522 driving me crazy!

[almom58]

I'm about at my wits end here. Techs (including a manager) have been to the house 5 times in the last 6 weeks and no one seems to be able to solve this problem, including the "advanced tech support". I have a 510 and a 522 with a superdish, and 34 switch. For some reason, over the last 8 weeks, I cannot receive my local channels (satellite 105), but only on the 522 receiver. They have replaced both receivers, lines, connectors, the switch, and when the 510 is hooked to the lines currently on the 522, it works fine! Oh...and when they hook up a 625, it seems to work fine, but they won't let us have one because we are an existing customer. Now they are telling me the electrical lines need to be checked by an electrician because the 105 satelline "element" keeps getting "burned up". Their logic is that the outlet with the 510 on it is drawing too much voltage, and this causes the 522 to fail. Does this make any sense to anyone??? For one thing, shouldn't there be too MUCH voltage to a unit in order to burn it up? And secondly, the units aren't connected by anything other than the cable! This seems crazy to me. If we had an electrical problem, how likely is it that it would ONLY affect the 105 element on the 522 receiver and nothing else in the house???

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Liquidforce88]

First check and see what transponders your local channels come on. Then see what the signal strength of those transponders are on the 522.

 

[almom58]

How do I do this? I know the satellite is 105, and I know the receiver is only seeing the odd signal. Don't know where to find transponders for that satellite, though.

 

[mudder1310]

To find those transponders go to your 510 and put it on a local channel. Then go menu, 6, 1, 1 and that should put you on the point dish screen showing the satellite and transponder that channel is on. The transponder should be in the center of the screen and may say "spotbeam" instead of transponder.

 

[WhiteForMe]

What happens when the 522 was hooked up where the 510 was ?
Also cannot draw to much voltage, maybe to much current. But that would be, because of what the receiver is as a load across the line. Also the receiver has a power supply inside which regulates its voltage requirements.
If you have a volt meter you can check the outlet, but it shouldn't be much different any other outlet in your house.

 

[Mark_AR]

I'm no expert, but the boxes put up to 18 volts back into that cable out to the dish switch/antenna to make it work.

It MAY be that you don't have a proper ground from your circuit box to your receptacles and if they are on opposite sides of the box, it could be adding together voltages. (I'm just guessing here so don't shoot the messenger)

Open ground loop I think is the term.

You might try a long 3-prong extension cord and plug both units into the same AC outlet. Ask a neighbor if you don't have one to save you the expense if it doesn't work.

Doubtful, but one outlet may be wired backward. (hot & ground reversed) A hardware store will carry a 3-prong tester that will tell you in an instant if your outlets are wired right without the expense of an electrician call.

That is my best suggestion. Somebody here should be able to better help on this one.

 

[almom58]

OK...so now I know the 105 satellite is set on transponder 20. They have done so much troubleshooting already, I didn't list it all, but the 510 works perfectly in both locations (and on both lines leading to the 522) and the locals don't work on the 522 anywhere! We've tested the outlets, and all that we've tested in the house are fine. We've also used the outlet tester that checks wiring and they are fine. They did check grounding when they were here one time, but I'm not sure what they did or what they changed. I guess I also forgot to mention that until several weeks ago, we DID get the local channels in fine! Could this be a software thing? They've decided the only other thing to try is to replace the satellite, but this makes no sense since it is working fine on the 510. I'm about ready to tell them to just send me another 510 or cancel my service and go to directTV, even though I can't get local channels through them.

 

[C1787GJ]

I would push for a 625 since you know that works for sure. Try emailing the ceo Address and tell them your issue. Might get a 625 out of the deal!

 

[supereal]

We strongly suggest that you use a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) of the type for computer systems. APC is a good brand, and fairly inexpensive. These units "condition" the line voltage, catch surges, etc., and prevent glitches caused by "blinks", brownouts, etc. All microprocessor equipment is susceptable to these problems, and as line power becomes more "dirty" and poorly regulated they will save your system, and the cost of repair and replacement.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Just as an aside, yes, LOW voltage can burn up some types of power supplies because they have to work too hard to do their job.

However, that's NOT applicable to these types of problems. Just another idiot CSR.

 

[Bob Haller]

I had one like that. My 721 would flake on the VERY SAME CABLES 508s ran fine on....

Turned out to be a software issue. The ONLY test for a 721 coinnectiuon was another 721....