Please help me diagnose my problem?

[mbarloewen]

Hi everyone,

I really enjoy reading all of your posts and have learned a great deal from this forum.

I am having a problem with my Direct TV Tivo HD unit that I haven't had before.

Ocassionally, especially on weekends, I'm not able to tune into some of my HD channels. I get a message that says "searching for sattelight 2" and a blank screen. Usually that's what I see and I can't get HBOHD, Shohd, UHD, ESPN hd, and hdnetmovies. The other HD channels and all my non hd channels are not effected.

This problem can last for hours and then, abruptly, go away.

I don't believe that here is anything wrong with my dish or the way it is pointed because as soon as it goes away, I can check signal strenth and everything is 86% and up.

I never had this problem until after I upgraded to the new software that allows folders.

Can anyone help me trouble shoot? Is this the dreaded HDMI failure that I've heard about?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

Mike Barloewen

[JimSpence]

HDMI shouldn't have anything to do with searching for signal. Do a search for the 6.3a software to see threads of what has been attributed to it.

[Herb S.]

Check channels 492, 493, 494 to see if you are getting the proper voltage to the STB. These channels check the 119 and 110 sats., where most of D* HD comes from.

[mbarloewen]

Check channels 492, 493, 494 to see if you are getting the proper voltage to the STB. These channels check the 119 and 110 sats., where most of D* HD comes from.

Thank you both for the reply.

Since I first posted, the problem went away again. I did check on the channels you suggested and saw the following:


492 Test 3 Sat B Odd txp 13v

493 Test 4 sat B (119) even texp 18v

494 test 5 sat (110) even txp 18v


Is that ok? Of course I will make sure to check these channels again the next time this issue comes up.

What are some symptoms and fixes of a voltage issue? I'm afraid I'm not very technically savy when it comes to this stuff. Is it possibly an issue with my multi switch?

Again, all advice and help is very much appreciated.

Thanks again!

Mike

[TyroneShoes]

18v and 13v are the voltages used by the STB to tell the multiswitch which polarity to switch to. I don't think there is enough sophistication in the GUI to actually measure the voltage at the switch/dish and report back, but if it does switch to that polarity successfully it will display the corresponding DC voltage associated with that polarity (regardless of what the real voltage actually is). If the voltage is not there, the polarity won't switch, and the proper voltage associated with that channel will then obviously not be displayed.

Isn't 491 the other test channel (odd 110)?

The problem will last as long as you are tuned to (or try to continually tune to) a channel on a polarity that the MS won't switch to, either because it is faulty or because the voltage isn't getting there. And it will abruptly go away when you switch to a channel it can switch to the proper polarity for, or to a channel already on the polarity the switch is currently switched to. MS problems are sometimes intermittent, too, especially if there is a voltage drop on the coax.

[IOTP]

I had the same or similar results. Now it wasn't tied to the 6.3 update, but since the get-go of my HD installation, numerous problems with the channels in the 70-99 range. Come to find out, I had 2 issues.

1. BAD, Phase III LNB
2. BAD, Multiswitch

It took D* 3 attempts to correct the issue. Once they replaced the multiswitch twice and the LNB all problems went away. Now, they also recrimped "ALL" cables feeding the multiswitch too.

So far so good. Just installed a second HR10-250 and works perfectly now.

Check your cabling to make sure it's not pinched too.

[mbarloewen]

Hello,

I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to reply and offering me your suggestions. The problem has come back again this morning. I've tried again to use the test channels and what I've discovered is channel 494 now displays the searching for satelight message instead of providing the information it did yesterday when all the channels were working.

I've tried to restart the system and that has made no difference on the problem except I received a message that said that directv was unable to aquire programming information for all channels (and now the system acts like I don't get 70,71,73,74,78)

I tried to unplug and replug the multi switch and that has made no difference.

Based on what you have said, I am leaning towards the lines being an issue or the multiswitch going faulty.

I am going to crawl under my house, where all my sattelight lines are run, to have a look at the wires. How can I tell if a wire has been "crimped"?

Any other suggestions?

I guess it is time to call directv and see what can be done by then. I'm anticipating a frustrating afternoon...

Mike

[Herb S.]

Sounds like a defective multiswitch or the lnb, another possibilty is a diplexor that has gone amiss if you are using one.

[mbarloewen]

I couldn't see anything obvious. Directv believes it to be an issue with the LNB and are sending a replacement dish on Tuesday.

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Again, thank you very much for all the helpful advice, this is a great forum to be able to utilize when something goes wrong...

Mike