[Stevotomy]

I've been getting intermittent No Signal on Satellite In 2 messages. I switched the two cables at the back of the unit and it moved to Satellite In 1.

So my question is, having eliminated the TiVo, can I eliminate the dish as a problem too? Is it possible for the dish to only receive one side? Seems to me all the channels come across both cables all the way from the dish, and you can tune 1 channel to either side, so is there something up there that can be bad?

Otherwise, it must be cabling, but I can't imagine it really - coax is pretty tough stuff and it's just been sitting still. I guess it could rust or something (I guess it's also possible some varmints got to it under the house).

And of course it's intermittent, which is always fun to find.

Suggestions appreciated.

Steve

 

[litzdog911]

Do you have other DirecTV DVRs or Receivers? Do they have any reception issues? If they're OK, then you know the dish and its LNBs are OK. That would narrow down the problem to the multiswitch or cable/coax/connector problems. Try swapping the output cables at the dish or multiswitch to see if the problem "moves".

 

[JimSpence]

Bypass the multiswitch using F/F connectors. Just because the coax has just been "sitting still" doesn't mean that there isn't corrosion in a connector.

Do a signal strength test and report the readings for all transponders.

 

[Stevotomy]

Do you have other DirecTV DVRs or Receivers? Do they have any reception issues? If they're OK, then you know the dish and its LNBs are OK. That would narrow down the problem to the multiswitch or cable/coax/connector problems. Try swapping the output cables at the dish or multiswitch to see if the problem "moves".

Note: remember I've changed the cables at the back of the box so currently my In 2 problem is showing on the In 1 side.

OK, I've got three coaxes coming from the dish, that run through the walls under the house and out to a box.

In the box 2 of the cables (from earlier DTV system) come in from the wall, one goes to the living room and one to the bedroom (no problems in bedroom reception, though it's just a single tuner DTV box).

There's a third cable that was added when I upgraded to the dual-tuner dish with local channels. It follows the same path as the others but it and one of the old ones branch off to a dual cable (you know, seamed together) that goes to the livingroom.

I switched the two cables coming from the wall and leading to the living room and when I turned the TV on, it didn't have signal on either side - In 1 or In 2.

I'm going to go switch them back now...

Ok, so I'm back to picture on In 2, and searching on in 1.

Here's what it says when I do a satellite strength:
1: 101 degrees (A) 31; 62 peak 80
2: ditto; 81 peak 82

1: 119 degrees (B) 22; 0 peak 0
2: ditto 92 peak 93

1: 110 degrees (C) 8; 0 peak 0
2: ditto 81 peak 84

If I change to other transponders, nothing much changes.

Does this tell me anything?

I'm most curious about switching the outside cables - I thought it should just switch the 1 and 2 sides - shouldn't it? Why did both sides go out instead of the strong signal just moving to In 2?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[JimSpence]

...
OK, I've got three coaxes coming from the dish, that run through the walls under the house and out to a box....

What's in the box? What dish do you have?

 

[Bradc314]

I have a similar problem: Searching for Sat. In 2. The problem exists on both of my receivers, so I eliminated them right away.

I thought it was a bad multiswitch, so I bypassed it to confirm. I figured if I could determine it was the switch, I could replace that myself instead of paying DTV $70. It seemed to fix the problem for awhile, but then it came back. I guess now I'm thinking it's an LNB.

The Signal Strength indicators show very good signals for all three sats (oval dish, 3 lnb's), except for the even numbered transponders on the 101 sat. All the even number transponders show zero signal.

We've had a lot of storms lately, so at first I thought it might be alignment, but if that was the case, nothing would work. Now I'm wondering if somehow my LNB is damaged.

What do y'all think?

 

[litzdog911]

Verify that all of the coax connections at the dish are snug, dry and corrosion-free.

You've ruled out the multiswitch, so that pretty much only leaves the LNB assembly and its internal multiswitch.

 

[bryus]

I am in a similar situation. I have a triple LNB dish with four cables into my house. Two go to my Phillips DSR704 that I put a WeaKnees 80GB replacement drive in about six months ago.

For several weeks I have been having a problem with bad reception on some channels. I notice it on CNN, SciFi, USA, and TBS among others.

A signal test on satellite 101 (a) gives me this:

no signal on both satellite ins on channels 18, 20, 28
fluctuating signal between 0 and 90 on satellite in 2 on channels 24 and 26
all other channels are around 90

I notice no problem with my signal on my basic non-TiVo receiver.

I switched the cables into my TiVo and had no change. I don't know for sure but it seems that my LNB unit may be bad.

What do you think.