Lose Connection to Dish After 1 Hour

[marinerx]

Hello. I am desperate for help on this issue. It's my favorite time of year with college and pro football in full swing; however, I cannot watch my satellite channels. I'll describe the issue and then provide background information. I've connected the DVR to two different coax outlets in two different rooms and experienced the same behavior. When initially connected, the receiver communicates with the satellite perfectly for between 30 minutes and an hour. After that, it starts to lose the connection and I see 771 errors on the screen. The longer it is connected, the more I see 771 and then 775 errors. Essentially, I'll get about 1-2 seconds of video and then 771 and/or 775 errors for 30 or 60 seconds. (Left it connected in the living room for about a week, turning it off and then back on to test after a few days. Connection to satellite never improved. A few seconds of video and then multiple seconds of errors.)

I've had two DirectTV technicians out to the house to help and we thought we had things setup before the last one left but shortly after they left, I experienced the behavior described above. I tried inserting an amp in the line but didn't have any impact. I left it this way for about a week and finally tried moving the DVR to another room. It worked for about an hour and then did the same as described above. That's what lead me to posting here. I'm not very experienced with troubleshooting these types of issues. Based on the behavior though, it seems as though some hardware changes over time and results in the issues I'm seeing. What I mean is that maybe there is a faulty connector or other component in the loop that heats up after x amount of time and then impacts the signal (no real idea). I wouldn't know how to find and fix something like this though.

Now, here's more background. I'm just finishing some remodel work on the house and the coax was run by the contractor. He unfortunately daisy-chained the coax from the satellite to 5 different rooms. I'm very frustrated about this but it is not easily fixed. We used spray foam insulation when we remodeled. As best as I can tell, the main line comes in and is then split to 2 rooms upstairs. The power supply for the satellite is connected to one end of that split. The other continues on to the deck, then master bedroom and finally to the living room. The rooms where I've had the DVR setup are the living room and the master bedroom. Obviously, not what I want but that's what it is right now. I understand that I may have to rerun things but that's a hard pill to swallow after all the work that we just did.

DVR model # is HR24. We purchased it and had the satellite installed around 7/2011.

I am looking for any help possible and appreciate any help offered. I'll gladly provide more information if I have it.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys marinerx!

Let's start with your equipment. Do you have a swm setup? Push the - key. A swm system will say so on the screen. If you do have swm, do you have a power inserter installed? You say the cables are daisy chained. Any possibility there are splitters anywhere? If so, they must be removed.

 

[Joe Diamond]

to Satelliteguys marinerx!

Let's start with your equipment. Do you have a swm setup? Push the - key. A swm system will say so on the screen. If you do have swm, do you have a power inserter installed? You say the cables are daisy chained. Any possibility there are splitters anywhere? If so, they must be removed.

Yup,
It goes on from there. What fittings did the contractor use? IF they are the twist in kind they should be cut off or pulled off the cable and compression fittings installed everywhere on the system. THEN, as Chip mentioned............IF there are splitters in the wall boxes......all splitters will need to be removed and replaces with approved SWM splitters (greed lable, dual power pass).

In the near term you can replace splitters with barrels until you get to your receiver....the wall outlets with barrels in them will not work.

AND there could just be an uncompressed fitting somewhere between the ground block and the dish...check them all.

Report what it is.

Joe

 

[Lanarian]

On a simpler note.. You have cable to a bunch of different rooms from the satellite. Do you have other receivers besides the HR24? If so, do any of them show the errors when the HR24 does,or is it just the HR24?
Assuming you have other receivers, if they are working fine, and just the HR24 is having the issue.. since you've tried it in two different rooms, I'd say its the HR24 itself. BUT, thats only if you have other receivers that are working fine.

 

[texasbrit]

If its daisy chained between rooms, there must be splitters. My guess is that (1) there are too many splits and (2) they might be cable splitters, designed for lower frequencies, and not DirecTV approved,

 

[marinerx]

Hi Chip. I do have an SWM setup. I get the SWiM connected message when I hit the dash key on the remote. I do have the power inverter installed. (That's the power supply for the satellite with two coax connections one to SWM and one to IVR I believe.) There is a possibility that there is a splitter that I have not switched out yet. I have removed most of the splitters to troubleshoot but still had issues.

Have a bad feeling that there is an unapproved splitter or twist on connector somewhere I haven't reached yet.

