Stumped - Bad LNB or 2 Bad Receivers?

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GCSat27

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Feb 17, 2009
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NYC
I have a round 18" dish. I have a cable directly from each LNB to each of two active receivers. No multiswitch. I also have a spare (3rd) receiver. One receiver gets all 101 SAT transponders perfectly (95+ on all necessary transponders.) The other reciever cannot get ANY even transponders. So I replaced it with the spare reciver on the same LNB, and the spare also cannot get even transponders. So I assumed I have a bad LNB. To confirm, I switched the good receiver onto the cable of what I thought was the bad LNB, and it CAN get all transponders. The other two receivers STILL cannot get the even transponders - even when on the other LNB. Can I possibly have two bad receivers with exactly the same symptom - not being able to get even transponders? Or is there some other expllanation. The problem travels with the receivers - regardless of what LNB they are on. I also tried disconnecting the good one and letting the bad ones power up first to see if they could "capture" the even transponders - not that I thougtht it should - but what the heck - but the working receiver, regardless of what LNB it is on- still gets all transponders and the other one doesn't. My next test is to put both bad receivers on - one on each LNB to see what happens. I am stumped. btw, I bought both non-working receivers on ebay - could they both be bad - they were cheap, but the new cards were 20 bucks each!
 
Thanks for the response. Its happening on both LNBs now - can't get the evens - on one I can get then - but not well. I'm assuming I need to replace the dish/LNBs. It has been installed for about 10 years in the hot FL weather. Hoping to find a cheap 18" round replacement. Didn't Radio Shack used to carry them? Just don't want to get ripped off. I'll pull new cables when I re-install. These are SONY SAT-B65s - I don't think there are any settings on the receiver that can cause this problem.
 
Multiswitch solving the problem, but why?

Update. I just put a 2x4 passive multiswitch on the system, and the problem at first went away for about 15 minutes, then re-appeared. I reset it all again, and both receivers are again working fine. Could it be that given that the receivers are working fine with the multiswitch, that is a problem with the LNBs not switching properly when requested by the receivers? Why would the mulutiswitch quickly clear up the situation - then fail in time, and now clear it for hours? is the switch masking an intermittent problem? My depth on this technology is superficial, and I can't put together the pieces to make sense.
 
Wish your system being ten years old, as you stated, I would first attempt a stab at changing out all fittings (the ends of the coaxial cable that screw into the lnb, multi-switch, ground block, receiver, etc.). It could be that over time one or more of the fittings or coax at the fittings has deteriorated, especially if some moisture may have penetrated. If that does not cure the problem, I'd lean towards a bad lnb. It could happen, but I doubt that three receivers would display the same problem at the same time if it weren't something else causing it. I don't think it's the receivers.
 
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