Help! Huge transponder issues HDtivo, many zero signals

[newsposter]

triple lnb dish, powered terk 5x8 switch, HDtivo and T60

1st set of number is HDtivo

2nd set is HDtivo about 15 minutes later

3rd set of numbers is T60 readings between the 2 hdtivo readings

As you can see the sony numbers are perfect except for transponder 10. The HDtivo numbers changed over the course of 15 minutes so i recorded them again. Also there was a point at which Transponder 11 on HDtivo had certain channels working and certain not so not sure what that meant (251 266 282 297 307 504 all were not yes or no at the same time during the initial test). But then all came back on. I'm at a loss here. Getting to the terk is a real pain in the ass as I have to crawl under the house. The disparity between odd /even is something i heard of but then why is trans. 21 a problem? And why would all the sony readings but Trans. 10 be ok? Wife is very upset. I can't get home to run the tests/switch cables etc myself but had her run thru tests over the phone. I just wanna know if this is sign of a dying tuner? And how can something affect only trans. 10 on both units?

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32
95	89	93	97	94	95	94	92	93	87	0	98	93	96	94	93	91	100	92	95	93	95	95	95	91	96	94	38	95	95	93	95
95	0	93	96	94	0	94	0	94	0	0	97	92	41	93	0	0	100	71	94	0	88	86	51	43	96	78	18	87	80	82	81

95	89	93	97	94	95	94	92	93	0	86	98	93	96	94	93	91	100	92	95	93	95	95	95	91	96	94	38	95	95	93	95
95	0	93	96	94	22	94	0	94	0	93	97	92	0	93	0	0	100	28	94	0	51	62	51	43	96	78	18	87	80	82	59

95	91	94	95	93	93	96	88	93	0	94	93	94	95	94	92	92	100	93	90	91	94	95	93	92	93	96	34	96	96	96	95
96	91	94	95	93	94	96	90	93	40	93	95	94	95	94	92	91	100	93	89	93	92	96	93	93	93	95	34	96	95	95	94

Question: is the guide data stored in the unit. In other words, if have full data for today and unplug the rg6 (simulating no signal), will the guide data still be there?

also i just found out that 282 APL on HDtivo does not have guide data for tomorrow at 3pm but my sony receiver does show it. So something indeed was up with xponder 11 not getting data I guess.

 

[newsposter]

Got home and everything works perfectly..arghhhh. I may still check outside and all those connections and silicone them up.
can you guess if this means that the problem is NOT HDtivo? I got my weaknees drive today and really am wanting to install it!

 

[newsposter]

now this morning (when i'm home), it STILL works perfectly...arrghhh...i hate that you can't fix what ain't broke

AND it even rained last night..you'd figure if it's a bad connection the rain would fry it

well i'm just gonna upgrade the drive today...it doesnt sound like a tuner problem to me (hopefully) and i really need the space..literally ran out last night and something deleted..wahh

 

[newsposter]

ok i'm cursed and should have done stuff over the weekend but everything was fine (did rain last night but not sure that means anything)

this morning here's what happened:

T60 no directv locals on Sat 1, Sat 2 fine: switching cables switches the problem so it's not the sony; checked transponders and all work fine except xponder 12 on tuner 1, which is zero...tuner 2 is 71 (which is low as I had all 90+ except for spot 28 of course)

HDtivo: directv locals are OK on both tuners; tuner 1 has zero signal on all OTA; tuner 2 has lower OTA readings than normal and 3 of 6 OTA locals wont even come in as they are under 20 reading and the others only read 58,71, and 88; one of the 3 locals always came in at 90+ so for it to be 0-20 now indicates a serious problem; Also everything was fine last night on the OTA locals; xponder 12 (dead on sony tuner 1) is 75/62 strength on the HD tuners, again, lower than normal so there is a problem but i have no clue what

I guess i'll have to barrel past the multiswitch even in the heavy rain tonight (fun crawling in an outside window to get the the crawlspace) and add another diplexor in place of the M/S for my ota. Any other suggestions?

