Signal Loss

[PopcornNMore]

This morning I took a Coolsat 4000 receiver and monitor out to my 8' C band dish and made some adjustments. I quickly noticed that I was receiving some channels on AMC3 that I often have a hard time receiving or have a much lower signal strength inside using an Openbox S9 receiver. I know the meter on the Coolsat reads higher than on other receivers, but the signal was still stronger.

Once inside I looked at the diseqc switch that I have inline and saw that the signal loss is 3dB. As an experiment I removed the diseqc switch and installed a barrel connector in it's place for one of the dishes and was surprised by just how much the signal increased.

I was planning on redoing my system by installing two diseqc switches and one 22KHz switch, but now I'm having second thoughts.

I now want to check the "F" connectors outside and replace if necessary and install high frequency barrel connectors within my system. I might even purchase another Openbox receiver and only use one diseqc switch per system.

 

[GreatFTA]

Popcorn, what is a barrel connector?

 

[woodheat/nooil]

Buy RG6, Barrel Connectors, F-Type, Nickel Plated Barrel Connectors, 20 PCS Connector Barrel Adapter Double Female for RG6, Free Shipping at Aliexpress.com

 

[PopcornNMore]

Popcorn, what is a barrel connector?

A connector to splice two coax cables together as shown below. A few months ago a Dish Network technician came to the house and replaced a barrel connector within the wall plate in our living room with a special high frequency barrel connector that passes higher frequency satellite signals with less loss. Using it actually improved our Dish Network channels, especially the HD channels. I now want to do the same for with my FTA setups.

 

[PopcornNMore]

This morning I removed the diseqc switch from our 8' C band system aimed at AMC3 using an Openbox S9 receiver. For the past few months we were no longer receiving any of the RTV channels due to signal loss. As soon as I removed the diseqc switch and inserted a barrel connector in it's place I was able to scan in all 130 channels including all the RTV channels. Plus EVERY channel including the RTV channels has a steady signal strength above 70%.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Now I'm wondering if certain brands of diseqc switches outperform others. I'm going to try replacing the current Coolsat diseqc switch with an eCoda to see if there is a difference in signal loss.

 

[Mikey11]

What brand is your diseqc switch? You might want to try a better quality switch like EMP which are in my opinion the best

 

[tvropro]

All accessories in line will cause some kind of signal loss. Normally the LNB has 60db+ of gain and that should overcome minor issues. Jumper length from splitters Diseqc's etc can cause SWR issues with reflected signal. I know on my own setup I had to switch jumpers around and ports to balance everything. There is a whole science most don't see or understand happening under the hood.

 

[PopcornNMore]

What brand is your diseqc switch? You might want to try a better quality switch like EMP which are in my opinion the best

I had a Coolsat 4 port diseqc switch installed. Port 2 is bad, so I'm going to replace it.

 

[PopcornNMore]

All accessories in line will cause some kind of signal loss. Normally the LNB has 60db+ of gain and that should overcome minor issues. Jumper length from splitters Diseqc's etc can cause SWR issues with reflected signal. I know on my own setup I had to switch jumpers around and ports to balance everything. There is a whole science most don't see or understand happening under the hood.

I totally agree. Plus since the 8' dish is located far away from the house it uses a 100' coax which also causes additional attenuation.

 

[Mikey11]

I had a Coolsat 4 port diseqc switch installed. Port 2 is bad, so I'm going to replace it.

The switches that you get with a new receiver are junk, I never use them, I always buy better ones,

 

[PopcornNMore]

The switches that you get with a new receiver are junk, I never use them, I always buy better ones,

I tend to agree which is why I'm going to be switching to the eCoda brand.

 

[Mr Tony]

I've got some older DMSI switches that work good. The newer ones (with all ports on same side) I seem to blow one all the time

 

[Anole]

food for thought

I don't have a good answer, but I do have a good question.
Might some amplifiers be helpful to offset the loss in the diseqc or 22khz switch?

Pendragon had two threads concerning amps in the past.
Combing through those might give some encouragement.
Neither seems to directly address the question, but they are a good place to start.

Saturating an amplifier demo

Bandstacked Shootout or Why Amps Are Good


As we know, diseqc switches and 22khz switches do not amplify the signals.
They attenuate it.
Multiswitches (particularly powered ones) have a lot of electronics, and some of that is to overcome their inherent losses.
For those running bandstacked and DishNet DP-34 diseqc switches, those little bullet-proof hombres will give you a good signal! - :up

edit:
Oh, and there is one other effect I've noted.
Some switches may not attenuate the unselected input enough.
Keep on the lookout for that possibility, if you run any tests.