. Don't know if DirecTV will start issuing the techs the new meters or not.

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69hokie

· #4 · Sep 18, 2008

Recently, I am seeing heavy pixilation and audio stutter on one of the local Richmond Va SD channels (65). I have seen it since D* went active with the local HD's, of which 65 is not one of the HD channels. Completely unwatchable and shows up that way on all my receivers. All other channels seem to be unaffected, but I didn't do a channel by channel check of all the D* channels. Seems to be more prevalent in the evening hours.

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seadan

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 20, 2008

Well, seems like there's no definitive answer here so far. Is it likely to be a software issue?

I think the signal strength is OK, but I don't know which transponder/sat the Seattle HD locals are coming in on so I can't be sure.

Also, the system operator has hooked up a DVR directly to the SWM in one of the comm closets and their recordings of the same channels during the same time periods don't exhibit the issue.

The only differences between me and that setup is more cable, a splitter, and my HR20's vs their HR21. I can't imagine it's purely a cable thing as if it is, it should affect more than just my HD locals, right?

Anyone have any other diagnostic tips?

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jwd45244

· #6 · Sep 20, 2008

You need to take this up with the system operator. The typical torubleshooting for a standard install may not apply.

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