Anyone Having Split Second Dropouts on Bell HD Channels?

[Ron AKA]

For the past 3-4 weeks we have been experiencing split second dropouts of signal on some HD Channels. The screen just flickers, but does not bring up an error message, and the audio drops out long enough that you miss a couple of words of speech. The CBC HD news channel (1564) is the worst and drops out up to 15 times per hour. CTV HD News (1562) drops out but less frequently. CNN HD (1578) also drops out but is less frequent and similar to CTV -- perhaps once or twice an hour. Signal strength typically is 98 minimum. I did catch CNN dropping out while watching the signal strength screen. It was either 98 or 100, or for a second or so, zero and not locked. Have not seen it dropout on the SD channels.

The system feed is a DishPro Plus Twin LBNF. One cable goes through a DishPro Plus Separator and feeds a 9241. The other cable goes direct to a 6131. We don't watch the 6131 much, but it appears to be doing the same thing. On the 9241 everything has been replaced once; the receiver, the separator, the cable, connectors, and the LBNF. No real change to the dropout frequency.

So we are starting to think it is a satellite broadcast problem or Bell feed to the satellite? Anyone else having this kind of issue? It would seem if it was a common Bell problem then everyone should be affected. The 9241 and Twin LBNF have been in service for about a year, and this started in the last month. We are in Alberta.

 

[Kraven]

What I'd do, when she starts to freeze is check the signal meter for a few minutes (Menu- 6-1-1) and see if the signal itself drops (must be on freezing channel when selecting menu to be on proper sat/trans). If there is NO drop in signal, it could be something at Bell's end. However, since BOTH IRDs have the same problem... it could be the LNB also (Bell's end and LNB are the only 2 common points of your setup).

Hope this helps.

Cheers, K

PS- You are usibng Rg-6 correct?

 

[Ron AKA]

What I'd do, when she starts to freeze is check the signal meter for a few minutes (Menu- 6-1-1) and see if the signal itself drops (must be on freezing channel when selecting menu to be on proper sat/trans). If there is NO drop in signal, it could be something at Bell's end. However, since BOTH IRDs have the same problem... it could be the LNB also (Bell's end and LNB are the only 2 common points of your setup). PS- You are usibng Rg-6 correct?

I've tried that once on CNN HD. The signal was 98-100 but I did observe it to drop to zero and become unlocked. The CNN HD was dropping much more frequently than normal (weather was good though), and I'm not totally sure it was the normal dropout issue I am suffering with. I will have to see if I can catch the CBC HD acting up.

The LNBF was changed out a week ago by Bell with no improvement. Yes the Cable is all RG6. The cable on my main 9241 receiver was just replaced and I used Monster quad shield copper core. No improvement from the Bell installed RG6 which was about 8 years old.

 

[Frank Booth]

I notice dropouts when I watch CITY TV (1053). That seems to be the only channel I see this on.

 

[Grampjet]

Hey Ron AKA, YES, I am experiencing this same problem....it is very annoying. It has been happening for several months. I have three 9241s and it is the same behavior at the same time.....so it is not the receiver if my deduction is correct. I have just added a third, which required the professional Bell installer to come out, they replaced the SW44 switch with a new head which integrates the switch and each receiver only has a single cable instead of the old two cables per unit. The bahri our has not changed, so it isn't the SW44 switch, it isn't the receivers, I don't go though any power bar, the cables are the same ones I have had since 2005 and they were fine for 6 years.

I have not called Bell on this problem...tried to figure it out on my own....very puzzling.

Seems to be CNN 1578 and CBS east 817 the most.....

I don't want to move away from bell satellite as I like it the best after almost seven years.....but this is becoming a pain...let me know if you find any solutions....

thanks, rod.

 

[Ron AKA]

I notice dropouts when I watch CITY TV (1053). That seems to be the only channel I see this on.

I tried watching 1053 yesterday PM and got no dropouts over the 30 minutes I watched. However I then watched 30 minutes of the CBC HD 1564 which has been the worst for me, and it was right at the end of the 30 minutes that it dropped out. So, in general the system seems to have good stretches and then some bad stretches.

 

[Ron AKA]

I have not called Bell on this problem...tried to figure it out on my own....very puzzling.
Seems to be CNN 1578 and CBS east 817 the most.....
I don't want to move away from bell satellite as I like it the best after almost seven years.....but this is becoming a pain...let me know if you find any solutions....

Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking because I've replaced everything at the house, it must be a satellite or Bell problem. Have been checking using Menu 6-1-1 on the satellite feed for the problem channels I've found and others have listed. Some listed below:

Station - Number - Satellite - Transponder
CBS - 817 - 82 - 13
CTY - 1053 - 82 - 11
CBC - 1564 - 82 - 23
CNN - 1578 - 82 - 13

These are all HD channels, all satellite 82, and all odd numbered transponders.

But, I have also seen dropouts but less frequently on these:

Station - Number - Satellite - Transponder
CTV - 1562 - 91 - 11
BNN - 1568 - 91 - 17

Again all HD, but satellite 91. Still all odd numbered transponders, but I have a recollection of possibly seeing an even numbered one that I've forgotten.

Is there anything to learn from this? I have found a paper on DishPro Technology. See page 5 of this document. DishPro uses a different frequency range for odd and even transponders. However the odd transponders use the lower band so max frequency should not be a problem. Not sure of the significance of this, if any...

