Help

[pooleuttersion]

I just got a used DirecTV R10 unit. I'm having a problem where about once to three times a week everything goes black (no picture, no audio). Satellite signal is fine and I can watch things that have been recorded on the TiVo when the problem occurs, but I can't watch any live channels.

If I unplug the unit and power it back up, everything starts to work again, but it's only a matter ot time (usually a few days) before the problem happens again and I have to once again unplug and start over. Meanwhile, many recordings get screwed up because it can't record while everything is black.

Is this a sign that my unit is about to die? Suggestions? Thanks.

[JimSpence]

What dish do you have? Is there an external multiswitch being used? Bypass it if you have one. Try swapping the sat inputs. Check signal strengths for all transponders.

Check the DirecTV receiver with TiVo forum for more info.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7

[pooleuttersion]

I have a standard DirecTV dish, one of the smaller ones (not HD ready). I'm not very "tech-knowledgeable" so I can say about everything else is it's a basic set-up. 2 lines from the dish into the TiVo unit. I don't think there's a multiswitch being used, b/c I have no idea what that is. I have noticed that a few transponder signals are bad, though most are fine. What does that indicate?

[JimSpence]

Do you get the same type signal readings on both tuners? I'd swap the inputs to see if things change. Also, check all connectors from the dish to the receiver. If nothing solves the problem, then I would suspect the LNB on the dish.

On the 101 satellite, the one you are looking at, has 6 spot beam transponders. These are 4, 12, 18, 20, 26, and 28. It is normal for some of these to be zero or low. If one is very high, then that is the one that supplies locals to your area.

[pooleuttersion]

I'm not sure what the LNB is.
If that is in fact the problem, how do I resolve it?

[greg_burns]

http://i28.tinypic.com/2q0oa2q.jpg

You can buy a new one from ebay, etc.