Prob. w/ Voom signal sat. and OTA

[jpindel]

Just got Voom installed Saturday. The installer has been out 2 times so far for a total of 9 hours. I am having a ton of problems trying to watch HDTV. He swapped out Receivers, Diplexors, and Splitter to try and get me working. Finally when he got a new receiver I was able to watch TV. But this is where another problem comes into play. The picture freezes and pixelates after a few minutes of viewing. Then clears up. Then repeats freezing and pixelating over and over. Happens on both OTA and Satellite. I have not been able to watch a full show without it freezing at least 20 times. The installer left and asked to see if it would clear up by today. I'm still having the same problem. He has check the position of the satellite and that was ok. I'm just not having any luck getting a smooth signal from voom.

 

[The Stone Man]

This may sound crazy, but try unplugging the STB and then plug it back in. Let it 'cycle' until the green satellite icon appears on the front, and don't try to watch TV until that happens. If that doesn't fix it, then it sounds like the problem may be the orientation of the dish, or maybe a bad LNB.

 

[Sean Mota]

What's your signal quality and strength? Tune to any satellite channel and check these. What's your software version as well?

 

[jpindel]

I have tried leaving the STB off for about 20 minutes and plugged it back in and still getting the same thing. The LNB is probably one of the only things that hasn't been swapted out. That and the cables. There is a clear view to the South East. Signal quality and strength are up to 40 to 50. The installer said it was good on both off air and satellite. Not sure what the software ver. is. I think he did an update Sunday afternoon. When the picture comes in for a couple of minutes it looks fantastic. Its running on a Mits 55 inch. Installer also said it wasn't talking to my TV correctly. He pressed a button on the receiver to adjust the screen size and when its on widescreen the picture goes out. Just have a blue background as if there is nothing connected to the DTV input. When he switches to full screen mode the picture appears. The same problem was happening on the other receiver. I'm at a loss and he may be taking it out tonight or tomorrow if the problem can't get resolved. Which really sucks. He's all out of suggestions. Even said it may be the powerlines across the street where the dish is pointing. Just regular subdivision power lines that are about 100ft. from the dish.

 

[Sean Mota]

A signal quality of 40 will not do it. You have the old software still. Either the Dish needs to be repeaked better or there is something wrong with the LNB. To get a steady signal the signal quality needs to be above 55 and reaching 60. That will give you 90 to 95 in the new software. A 40 as signal quality won't do it and this is why you are getting pixelated all the time. Two solutions. Call and put a service call to get the dish repeaked or LNB checked/replaced. The other will be to try to repeak the dish yourself. One problem is that your installer was problably using his meter. It is best to use the meter on the stb.

 

[jpindel]

Would the dish positioning have cause the same problem to occur with the OTA signal? The same thing is happening with all my local channels as well. And the installer, who will be out tonight keeps insisting the dish is in the correct spot. Checking the LNB will be beneficial.

 

[Sean Mota]

Would the dish positioning have cause the same problem to occur with the OTA signal? The same thing is happening with all my local channels as well. And the installer, who will be out tonight keeps insisting the dish is in the correct spot. Checking the LNB will be beneficial.

Don't know about OTA (since it is more difficult depending on your location). Satellite is more straight forward since you apparently have a line of sight (LSO). If he keep insisting that is correct, ask him how come the signal quality is only 40 when it should be around 55-60 and therefore you are getting pixelation. The LNB will be good to check but to me it sounds like a repeak problem since you are getting a steady 40 and no bigger number than that. Ask him to repeak it according to the VOOM meter. Also, leave your stb off before going to bed so that you can get the new software. Getting the new software will not resolve the pixelation problem.

 

[jpindel]

Thanks for the advise.
Signal quality hits between 40 and 50 but never over that. He said 50 was good enough. Is repeaking the same as reajusting the satellite dish?

 

[Mr. Biggles]

50 is good enough if your still on the old software version as I assume you are. If it's clear out and it's jumping between 40-50 then is there a slight possibilty that some rogue tree branch or something else is in the LOS with the Sat? My signal will only vary 2 points or so during normal weather at 95-96 (new software).

Just to throw out a story that baffled us for weeks on end. We were having problems with OTA blanking out...turned out to be a wireless motion detector causing interference whenever it was tripped/activated.

 

[jpindel]

As a rough guess how far would the tree have be in order to affect the signal. The closest trees would have to be by the power lines across the street. Approximately 100 ft. away. At this point I'm trying to factor out certain pieces of hardware. It's puzzling to know that the OTA signal is acting the same as the satellite signal. I wanna keep voom so bad because the picture blow all the competition outta the water.

 

[Ilya]

It doesn't matter how far the trees are: if they are in the line of sight, they may cause problems. Just look at witch direction the dish is pointing to and see if there is anything on the way.

As for OTA, are all of your OTA channels having the same problem, or just some of them?

By any chance, did the installer use any of your old cables?

 

[Mr. Biggles]

Ilya brings up a good point. If you tune to a OTA station, what kind of signal quality do you get.

I'm a little stumped with your Sat signal. For it to vary so much during normal weather it seems like something is interfering with the signal somehow. It sounds like you have eliminated everything with the multiple visits. The only other suggestion I would give is try to relocate the dish if you have an alternative LOS to the V* Sat.

 

[jpindel]

Update.....Installer recommended removing the service. He to was puzzled by what was happening. OTA signal was acting the same way on all channels. The only other thing he could come up with was EMI. Power lines and a transformer are just across the street. Installer said the transformer could be shooting out interference due to it might be bad. Last night he readjusted the dish and ran a cable strait to the receiver directly from the satellite. Signal dropped to 16 then went to 99 RED after about 20 min. of playing with it. That when he decided there was nothing left to try.
LOS -- that position was the only spot to get a clear view of the south east.

I guess my alternative will be Directv. Which will be hard to watch.....know there is better reception out there.

 

[StingyScotsman]

Another one bites the dust.

Sorry to hear of your woes. I finally had another Voomer on the forum from St. Louis, and the fates conspire.

Given that you live so close to the OTA antennas in STL, there's no reason for the pulsing dropout.

I'd love for you to put a stopwatch to the dropouts and see if they did occur at exact intervals on Sat AND OTA. That means that there is some electrical appliance with you or your neighbors that's going off every so many seconds. Tell me that you/your neighbors don't have an electric dog fence, or an electric "mole buzzer" in the ground near your dish?

Is D* at a different longitude?

IF, for some horrible reason, you have the same problem with D*, please come back and let us know. I'm dying to know if the problem is atmospheric, or with Voom proper.

Good Luck!