Digital Breakup on 101 C Band

[TvMind]

Still frustratingly erratic reception on Decades/H&I/Movies! even with the so-called AFT fix on the uHD.

Seems this thread is dead. Does this mean people have given up or has the problem been resolved.

If I get the nerve I am going in there to check where the AGC/AFT voltages (if they are indeed analog) are going berserk. (yes I have been in there before to add real composite video and audio connectors not that silly breakout patch cord.)

 

[danristheman]

there has still been problems with this group of channels I use a minibud I still have problems with them.

 

[waylew]

Seems this thread is dead. Does this mean people have given up or has the problem been resolved.

Have basically given up on H/D&M,only really cared about H&I anyway.The Me channels have been fine,at least when I care that they work,don't monitor 24/7.

 

[Titanium]

Last few days Decades/H&I/Movies signals have all been to poor to reliably lock with a 10' optimized dish here in Northern California. At this point, without an adequate signal, the AFT and PID auto update is not an issue.

 

[TvMind]

Last few days Decades/H&I/Movies signals have all been to poor to reliably lock with a 10' optimized dish here in Northern California. At this point, without an adequate signal, the AFT and PID auto update is not an issue.

Thanks for all the responses. I can understand the discouragement, I really only care about Decades - Dick Cavett, Binge Weekends, docs..
TI, how are you measuring the signal, and how low/erratic/ etc has it gotten? I only have a cheap satellite signal strength meter (tone oscillator).

cheers

 

[armadillo_115]

Breaking up even worse than before this morning at my QTH.So much for watching 'Angel and the Bad Man' today.

 

[T4Runner]

Breaking up even worse than before this morning at my QTH.So much for watching 'Angel and the Bad Man' today.

Me too. I've seen that old movie so many times, but I still watch it when I can. I gave up after a few minutes.

There is a "plus" though, in that the sharing here in this forum saves many hours of grief when I "read first", and find many others have the same problem. No need to go out and take my system apart, trying to tweak it.

Thanks.

 

[billyboy_1]

Both decades and H & I are extremely low..not watchable on Manhattan and Amiko but still hanging good on X2 mini.

 

[radio]

When the MeTV OTA broadcast mimicked the glitches I was seeing off my 10 footer exactly,
that's the conclusion I came to.

It's a sad statement on broadcasting in general if this is happening to affiliates! It's bad enough in radio when "nobody's home" after 9 to 5 weekdays, and we, in the RADIO media (even if we work hard to maintain quality) get raked over the coals for "issues" when automation is involved... but apparently some CARE needs to be taken in other entertainment suppliers' fields as well. Don't get me started on the lack of PRIDE in broadcasting. It's why we work so hard locally to provide a solid 24/7 product in radio. A thank you, fred55, to you... it's good of you to check the affiliates' in your area to verify the problem is not the hobbyists',and very helpful to all of us. I know I, for one, prefer to watch the FTA feeds of better quality vs. the sometimes badly video processed local product. (and I have one of the BEST locations for OTA TV anywhere!) Just took a few minutes, and all but MeTV are worthless on Birdview right now via 101 on Memorial Weekend Saturday. None of the other favorites lock for longer than a few seconds.

 

[FTA4PA]

I noticed a few times last night, while watching between 9pm and midnight eastern, that MeTV exhibited break up. Changing to another channel that was a different frequency and then back again fixed it every time. It happened on both 101W and 99W using an Amiko Mini HD SE. Hope this one doesn't tank like the others have.

 

[mc6809e]

I also noticed it several times last night during that time period. Some breakup/pixelation in the bottom third of the screen. It only lasted for a couple of seconds each time. This was on the A3 Combo.

 

[Tom14]

Well, we have the same problem here in the Ozarks too. It's one of our favs, and I'm not even getting MeTV, except for our local OTA channels are good, we aren't getting Justice, Laff etc. Not getting a few of the usuals.. Lyngsat still has the same info, last I looked awhile back, but I'm confused as to what to do. I have an HD SE, and no ideas yet. I thought my bad disposition was caused by my bad dish position...Lol So it's not something I did this time... Lol

 

[fred555]

we aren't getting Justice, Laff etc.

Try them again Justice, Laff, etc were gone for me Last night and now they are back.
I just wish Heroes, Movies and Decades would come back.

MeTv has been sorta OK for the past week.

