Half my HD channels not coming in... help!

[bp787]

I have the 700 DVR. Have had it prior to when the HD satellite went up, so I couldn't verify that I was getting everything I should get. Well, I can't see 1/2 of the HD channels. I get the searching for satellite message when I switch to them. (I hadn't been able to deal with this much over the last 6 months and I'm finally able to do something about it).

I had DTV send a tech out. He was lost. After 4 hours, I got tired of him being there and sent him away. 5 minutes later, I was able to determine that it is likely to be one of the RG6 cables going to the receiver. (The tech did swap receivers and switches with no effect)

As I swap the two sat connections, the HD channels that don't come in, reverse. (i.e. the ones that used to come in, don't. And the ones the didn't come in, do).

The cable I suspect is the only one that's run outside the house. It's a much longer run than the other input, which is fed in through the house. It's probably close to twice the length. Would this be causing the problem?

I don't have this problem with any non-HD channels.


This is really odd to me and also very annoying as i want my HD!!!

 

[jcrandall]

how long is the outside one, ballpark? anything over 150 feet can be tough, sometimes even less than that.

 

[bp787]

no, I don't think it's quite that long. Maybe... 80-100 ft. The other cable is likely 40-50 ft. (those are just really rough guesses though.

 

[jcrandall]

Then it is probably a bad connector or bad wire. Try buying a 100' wire from a hardware/walmart/radio shack and replacing it. Make sure it is RG6.

 

[shmeff]

It could also be a bad or missing BBC (the little boxes connected to sat in), or there could be a diplexer on the suspect line.

 

[bp787]

It could also be a bad or missing BBC (the little boxes connected to sat in), or there could be a diplexer on the suspect line.

It has the BBC's and there are no diplexers. I'll try swapping the BBCs too.

I'm thinking it's either the wire/connector itself OR the LNB that it's connected to is going bad/not switching properly. I just wanted to try and be sure before I climb up to the roof where the dish is mounted.

 

[shmeff]

When you get the searching for sat signal message, is it searching on the same sat input or both 1 and 2? Assuming you have a WB6x8 multi-switch, if it is always the same input I doubt the LNB is bad.

 

[bp787]

When you get the searching for sat signal message, is it searching on the same sat input or both 1 and 2? Assuming you have a WB6x8 multi-switch, if it is always the same input I doubt the LNB is bad.

it's entirely dependent upon which cable is connected to which input. In other words, if I originally get a searching message with coax 1 going into sat input 1 and coax 2 going into sat input 2, then swap the coax so that coax1 is going into sat input 2 and coax2 is going into sat input 1, then I still get the searching message, but it's happening on different HD channels. is that what you were asking?

 

[dish96]

I had the same EXACT problem. I fixed myself - with the help of this forum! - On your satellite set-up, if you have the Slimline dish - choose the 5-LNB satellite option. It worked for me - good luck and let us know.

 

[shmeff]

it's entirely dependent upon which cable is connected to which input. In other words, if I originally get a searching message with coax 1 going into sat input 1 and coax 2 going into sat input 2, then swap the coax so that coax1 is going into sat input 2 and coax2 is going into sat input 1, then I still get the searching message, but it's happening on different HD channels. is that what you were asking?

When the message comes up, it will have a 1 or a 2 at the end of the message. Is it always the same number? Does the number change when you swap the cables?

 

[bp787]

I had the same EXACT problem. I fixed myself - with the help of this forum! - On your satellite set-up, if you have the Slimline dish - choose the 5-LNB satellite option. It worked for me - good luck and let us know.

i don't believe I have the slimline. That's the new style dish, correct? Still, I'll give it a shot tonight.

 

[bp787]

When the message comes up, it will have a 1 or a 2 at the end of the message. Is it always the same number? Does the number change when you swap the cables?

ah. gotcha. Yes, when I swap, the number changes. It originally shows Input 2, which is the longer cable run, as the input which the satellite is searching on. When I swap cables, the problem channels are the other 1/2 of my HD channels, but shows input 1 as the problem input (still the longer run cable).

I will verify again tonight. I will also try and list up exactly which channels i'm having problems with, and on which input, AND the transponder signal strength for each of the problem channels for both inputs. That might take me awhile to get the info up.

 

[bp787]

well, I was swapping things around, and suddenly all my HD channels started coming in. I first swapped the inputs, BBCs and all, with no luck. However, I returned them to the original state, then swapped the cables going into the BBCs. That seemed to do the trick. Makes little sense to me as an engineer, but whatever. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Now I get to see if it stays working, or starts failing later...

thanks for all the input!