I get channels on one TV but not the other

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I have my inputs coming into a big splitter to make 3 wires about 8 I guess. it is a Zinwell 6x8 for HD
DIRECTV WB68 Zinwell Wide Band 6x8 Multi-Switch
this one to be exact. I get all the channels on the upstairs TV but not in the living room. I get the "searching for satellite 2" message.
It was not a big deal for the kids, but my wife missed an episode of some show and the world stopped spinning briefly...feel it?

Any thoughts on what might cause it?

ty

 

[Rey]

did you switch bbc's with the receiver that does work?

 

[jdspencer]

First thing I noticed is that the Zinwell WB68 multiswitch requires four lines connected from the dish.

 

[Rey]

First thing I noticed is that the Zinwell WB68 multiswitch requires four lines connected from the dish.

from what i understood from the op, it was working fine before so i'm assuming this isn't a new install for a multi switch. knowing the model of the receivers would help too.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

they are two HR20's, the HD DVR's. I will check the 4 lines in, though I am pretty sure there are 4 there.

 

[hdtvtechno]

yes i think it requires 4 lines coming in from the dish into the multi-switch

 

[Rey]

they are two HR20's, the HD DVR's. I will check the 4 lines in, though I am pretty sure there are 4 there.

since you don't seem to have a swm set up, i'm assuming you have bbc's. have you tried switching the ones from the good dvr for the ones on the other dvr?

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

this is where I sound stupid....what are bbc's?

 

[Ronnie-]

the little black or silver boxes in between the multiswitch and the box. Usually they are right at the back of the reciever

 

[Rey]

this is where I sound stupid....what are bbc's?

no you're not stupid. stupid is the person that doesn't ask. here's a pic madtown of the two B Band Converters

when one of those goes bad you get signal issues. if this is the problem, you'll find them cheap on ebay or if you have the protection plan with directv they'll take care of it for you.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I have those!

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I will check for the protection plan. ty!

 

[Ronnie-]

I have those!

Now you need to swap them off of the box that works to the box that does not. That will tell you if they are bad. If you get a picture, order new BBCs, if not, it is something else.

 

[Justsomeguy]

Now you need to swap them off of the box that works to the box that does not. That will tell you if they are bad. If you get a picture, order new BBCs, if not, it is something else.

Thread jack...I have about the same problem. I had one TV upgraded to HD (H20) and after about a week I am getting the 771 error there. Wife said it worked all day and now it gets no channels. It has the black BBC thing on the back.
The old TV with SD works AOK.
So should I put the BBC thing onto the TV that IS working even though it is SD?

It started acting up on Monday or tuesday, and it 771'ed on a few channels. After a while it progressed into most channels. Customer help sucked, she was sending someone out to help me set my TV source to the correct input.
Hell the receiver 'on' light never came on after unplugging/replugging it. It just cycled through the resolution LED's on the front for 15 minutes. It never sent a picture to the TV for the TV to even see..
Anyway, i decided the H20 felt pretty hot so I put it outside (30F) while I took a shower. maybe 20-30 minutes later I put it all together and it worked perfectly . Until today.
Does this sound like a BBC going bad or a receiver problem?
the night of the install it was pretty bad weather, steady drizzle the whole time, maybe some connectors are wet??

 

[mental1]

The receiver shouldn't get very hot at all. If its hot to the touch, something is probably wrong with it, especially if it comes back on after it cools off.

 

[Justsomeguy]

The receiver shouldn't get very hot at all. If its hot to the touch, something is probably wrong with it, especially if it comes back on after it cools off.

Thanks Mental...Hot IS a relative term, but to me it seemed 'hot'...I dont have a thermo-gun thing.
As of now I get nothing upstairs. I may bring the working SD receiver up and hook it up with RCA plugs...
Tony

 

[hdtvtechno]

or check if somebody didnt unscrew one of the cables from the Multi-switch outside.. kids ? depending on how low its installed ?

 

[Justsomeguy]

or check if somebody didnt unscrew one of the cables from the Multi-switch outside.. kids ? depending on how low its installed ?

I'll get up on the roof and check what I can.
Here is another thread tangent :
The working receiver is an SD-HBH, which came from the TV that was upgraded. I put it downstairs because the OLD receiver had some odd remote lag. Like 10 second lag.
I tried the basic stuff on that and it didnt help so I put the SD-HBH receiver in. It changed channels normally. After a few days the lag is up to 12-13 seconds. In that I mean I press '2-4-4' and the light on the receiver blinks with the inputs.
13 seconds later the numbers pop up on the screen and it changes.
Unplugging the receiver works, but it appears after a day or two the input lag is back
Tony

 

[Justsomeguy]

More fun. Never mind the remote lag downstairs with the old receiver.

I pulled the SD-HBH and put it upstairs. W/o the BBC inline it got nothing. With the BBC I now have satellite upstairs. All the channels worked.

Wife just reported though that the old SD receiver is having issues 'searching for signal'. It just happened, she said it lost the signal, and she couldn't find any. Then they worked, now they don't...I gotta run through all the connections...
What the hell is going on??????

Edit : I played with it yesterday, no cable connections seemed to be loose at all. However the "snout" that contains the LNB at the end of the arm felt a bit loose. I opened it to check the connections and tightened it up good. It didnt rattle inside the arm anymore and now my SD receiver is working at what appears to be 100%. The HD didnt find a signal when I tried it though....Might try it again.
Tony
(thanks for wading through this)

 

[Justsomeguy]

Nothing yet. They are coming out today.
I tried the HD receiver yesteray, it 'searched for signal' for 10 minutes...I pulled it out and then it said signal found or something, with a % bar...it never moved from zero though...
The SD receiver worked fine after it was hooked up and it did its little download.
JSG