Lost Signal When I Added Second Line

[deezoneezo]

I installed sat dishes until about a year ago. I cut PLENTY of coax while it was connected to the LNB and receiver. I NEVER had a single problem. The potential problems I see are: Crappy connectors, coax braid is coming out and touching the copper core, SEVERE bend in cable, staple or something equally sharp in the line, something compressing the line, crappy coax cable, bad receivers, bad LNB, dish isn't pointed properly, dish is warped, scew not set, etc, etc, etc. Although a monkey can install a a satellite dish it takes a trained professional to get the system working, peak everything, and troubleshoot any problems.

 

[4408]

to test lines, use a voltmeter. the sat boxes send 18 or 13 volts (dc) out to the dish. the center is the + and the braid is the -

start at the ground block, if no volts, move inside, if volts, move to the dish.

or, use my handy dandy test...

lick your thumb.

bridge the metal of the fitting with your wet thumb so + and - meet on the wet surface. (touch the rim AND the stinger)

tounge-touch the wet surface, but not any metal. (lick the wet spot)

if you taste "metal" (like chewing tinfoil) you have a complete circuit. if not, not.

if you touch your tongue to the metal itself, you have a sore tongue for a minute.

 

[BrianSD]

Last night I finally found some time to work on this again, and just wanted to post a follow-up. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and participation.

The problem was indeed my homemade F-connectors. I hadn't kept the shielding away from the center wire. I went back through and fixed them. I also tested voltage with my multimeter once finished, just to make sure my lines were ok. Upon reconnecting everything with new fittings, I was able to get a signal right away. The best I was able to do was 80-90 depending on the transponder, and I think the low readings are due to some trees that may be in the way a bit. I'm going to go ahead and order service and see how it goes. If I find that I need a better signal, I'll consider moving my dish to my second floor roof line to get above the trees.

Once again, thanks to everyone who offered help. It made all the difference.

Brian

 

[raymo721]

For cable the braided wire is just used for sheilding, but for satellite it is used as Bobo said.
If I ever run into a dead coax type problem on a new house that is pre-wired, the first thing I do is pull the wall plates and see what if any connectors were used. If they used the screw on connectors nine times out of ten the electrician didn't properly strip the coax. The improperly stripped coax might work okay for cable, but when trying to use it for satellite it just appears to be a dead line.

Makes sense. Thanks. Now I'm glad I followed the directions when I connected mine. Unlike when I built model planes and cars as a kid!!---Ray