It may be helpful to report the issue to Bell. They keep telling me they have never had any complaints except for me. The support tech guy that seems to have taken it the most seriously is "Junior" and has employee number 6021858. If you call I would ask for him, and he should be aware of the issue. He promised me he was going to do a recording of the 1564 channel to check for dropouts.

That is about all I know. CNN (1578) has been brutal this PM, but we are also having bad weather. Seems to only be affecting CNN though. I'm now starting to check out Shaw and Telus as I'm not all that optimistic that Bell is going to solve this.

 

[Grampjet]

Ron, I have found a related discussion on the digitalhome forum (not allowed to provide the URL) but the thread number at digitalhome is 157031. Rod.

 

[Ron AKA]

Rod, can I bother you to tell me what the gist of it is? I used to belong to that digital home site 6-7 years ago, and asked to have my account closed. As a result the moderator banned me, and now I can't even look at the messages there.

 

[Grampjet]

Sure, one said "This is the time of year when the sun aligns directly behind the satellites causing disruptions." and provided a wikipedia link that explained sun interference with satellites, and the next provided a list as follows of recent dates and times of interference, as follows:

Predicted Degradation

Outage
Date.........Start............End...........Duration
................GMT............GMT...........Minutes


OCT. 05.....17:13:29.....17:21:29.....08.0
OCT. 06.....17:11:23.....17:22:59.....11.6
OCT. 07.....17:09:54.....17:23:54.....14.0
OCT. 08.....17:09:02.....17:24:14.....15.2
OCT. 09.....17:08:33.....17:24:09.....15.6
OCT. 10.....17:08:18.....17:23:54.....15.6
OCT. 11.....17:08:26.....17:23:14.....14.8
OCT. 12.....17:08:59.....17:22:11.....13.2
OCT. 13.....17:09:57.....17:20:45.....10.8
OCT. 14.....17:11:56.....17:18:20.....06.4

This fits in perfectly with my observations yesterday.

That info was for somewhere in Ontario...

PERHAPS we could pick a day and monitor 817 or 1578 and annotate the times, to see if it is the same for both of us, then I/we could report it to Bell, that may help get someone on it....

 

[Ron AKA]

Rod,

If I am doing my conversions of time correctly that should be in the range of 13:10 to 13:20 local Eastern DST. That would seem to be in the range of time when there could be interference. One of the worst times I saw dropouts on 1564 however was between 9:00 and 9:30 PM, or way past sunset. Still I would be quite willing to see if there is a difference when the sun is potentially interfering. I'm thinking due to our geographic difference it will not be at the same time, and BC would be about 1 hour later???

Tonight 1564 has been a lot better. It has dropped out about once per hour. I upgraded the grounding of the dish and coax, but I suspect that has not changed anything.

Ron

 

[Ron AKA]

I found this Sun Outage Calculator and selected the 81.98 W NIMIQ 4 Satellite Position. And at the bottom of the map I put my address in. It came back with sun outage times of around 11:45 AM starting October 7th, and going to October 16th. This was around the days I first noticed the problem, but I don't remember the specific times. However what it does not explain is why I am still having the same problem today, and the evening times. It is supposed to only happen for a few days in the spring and fall, and over 10-20 minutes or so when the sun lines up with the satellite.

You may want to try your location in White Rock and see what it comes back with?

Ron

 

[Grampjet]

Good info....I am convinced now it is not sun related, there would be a lot of people complaining I would think, and it lasts from around 4 pm till 9 pm around here, CBS was bad this evening, started up at 5 and was very active....It occurred at the same time on two different receivers on different channels, I recorded it to show the bell tech. They are coming tomorrow (Thursday) I have had it occur though, where it is broken up, but when i play back the recording it is clean, no break up....which means at least sometimes, it is not being processed in the PVR bad it is coming out into the TV badly....at least sometimes.

I asked myself, what goes on after 4pm till 9 every night, and of course lots of people home, supper, busy with devices etc..I am thinking it may be a local interference issue. Like a cordless phone or cell phones or other wireless devices like routers, perhaps next door etc, which would explain the rarity, conditions must be just right for it to occur, perhaps changing channels of the router of neighbours, or power.....that's where I am leaning at the moment...will advise if I learn any more....rod

 

[Slartibartfarst]

There is no way it is a Bell TV issue, otherwise their phone lines would be blocked.

There is also no way it is the Solar Transit, that is no longer going to effect anything from the 91 or 82 locations.

All I could suggest is removing the INput cables, then run a Check Switch. After it fails, replace the INputs and run it again.

 

[Ron AKA]

"All I could suggest is removing the INput cables, then run a Check Switch. After it fails, replace the INputs and run it again."

Thanks for the suggestion. What would that do? I'm having the same problem on two different receivers coming from the one DishPro Plus Twin LNB.

 

[Slartibartfarst]

It will force the Receiver back to a default setting, then the 2nd time it should correctly see the DPP LNBF.

After any kind of power outage or brownout a Check Switch should be done.

Anyway, what do you have to loose......

 

[Ron AKA]

Nothing to lose. Will give it a try.

 

[Ron AKA]

Tried the unplug the cable and run the check switch trick. Unfortunately did not work. Had first dropout about 5 minutes after I got the programming back.