A Problem Has Been Detected With Your Switch

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CinWx

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Original poster
Nov 26, 2006
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For the past few weeks, I've been getting the following message from my 322:
DishSwitchMessage.jpg


Sometimes the "The satellite signal has been lost. Press up or down to change channels" screen will appear after I press SELECT. If I press up or down, the "Acquiring satellite signal" screen appears for less than a second, before successfully changing channels (it always defaults to channel 101 when this problem occurs). I've only seen it happen between 3 and 7 AM.

This is a DISH 500 setup with a quad style LNB and two 322 receivers. I've noticed that only one TV seems to be affected by this. I did follow the instructions on the error message: signal strength for sat 110 is 103 and strength for sat 119 is 85. The switch test did not reveal any error messages.
 
CinWx said:
For the past few weeks, I've been getting the following message from my 322:
DishSwitchMessage.jpg


Sometimes the "The satellite signal has been lost. Press up or down to change channels" screen will appear after I press SELECT. If I press up or down, the "Acquiring satellite signal" screen appears for less than a second, before successfully changing channels (it always defaults to channel 101 when this problem occurs). I've only seen it happen between 3 and 7 AM.

This is a DISH 500 setup with a quad style LNB and two 322 receivers. I've noticed that only one TV seems to be affected by this. I did follow the instructions on the error message: signal strength for sat 110 is 103 and strength for sat 119 is 85. The switch test did not reveal any error messages.
Click to expand...

The 119 sigs should be stronger than the 110....When you run the check switch what do you see?..Post that photo....
What part of the country are you in?....On 119 check (transponder)TP's 11, 19 and 20....on the 110 check TP's 11, 20 and 29....
With the weaker sigs on the 119 my first instinct is to check the alignment of the dish....Next I would check for obstructions(trees etc.) that may be affecting the sig strength...If that's ok then I change out the LNB. If that's not the issue then I check the receiver.....And of course while it doesn't seem like it, The cable can also be the culprit

on the 110 check TP's
 
You have 2 322 receivers which can feed 4 TV's independly.

Q1 - Do you have 1 TV on each 322, or mulitple TV's on each 322?
Q2 - You said only 1 TV is affected, or did you mean - only one 322 is affected, but both TV1 and TV2 tuners?

Maybe swap the 2 322's around and that would let you know if part of the LNBF, or part of the wiring was bad. I suspect from the Quad LNBF, there are 2 cables going to each 322 (4 cables leaving the Quad).
 
I checked it again and here are the signal levels:

Sat 119: transponder 11 = 99, 19 = 94, 20 = 92
Sat 110: transponder 11 = 99, 20 = 67, 29 = 45

I'm located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Q1 - Two TVs are connected to each 322
Q2 - Only one receiver has shown the problem, and on that receiver only TV1 has shown it.

Here's screen shots of the switch test screens.

cap0011.jpg

cap0012.jpg
 
Myself, I believe those signal strengths are good.

On the 110 - TP 20 and TP 29 are on Spotbeams that when I looked at a map, I believe that Cincinnati is on the edge and would have a weak signal on those 2 TP's. However, it looks like the 8 Cincinnati local channels are on Sat 110, TP 23, Spotbeam 10; which should give you the strongest signal of all.

How about you check the signal strength on Sat 110, TP 23.

Also, were your readings from TV1 on the 322 that is having problems, or the other 322?

First test, I would unplug both 322 receivers, and 4 TV's.
Wait about 10 minutes, then plug in the 2 322's.
Then plug in the 4 receivers.

EDIT:
The second test would be to swap the 2 receivers and see if the problem moved with the receiver, suggesting the receiver is bad, or if the problem stayed in the same location on the new receiver, suggesting it is that part of the LNBF or wiring.

But, when you unplug the two receivers to see if the logic got screwed up do to a power surge or something, you may want to just swap the 2 receivers and see if the problem went away, moved, or stayed in the same location.
 
Last edited:
This happens every now and then on my 301 used to drive me crazy. The fix for me was disconecting the SAT in cable on the affected recvr. When I reconnected the cable all was well. I have a DP quad running to 3 recvrs.
 
CinWx said:
For the past few weeks, I've been getting the following message from my 322:
DishSwitchMessage.jpg


Sometimes the "The satellite signal has been lost. Press up or down to change channels" screen will appear after I press SELECT. If I press up or down, the "Acquiring satellite signal" screen appears for less than a second, before successfully changing channels (it always defaults to channel 101 when this problem occurs). I've only seen it happen between 3 and 7 AM.

This is a DISH 500 setup with a quad style LNB and two 322 receivers. I've noticed that only one TV seems to be affected by this. I did follow the instructions on the error message: signal strength for sat 110 is 103 and strength for sat 119 is 85. The switch test did not reveal any error messages.
Click to expand...

This happens virtually everytime I go to a HD 110W channel with my ViP211, even though the 110W has signals over 100 on all the HD channels.

None of the other IRDs have an issue.

I have swapped the feed with the other units that do not exhibit the issue to no avail.

I had wondered if it was due to my using legacy lnbs and switches with 4 oribital positions - but after seeing your post, I have to assume that is not it either.

I have just learned to accept I cannot go to a 110W HD Channel on my ViP211, which is ridiculous - but as E* has less and less Quality HD Channels, its just another nail in their coffin.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I replaced the F6 connectors on the satellite-in cables coming into the receiver in question (cables were in the process of falling out). I'll just wait and see if that solves the switch error. I did cross check the signal strength levels on both 322s and they concur.
 
Update

It's been a week and so far I haven't been having any more 'issues'. The only action I took was replacing the F-connectors on the Sat IN cables that are hooked into the 322 receiver. This is the longest stretch of time that I haven't had any error messages in a few months, so things are looking hopeful.
 
Well, the issue returned yesterday morning at about 6:30 AM. The TV1 tuner switched to channel 101 by itself, but displayed the "signal has been lost" message. I guess further troubleshooting is in order :mad:
 
CinWx said:
Well, the issue returned yesterday morning at about 6:30 AM. The TV1 tuner switched to channel 101 by itself, but displayed the "signal has been lost" message. I guess further troubleshooting is in order :mad:
Click to expand...

First thing I would try is posted in post #9.
 
I unhooked the coax going to both Sat1 and Sat2 before trying the switch test. Of course, after the test was completed it gave me a message saying the switch was inoperative. I then ran the test again with the cables connected to the 322 in question. The results were the same as I previously posted.

One question... Testing without the cables connected resulted in 38 tests (for each input), while testing with the cables connected only resulted in 2 tests. Is this normal?
 
"One question... Testing without the cables connected resulted in 38 tests (for each input), while testing with the cables connected only resulted in 2 tests. Is this normal?"

Yes.
 
I swapped the 322s, but the switch message still appears (again only in the morning at specific times). I think the reason this is the only tuner showing this message is because the other tuners are inactive after the 3 AM reboot and program guide update (inactive until later in the morning).

If it comes down to replacement on the dish, what do I replace? I can see that it has a Quad LNBF and a plate covers the lower part where the coax connections are made. This system was installed in Nov 2004. I've looked online and see two listings for Quads: Quad LNBF for Dish 500 (Legacy) and Quad LNBF for Dish 500 (DishPro).
 

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