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Unique UTV Troubles....(long and detailed)

868 Views 11 Replies 4 Participants Last post by klassic, Jun 15, 2004

HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · May 25, 2004

FIrst off, yes, I've searched the forums, read the FAQ, and have yet to find a similar situation to mine.

My RCA UTV unit has an upgraded HD (120 GB) and has worked fine for about 18 months since the upgrade. Recently, i get the 'Searching for Signal' Screen of death, yet I can still hear the sounds coming from the picture. I can switch channels, and UTV thinks it's on one channel (PBS for example), while the picture on the screen says another ('FOX' in the lower corner). The sound matches the channel showing on the screen. Both the picture and sound remain for about 2-3 seconds, then the screen 'Searching for Signal' pops up, and the sound remains.

If I change channels, UTV's channel listing changes appropriately, but the Picture on the screen seems to cycle between about 3-4 channels. If I try to turn it off/on, I get the Flashing Green light cycle, and it refuses to boot up. So i unplug it for 2-3 Hours, and UTV seems to start right up, and everything works great for about 6-12 hours or so...(ie. Recorded shows play, live pause, rewind, record functions work), then it goes back to "Searching for signal''. The picture that shows up for 2-3 seconds is clear, and not pixelated.

When it's acting up, I go to Home-->Settings-->system Test...it says 'failed' on Tuner 1, Tuner 2, signal and a few other things (cant' remember exactly, at work right now), yet the sound is perfectly fine.

I have two tuners hooked up to my TV, and signal comes through perfectly fine on my 2nd (HighDef) receiver, so I don't think it's the actual signal.

Could my UTV simply be getting too hot? Once it heats up beyond tolerance, things shut down? Or is it the HD? Or is it the Tuner chips? I'm not against doing work on this unit myself, although i have very limited soldering experience. If it's the Tuner, could you please paste a link to a Chip Wholesaler.

Any and all help is greatly appreciate..i soooo don't wanna become a Tivo-ite...

My RCA UTV unit has 2 inputs, Dolby outputs, 120GB upgraded hd, (forgot model number)

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klassic

· #2 · May 26, 2004

Hmmmm... sounds familiar.

Guess your search missed this post

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hlight=failure

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blimey

· #3 · May 26, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by klassic
Hmmmm... sounds familiar.

Guess your search missed this post

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hlight=failure

klassic- I read that old thread. My UTV's symptoms seem similar.

The thread didn't explain how you ultimately resloved the problem on this unit... Is this the UTV you replaced the tuner chips on? If so, did that alone stop all the rebooting symptoms?

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HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 26, 2004

That thread sounds similar, but it doesn't seem to have a resolution...simply lots of theories.

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HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 26, 2004

Update from the OP:

Called D*, and they advised to unplug the unit and push the power button on and off for 2-5 minutes, then plug it back in and see what happens....I did that the other day, and got the Green light cycle of death (Green a few times, all lights once, wash, repeat). SO I unplugged it for about a day or so. I called to de-activate the unit so as not to get charged 10$/mo for this paper weight.

Well I went home for lunch just now, and plugged it back in, Green light came a blinking....but didn't cycle through the other lights, then eventually stopped. On screen, it takes me through the 'set up' phase of installing the unit. Asks me what kind of dish i have, my zip code, and one of the menus was even a 'tuner signal strengh test'...results were 92ish and 94ish.

I click on 'my shows' and all my shows are gone, it's like it's a completely new unit. Course it doesn't get that many channels, b/c of the disconnection i had them do, but it appears all is well now.

Hoping the reset/reinstall does the trick, although i have no idea how I did that, unless it was the pushing of the power button while it was unplugged.

Feel free to rant on me all day long, no biggie (nice pic, btw). I think the FAQ should contain certain words/phrases people can search for ("Green light cycle of death" for instance. I too understand the frustration brought about by repeated questions.

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HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 27, 2004

New Update....upon finding what appeared to be my UTV working again, i called D* back to activate service...well, once service was activated, the process repeated itself (showing pic for 2-3 seconds, screen going to the "Searching for signal", sound still coming through), so while on the phone, i unplugged the unit for about 2 minutes, and plugged it back in...

Well now it's trying to download the latest patch update (297 packets?) which should take less than 110 minutes....

I didn't think there had been an update in about a year, and mine was current..

I guess I'm still clinging to the hope that it's the hard drive (easy fix) that needs to be replaced, and not the tuner chips (a bit more difficult from what I've read).

NlogN: Yes, that pic brings me back to my rednect roots in TN...*sigh* i love those women with the southern belle accents

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HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 27, 2004

NlogN, you are the quick replying king!

Pardon me while i demonstrate even more of my ignorance...but what's a ''Tuner IC'' (interface card?) and since this has two inputs, would that cost me $79 x 2 = $158. Would I have to tell them which one to work on?

Also, what's the name of the shop?

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HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 27, 2004

holy heck! Ordered two Samples from the web site.....got the address for shop in Alexandria. You are the Man!

oh yeah, so it's $75 per chip replaced, right? Hopefully it will just be 1 chip that's failed right now. I'll crack the unit open after vacation this weekend, so I too can answer your poll on the other thread.

Thanks a ton again!

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TheRatPatrol

· #9 · May 27, 2004

How long did it take to get your chips when you signed up/ordered from the website? Its been about a week for me now and I still haven't gotten mine. Will they notify you if you don't "qualify" to get them?

Disregard, I got mine today in the mail, production date code of "0414" for both. And boy are they small.

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klassic

· #10 · May 30, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by HDTV_432
That thread sounds similar, but it doesn't seem to have a resolution...simply lots of theories.

Sorry for not responding HDTV....that UTV sits beside my computer and I put my feet on it... it never got fixed. I'm waiting to use the power supply in another UTV some day

I ended up soldering a lead to the LNBP13 chip so I could manually switch between odd/even transponders because something in the chain of operations wasn't allowing the LNBP to work properly.... but that only lasted a couple of days before something else went wrong.....there was never any talk about the 2104 chips back then so I would have never thought about that chip being a problem. Although the 2104 always seemed to work.

Back then it was always a discussion about the LNBP13.... now it is the 2104. All of a sudden the LNBP chips are fine...???

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HDTV_432

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jun 14, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by NLogN
I believe a bad 2104 can cause more than just a tuner failure...such as reboots, blinking green light loops, etc. My reasoning is primarily based on my experience with a poorly soldered replacement 2104. My RCA manifested endless loop reboots, sporadic reboots, and even caused the hard drive serial no. handshaking to go amuck...causing a zero-out & a dial in for the OS. This makes sense to me, since we're talking about shorts. I'm sure LNBP chips can go bad too, but since we know these 2104s were defective (just about all of the original ones, based on the poll), those would be my first suspects with a faulty UTV receiver. Of course...hard drives & power supplies can go bad too...

.02

So back to square one with this could be just about anything....?

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klassic

· #12 · Jun 15, 2004

Using the Satw60 manual you can follow and check the voltages to and from the LNBP13.

It takes some studying to find the points, but they can be checked.

My one UTV had a bad regulator in the tuner's power supply, I was able to trace the voltages from the LNBP back to the problem chip.

If everything checks out with the LNBP, then maybe it is time to chuck the 2104...

I know one guy from the forum who had the wrong voltages on both LNBP's. After he changed the one he thought was faulty, the other LNBP started working fine.

Just be careful with the meter probes...I slipped once and the metal base around the LNBP turned to liquid

.....

Any "real" electronics engineers reading this stuff must get a kick out of the "backyard technicians". I've had a butter knife, for a tool, in my UTV before.

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