No signal for some channels on R10??...free Showtime

[beagan]

Background: I have two dual tuner DirecTiVo units (DVR40 in Living Room & R10 in Bedroom). The bedroom unit had the two coax lines running across the roof down the side of the house, kind of an eye sore for quite some time. I'm now having my house sandblasted and wanted to rerun the cables under the house (attic access is way too small). Since one of the lines wasn't long enough, the original DTV installer used a coupler (years ago). He also left behind a huge box of coax cable. So I decided to rerun that particular line under the house with the left behind cable. Only thing I touched on the dish end was to take out the 'coupler cable' connection and replace it with the new coax cable. So when the lines were run and plugged into the box, I got the following message on certain channels:

"Searching for signal on: Satellite In 2"

However, if I try that channel on the other tuner I get the same message except it says "...: Satellite In 1". If I switch the cables on the R10 box, I get the same message. So that leads me to believe that the new cable has nothing to do with it. It's weird, I can get E, FX, locals and others, but can't get VH1, Food Network, TBS, etc. I'm so puzzled on why some channels work and others don't. However, all channels work fine on the living room box.

I've reset the box three times now. I called a DTV tech yesterday and they were confused by the issue (I only told them that I unplugged everything from the box to move everything around in my room). They tried to troubleshoot it with me for a bit, but it was getting late and I had to go to work. However, before I got off the phone I asked if there were any promo's going on right now. She talked about a free HD box upgrade (non-DVR). I said, "What about programming? We use to get a free weekend of HBO occassionally, but that's been over a year now". She then offered free Showtime for 3 months. I accepted. However, those channels only work in the living room and not in the bedroom because of my problem. ??? Keep in mind, I've only ever paid for the Total Choice Plus programming.

By replacing the cable in the "splitter" (tiny box with about five or six coax connects...outdoor multiswitch?) on the dish end, could I have messed something up? Any help is much appreciated.

Thank you.

[73cuda]

You might want to read this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=55509)

And do you have two seperate runs of coax from the dish or four?
If only two runs are coming from the dish and there's no multiswitch inside, how are you sending two runs to the DVR40 and two to the R10 ?

Are you sure that the coax connectors are installed properly on the ends of the coax ?

Just trying to help :)

[beagan]

Thanks for the response 73cuda. I did read the sticky before I posted. And yes, I have four separate runs from the dish. The two I mentioned were for the bedroom. The other two are for the living room and all is working fine there. The coax connection heads I put on look as good as any connection I've seen before.

Even if the new cable I put in was the culprit, when I disconnect it entirely, wouldn't the other coax cable receive all the channels just as it use to. I didn't touch that cable at all on the dish. However, it still doesn't work.

I suppose I can work it out with DTV, just thought that someone here would recognize the problem I've created right away and have a solution.

[or270]

Try doing a Guided Satellite setup from the setup menu, and check signal levels. sounds like you are missing the odd or even transponders.
What kind of connectors did you use on the coax?

[beagan]

Yes, I'm missing the even transponder signals. ??? I just bought some "slip em on and kink em coax heads" from Home Depot. Of course I stripped the insulation enough to feed the exposed wire through. Is there a special kind of connector to use? Thanks again for the feedback.

[JimSpence]

The compression type connectors work the best. Less chance of having a short circuit. If the DC control voltage gets shorted out or reduced then you only can tune to the odd transponders. The odd TPs are controlled by 13v and the evens by 18v. With that shorted out, the odds are the default.

[73cuda]

I thought it might be a short due to the connector installation too, but if that's the case I dont think any signal would come through, even or odd.

I can only guess it's a defective outdoor multiswitch. Maybe I missed it but, did you take the R10 into the room where the 40 is and try hooking it up to the coax runs feeding the 40 ?

Post back and let us know what the cause is/was.

[beagan]

Good idea. I just finished doing that and the R10 works fine in the living room...both even and odd transponders work as well as all the channels. So what does that mean? Could I really have shorted out the multiswitch? I removed one coax and put a different one in. Are they that sensitive?

Last night I must have repeated the guided setup 10 times. And I know I had the odd transponders working with the even ones not, then today the even ones work and the odd ones don't. Does that make any sense?

So even if I screwed the whole thing up by replacing the coax cable, what am I looking at? Will DTV come out and fix the problem? Am I responsible for buying a new multiswitch?

[wscannell]

I do not think it is the multiswitch. You can try swapping cables at the multiswitch to prove whether it is bad. Switch the cables going to the DVR40 to the ones that now feed the R10. I suspect the DVR 40 will still work indicating that it is probably the cable run that was replaced.

I suspect that the connectors are not put on properly. It is possible that the shield is not connected to one of connectors. It is also possible that the cable you were given might have a cut in it somewhere.

Unless you pay the monthly maintenance fee, Directv will not fix the problem free. You usually will have to pay for the service call and parts.

[beagan]

Okay, the problem is solved....and yes, it was all my fault. I always thought I knew how to connect a new coax head on the end of the cable. Well, after doing a general search for "how to connect coax head" I learned that a portion of the middle shielded insulation must be exposed before slipping on the new head. I use to just have the middle wire sticking out only. Any time I did this in the past for regular tv antennas there was never a problem. It must be different with DTV signals. Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone for the time they've given to my dilemma. It was very much appreciated. Thank you.

[JimSpence]

With just an antenna signal all you have is the RF going through the coax. But, DirecTV also requires a switching voltage out to the LNBs. If this can't get there, then you most likely will lose at least the even TPs.