SC technical question

[icstephen]

ok I have a dsr-315 and a 75E dish, Last night I switched from channel 700 to channel 300 when I got to 300 I had no signal (front light red) tried switching several different channels (no change), I then switched back to 700 and it started working again (all channels). I am not sure if 700 & 300 are on different satellites, also I have recently noticed that my signal is lower than it was (mid 50's now/was in the 70's I think). My question is does this sound like the lnb might be going bad? or possibly just that output (it has 4 connectors on it)? Does the 22k switch inside of these things go bad?

I thought the signal drop might have been trees and was planning to wait until fall to test this theory, however now I am wondering if it is dying on me. I have had the system about 9 or 10 months and the only problem I have had with it is that sometimes while changing the channel (surfing through the channels - Not using the guide to change channels) the box will shut down (reboot I assume) and it will take me a few times pushing the button (on the box - not remote) to get it to come back on and when it does it has no channel or guide info and it takes awhile for it to reload the info. This has happend only 3 or 4 times but I treat the receiver with kid gloves, I had always just chalked it up to Motorola making clunky products.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr Tony]

300 is on F1 (main satellite)
700 is actually on both satellites (as is 711 TVA). If you have anything but French Essentials, its mapped to F1 (main satellite) but may think you’re on F2 so its mapped there

Can you get channels like 400, 350? Also check ebno # on those channels
(options 6-0-5 right arrow to Diagnostic C..there will be a +- number)

 

[icstephen]

I will check that, although I think I have good quality because I have no pixilation (SP?) and it only goes out when it rains (more because the signal is in the 50's...lower than it was). this was weird because it was like something stuck because when I went back to 700 everything went back to normal...and is working fine now. That's what made it so confusing, because most of the time it works fine.

 

[Mr Tony]

sometimes when my box went wacky, I would just unplug it for a minute or so

yes you lose the guide and it takes 1/2 hour or so to fill but it always fixed everything

 

[icstephen]

have you ever had it do it automatically? Mine had done it 3 or 4 times since I got it (always when changing channels).

 

[Mr Tony]

like reboot?

nope. Never had it do that. And I've had mine for 2 years

 

[icstephen]

it looks like a reboot...looses all the channel info and has to reload everything. It has done it from the first day I got it...I really wish SC would get some better receivers, I am going to get the HD version if I can ever save enough to get an HD tv. I wonder if that receiver is as slow as the 315. I guess I got a lemon maybe...ok here's another question maybe you can answer I have had my service a year so my contact is up, if I was to get another receiver (either same or upgrade) would I have to do another year?

 

[Mr Tony]

not that I'm aware of.

 

[icstephen]

cool, I am thinking about ditching directv this winter and just running the SC & fta

 

[chemie]

for what it's worth, you can expect the HD receiver to lock up when switching from HD to SD every now and then (once or twice a week). Requires reset of the receiver.

 

[icstephen]

for what it's worth, you can expect the HD receiver to lock up when switching from HD to SD every now and then (once or twice a week). Requires reset of the receiver.

Ah another quality Motorola product...great. At least Motorola is consistant across the board, their cell phones are crap too.

 

[icstephen]

Can you get channels like 400, 350? Also check ebno # on those channels (options 6-0-5 right arrow to Diagnostic C..there will be a +- number)

Hey Ice what is an ebno# ? can I do this on any channel (or just 350 & 400)? I know that when I first set it up I had to put it on a specific channel (298 or 284 I cant remember the exact number - I will have to pull my paperwork), but I think that the channel it was is now gone (284 is hd & 298 is gone). I want to re peak the dish this fall if the signal does not improve (want to see if it is a tree problem or if the dish is off) and I need to get an updated set up procedure. Also if I reset it what channel do I need to go to to remap everything?

 

[Satellite Expert]

Hey Ice what is an ebno# ? can I do this on any channel (or just 350 & 400)?

Each transponder will have a different ECB value. You can use any F1R + any F2 transponder as a guide to max signal levels for both satellites. Use 1 transponder/satellite. If you don't have HD, use 420 or 559 for ECB# value on F2.

There will be no need (or purpose) to do a master reset unless your channel maps are corrupt and pulling the plug for 5 minutes (hard reboot) does not help.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Can anyone venture any suggestions for this :

After plugging in another DSR-405. I move the RG6 from the first 405 to the second 405 and go to 299. I cannot keep a picture on the screen. Diagnostics shows that I am around a +6.2 on 299, yet on the other DSR with the same feed I am at a +7.5.

So the wierd thing is I cannot keep a signal without breaking up on this and other SD channels with a +6.2, yet on the HD channels with a +6.2 through the HD201 I have no breakup or issues

To top it off, on some other SD channels I am showing a +3.5 and I have a solid video signal

Could the signal levels be that different between DSR-405s?

 

[Satellite Expert]

Typically a ECB of 2.5 is the minimum value to lock a signal.
There is a large variation in ECB values, receiver to receiver
The 405 that cannot lock all the 0 kz signals, but can lock the 22 kz signals probably has corrupted channel maps. If a hard reboot (plug pulled for 5 minutes) does not flush it, a master reset and rehit from SC is required.