 

[newsposter]

upon further racking of my brain, I was wondering...I'm not sure what cable comes from the diplexor to the HDtivo...new RG6 is everywhere else....but the 2 outputs of the diplexor may not be RG6...could this be part of the problem? But why would it work for 6 months trouble free if so? I'm buying new RG6 to be safe....but still dont see how this would affect the sony

 

[KSbugeater]

upon further racking of my brain, I was wondering...I'm not sure what cable comes from the diplexor to the HDtivo...new RG6 is everywhere else....but the 2 outputs of the diplexor may not be RG6...could this be part of the problem? But why would it work for 6 months trouble free if so? I'm buying new RG6 to be safe....but still dont see how this would affect the sony

Most of my runs to my HDtivo are RG59. I even send diplexed signals thru the RG59! I don't think that's your problem... it would only cause readings to be slightly lower. It's probably connections or the switch.

Rain doesn't "fry" a connection. Usually when the moisture evaporates, there's a film left that prevents signal passage. Mine aren't water-proofed at all, but usually if I remove, wipe, and replace and it works again.

 

[newsposter]

problem reappears

bought new diplexor for the crawlspace and barreled the connections so i could bypass the M/S...also bought new 3ft wires for the diplexor in back of the tivo and replaced the rg59.

i went to the attic and checked on the leviton amp for OTA and disconnected the 2 wires. they looked new. I did turn on the FM trap and the signal got better.

Checked T60 and Hdtivo. All OTA and satellite were perfect.

2 hours later, decided to check the signals. OTA had no signal on tuner 1 but tuner 2 was ok. I went to live tv, tuned in a few channels manually, then tuner 1 came back.

since OTA is internally split tuner and i can't 'swap cables', does this mean it's that tuner? And is that easily replaceable? Diplexor has been mentioned as a problem but would that selectively kill only 1 tuner OTA?

 

[issasteve]

First of all I know nothing: but I did read that broadcasters vary there signal strength especially on OTA to save bucks...does the signal strength get stronger during prime time?

 

[Logic 7]

ok i'm cursed HDtivo tuner 1 has zero signal on all OTA; tuner 2 has lower OTA readings than normal and 3 of 6 OTA locals wont even come in as they are under 20 reading and the others only read 58,71, and 88; one of the 3 locals always came in at 90+ so for it to be 0-20 now indicates a serious problem; Also everything was fine last night on the OTA locals; xponder 12 (dead on sony tuner 1) is 75/62 strength on the HD tuners, again, lower than normal so there is a problem but i have no clue what

I have had similar problems. I think finally narrowing down my problem to my antenna preamp/amp combo periodically overloads my HDTivo OTA tuners with too much signal. In fact I even tried unscrewing the connection all the way on the back of the box so that the cable was just resting on the OTA input and my signal strength shot up. I couldnt leave it like that so right i've got a -6 db antenuator(?)and everything seems to be working ok but I dont have alot of confidence that im out of the woods yet.

 

[newsposter]

I have had similar problems. I think finally narrowing down my problem to my antenna preamp/amp combo periodically overloads my HDTivo OTA tuners with too much signal. In fact I even tried unscrewing the connection all the way on the back of the box so that the cable was just resting on the OTA input and my signal strength shot up. I couldnt leave it like that so right i've got a -6 db antenuator(?)and everything seems to be working ok but I dont have alot of confidence that im out of the woods yet.

Interesting but could i be overloading with a 125ft run (40 miles from signal) and the leviton amp is sitting in my attic on a run about 35 ft from the antenna? And with the HDtivo, it's only a single input for OTA so I couldn't understand how one tuner could be zero while the other was 'ok.'

Funny thing was when i was up in the attic taking off the connections to the amp, i swear my wife yelled that the signal jumped up very high when i first touched the connector to unscrew it. Then i decided to turn on the FM trap and she said it was a more stable signal. But still, that doesn't account for one tuner on tivo reading zero (i dont think)

this morning all OTA was perfect...however last night for the first time in 2 months I had slight pixels on fox...maybe the leaves are growing back in but i dont see how that kills a tuner 100%. Plus the darn tree is 200ft away!

First of all I know nothing: but I did read that broadcasters vary there signal strength especially on OTA to save bucks...does the signal strength get stronger during prime time?

maybe but having 0 means there's another problem i think (tuner?)

 

[newsposter]

for over 1 full week i've had the multiswitch bypassed and not had a single problem. Do you think that's objective evidence enough to say it was bad?