DirecTiVo losing signal on one transponder...

Foos · 04-21-2005, 07:45 PM

My Philips series one DirecTiVo has recently started losing signal on Satellite In 1... on transponder 20, and only transponder 20. It's strange, because it's been intermittent, but more and more frequent lately. If I go into the "test signal strength" screen, and physically disconnect the sat1 cable, I get the signal to temporarily jump as high as 70 (it's 92-95 on sat2) upon reconnect, and then rapidly fade to nothingness.

Any ideas? I've searched and searched on this, but I can't find anything similar. I've already swapped out one cable, which appeared to temporarily (a week or so) solve the problem. If it were all even transponders, I would suspect the LNB or multiswitch. If it were all transponders on sat1, I would suspect the TiVo. But it's only transponder 20, only on sat1 of the DirecTiVo (the standard DirecTV receiver in the other room works perfectly). It wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't the locals, 'cause the wife watches a LOT of network programming.

Help!

JimSpence · 04-21-2005, 09:55 PM

Have you tried a reboot? Also, TP 20 is a spot beam. Is it the one you get your locals on?

Foos · 04-21-2005, 10:12 PM

I have not tried a reboot - I'll try one tonight. I'll be happy if it resolves the problem, but I can't afford to reboot every time this happens. Thankfully it's been extremely intermittent (and rare) before today.

Yeah, my locals come in on 20. Becomes a bit of a problem if there are two shows on at the same time on locals.

Foos · 05-23-2005, 09:21 PM

Well, it seems to be back. A reboot doesn't seem to really fix the problem. Unfortunately, it's totally intermittant - sometimes I've got a decent signal, sometimes not, it seems to flip on or off completely on it's own. And by "off", I mean zero signal strength.

I don't think it's an LNB, because we never see the problem on the standalone sat receiver in the bedroom, and we never see the problem on "sat in 2" - only "sat in 1". I'm beginning to suspect my worst fears - that my multiswitch has gone bad somehow. I *really* don't want to have to crawl up in my attic over my cathedral ceiling unless I have to. I guess I'll try swapping the input lines on the TiVo to see if the problem migrates to the other tuner...

Anyone else have any bright ideas?

Foos · 05-23-2005, 09:30 PM

OK, switched inputs on the TiVo, and the problem moved to the other tuner. So that's useful information. I've tried "fiddling" with some of the connections, and the best I can do is back off a bit on the connection to the wall, and the signal will jump up to 77 (or so), and slowly decay down to nothingness again. It *seems* to be holding at about 59 right now, but that surely isn't permanent.

FWIW, I wired the entire install myself 3 years ago when I bought the place. I'm not intimidated by the setup, nor technically unable to make repairs. I just can't figure out what might have changed to cause the problem, and am desperate for some help figuring this out. If this keeps up much longer, I'm likely to find my butt on the couch (aka, the Wife's Doghouse) more or less permanently.

litzdog911 · 05-24-2005, 01:30 AM

I agree that's it probably the multiswitch. Try swapping the multiswitch outputs feeding your DirecTivo. Does the problem swap between tuner 1 & tuner 2? If so, then you've found a defective output at the multiswitch. If not, then check every connector and connection along the "bad" coax line .... you might have a connector that's slightly shorted by a stray shield wire, or corroded, or a center conductor cut a bit too short or long.

alan · 02-13-2006, 09:58 AM

I had the same problem. It seems like a couple of the transponders didn't have a signal on Sat1. Everything else was fine. Transponder 9 & 19 had good signal on Sat2, but zero on Sat1. All the other transponders had >80 signal on both. I was a little miffed that I missed the Stargates on SCIFI (channel 244) from transponder 19. My other TiVo seemed to be fine. All transponders were fine. Anyway, a reboot of the TiVo seemed to fix the problem. The funny thing is that I had recently (within the week) done a Clear and Delete All. I hope it's not a problem that is going to keep coming up again and again.

ashram · 02-13-2006, 10:05 AM

i had the same issue...and it was my cable... i just re-tipped it and my issue went away.

Foos · 04-18-2006, 08:12 AM

I can't believe I never followed this up - in my case it was the multiswitch. I replaced it and the problem went away.

litzdog911 · 04-18-2006, 11:06 AM

Thanks for the follow up!