signal cutting out on transponder 2

[bonajo]

I have recently had a triple LNB dish installed, and I have this problem...
The signal on transponder 2 cuts in and out. The signal goes from a strength of 80 to 0 & back. All of the other signal strengths are in the 80's and 90's. I had a D* technician come out & they replaced the LNB. The problem still persisted, so they connected me to an existing single LNB dish that was installed by the previous owner. The problem went away. However, the single LNB dish is near the ground, and now is obstructed by trees - no signal. Plus, I want to upgrade to HD in the near future.
Could a misaimed dish be the problem? I asked the technician this, and he said that the dish was aimed correctly. I have three receivers in the house, and they all have the same problem. The cable has been replaced, so I'm pretty confident that isn't the problem. Has anyone else run into this problem? Any comments would be very helpful.

 

[charper1]

What make & model receivers?
How long is the cable run?
Does the tech also see the signal drops? Why did he leave with that problem?

 

[bonajo]

I have 2-Directv receivers (Hughes maybe?) I bought the equipment at Circuit City, and 1 Samsung Tivo recorder. I don't have the model number in front of me. The cable runs are pretty long (100') for the 2 standard receivers, but the Samsung is significantly shorter (30'- down 2 stories off of the roof, then into the house.
The tech had never seen the problem before, and he called Directv technician help line. Unfortunately, the computers were down at Directv. He called his boss (who worked at Hubbard before it was bought out by Directv), and his boss also had no answer. They switched the cables to the older dish, and were going to look into the problem and then come back to fix it. That was in January - I don't think they're coming back. I'm going to have another technician come out, but I don't have a lot of faith in them, so I'd like to have some possible solutions to give them while they're at my house.

 

[charper1]

I have read about this before, but cant remember the resolution; the cable length came to mind and the age of the receivers. Maybe the PhaseIII LNB is bad? Yep, you got left hanging by the installers and you should get some relief for that IMO.

 

[bonajo]

would installing a powered multiswitch help the problem? The technician installed a 2x4 multiswitch, but I don't know the brand.

 

[deezoneezo]

Could be that the dish is damaged? I know the lnb was replaced but see if replacing the whole dish fixes it. Maybe it got a little ??warped?? during shipping. Good luck!

 

[charper1]

Are you saying you have:
2 - standard receivers
1- tivo receiver; is this unit a dual tuner?

So at max you have 4 lines into the house. Why is there an additional switch in the works again? The PhaseIII has the switch built-in at the LNBs. Shouldn't you just have 4 lines off of the dish that go directly to each receiver? I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but that's how mine is setup and I do not have those drop outs.

 

[sateck01]

would installing a powered multiswitch help the problem? The technician installed a 2x4 multiswitch, but I don't know the brand.

why the multi-switch, you have 4 lines out of the phase 3 lnb, a tivo and two irds = 4. take the M/S out and home run the coax to the irds and you will be fine. and if you ever need a 5th input it has to be a 4X8 or 5X8 POWERED , directv approved (cascadable) multiswitch.

 

[charper1]

Thats what I thought. Was the guy a REAL tech or just guessing? Why did he let him leave with it screwed up? Thanks Sateck01.

 

[bonajo]

The tech installed the multi-switch when he switched me to the old single LNB dish. I've tried connecting the cables directly to the cables going into the house, and I have the same problem. In fact, it seems worse when I connect directly to the house. I'm going to try changing out the connections to the house, just in case there is something wrong there, but I'm thoroughly stumped.