receiver screen freeze

[glover31]

Firstly Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it today.

Next I have 1 openbox s9 hd, 1 manhattan, and this morning a brand new openbox s10 hd. My problem is that the television screen freezes when I watch pbj, tuff tv.. "ku band" without fail. Once it freezes I try to switch sats and go back but it will do it again. Also on other sats this never happens UNLESS I let the receiver freeze watching pbj, then change sat to any other sat. Then it will freeze. If I shut off receiver then back on it will sometimes stop freezing. This also happens on my manhattan receiver. I thought that this could be just these two receivers, but after getting this new openbox s10 hd and having the same problem I am scratching my head. I have read many many forums on upgrading firmware but I have to think no on firmware. Not when all 3 do it. Has anyone else had freezing problems with fta? Can it have anything to do with signal or lnbf? I just have no idea.

My setup. Two dishes. both ku. 1 motorized 1.2 meter. 1 fixed geosat 36". 1 diseq switch.


To be added: 1 duel lnbf geosat and 1 geosatpro ms44 4x4 multi switch for use of extra receivers.

 

[primestar31]

Give us a drawing of your wiring setup exactly as your system is laid out. I'd have to say with the little you've given us that it's a wiring issue, or something in that part of the system. NOT a receiver. A wiring diagram should help in diagnosis

 

[turbosat]

I'm with primestar, something suspicious there in the wiring or switch, perhaps. First thing I would try, take the tv/receiver out to the dish and wire it direct to the lnbf and see how it plays those channels. Or try another diseqc switch if you have one, if that's easier to do first. I've gotten low signal on those RTV channels before but never had a receiver lock up because of it.

 

[Titanium]

What is the output resolution set to? A fixed or auto? What resolution is the TV capable of?

 

[glover31]

This is the picture I made for you from another post different topic/question. This is my current set up now. My tv is plasma and 1080 . On the receiver it is set for 1080i_60, No auto setting. I know that my switch is fine. By the way this problem of freezing existed long before having the addition of a diseqc switch or my fixed dish "both new". It also existed before using the motor I have now. Receivers hooked directly to dish It still happened.

 

[mmewrench]

My first guess would be to change that output resolution to 1080p 60. I don't believe that plasma will do well with interlaced video.

 

[primestar31]

View attachment 93754
This is the picture I made for you from another post different topic/question. This is my current set up now. My tv is plasma and 1080 . On the receiver it is set for 1080i_60, No auto setting. I know that my switch is fine. By the way this problem of freezing existed long before having the addition of a diseqc switch or my fixed dish "both new". It also existed before using the motor I have now. Receivers hooked directly to dish It still happened.

Hummmm, it seems I have to agree with turbosat above. You need to take a receiver and monitor right out to the dish and hook a short jumper directly to the lnb and see what happens. If you still have freezing issues, change out the lnb. You aren't aiming through any trees?

 

[glover31]

Trees are to far away haven't had much trouble with that. Even with heavy foliage in summer signal remains consistent. I did the receiver and tv to the dish thing. It still freezes. I will change out the lnbf for troubleshooting purposes. I have a couple brand new universal lnbf somewhere. Its to bad I don't have an extra standard one. The multi switch I am going to add has 22k switching and I will have to change the lnbf anyway. My tv output resolution is 1080 60. Hens 1080_60. What can go wrong here I am not understanding.

 

[cyberham]

Seems to me from all you say that it must be due to motorized dish LNB. You've eliminated all else. This assumes receiver is configured correctly for RTV tp (freq, SR) and receiver is outputting correct voltage. What signal quality are you receiving on RTV?

 

[Titanium]

Does this happen in 480i output mode using a RCA AV connections?

 

[glover31]

Signal intensity 90% signal quality 67-70% on rtv. All three receivers will do blind scan so I have not had to dabble with entering tp (freq, SR).

 

[glover31]

I have primarily used hdmi so I have not used the rca jacks. My roku uses the rca cables but I suppose I could swap hdmi and rca around. I can do 480 with hdmi as well. I guess I don't understand the science behind doing this.

 

[pwrsurge]

Sounds like your LNBF is not getting enough voltage to display horizontal channels. How long is your cable run from the receiver to the dish? Did you check all connectors to make sure all of them are OK. Are you using compression connectors all the way? Also if your coax is old, inspect it for any cracks.

You can try temporarily bypassing the switch and connecting your motorized dish directly to your LNBF to see if you are still getting this issue as the switch could also be going bad.

