[JoeTiVo]

Man, what a day yesterday. What should have been a simple 20 minute procedure, turned into a four hour headache.


The DirecTV installer (free install, ya know) made it to the house at 3:30 yesterday. He had NO CLUE as to what he was supposed to do. He had never installed a SAT C kit or ever heard of one. After about an hour of explaining it to him, talking him thru what he need to do while he was up on the ladder, we FINALLY got signal from all three Sats. Good news? So I thought...


Next step after configuring the Panny TU-HDS20 for three sats (and confirming good signal on all three), was to call DirecTV so they could add SHOW-HD. After about 15 minutes of messing around with the CSR at DirecTV, he finally gets SHOW-HD to work. Great, I say! I have SHOW-HD!! Picture even looks pretty good ! However, just as we're about to hang up I asked him to let me make sure that my other HD channels were still there. Nope... all gone. HDTV and HBO-HD didn't come in. Got a 'channel unavailable' message. So... After more fooling around from the rep, putting me on hold etc., he has me restart (reboot) the Panny. Worse thing I could have done. When the receiver came back up, it searched for the Sat, found it and then went into the 'acquiring data' mode. Too bad it never moved from that spot. The progress indicator never moves and it fails to 'acquire data'. I can still get into the setup menus etc, but I can't get ANY Sat channels now. I spent over an hour on the phone with DirecTV technical support to no avail. They finally suggested that I call Panasonic because they thing the receiver 'went bad'. Yeah, right.


I can't really believe the receiver choose this time to crap out, but I guess it's possible. However, I think it's more likely that something came down the line from DirecTV that nuked it? Dunno... I hope to learn more tonight when I talk to Panasonic.


Thanks for listening and any suggestions.

 

[dsegelstein]

Joe, I have had similar experiences with my Panasonic. However, I have discovered that, after rebooting, I need to leave the receiver alone while it's doing its thing. It does seem to sit there forever on that one screen - the "acquiring data" process reaches 100% and then sits there. It takes literally 3-4 minutes before it does anything further, but then it comes up on channel 100. Have you tried just waiting it out?

 

[acourvil]

I don't think that I have ever waited for the "acquiring signal" screen to move on to channel 100. I always hit either menu or guide once it gets to 100% and it seems to work fine after that.


I have 2 Pannys, and they actually were easier to set up for 543 than my DTC-100. I set them to 3 satellites, unplugged them, added the LNB andafter starting them immediately had the Sat C signals. Then I added Showtime online and channel 543 came up (instead of the Call x721 message). My DTC-100, however, refused to pass 543 for about 24 hours, and then finally picked it up.

 

[JoeTiVo]

Quote:

Originally posted by dsegelstein Have you tried just waiting it out?

Thanks for the reply.. I should have explained a little better. When it goes to the 'acquiring data' screen, the little box that's there and should fill up with the green progress indicator, never does. It never makes it to 1% or anything. I let it sit for over a half an hour once and got nothing. It doesn't seem to acquire anything.

 

[JoeTiVo]

Quote:

Originally posted by acourvil I don't think that I have ever waited for the "acquiring signal" screen to move on to channel 100.

I don't get anything on any channel, including 100. All channels now just say 'Channel Not Available'.

 

[Robby Cee]

Saturday I finally bought my Panny HD unit and wasas excited about getting it as I was about getting my big screen. I got it home, and had about one hour t hook it up before I had to attend a company dinner. So that I don have you hanging in suspense throughout this whole message, I was late for the dinner. Anyhoo, I never got the first look at a high definition picture. I cn get perfect signal on SAT A over here, and perfect signal on SAT B over there, but never together. I (of course) called direct tv only to be told to reboot my unit, after which I was unable to recieve any of my local channels, or...uh, sound. I could not get that darn thing to output the first peep after their (Direct TV's) download. The next day I took it back to the people from whom I bought this hunka hunka burning nuthin and bought the Hughes HIRD-E86. I am happy to report that I cannot get an HD signal on this unit either. So, I folded, I called Direct TV and had them send out a "specialist". He should be here shortly, and I will let you know the result. Also, my picture looks terrible. Is it normal for the picture to suck when running a satellite through the Y Pb Pr output? I had a severe green tint that could only be corrected by turning the color almost all the way off. Just curious. If there is a way to fix this, I would love to know. My picture just sucks. My monitor is a Mitsbishi WS-55819.

 

[GScott]

Joe,


I also have the HDS20 and I found a little trick. Unplug the coax sat cable from the receiver. Unplug the power on the receiver. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Plug the sat cable back in and then the power cable. Turn it back on and should go through the "Aquiring Data" mode and you should get all your channels back. I did notice that with the Sat C installed the "Aquiring Data" takes forever.