 

[migold]

On SES-1 (101W) I'm getting Heroes at 46-48%; Decades at 58%; MOVIES! at 61% and all stable. This at about 9:45 AM using X2 Prem Mini receiver.
On G19 I'm getting GRIT, LAFF, JUSTICE, etc... at 64%.

 

[Corrado]

The past weekend and yesterday, Movies!, H&I and Decades were unwatchable here. I'm not home today to check.

Tried the microHD and noticed on the 3 channels, using the signal meter actually caused the receiver to freeze becoming unresponsive requiring a reboot. Could they have changed something in the transmission format that many of our boxes cannot display properly? Curious what model receivers work OK. My Amiko 8900 displays video but with frozen frames with audio ok. My Diamond 9000HD won't even show quality on the channels. I was thinking of digging out the old Pansat 9200 for comparison. This is using a 10' dish.

The MeTV channels were perfect on all boxes tried.

The local affiliates were normal.

 

[wvman]

I haven't had time to mess with this system for a while due to planting my garden, however, I have a satellite tuning meter that will tune the channels and display them, along with the signal strength on the meter itself. I changed the elevation and offset on the dish and it make no appreciable difference in the signal level, therefore the dish is tuned properly. I kind of figured it was since lifting up and pulling down on the bottom of the reflector made no difference unless you pulled down hard enough to warp the dish.

Using my meter, I gained about 2 points on the signal quality, and have not had H&I, Movies or Decades for at least a month. I'm beginning to suspicion the problem being an inadequate processor in the receiver rather than a dish/LNBF issue. The question is, which receiver to buy. I just sent a request to the receiver manufacturer asking them to recommend a fix for the problem. I already found there are no new firmware updates for the HDVR1200. I guess it's back to the money game I ran into with C-Band earlier with all the new models coming out with bigger and better features on the newer models.

Of course, tuning issues were a rare occurrence with the old analog systems. It's a shame the problems couldn't be confined to channels like the network channels or the GDMX channels. I could stand to lose a few of them since there are so many of them.

 

[billyboy_1]

I haven't had time to mess with this system for a while due to planting my garden, however, I have a satellite tuning meter that will tune the channels and display them, along with the signal strength on the meter itself. I changed the elevation and offset on the dish and it make no appreciable difference in the signal level, therefore the dish is tuned properly. I kind of figured it was since lifting up and pulling down on the bottom of the reflector made no difference unless you pulled down hard enough to warp the dish.

Using my meter, I gained about 2 points on the signal quality, and have not had H&I, Movies or Decades for at least a month. I'm beginning to suspicion the problem being an inadequate processor in the receiver rather than a dish/LNBF issue. The question is, which receiver to buy. I just sent a request to the receiver manufacturer asking them to recommend a fix for the problem. I already found there are no new firmware updates for the HDVR1200. I guess it's back to the money game I ran into with C-Band earlier with all the new models coming out with bigger and better features on the newer models.

Of course, tuning issues were a rare occurrence with the old analog systems. It's a shame the problems couldn't be confined to channels like the network channels or the GDMX channels. I could stand to lose a few of them since there are so many of them.

Still breaking up on both a Manhattan and a Amiko. Good on a X2 mini though.

 

[Corrado]

I didn't see any technical specs listed for the X2 mini. What SoC does it use? Novatek or Ali based?

 

[Gulcher]

I've had the same problem here, this time of year for this and the previous two years. (Just on 101. Everything else works as well, if not better than usual).

Seems to last about a month and a half, then back to normal. I figured it was either the government (The military likes to test things out around here, and sometimes they take down ALL electronic communications for a few hours) or some kind of solar activity thing.

 

[pacificrim]

I've had the same problem here, this time of year for this and the previous two years. (Just on 101. Everything else works as well, if not better than usual).

Seems to last about a month and a half, then back to normal. I figured it was either the government (The military likes to test things out around here, and sometimes they take down ALL electronic communications for a few hours) or some kind of solar activity thing.

I'm not sure its the military's new Death Star at 101.2 west interfering or not but the religious stuff comes in no problem, so its probably something else.

I tested 3952,3957,3960 on my AI S2 Turbo meter and everything looked good. Steady C/N of about 11 on each. No dropouts. I would think all is good if it weren't for not being able to actually watch those channels.
Anything I can check for?

I have tried all my receivers - my Alien A2, Openbox S10, Vigica C90S and MicroHD and more or less are all incapable of receiving anything watchable