LNBF deteriorating?

[nhulst]

Equipment:
GeoSatPro 90 cm dish
Invacom SNH-031 LNBF
Fortec Star Mercury II Receiver

My Invacom is soon going to be four years old, which doesn't seem that old, however....

I've been having an increasing level of difficulty locking weak signals and progressively less SQ on full-time transponders (despite peaking the dish repeatedly.) I have also noticed that the center frequency that the Merc detects on blind scans has been progressively increasing over this time.... whereas it was right on or 1 MHz high when the LNBF was new, it now reads 3-4 MHz high on blind scans of known TPs. Is there any chance the LNBF might be deteriorating? I do not have another LNBF to swap out and try. I've got my eye on the new PLL LNBF from SatelliteAV, and while the price is very reasonable, I hate to spend the money if it isn't going to improve anything.

Can anyone suggest any other troubleshooting I should try? Does this sound like an LNBF problem?

 

[phlatwound]

LNBF sounds like a likely culprit to me from the symptoms you describe.

Have you tried taking a tv and receiver out to your dish and hooking it up direct with a short piece of good coax?

I don't know if a bad coax (or switch if applicable) could cause what you are seeing but you could eliminate that as a possibility.

If you had another receiver to hookup that might tell you something also.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Definitely a drifting LO frequency. Cables and connections will not cause frequency drift. LO drift is typical for Invacom LNBFs as they age.

Since the LNBF is less than 5 years old, it is covered by warranty and should be replaced by contacting the distributor.

 

[nhulst]

Thanks. Whether or not I can get warranty on the Invacom, I went ahead and ordered the PLL LNBF from SatelliteAV. I appreciate your involvement and support of this forum. I can't make you rich but I can at least try and do my part.