 

[marinerx]

On a simpler note.. You have cable to a bunch of different rooms from the satellite. Do you have other receivers besides the HR24? If so, do any of them show the errors when the HR24 does,or is it just the HR24?
Assuming you have other receivers, if they are working fine, and just the HR24 is having the issue.. since you've tried it in two different rooms, I'd say its the HR24 itself. BUT, thats only if you have other receivers that are working fine.

Good idea. I setup one of the other mini receivers and it does exhibit the same behavior as the primary DVR.

We're still in the process of moving things back in. Can't say the remodel project ended the way I had hoped and therefore, I'm not getting much help from the contractor. I paid for the coax to be run through the house back around April and he never completed it. May be a blessing in disguise.

 

[marinerx]

If its daisy chained between rooms, there must be splitters. My guess is that (1) there are too many splits and (2) they might be cable splitters, designed for lower frequencies, and not DirecTV approved,

So, seems that the consensus is that there is probably an unapproved splitter and/or bad connector somewhere. Is the behavior I'm experiencing indicative of this? Why would it work well for a period of time and then experience issues communicating with the satellite. Do the unapproved splitters/connectors react to data/voltage passing through it over time and result in more and more distortion of the signal?

?Thanks for all the responses and advice.

 

[raoul5788]

I don't know exactly how having unapproved splitters affects the signals, but suffice it to say that you have to remove them all for everything to work correctly.

 

[Joe Diamond]

I don't know exactly how having unapproved splitters affects the signals, but suffice it to say that you have to remove them all for everything to work correctly.

Chip,
The unapproved part is not the issue if the fittings were cut and compressed correctly. What I have found is......fittings that have not been spliced correctly or never compressed. That blinking on and off was reported, suggesting something loose. More rare but possible is a damaged or defective cable. AND I have seen grown men cry when told the series connected wall outlets will not serve the Directv system. The word "homerun" has not yet been stressed.

One test = bypass everything and run a jumper from the dish to the receiver and observe...then change receivers and see what happens.

It's always something,

Joe

 

[raoul5788]

Chip,
The unapproved part is not the issue if the fittings were cut and compressed correctly. What I have found is......fittings that have not been spliced correctly or never compressed. That blinking on and off was reported, suggesting something loose. More rare but possible is a damaged or defective cable. AND I have seen grown men cry when told the series connected wall outlets will not serve the Directv system. The word "homerun" has not yet been stressed.

One test = bypass everything and run a jumper from the dish to the receiver and observe...then change receivers and see what happens.

It's always something,

Joe

That was going to be my next suggestion! I do agree about the loose connections being a likely culprit.

 

[Lanarian]

If 2 receivers do it at the same time time, and there's a time delay between starting up the receivers and the 771/775 errors, then I'd take a close look at the SWM itself (or possibly the power inserter).
Reasoning: If the SWM is "heating up" and the signal starts to break up, the receiver will read that as a 771 (the signal breaking up would be read as a "weak signal").. as the problem worsens the receivers would start to read it as a 775.

 

[marinerx]

Chip,
The unapproved part is not the issue if the fittings were cut and compressed correctly. What I have found is......fittings that have not been spliced correctly or never compressed. That blinking on and off was reported, suggesting something loose. More rare but possible is a damaged or defective cable. AND I have seen grown men cry when told the series connected wall outlets will not serve the Directv system. The word "homerun" has not yet been stressed.

One test = bypass everything and run a jumper from the dish to the receiver and observe...then change receivers and see what happens.

It's always something,

Joe

Ha! No crying here yet. Lots of disappointment and frustration but no tears.

?Good idea regarding the bypass. Thanks.

 

[marinerx]

If 2 receivers do it at the same time time, and there's a time delay between starting up the receivers and the 771/775 errors, then I'd take a close look at the SWM itself (or possibly the power inserter).
Reasoning: If the SWM is "heating up" and the signal starts to break up, the receiver will read that as a 771 (the signal breaking up would be read as a "weak signal").. as the problem worsens the receivers would start to read it as a 775.

Very interesting. That's what has been bothering me about this whole thing, trying to figure out the inconsistency in the behavior (why does it work initially, then degrade to 771/775 errors). Thank you for the suggested hot spots.
?

 

[marinerx]

So, had another technician out today and the end result is that he replaced the LNB (I believe) on the satellite and the power inserter. He replaced the power inserter with a higher voltage model. The reception/signal has held up for almost 4 hours now and I'm hoping this finally solves the issue. If anything changes, I'll update this post.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and advice.

 

[raoul5788]

How far is it from the dish to the power inserter? It sounds like you might be at the edge of the approved/suggested distance and the standard 21 volt power inserter doesn't supply enough voltage so the higher voltage (29v) made the difference.