Hello,


We got our new DirectTV DVR in August, along with the special filter boxes in the back (for both satellite "in" lines).

Recently a weird problem has been happening that I can't explain... and I'm not sure anybody can, but I'll give it a shot here.

Only on SOME channels, and only SOMETIMES, we'll turn to a channel and we will get a still picture, and a message "Searching for satellite 2 in signal" (or something like that).

If I TURN OFF the TV, the sound comes on, and reception is good (except we can't see the picture because the TV is off).. but if we turn ON the TV, the picture freezes and a "Searching for Satellite 2 "in" signal" comes back.

Tonight I checked the satellite in connections, all good...but when I wiggled the HDMI cable, the picture kind flickered! So I unplugged the HDMI, the sound came on...plugged it in, same "Searching for Sat 2 in" message.

Then I left it plugged in and turned the DVR to the side, and that channel is working...but if I shift the box, it will go back to searching for sat 2 in again.

This is VERY WEIRD. Can someone figure out what is going on? I'm a pretty bright guy, but this has me baffled...

Let me know.

Thanks!

Dan

The HDMI cable doesn't have anything to do with the 771. You should check your signal strength. Hit the Menu button, then go to Help & Settings>Setup>Sat & Ant>View Signal Strength>View Meter. The cursor will be highlighting a + symbol, use that to check the different satellites. One of them is probably going to be pretty low, like in the 40s or lower. If that's the case you need to call DirecTV and get an appointment for dish realignment.

Don't do this if you're recording a show as it will interrupt the recording.

We just had some strong winds here in CA and it moved my 103(b) signals into the low 40s. The tech is coming out on Sunday to fix the dish.

Oh yeah? How come if I turn off my TV, I can hear the audio on the channel come in? (i.e. reception comes in if I turn my TV off...I can hear the show!). Same thing happens if I unplug the HDMI cable... (I'm taking optical audio cable to receiver, not using audio through HDMI, which goes right to TV).

Basically, if I unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the box, OR I turn off the TV, the channel comes in!

Explain that?

Dan

Try hooking up via component and see if the problem still occurs.

Oh yeah? How come if I turn off my TV, I can hear the audio on the channel come in? (i.e. reception comes in if I turn my TV off...I can hear the show!). Same thing happens if I unplug the HDMI cable... (I'm taking optical audio cable to receiver, not using audio through HDMI, which goes right to TV).

Basically, if I unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the box, OR I turn off the TV, the channel comes in!

Explain that?

Dan

Nice. Bite my head off when I was trying to help. Good luck with your problem.

Hey Chris,

Not biting your head off at all...but sometimes text gets construed that way...I'm just frustrated and baffled by this...I'm going to get a new HDMI cable and see if that fixes it.

Sorry I came off that way, it's not what I meant.

Thanks for your input...

Dan

An educated guess, sounds like an HDMI "handshake" problem. The set (HDMI sink) and the Sat STB (source) may not always play nice with each other, as for example when the copy protection flag is enabled. Until recently many program sources didn't have the flag set, but I understand that is changing now.

As Matt suggested if you remove the HDMI cable temporarily and try component video to the set and all is well, I think it will prove the point. IMO since you are already handling the audio separately with SPDIF digital, you could just ditch the HDMI... I know, heresy in some quarters but I doubt you would see any difference in the picture.

Thanks for the reply...I went out and bought a new HDMI cable, and it seems to be working... there was one channel that gave the "searching for signal on sat 2 in" for a minute or two, but when I turned back it was on.

On the setup satellite screen, the one with all the transponders in a grid, there is only 1 box with a "0", the rest are in the 80s and 90s, with a few that are lower.

When I go deeper into signal strength though some transponders for some satellites do not show a sat 2 in, it is "0"... or unavailable, is that common? Actually on some satellites for some transponders both sat 1 and sat 2 are unavailble. Is that normal?

Dan

Could be a grounding problem on the outside, or absence of an earth ground. This would show up as a hum bar if you had a coax connection instead of component, composite or HDMI. Is the coax grounded to the electric meter ground?

Hey guys, I figured it out...

This is for anyone that is using HDMI right to the TV (actually it's HDMI to DVI input on older Toshiba projection), AND using optical Audio right to the receiver.

I had turned the speakers on the TV OFF... using the TV's menu. This was causing the problem. The guy above talked about an HDMI handshake problem, and it got me thinking.

So I turned the speakers on the TV back ON, but turned the volume all the way down. I want all the sound going through the receiver. Well...the channels in question now work..

Odd huh?

Dan