I'm Stumped

[dennisinsc]

Last week Ma-in-law's system quit getting signal. It is a 301/legacy twin/500. Ran check switch and returned 'no switch detected.'
I hooked the 301 up to my dual dp/500 and it worked fine.
Took it back to her house, hooked it direct to 119 and it worked fine. Went on line and ordered a new switch. When it came in, still 'no switch detected.'
Supplier sent another switch. Installed it 'no switch detected.'

Removed switch and hooked direct to 119. No signal.
Hooked direct to 110. No signal.

After working direct to 119 for a week - now no signal at all.

Any suggestions?

 

[TheKrell]

You didn't mention the switch, nor why it's needed. But I see your in-laws have a legacy twin. This will not work with new DishPro switches, if that's what you bought. Also, all twins (both legacy, DP, and DPP) have an internal switch. It looks to me like you have an internal twin failure of some sort.

If more than two outputs are needed, there are LNBs called "quads" that can feed 4 tuners without need of an external switch.

 

[dennisinsc]

Oops, forgot the switch, the original is an SW21. Think I reversed her lnb's and ours. Hers is a legacy twin which requires the SW21, ours is a dual DP.
She has only the one receiver.
The new one is a chinese clone marked 2 X 1 multi switch freq 950-2150 mhz.

What really puzzles me is why no reception when switch is by-passed.

 

[TheKrell]

Oops, forgot the switch, the original is an SW21. Think I reversed her lnb's and ours. Hers is a legacy twin which requires the SW21, ours is a dual DP. She has only the one receiver.

A twin will drive two receivers just fine without a switch, since it has one built-in. This is true for legacy, DishPro, and DishPro Plus twins.

I would still guess that the legacy twin has suffered an internal failure and needs to be replaced. Make sure there are no other switches or receivers connected and confusing the twin, and try your direct connection again. This time try both ports, since either one should work for both orbital locations.

 

[dennisinsc]

I see I did it again. Hers is a dual legacy. Two lnbs, one for 110 and one for 119 with an SW21.
Have tried going direct to each lnb and still no signal, yet I hook it up to my system and it comes right up.

 

[boba]

Now that you straightened out your terminology, you have a working receiver proved by connecting to your system. Either both LNBs are bad seeing neither works when connected or the dish has been moved so it no longer sees the satellite. You could test the LNBs by placing them on your system and connecting directly to the receiver.

I would suggest calling DISH and ordering Dhpp for $6 then pay $30 for a service call. After problem is cured drop DHPP and save the monthly charge.

 

[TheKrell]

For what it's worth, I've seen half of a dual go bad.

 

[boba]

Thekrell do you mean half a TWIN go bad or half a dual?

 

[Dah-Henny]

I wouldn't discount the possibility of coax problems either. I'd go ahead and eliminate that as a problem first by using a known good cable/connector.

 

[TheKrell]

Agree with dahenny; cables can easily go bad and cause these symptoms as well.

Boba: half a dual on my wing dish for 61.5. Drove me crazy because I wasn't using 61.5 for anything prior to upgrading to HD, so I didn't notice the failure right away. I was mucking about in the attic getting ready for that upgrade, and I was certain it was something I did therein (the attic) that caused the failure. I finally went up on the roof because the symptom was just as though the DP LNB was not there, not cabled, not powered, or otherwise electrically dead. Moving to the 2nd port fixed that, and I'm still using it. I bought a couple more DP duals just in case the other half fails. (I bought two in case my DP twin fails.)