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searching for satellite signal

Discussion in 'TiVo Underground' started by lhandelsman, Sep 19, 2007.

  1. Sep 19, 2007 #1 of 5
    lhandelsman

    lhandelsman New Member

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    Nov 13, 2006

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    Hi guys,

    I KNOW this is the wrong thread for this, so I expect to be flamed, but I also know you guys are really sharp and thought I would see if you can help me.

    I have DIRECTV and hacked a Phillips DirecTIVO DSR7000 about a year ago. All is/was good. About 2 months ago I did some remodeling and moved my coax cables coming from my satellite dish, replacing some of the tips. I fished the cables behind siding, etc. Ever since I did that, I have been receiving "searching for satellite" messages periodically.

    I have had DirecTV out (or their local contractor) to have a look and they haven't made any headway, except to blame the box.

    I initially thought I may have put a nail or something through a cable behind the new siding, but what is really confusing me, is that sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't work, I can watch one channel, but if I switch to the other tuner, I get the message. But, like I said, sometimes, I can switch between the two tuners and it works no problem. It seems like it has to do with what channel I am on, but I cannot see a pattern. Has anyone experienced a problem like this?

    I have been thinking about running new cables, but before I go through that nightmare, I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions?

    Lucas
     
  2. Sep 19, 2007 #2 of 5
    BTUx9

    BTUx9 back?

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    Nov 13, 2003
    Rockport, MA
    I hate to ask the obvious, but have you gone to the tivo's satellite strength page when you got the "searching for satellite" message?
    That might narrow it down to 1 tuner.
    If it's only showing up on 1 tuner, swap the cables at the back of the tivo to see if it's the tuner itself... if it stays with the cable, you very well may have hit it with an errant nail
     
  3. Sep 19, 2007 #3 of 5
    lhandelsman

    lhandelsman New Member

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    Nov 13, 2006
    Sorry I was cut off by the wife before.

    So a little more background. I know this question makes me seem like a totally novice/moron, but it's driving me crazy.

    Yes I have checked the signal strength of the satellite on the menus. What is weird (to me) is that sometimes I get signal from both tuners (usually 85-100), and sometimes I get just one tuner. And it seems to depend on which channel I am on. If I switch the cables, I get the opposite results (ln1 might work, but not ln2, and vice versa). To me, although I don't want to admit this, it does sound like a cable is shotty, but the only reason I haven't settled on that is that it sometimes works. If the cable was bad, I would think that cable would never work.
     
  4. Sep 19, 2007 #4 of 5
    BTUx9

    BTUx9 back?

    1,596
    0
    Nov 13, 2003
    Rockport, MA
    some thoughts:

    each cable only handles 1/2 the satellite feed at a time (even or odd channels)

    the protocol uses a bias voltage sent from the requesting device to determine which set

    the higher voltage signal (I believe it's 12vdc) could have more trouble with a partial short, which would affect either tuner (if there were insufficient voltage, it may not make the switch, and so would get no signal for the requested channel)


    oops... guess it's 18vdc @1amp
     
  5. Sep 19, 2007 #5 of 5
    lhandelsman

    lhandelsman New Member

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    Nov 13, 2006

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    Hmm, ok, that was what I was worried about. So i could have a partial short in one of my cables, damn. I have had the tips that I put on replaced by DTV, but that didn't help the problem. Guess I'll re-run the cables :(. Any special cable I should use? I think R6 right? What is R6 quad?

    Thanks for the help.
     

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