 

[JoeTiVo]

Quote:

Originally posted by GScott Joe, I also have the HDS20 and I found a little trick. Unplug the coax sat cable from the receiver. Unplug the power on the receiver. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Thanks GScott, that acutally sounds like it might do the trick. Now that you have reminded me, I remember doing the same thing to the OTA input when I had problems with it not finding new locals.


I'll try it this evening and post the results.

 

[JoeTiVo]

Unfortunately, unplugging the inputs (both the sat and the OTA feed) didn't work.


I just got off the phone with Panasonic. They weren't much help. Basically, the tech told me to move the receiver around to different rooms (where I have other receivers) and try it there. If the problem 'follow's the box' then they will repair it (with only parts being still covered under warranty).


I tell you, for as good as HDTV is, it's still a lot of f'ing work, let alone a lot of money.

 

[Phloyd]

Quote:

Originally posted by JoeTiVo Unfortunately, unplugging the inputs (both the sat and the OTA feed) didn't work.

It sounds like your experience is unusual - mine was more like the others where it got the signals and then required one reboot to come up properly.


Cheers!

DAve.

 

[kliffy]

Joe, I had the same exact problem when I first got my Panny. I had it for 3 days and it crapped out. I talked to Panasonic and they said send it back. Which wasn't a big deal since I was planning on it anyway for all of the upgrades. To make a long story longer, I got it back a week or so later and the invoice explained my problem, but had no solution. The good thing was that everything now worked! So all in all, it looks like you may have to send it back. If you find anything out as to the cause and the fix, please post it.

 

[JoeTiVo]

Quote:

Originally posted by kliffy So all in all, it looks like you may have to send it back. If you find anything out as to the cause and the fix, please post it.

Yeah, well... it's already be swapped out once for the fan noise/dropout issue. This is actually the second receiver. I was hoping I didn't have to go thru this again, but it's really starting to sound like it's the receiver.


I'll be sure to post the solution IF it's ever found. I'm about fed up with it all at the moment.

 

[KSP]

A while ago I tried hooking the Panny only up to the SAT B signal (i'm using 2 18" dishes), since I was using it for OTA and HBO/HDNET only. It worked OK for a couple days and then it did the same thing as yours: all the channels disappeared and when I tried re-booting it, it got stuck at 0% when acquiring data from the satellite. That's when I discovered something about this particular box. If it doesn't have a constant SAT A connection, it doesn't operate correctly. For a couple weeks, I kept "fixing" it by plugging the SAT A cable back in, unplugging it for a few seconds, and then plugging it back in. It would then acquire the guide and after a couple minutes the channels would be back and I could swap the SAT A and SAT B cables and everything would be working again for a while. Another strange thing is that it seemed to stay working this way longer if I left it on all the time. And by longer, I mean 3 or 4 days vs. a few hours. Anyway, I got sick of doing this and went back to combining both A and B with a 22Khz switch.


Joe, try setting it back to SAT A only in the setup and then verify that you have a good signal on all the transponders. Then re-boot it by uplugging it for a few seconds and hopefully you'll get your non HD channels back. Then you should try A, B, & C again and hope for the best. If that doesn't work, you should also check and see if the guy that installed it got the cables from the LNBs going to the correct inputs on the multiswitch.

 

[Adam T]

Wow, thank God for the Internet and this site in particular. I thought I was the only one going through the private hell of trying to get my Sat C connection to work with my Panny box. But Joe’s post and everyone else’s comments made me scream in relief because I found that I wasn’t going crazy or doing something stupid.


It all just comes down to one very simple thing: This box stinks. I mean it is an absolute 100% piece of cow dung. I have hated it from day one. Let’s see, it has a cumbersome on-screen guide, a stunningly slow response rate from controller push to box action, an outrageous amount of machine noise, and is just a complete pain in the ass to set up or modify once new features come along (like the Sat C install). Did I leave anything out! I hate this thing. All the jerry-rigged solutions mentioned here should not be necessary, or there at least should be some sort of Panasonic support in the manual or online for this. But what do we get? Nothing.


Worse yet, none of the ad hoc solutions mentioned here have worked for me. I’ve rebooted this thing countless times and spent hours looking at the dumb “Acquiring Data†screen only to eventually find my system doesn’t work. God would I like to find the moron at Panasonic who designed this thing and give him an earful. I guess I’ll just have to remove the Sat C LNB and try to go back to the old set-up. I hope that will at least work again! If someone comes up with a solution, please post it here. In the meantime, I’m off to write a nasty letter to Panasonic!

