612 Wiring Issue

[mwg9]

Dish's and the retailer's techs haven't been of much help with this, so I'm hoping someone with actual hands-on experience can help me with this wiring/switch issue. Getting a tech to drive 130 miles to check this in person isn't easy!

I live in rural Alaska, and am using a combo 110-119 dish and a separate dish for 129, through a DPP33. The set up worked fine for several years with my owned 722k, but when the DVR started having issues with recording, I bought a 612 (since I have only 1 TV). Simply connecting the 2 cables (like the previous 722 connection) from the DPP33 didn't work, and after talking with the retailer's tech, I connected one cable to a separator and it worked…sort of. I now have a signal from the combo dish (110 & 119), but have lost 129. "Details" says it is connected, but no signal. (And just before the change out, the 722 was working fine on all 3 satellites).

Does anyone have an idea why just hooking up the 2 input cables like the 722 won't work with the 612? I keep getting a Signal Code 31-11-45 window. Any suggestions on what the proper cabling and switch combination should be?

 

[ChadT41]

How do you have the two cables connected to the separator? From the sound of it, you have a dish500 and a dish300, is that correct? What would happen if you just upgrade all together for a dish1k.2? I know Alaska is tricky, but I also know there are places that can do that with no issues.

 

[mwg9]

Yes a dish 500, but not sure about the 300 part, except if that is the single 129 dish. The only thing that works is hooking cable #2 from the dpp33 to the separator, and then the pigtails to #1 & #2 on the 612. I seem to remember (from several years ago) that using a single 3 LNB dish1k wasn't working the best in the Interior of Alaska, so the techs installed a separate dish for 129.

 

[ChadT41]

The 300 is just perfectly round, and only supports 1 satellite. Single LNB.

 

[mwg9]

That's the 129 then.

 

[styxfix]

Have checked all your connectors...esp. the outside ones. You may also want to by pass the switch and see if you are still getting a signal. I've never had your switch before but i've many DISH switches fail on me...and my climate is very mild.

 

[mwg9]

Immediately before I made the change over I tried the 722 on different satellites to make sure that if I did have problems I could rule out the LNBs, switch and cabling. All worked fine. This is my second 612 (the Dish tech didn't come up with the solution to use the separator, so concluded it was a problem with the 612); after this first attempt I hooked my 722 back up and it worked perfectly. So I think we can rule out connections, switch, etc.

 

[mwg9]

ChadT41's question about how the 2 cables are hooked up to the separator got me thinking--it's logical that both cables from the dpp33 need to be hooked up to the separator to get signals from both dishes. Just like the 722 needed both cables hooked up. But the separator only has 1 input. Which brings me back to my original question: Why won't both cables hooked directly to the 612 work like the 722 did?

 

[JM42]

You don't need a cable per dish. It is the switch's job to route whichever signal is needed to the receiver.

You should only need a single cable for DPP equipment. A normal install would be one cable from the switch (regardless of number of sats/dishes) to the separator input, then one cable each from the separator outputs to the 612 inputs.

Two cables from the switch (one for each input) should work, but would only be needed with older switches/LNBs.

That doesn't really help with why it isn't working though.

 

[mwg9]

Good to know that 1 cable should work. Seems strange I only get signals when hooked to cable #2, not #1. Could the problem be that no power is getting to the 129 LNB? And that before it was supplied by cable #1, or is just 1 cable enough to power everything?

 

[boba]

How long a cable run to the DPP33 from the 612? How long a cable from the switch to each dish? What brand is the separator same question with the switch?

 

[mwg9]

DPP33 to 612: 100 feet; Dish to switch: about 30 feet, techs didn't cut it to size so some rolled up; both switch and separator are Dish brand.

 

[ChadT41]

I don't feel like researching it, so does the dpp33 have a power inserter, the same as a dpp44? Or is it powered by the receiver?

 

[mwg9]

Fairly certain it is powered by the receiver, since there is no power to the dpp33 or anywhere in the cabling.

 

[JSheridan]

DPP33's are powered by the receiver(s)

 

[osumike]

If the 110/119 is using a dpp twin lnb, I'd get rid of the switch and run the 129 wing dish to the input on the dpp twin. I think I remember dpp lnb's causing problems when connected to the 33 switch.




Posted Via The FREE SatelliteGuys Reader App!

 

[mwg9]

There are 2 LNBs on the 110/119 dish, with 2 cables. The confusing part is that the setup worked fine with the 722, without a separator.

 

[mwg9]

Problem solved! I happened to run across a bookmark that I had made (http://www.mydish.com/support/receiver-not-activated) from the Dish website, so decided to run thru the process step-by-step again. And there in the check switch step it said "If in AK or HI, select Alternate"--and after the test the 'lost' 129 sat was marked as OK (actually just the spot beams with most of my HD content), and then the proper Guide listings downloaded.

The 3 techs I talked or chatted with missed this little tidbit, so I hope someone from Dish reads this and adds this into their knowledge/troubleshooting database. Maybe someone knows why AK and HI are special?

Thanks to all who tried to help me with this baffling problem!

 

[ChadT41]

Alaska is special because you do not get all of the transponders. That's what alternate is. I think you get the lower transponders, but I cannot remember what it is specifically.