 

[glover31]

OK. the rca cable thing and lowering to 480i did not work. It still froze. As far as wiring its awsome. All new and good continuity. The cable length is around 90ft not including inside. I am not going to temporarily bypass the switch and connect the motorized dish directly to the LNBF because I know for a fact that it will still freeze "because it was".
As I mentioned earlier this problem existed Prior to having a second dish and switch. So bypassing the switch and connecting the motorized dish directly to the LNBF opposed to having the lnbf connected to the switch was my original set up. It froze then. I have just dealt with the problem. I just don't want to anymore.
Maybe this will help:
Troubleshooting so far... I have replaced the motor " using my third motor"
replaced new cable with another new one.
replaced connections again.
upgraded and downgraded firmwares on boxes
swapped receivers back and forth
tested voltages several times
spent weeks evaluating dish alignment
just today swapped hdmi for rca and 1080 down to 480 "didnt work"
In a few I will go swap the lnbf and then give update

 

[Titanium]

I have primarily used hdmi so I have not used the rca jacks. My roku uses the rca cables but I suppose I could swap hdmi and rca around. I can do 480 with hdmi as well. I guess I don't understand the science behind doing this.

The science is... Is the freezing due to a resolution or display issue with these particular channels between the STBs and your TV. By removing the HDMI and moving to the lowest denominator of composite AV for the video display you can rule out if the issue is related to resolution or handshakes with your STBs. The one common component.... your display.

 

[mmewrench]

View attachment 93754
My tv is plasma and 1080 . On the receiver it is set for 1080i_60, No auto setting. I know that my switch is fine. By the way this problem of freezing existed long before having the addition of a diseqc switch or my fixed dish "both new". It also existed before using the motor I have now. Receivers hooked directly to dish It still happened.

According to this post you say that your receiver is set to output 1080i_60. What this means is that it is set to output 1080 horizontal lines of resolution, with interlaced video at a refresh rate of 60htz. My suggestion was to change the output to 1080p_60. That keeps the screen resolution and the refresh rate the same but changes it from interlaced video to progressive scan. There could be a codec issue between your ali based receivers and your tv. I had a very similar issue on another channel, that was taken care of by switching to progressive scan. All three receivers that you have mentioned are based on the ali chipset, just as my receiver is.

 

[. Raine]

According to this post you say that your receiver is set to output 1080i_60. What this means is that it is set to output 1080 horizontal lines of resolution, with interlaced video at a refresh rate of 60htz. My suggestion was to change the output to 1080p_60. That keeps the screen resolution and the refresh rate the same but changes it from interlaced video to progressive scan. There could be a codec issue between your ali based receivers and your tv. I had a very similar issue on another channel, that was taken care of by switching to progressive scan. All three receivers that you have mentioned are based on the ali chipset, just as my receiver is.

I myself have experienced the same problem with interlaced video that Mmewrench is describing. It would be worth trying 1080P, it would only take a minute or so and could be the problem. Switching to 480 I is still interlaced and could cause you to still have the same issue. You should try switching to something 'P', progressive scan.

Or maybe even, if you have one handy, try setting up on a different TV. The TV, as Titanium said, seems to be the only constant throughout. Some TV's are well known for freezing on their HDMI ports. What brand and model is your TV?

 

[glover31]

Well this is very interesting, and.. I'll decide later. I just swapped the 36' dish geosat standard lnbf with the one the the 1.2 motorized. Then installed the Christmas presents. In place of the one I took off the 36" a standard duel lnbf by geosat. Hooked up the new multi switch. So I thought maybe now that I replaced the lnbf that could have had am issue and watching tv that the thing wouldn't freeze..... .... .... WRONG...
Well I tried. So I guess I eliminated everything up the hill. Switching to progressive scan. Available to me in p is 480 576 and 720. Only 480p and 720p work. Other one makes the screen fuzzy and grey. By the way I am not using the north American firmware. It has something foreign on it. In fact all my receivers came that way. Never could find the north American firmware. Just the others. I will try using progressive scan. Stand by

 

[glover31]

ok. definitatly on to something. After setting my receiver to 720p the screen still froze up but it took so much longer. I set it for 480p and took even longer yet, but... the screen goes black and keeps sound and sometimes comes back completly but mostly still freezes. Even at that I can move a channel up and back an its fine. I dont have to shut down the receiver.
So the problem is not fixed but definitely on to something. By the way my tv is a 50 inch plasma made by panasonic. It has viesa image viewer via sdhc card slot. 600hz sub field drive what ever that is. Model number TC-50PX14
serial number Ld90720444

What should I do now?

 

[primestar31]

What should I do now?

Buy a new tv, what else?

Well, maybe there's some tv settings you can change that will make the difference... It is a 720p for sure per specs out on the internet. I would try a different HDMI cable also.