 

[Chriscpm]

Joe,


I had this problem just out of the blue, not after a SatC install. The deal was that my weatherproof switch went bad due to weather. I would get signal on SatB, odd and even, and SatA, even only. This caused a lock at the dreaded "acquiring data" screen. You should be able to get past the screen by hitting menu, then you can check the settings (make sure the transponser you select and the satt "sticks', since the interface is sooo flakey). If something is missing from SatA, try connecting the SatA LNB directly to the Panny and that should take care of it for a test. Then try your old SatA/SatB setup. If that works, then the SatC kit is defective or not compatible with the Panny. As mentioned, one mis-connection on the LNB cables will give you trouble. If you get the SatC kit to work, please shoot me a PM. You are in the black hole of Cygnus X-1. I was just there, but made it out.


Adam, I agree. Since I use this box pretty much for Hdnet only, I really had no interest learning the picky attributes of this ... box.

 

[Robby Cee]

Ok, here is my little bit of humility. As I posted previously, I returned the Panny box in exchange for the Hughes, and still could not get HD channels. I got so frustrated that I called Direct Tv and they gladly charged me 60 bucks and sent their goons out. It turns out that I did not have the dish tilted. What a goofball. I am sure that had I read the directions, this would have been clearly stated as a necessesity. ANyhoo, HD kicks butt!! I watched Cats and Dogs in HD last evening on HBO, and was stunned. The Hughes unit is a ton faster and a lot more intuitive, and it has an awesome "Turbotune" menu, allowing you instant access to nine channelss from one neat little menu. I am one happy subsciber, at least till my next debacle.

 

[larryv]

JoeTIVO: Is the HDS20 your only Directv receiver? If not, does the

other receiver work fine on the subscribed channels?


If the DTV CSR says your subscription is still set up OK, then maybe

your installer swapped the wrong cable. To verify, disconnect all

the LNBs at the multiswitch. Hook up just Sat A (110). Check the

Sat A signal meter on the HDS 20. You might have change sat

setup to a single LNB so that the HDS20 will get through the

Acquiring Data. Now, you should see your non-HD subcribed

channels. Next, add Sat B and repeat the process. That will

give you HBO-HD and HDNET. Then remove the Sat B 18v feed

and run through the Sat C combiner.


If you have tried all the above, maybe the multiswitch went

bad during the Sat C install. I doubt your access card has a

problem. Of course, make sure you didn't swap the off air and

satellite coax feeds!

 

[JoeTiVo]

Quote:

Originally posted by larryv JoeTIVO: Is the HDS20 your only Directv receiver? If not, does the other receiver work fine on the subscribed channels?

I have two DirecTivo's that work fine; just as they always have.


Quote:

If the DTV CSR says your subscription is still set up OK, then maybe your installer swapped the wrong cable. To verify, disconnect all the LNBs at the multiswitch. Hook up just Sat A (110). Check the Sat A signal meter on the HDS 20. You might have change sat setup to a single LNB so that the HDS20 will get through the Acquiring Data. Now, you should see your non-HD subcribed channels. Next, add Sat B and repeat the process. That will give you HBO-HD and HDNET. Then remove the Sat B 18v feed and run through the Sat C combiner. If you have tried all the above, maybe the multiswitch went bad during the Sat C install. I doubt your access card has a problem. Of course, make sure you didn't swap the off air and satellite coax feeds!

I've tried all of the above. It won't acquire data if it's set to SAT A only or any other combination. I've tried moving he feed to the Panny to three different ports on my 5x8 multiswitch. No change. When I go into the setup, I get good signal on all SATs and the appropriate transponders. Though, I am going to go back and make sure that I'm not missing either the odd or even as Chriscpm alluded to.


I'm going to try everything suggested here and then do it all again backwards. If that doesn't work, I have already scheduled a DirecTV tech out on Saturday. Hopefully, this guy will have a clue (unlike the first one).


Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! And I agree... the Panny sucks for the most part. If I had to use it for anything more than the HD channels, I would have smashed it into many pieces by now. Hell, after all of this, I just might do that anyway.

 

[JoeTiVo]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chriscpm I had this problem just out of the blue, not after a SatC install.

Check your PMs.


Thanks!

 

[settopguy]

The first thing I would suspect is low signal strength, especially if the system was working before with another antenna. Check the dish alignment to see if it is off. If the dish is properly aligned and there is still low signal strength, consider buying a line amplifier.


If you are using a round dish, see if you have room to replace with a 30" Winegard dish.