Phone line dead

[Carrie Ferguson]

I have three tV's hooked to DISH satellite network.
My phone line went out and one of the tv's reception became snowy after an electrical storm. I called the phone company. They came out and checked the lines up to the box and said the problem wasn't in their lines. They think it is something to do with a reciever from DISH. I called DISH and they want to charge me 80.00 to come out. I don't know if I should have them out or have the phone guy out again. Either way, it looks like the charge is 80.00. does anyone have any trouble shooting ideas so I can save the money?
I have 3 tv's two are hoooked together with a dual reciever. It's one of those that isn't working well.

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys ... have you tried a phone at all the receivers to see if it worked? You say snowy, but the receiver still works/gets Satellite reception?

 

[Mr Tony]

sounds like there's two issues
-the phone line doesnt work
-one of the tuners in the dual tuner receiver doesnt work

As dfergie said, try a phone at each jack. But make sure you unplug all phones before you start. use a simple corded phone and go from jack to jack to see if there is dial tone. The Telco (phone company) only comes up to the demark (the box outside). Everything else would cost ya. So the best thing to do is make sure all jacks work.

As for the snow on the tuner, it sounds like something on the TV side because satellite is digital so there is no "snow" on it.

 

[Carrie Ferguson]

Oh thanks for the repies. I did try a phone at every jack and none of them work. I am getting sattelite reception on that one TV but it is snowy like cable. If I disconnect the cable, I don't get any reception at all on that tv. I called the phone company to come out. Hopefully they can fix the problem. So you don't think this has anything to do with a receiver?

 

[dfergie]

Sounds like a seperate problem to me. How is your Satellite receiver connected? by a single line (coax) where you tune you tv to it with Channel 3 or 4? or is is connected with multiple connectors (s-video and composite or rca cables) ?

 

[Mr Tony]

for the phonme not working and if ALL the jacks are out then it sounds like something in the box.

If you can get to the box outside check the plug there. There is a phone plug that you can plug the phone into right at the box. If its dead there, then its a phone company issue and not inside wiring

 

[Carrie Ferguson]

It's a receiver that is located in the attic. Two TV's are connected to it. The other tv connected to it works fine. Also,the one downstairs works fine-the receiver is right there by that one. It's just the one tv that is snowy and also I can't get the remote to work. And of course the phone line...
Hopefully it will get fixed tomorrow. The phone guy is coing out. Thanks for all your help. I like this site.

 

[dfergie]

Thanks, I hope we helped a little, I like the name sounds like a cabling issue to the snowy tv...

 

[Van]

Phone lines wont be directly related in this issue, you stated you had a storm and then this problem so Im suspicious of lightning or a power surge. Did you have any other issues in your home such as one or more blown out light bulbs, appliances acting up, computer go poop, garage door opener take a vacation. Its definitely possible that lightning may have hit a nearby power pole and come down the phone line into the house and followed a path to the receiver. Its also possible that lightning hit your home and with hte dual tuner in the attic that would be the path of least resistance with there being an electrical outlette up there. If lightning hit here that could also have hit the internal phone lines in the home even if the satellite system is grounded. I would take a slow walk around your home and inspect the siding to see if there is any strange bubbling or burn marks, look closely at the roof and chimney to see if there is any damage, inspect the area around the external phone box to see if it looks like it has been damaged.

 

[Stargazer]

You could have had a surge through your phone line causing your phoneline and satellite receivers damage. I have had it happen here before at my house. The phone company said the ground was good along with my neighbor's house which also had the same thing happen there to them. We must have had a close strike to the ground. The last time it happened I had the main phoneline protected through a surge protector and it saved everything that was connected to a phone line beyond that. I run the main line to the protector then all the phones, computers, and satellite receivers.

 

[BrettTRay]

Maybe some mice had a good coax and phone cable snack!!!!!!!

 

[wobbie]

For a quick fix, try going into thr T.V menu and aoto programming the T.V. again. there may have been a power surge and the television may have lost it's memory. Check the menu screen on the T.V of the dual tuner that does work, it may have defaulted back to the factory setting. As far as the phones... take Icebergs advise, if there is a box outside.. there will be a place on the customer side of the box where you can plug a phone into. If the line comes into the house and you have a older house, some of the older D-Marks or central connections have fuses in them, you may have blown a fuse... very rare, but I have seen it happen.

 

[OoTLink]

Wobbie: Demarcation points usually stop where the NID (network interface device) is, and those are supposed to have protectors (a large fuse) in them -- something phone companies have been using since the very first demarcation points (which yeah, old houses can have).

 

[SimpleSimon]

The other tv connected to it works fine.

Swap the 2 TV feeds and see if the problem moves. Ths action also implies you will be changing the channel on both TVs, thereby finding out if you have a TV tuner problem. Double-check the receiver's modulator settings for both TV1 & TV2.