I’m always amazed by how well marine satellite systems work. Think about this for a second. You have a satellite in space 22,000 miles away. It’s hard enough to aim at that if you’re in a house. Now think about your boat constantly moving in 3D space, and the fact that your satellite system may be tracking three satellite locations at once. I understand how it’s done and it still boggles my mind.
Satellite TV, even marine satellite TV, has an amazing 99% uptime record. But occasionally, you’ll have problems that need looking into. Often times, these can be solved with a quick call to Signal Connect. But even before you do that, there’s something you must do that might help you understand what the problem is.
The most important question that we’ll ask when you call is what your satellite signal strength looks like. Checking signal strength is a very easy process. Most marine DIRECTV systems still use non-Genie hardware, so here’s what you need to do.
You’ll need your DIRECTV remote. Start by pressing MENU and arrowing down to “Settings & Help.” Press SELECT.
Arrow over to “Settings” and press SELECT.
Arrow down to “Satellite” (it could say “Sat & Antenna depending on your receiver). With “View Signal Strength” highlighted, press SELECT.
You’ll be asked to press the DASH button to confirm. That’s the button to the left of the zero.
You’ll see a screen like this one that lets you look at your signal strengths.
You want to see those numbers showing higher than about 75. It’s ok if you see a zero here or there, that’s normal.
The most important thing is that you check all the satellites, not just the 101 location. Make sure that the blue (+) is highlighted like you see in the picture above. Press SELECT to move from satellite to satellite. You’ll want to take a picture of the screen with your phone once all the numbers are there.
If you have a single-satellite dish like the KVH TracVision TV3 or the Intellian i3, your system can only tune one satellite at a time. Your satellite system might pause for up to a minute if it’s trying to test a second satellite.
If this is the case, you’ll skip from the 101 satellite to the 119 satellite. You’ll see a lot of zeroes on the 119 satellite and generally this is ok.
If you have a multi-satellite dish like the KVH UHD7 or the Intellian s6HD, your system can view satellites at the 99 and 103 locations. It’s very important that you measure these signals as well because that’s where your HD channels actually come from.
When you measure 99 and 103 you’ll see a lot of “N/A” markings, which is normal. It’s also normal to see zeroes in these measurements here and there.
If you’d like to see this in video form, here’s a tutorial I did a while back.
When you look at these screens, you want to see every number being higher than 75. If you see numbers that are lower than that, you may lose signal during cloudy or rainy days. If you’re seeing a lot of zeroes, that can mean there’s a problem with your dish. Before calling an installer though, there’s one more thing to check.
If you’re in the marina, you might not realize that other boats or buildings are blocking the satellite signal. If there are any boats or buildings near your boat, you’ll want to try going out on the open water if you possibly can. That’s where your boat’s satellite system is designed to work best. Often times problems in the marina just “disappear” once you’re out on the open water.
Signal Connect is here for you! No one else has as much experience with marine satellite systems. We can help you with basic troubleshooting, upgrades, and even changes to your account. Call 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. You’ll reach a tech in our Detroit-area corporate office who will be ready to help! Call, or if it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you.
The post Problems with your marine DIRECTV system? Here’s the one thing you MUST check appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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Satellite TV, even marine satellite TV, has an amazing 99% uptime record. But occasionally, you’ll have problems that need looking into. Often times, these can be solved with a quick call to Signal Connect. But even before you do that, there’s something you must do that might help you understand what the problem is.
Let’s make sure you have good signal
The most important question that we’ll ask when you call is what your satellite signal strength looks like. Checking signal strength is a very easy process. Most marine DIRECTV systems still use non-Genie hardware, so here’s what you need to do.
You’ll need your DIRECTV remote. Start by pressing MENU and arrowing down to “Settings & Help.” Press SELECT.
Arrow over to “Settings” and press SELECT.
Arrow down to “Satellite” (it could say “Sat & Antenna depending on your receiver). With “View Signal Strength” highlighted, press SELECT.
You’ll be asked to press the DASH button to confirm. That’s the button to the left of the zero.
You’ll see a screen like this one that lets you look at your signal strengths.
What to look for
You want to see those numbers showing higher than about 75. It’s ok if you see a zero here or there, that’s normal.
The most important thing is that you check all the satellites, not just the 101 location. Make sure that the blue (+) is highlighted like you see in the picture above. Press SELECT to move from satellite to satellite. You’ll want to take a picture of the screen with your phone once all the numbers are there.
Single-satellite dishes
If you have a single-satellite dish like the KVH TracVision TV3 or the Intellian i3, your system can only tune one satellite at a time. Your satellite system might pause for up to a minute if it’s trying to test a second satellite.
If this is the case, you’ll skip from the 101 satellite to the 119 satellite. You’ll see a lot of zeroes on the 119 satellite and generally this is ok.
Multi-satellite dishes
If you have a multi-satellite dish like the KVH UHD7 or the Intellian s6HD, your system can view satellites at the 99 and 103 locations. It’s very important that you measure these signals as well because that’s where your HD channels actually come from.
When you measure 99 and 103 you’ll see a lot of “N/A” markings, which is normal. It’s also normal to see zeroes in these measurements here and there.
If you’d like to see this in video form, here’s a tutorial I did a while back.
How to read these numbers
When you look at these screens, you want to see every number being higher than 75. If you see numbers that are lower than that, you may lose signal during cloudy or rainy days. If you’re seeing a lot of zeroes, that can mean there’s a problem with your dish. Before calling an installer though, there’s one more thing to check.
If you’re in the marina, you might not realize that other boats or buildings are blocking the satellite signal. If there are any boats or buildings near your boat, you’ll want to try going out on the open water if you possibly can. That’s where your boat’s satellite system is designed to work best. Often times problems in the marina just “disappear” once you’re out on the open water.
Need more help? Call the experts!
Signal Connect is here for you! No one else has as much experience with marine satellite systems. We can help you with basic troubleshooting, upgrades, and even changes to your account. Call 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. You’ll reach a tech in our Detroit-area corporate office who will be ready to help! Call, or if it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you.
The post Problems with your marine DIRECTV system? Here’s the one thing you MUST check appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
