Constant Intermittent Signal Loss

[myramyd]

Hello,

Is anyone else experiencing a lot of intermittent signal loss over the last 3-4 days? I'm in Utah and my signal is constantly dropping on about half of my channels, especially locals. I have a VIP722 and if I have both internal tuners on local channels it will go to a Complete Signal Loss message most of the time. I was barely able to watch football over the weekend as they would drop signal about every 2-5 seconds. I lose audio every few seconds and the screen will garble. It can sometimes go a few hours without a problem then it comes back.

On my 722 I looked at the Point Dish screen and 129 jumps around between 0, 23, and 39 on signal strength. 119 is at 39. I'm not sure what else to look at.

I also have an old VIP211 upstairs as my second receiver and 129 shows a 77 signal strength. I haven't watched that one at all in the last 3-4 days but, I didn't notice any signal loss while I was testing it out just now.

I have done a reset 3 times, checked the dishes for obstructions (can't see any issues). It's been cloudy but not any worse than most other days during the winter.

I have contacted support via both telephone and chat on Sunday and they kept asking me to check that my TV and receiver were hooked up correctly! When I told them my signal strength readings they asked if my HDMI cable was connected. If a customer calls in and gives you signal strength readings from the Point Dish screen, I think it's SAFE to assume the HDMI cable is plugged in and the TV is ON!!! It has been working fine for all the years I've had it. I can't tell if my dishes need to be repointed or if my receiver is failing. They told me unless there was a message on the screen while I was talking to them they couldn't do anything. Very frustrating. I ended up having to hang up both times, I just can't deal with that level of disconnect. Support has always been pretty good in the past 12+ years I've been a customer.

Forgive me if this is not the correct forum but, not sure how to resolve this. If I'm in the wrong place please feel free to boot me.

Thanks for any help!
J

 

[boba]

Call and set up a service call order the protection plan if you don't have it. The problems are in your system but through the process of elimination the CSR has to go through scripts and you have to be patient and let him/her ask what to you are stupid questions.

 

[JerryDowning]

129 is much further to the right than you may think. I had the same problem a couple of years ago. A neighbors tree was blocking the signal whenever there was a strong west wind. A chainsaw took care of that problem.

 

[mike123abc]

It sounds like the cable between the switch and the 722. If the 211 is attached to the same switch and sees satellites without issue, I suspect that the cable between the 722 and the switch is not all RG6/RG6U.

 

[myramyd]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will see if that dish is pointing towards any trees that may have grown out. It is pointed far to the right as opposed to the other.

I'm also thinking I will take the 722 upstairs and hook it up to the 211 jack to see if it makes a difference. That would troubleshoot the cables. When I got the 722 I did have them run new cable where the upstairs has the old cable interestingly enough. They do share the same switch(s).

Back in the really old days I used to point the dishes myself with an inline signal meter, since I had a few friends who were installers. I was able to get a very accurate pointing with that thing. I think there was only one signal to worry about back then though.

J

 

[mike123abc]

I have also have had squirrels chew up the cable for no apparent reason - why they pick one cable out of 10 on the roof I have no idea...

 

[Benson Mountain]

Sure sounds like a cable or connector problem based on all your observations. This also has happened to me even with a Dish Tech at my site. He replaced the faulty cable which had worked fine with the old receiver and prior to new equipment install. All has been well ever since. Hope this helps...

 

[dwarren2]

Could be lnb drift. I had a similar problem on the earc. Did a System Info test and status box a came back with lnb drift. Service call replaced the lnb assembly and no more problem.

 

[david.sickles]

Ive seen 722s only reading half to 2/3 signal strength get a tech out to replace it u dont want it sent in the mail it'll fail!

Posted Via The SatelliteGuys Reader App!

 

[rusty813]

mines used to do that, ended up being a bad cable wire to the receiver.

 

[myramyd]

Update

Thanks guys,

Just FYI, I tried running a new cable from the 722 to the one that comes directly out of the satellite and the signal loss is identical. It's actually gotten much worse now and even 110 is reading at 30%, where 129 is now completely unusable (Complete Signal Loss 015a screen). The cable is about 10 years old but, it's all RG-6.

I got some good techs on the phone today and will swap out receivers. If it's exactly the same then I think the dish may have drifted. But, my 211 upstairs works fine with no dropouts so, we shall see.

I think my problem with the techs may have been due to the time I called. It was later at night before so it may have gone oversees if Dish does that. Today there was no wait time like before and I talked to obviously US reps who didn't make me try all the stupid steps and could tell I knew what I was doing.

J

 

[sam_gordon]

Let me see if I have this right...

722 has signal variations on 129, 119 is low but steady.
211 is solid on 129, we don't know about 119.

That to me eliminates the lnb, and the line to the switch.

A new cable (was it RG6) from the dish to the 722 resulted in the same issues. It sounds like the problem is the 722, but I'd do some more testing...

Hook the 722 up to the cables running to the 211 and the 211 to the cables going to the 722. Does the problem stay with the 722? Then it's a bad receiver.

 

[myramyd]

Thanks sam_gordon,

Today I am going to take the 722 and put it where the 211 is now, using its cable and see what happens in case this thread helps anyone else searching for the same issues. I will report back.

The 722 will work okay for random periods of time so, it's not constant. It seems to be steady for around 10 mins, then get really bad for 2 mins, then repeat.

J

 

[KazooGuy]

Had a separator go bad once and this is how it acted.

 

[Charise]

If you leave any tuners on your OTA channels, if there is cloudy or bad weather, one of them may be going out frequently. That can throw up the signal loss message on all the other tuners. When I had a 722 and 622, I'd make sure not to leave a tuner on an OTA channel.

Good luck in solving your problem!

 

[dwarren2]

I'll say it again. When I had the problem everyone gave the same suggestions. They were wrong. It was the lnb. I did System Info test and 1 of the lnb's had significant drift. Assembly was replaced and I've never had a signal loss area since.
Please try doing the 'System Info test.

 

[myramyd]

Just a quick follow-up. I brought the 211 receiver downstairs and hooked it up to the same cables as the 722 and no issues whatsoever. It gets the same signal strength as when upstairs.

The 722 now randomly turns itself on and off and will reset itself whenever you click the Guide button or try to watch a DVR recording. So, I think it's safe to say that it has gone bad. My replacement 722 is supposed to be here today.

Also worth noting, the 211 (which is very old--silver model) has a WAY better picture than the previous 722 ever did. Not sure if that is normal or just due to the better signal strength. But, it overall has more dynamic range and looks less compressed. It looks nearly as good as HD Netflix or Hulu Plus (going through a PS3). Not quite Blu-Ray but significantly superior to my old 722. I was very surprised. I hope the new 722 looks as good as this 6-7 year old 211 does!

J

 

[mike123abc]

Maybe the 211 is set to a higher resolution than 722 was set to? Check to be sure the 722 is outputing 1080p (and you are using HDMI)

 

[Briant73]

My 722 is rebooting constantly and getting worse also though usually only had the loss of signal during bad storms though. Odd all these 722s are being reported bad with reboots lately.