Keep loosing channels on 118

ctajbm

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Sep 29, 2008
24
0
Hopefully someone can assist with a strange issue i've been having. I live in the Cayman Islands but have a legal and current subscription with Dish Network (no pirating involved). I have three dishes (two 6' and one 4'). The 4' is pointed to 110. One 6' is pointed to 61.5 and the other 6' is pointed to 118/119. All have DishPro LNB's and are connected to a DPP44. 110 in Port 1. 119 in Port 2. 61.5 in Port 3 and 118 in Port 4. I have a 722 and 411 receiver. The power inserter is connected on port 1. Dishes have just been realigned, all cable ends were redone and the 722 is a new receiver. Signal strength across the board is excellent (for Cayman) and i only loose channels in heavy rain. The issue I am having is with channels on 118. Specifically the HD networks on 6483, 6484, 6485 and 6486 (it may be others but these are ones i watch a lot). The channels will be coming in fine and then i may switch from CBS to NBC and the signal check screen comes up and then i get the blue dish network screen saying that there is no need to call Dish because they are aware of the problem and are doing their best to get the channel restored. These networks come in on 118 transponders 8 and 9 but the odd thing is that i am still getting great signal strength even when this message comes up. Running a check switch doesn't always clear the problem and neither does resetting the DPP44 switch. Sometime they do. However if i do a reset of the receivers (yes, it happens on both) by holding down the power button then when they restart all the channels are always back. Sometimes they stay up for hours but usually i have the dreaded blue screen in the mornings. I've have the local guys replace the DPP44 and i even ran a cable directly from the dpp44 to my 411 (bypassing my internal house cabling) to see if that could be the issue. The only thing left if the LNB I had installed to get 118 and 119 on the same dish. It seems to work fine (i have good signal strength on both sats) but this is the only change i've recently made. Both receivers are running the latest version of their respective softwares. Any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome.
 
Sorry. 119 is in port 1 and 110 is in port 2 as per dish's recommendations. 3 is 61.5 and 4 is 118.
 
YES! All you need is a US address. Dish has no way of telling where you are located through the satellite signal. I have a US based credit card with a charlotte nc address, my sister lives in Charlotte (and doesn't have dish) so i use her address as the installation address and i have an Internet based IP phone with a Charlotte phone number in case Dish call. It's a bit of effort just to be legal but i have too many friends whose receivers jump up and down on an almost daily basis that i'd prefer to simply pay and have it work.
 
Your problem loosing signal

:)Hi! What you need to do is upgrade your system with a Dish500+ instead of 3 satellittes. You can still used the DP44 Switch. Used the 500+ for 119-110-118.7 sat in 1 dish and used the wing dish regular 500 for the 61.5 sat. Are the system is grounded?
 
Thanks for the response but unfortunately nothing less than a 4' dish works in cayman due to our southerly location (about 600 miles due south of miami). Only 118 and 119 can share a dish. 61.5 doesn't even come in on a 4' dish so i have to use a 6' one. signal on 110 recently jumped up significantly so it is currently getting an excellent signal on my 4' dish but i don't know how long this will last. when i first added the 118/119 dual lnb a few weeks ago i had them put it on my 4' dish and had 61.5 and 110 on individual 6' ones. It worked for a while but i was getting signal fade on 118/119 with just clouds so i had them switch 118/119 and 110. I don't think the issue is signal but i simply cannot figure out why the receivers sometimes think the signal is gone when it actually isn't. I have asked the local installers to replace/exchange the new 118/119 lnb since this is the last thing that hasn't been changed.
 
Yeah, but he needs 118 for Conus Charlotte HD locals so the EA Dish wouldn't solve his problem. Charlotte locals on 61.5 are spotbeamed.
I would say try to peak that 6' dish specifically for 118, trans 8 and 9. You'll probably have to have some help.
 
Do you think my issue might be related to my dish account and/or programming package. Since i have determined that i have plenty of signal strength at all times and the problem is intermittent and always correctible with a receiver reset i am pretty confident that i do not have any equipment issues. Also the message "Sorry for the interruption. There is no need to call us, we are aware this channel is unavailable and are working to get it back." must come from somewhere and if i had no signal surely i wouldn't get this display (unless of course it is stored in the receivers memory). If i wasn't getting the channels at all i would agree with some of the postings about different dishes and eastern arc etc but the fact that it works at all seems to imply a different issue. Hopefully the guys replaced my 118/119 LNB today so i can eliminate that as a problem.
 
You have a good point. Maybe you can compare notes with some others here who also get the Charlotte locals on 118 and see if they get that screen as often as you seem to.
 
Watching Fox HD this evening and my 722 suddenly went to a black screen and then it did some signal checking and finally went to the screen saying 'no need to call etc.'. Checked signal on 118 transponder 8 and 9 and it was fine so not a signal issue. the channels on my 411 receiver were all working fine. the 411 is on port 1 of my dpp44 with the power inserter. i did a reset on the 722 (holding in the power button) but the channel still wouldn't come in. right back to the same dish info screen. so i ran a checkswitch on the 722 and once it completed and downloaded the guide the channel worked fine and still is. so do the other hd network channels. i am completely stumped. this morning it happened on my 411 and this evening the 411 worked perfectly while the 722 lost the channels......ugh! strange.
 
I know they might seem like a long shot but may be worth a shot...

1. Change your receivers so they do NOT use Port 1 on the DPP44.

2. Power and grounding:

- Recheck the grounding for each dish and receiver
- Use a small UPS (Belkin 350 or so) at the DPP44 and one of the receivers
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Luckily i have two cables running to my 411 anyway so i'll use one for the power inserter and connect to port 1 and i'll use the other to connect the 411 to port 2. the 722 is currently using ports 3 and 4 anyway. Should have a few UPS's laying around. Regarding the grounding how exactly can i tell if the dishes and receivers are correctly grounded? What should i be looking for?
 

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