Inermittent Signal Loss

[rckol]

Greetings Tech Gurus,

I get a Complete Signal Loss from time to time, which is something that developed after upgrading from a 3900, which ran flawlessly for about 10 years to the system described below. The upgrade reused the original run of sat cable and ran fine for months.

The first time I lost sat signal, I removed a surge protector between the DVR diplexer and the cable to the sat dish. Fixed problem for a while.

Happened again & I replaced a connector on the cable run to the diplexer at the DVR. Fixed problem again.

Happened again (and again) and I finally realized that simply disconnecting the sat cable from the diplexer and reconnecting it was what it takes to fix the problem. Sometimes removing power from the DVR and restarting fixed it. Occasionally resetting the DVR from the front panel has worked, but not usually.

So, I will undoubtedly need a service call. Could be

a. I just need a repoint (see signal levels below)
b. Something wrong with the receiver?
c. Something wrong with the cable or diplexers?
d. Something wrong with the switch?

I am concerned that troubleshooting this will be a long process for the Tech, since as soon as the sat cable is cycled, the problem goes usually away and may not come back for days or weeks.

Any thoughts on what the likely cause is?

I would be willing to run two lines of higher grade cable (like Belden 1694A) to upgrade the cable and remove the diplexers from the system. Is this worth doing before calling in the Tech?

Thanks


System:

Milwaukee, WI area
722K with OTA module
1000.4 EA
Sat cable = ~80 foot run of Commscope 5729 - single cable w/ diplexers on each end.
OTA NOT diplexed onto sat cable
Typical Signal Strengths from Point Dish screen:

61.5 55-60
72.7 45-48
77 43 - 45

 

[Dah-Henny]

This may or may not help you, but entirely plausible:

For a lot of VIP 722 owners, the aquiring satellite signal screen will appear out of the blue while watching a satellite channel. You change the channel or hit the guide button, and the aquiring screen temporarily goes away, only to return minutes, or even hours away. You've checked the signal level in the menu point dish screen, and it is strong.

The Problem: For users that have an OTA (over the air) antenna hooked up to the VIP 722, sometimes the signal level of the OTA station fluctuates, or even drops completely, which triggers an Aquiring Satellite Signal screen on the satellite channel that you are trying to watch. This happens when the last OTA channel viewed has an inconsistent signal. Annoying, but easily fixed.

The Fix: Tune your VIP 722 to a known strong OTA station, then tune to and continue watching the satellite channel that was interrupted. If you have no strong OTA stations programmed into the VIP 722, then simply delete the channels from the menu local channels section.

 

[MattG@DISH]

Intermittent problems do make it hard to troubleshoot. We do see these every now and then where a receiver will display the signal loss message, even though it has good signal. Normally, a reset fixes this problem. As far as determining a specific piece of equipment that may be causing the problem, its hard to tell due to how intermittent the issue is. Your signal strengths are pretty good for the area though. Does a reset ever fix the issue?

 

[digital echo]

Id make sure the diplexer and wall plate barrel are good. The plate barrel should be a Hi Freq Blue Barrel. The diplexer should be a red or blue Holland diplexer. Then id check the ground block if on the outside for water damage.

 

[vash1090]

Do replace the cable if it's more than a few years old it could be dried out. You also said you removed a power inserter; do you know what kind of dish/switch you have? It may still need that power inserter to function consistently. Of course there's plenty of other things it could be, I would have to see it.

 

[Frank7004]

If I showed up to your house, you'd likely get everything new between the LNb to the rcvr. I've been to several legacy to eastern arc issues exactly as you describe. It's time to freshen things up.

 

[Dirtydan]

I had same problem, switch check showed lnb drift on 110 119, replaced lnb and no problem since. before the no signal screen I had been having slow guide probs., and also would get smart card problem screen on occasion. Everything has worked perfect since replacing lnb, This is with 722 and dish pro dual for 110 119, also dish pro with single lnb for 129.

 

[harshness]

Diagnosis should be pretty easy without the diplexers that are no longer in the system (I'm assuming the companion diplexer has been removed and that you're not confusing a separator with a diplexer).

The only complexity added back is the separator.

The key to getting things going again appears to be the power cycling. I would be looking at loose connectors and cable damage throughout the system that may be causing a voltage drop that puts the LNB into a coma.

 

[Frank7004]

I had same problem, switch check showed lnb drift on 110 119, replaced lnb and no problem since. before the no signal screen I had been having slow guide probs., and also would get smart card problem screen on occasion. Everything has worked perfect since replacing lnb, This is with 722 and dish pro dual for 110 119, also dish pro with single lnb for 129.

I don't think his 1k4 has an LNB drift problem.

 

[Jim5506]

I had that problem with my wide's 211 in the bedroom, loss of signal on an OTA channel that the OTA tuner was looking at would pop up a message interrupting satellite programming.

Removed the HDP-269 pre-amp from the antenna on the roof - eliminated possible overload on OTA nad reports say no more problems with sat channels.

 

[rckol]

Thanks for the suggestions:

dahenny: I have at times seen a short loss of OTA signal while watching OTA, but it is only a second or two. When I loose sat signal, I typically cannot access the guide or tune to any other station to even check on this.

mattg: Resetting with the red button typically does not fix the problem.

harshness: You are probably right that I do not really know the difference between a diplexer and a separator. Diplexer is what I am calling the gizmo on the DVR end of my sat cable that separates the signals going to the two sat tuners (no OTA involved).

vash1090: I removed a RF surge protector, not a power inserter. 1000.4 dish, not sure about the switch

Others: Thanks for the tips. I can check the DC voltage at various places where there are connections and see if that is a problem. I think I read somewhere that it should be 18V. I will probably go ahead and run the two cables out the the sat for the Tech.

Thanks much.

 

[whatchel1]

Thanks for the suggestions:

dahenny: I have at times seen a short loss of OTA signal while watching OTA, but it is only a second or two. When I loose sat signal, I typically cannot access the guide or tune to any other station to even check on this.

mattg: Resetting with the red button typically does not fix the problem.

harshness: You are probably right that I do not really know the difference between a diplexer and a separator. Diplexer is what I am calling the gizmo on the DVR end of my sat cable that separates the signals going to the two sat tuners (no OTA involved).

vash1090: I removed a RF surge protector, not a power inserter. 1000.4 dish, not sure about the switch

Others: Thanks for the tips. I can check the DC voltage at various places where there are connections and see if that is a problem. I think I read somewhere that it should be 18V. I will probably go ahead and run the two cables out the the sat for the Tech.

Thanks much.

I would look at 2 things. 1st change out the separator I have seen these go bad and cause intermittent problems in my system. 2nd you really don't need to run 2 cables once you change out the separator since you only need one if the separator is working correctly. It could be voltage drop due to corrosion in the connectors tween the DVR & the dish. That can cause problems as it will affect the DC voltage going to the LNB.