[mknoebel]

For the past couple of weeks, I have noticed a significant drop of signal on Sat C but just on one of my receivers. I have a Mitsubishi and a Hughes HD receiver. Both have the same signal strength on everything EXCEPT Sat C (Showtime & Channel 90). On the Hughes, the strength is at about 70, but on the Mitsubishi it is only at about 40 and won't keep the picture.


Any thoughts on what may be wrong here?? Can there be something wrong with the receiver?

 

[mbw23air]

I had the same problem with a SD RCA receiver. The picture would freeze up and the signal would fluctuate and drop. I first thought it was the dish because the dish wasn't mounted very sturdy. I then bought a new RCA HD Sat receiver and an elliptical dish and had it professionally mounted and they both work perfect. Now when I hook the older SD RCA receiver into this dish as well some channels still freeze up and the signal isn't as good and the newer receiver has never froze up. So for me it was defintely my receiver.


Mike

 

[mmarolda]

If you haven't already done so, you might want to switch the recievers and see if the problem moves with the receiver or stays with the location. Since the Mits and Hughes are essentially the same receiver, you should see comparable performance (all other things being equal).


mike

 

[George33027]

I just got done aligning up my sat dish.

I had a problem with a drop in Sat B. and the picture would freeze up and the signal would fluctuate and drop.

My Sat C was at 65 and the same freeze ups and drop outs.

So I went to align up the dish and got my Sat B from 60"s to 80's and zero Sat C.

Sat A went from 90 to 70.


Then today, I decided to take a long alignment. Found that the Tilt had to be changed then elevation. After a few hours, I find that Sat B does not go over 80. ??????


But, I got Sat C up to 83 ! Solid.

And Sat A up to 95.

Sat B is at 77.


All are now solid, but no matter what I do, I can not get Sat B any higher than 81.


Watch the clouds, because that will change your references.


The alignment is very selective, and a slight movement can cause complete drop out.

And with the 3 LNB, it can be a nightmare.

 

[mknoebel]

George,


I know that alligning the dish to receive all three birds is tricky. I had that all figured out -- and still do. But I am receiving 30 points lower on my Mitsubishi receiver than the Hughes receiver for the channels on Sat C.


That's what's got me baffled.

 

[George33027]

What has me upset, is that I still get drop outs and freeze in HBO ch 509 !

The signal bounces last night from 61 to 81.

When it drops to the 60's is when picture freezes.


Now, I can change transponder #23 to #25 which is HDnet, and it is solid at 83, and so is picture!

That is the same satelite !!!!


I really don't care about the numbers, but as a reference, I know if they drop below 70, I will have picture problems.


So I ask, what is your Sat B TP #23 reference numbers, and do they bounce ?

And how is your Ch 509 ?

 

[mknoebel]

I have never had any problems with 509. It is solid mid 80's and doesn't fluctuate like yours is. Sounds very strange. Maybe you're having a similar problem only on a different sat. Which receiver are you using?

 

[Tim1951]

I have a Mits HD5 & it had good signal then the strength dropped. I have 0 on the 110 sat & poor to zero on 119 and 101. I went through the obvious of dish realignment and checking connections, lnb, multiswitch, cable etc. I have had no improvement. The signal does get somewhat better if I remove an external cooling fan but then the OTA reception gets worse.


You are fortunate in that you have another box to compare with. I do not


I believe that my box was damaged by heat buildup & will not recover.


If you have swapped the boxes without improvement then the receiver is probably going bad.

 

[bmel]

I have the mits hd5. I also recently lost reception of sat 110. I get recepion in the 80's for the other two sats. It was working fine for many months. I would not have noticed except for the loss of showtime hd. Directv is sending out a technician tomorrow.


Brian

 

[mknoebel]

Brian,


So you called 1-800-DirecTv and talked with them about the problem??

 

[bmel]

Yes, all the phone support folks could come up with was unplug it for 15 secs. didn't work. Dish may need to be realligned, but I'm not getting up there on my roof to do it. Service call is $70 or get a $6/month service plan and commit to another year of directv. I'm trying out comcast cable now so I opted for the one time charge. I'll let you know what they come up with tomorrow.

Brian

 

[mknoebel]

Brian,


Yea, let me know how that works out. Maybe I'll give them a call as well.

 

[TheHypnoToad]

I've been noticing the same problem with ShowtimeHD on my RCA F38310's built-in HD DSS receiver for the last few weeks too. The set can get ShowtimeHD but it's full of breakups and audio drop outs. It also gives me a "Searching for Satellite" message on channel 90. None of the other SD DSS receivers in the house has a problem with channel 90 and they all seem to have similar signal strengths. I had thought that I had a bad cable (which had happened before) but they all seem to be OK (eg. no corrosion or loose connectors). All of the other stations are fine on the RCA F38310 including HDNet and HBOHD so I'm not sure what's going on.

 

[bmel]

DTV service guy came today. I did not get to speak with him. He replaced my dish with a newer model. It does not have the big splitter/combiner thing that was hanging off the back of my old dish. Sat 110 reception now about 70 and the other two at 85-90.

I don't know if it was the dish or the reallignment that fixed the problem. But now I get showtime hd again.


Brian

 

[mknoebel]

Sounds good, Brian. Did they just charge you the $70 - or is there an additional charge for the dish as well?

 

[bmel]

The service guy told my wife he was not sure if there was going to be a charge for the dish.


Brian

 

[George33027]

Sounds like my bounce is an alignment problem.

I think I am on the edge of Sat B.

Needs more work.

 

[mknoebel]

Thanks for the updates, Brian!

 

[mknoebel]

This is getting even more weird.


I just have a silver sensor hooked up to the Mits receiver that's been giving me problems. It is connected to an RCA amplifier. When I got home from work last night, I flipped through to see what was on, and I got a clear picture on Showtime!! Horray! Signal was 55-60 but it wasn't breaking up.


So then I continued to see what was on, and flipped to the ONE digital channel I can receive (Fox). But it wasn't coming in. I checked the signal strength and found that I was only getting a 15-20 reading. After tinkering with the antenna and not getting any change, I noticed that the amplifier was unplugged. I plugged it back in and the signal jumped up to 65-70 and my picture came back.


But -- then I went back to Showtime, and that picture was unwatchable again - only a signal of about 40. ??? So, does anyone think that there may be a connection between the two?? Or was it just a coincidence?? Because if there is a connection -- bye bye Fox. It isn't worth not being able to see Sat C for 480p.

 

[Paul_Seng]

mknoebel, I also had the same problem. I found out that my multiswitch output to the receiver having the problem got a little wet, so I cleaned and dried it and then waterproofed it with silicon. That fixed the problem with me.