Transponder problems

[Newbie99]

Hello, just wondering if anyone else has the same intermittent problem that I have with some transponders.

I live in Blaine Washington, and I have a dish-network system. It is a 2700 system, only using one satellite(110) and an 18" dish. It was working fine up until 2 weeks ago when transponders 1,9,16, started acting up. They come and go. Example... transponder 16 gives me 0% signal, then I go to transponder 23 or 20 and I get 90% to 95% signal. Some times I get 35% to 39% signal on transponder 16 and it's enough to watch some TV. I phoned dish-net and they said to check cables, dish obstructions, alignment, etc...I then called my local professional installer and he did all the above and could not figure out the problem, he even switched receivers with one that he had and the problem carried. So the receiver can be ruled out I guess. Rust in not an issue because there aren't any switches anywhere. My cable goes from the receiver to the dish in one piece. Please help me out, someone out there, please I need to keep my wife happy. And she is only happy watching her favorite shows. Thanks.

Any help or advise will be greatly appreciated.

 

[wobbie]

Did the professional installer try a new LNB?

 

[Newbie99]

Is an LNB the part in front of the dish,where the cable from the receiver goes to? If so, then yes he tried a new one of those and still no joy.

Any more help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[wobbie]

If he tried a new LNB and a recieber I would have to say that you have trouble with your cable or a connection. Try running a new cable straight from the dish to the reciever.

 

[ShadowEKU]

If its sporatic I would say its in teh cable as others have pointed out. it could be loose ends. It could even be moisture in teh cable. Are you sure the cable goes strait in without any ground blocks. that would concern me as well.

 

[Newbie99]

I will try to run a new cable then. As for the cable going in without any ground blocks, I am not too sure what that means(sorry).
I thought I try sharing this info with you guys maybe this will mean something to you guys and gals. On monday Nov 15th and 16th I took some signal strengths and this is what I got.

Monday 15 Tuesday16
01...39%, 02...0%, 03...94% 01...41%, 02...0%, 03...94%
04...36, 05...37, 06...0 04...40, 05...39, 06...0
07...0, 08...0, 09...37 07...0, 08...0, 09...38
10...0, 11...56, 12...36 10...0, 11...55, 12...36
13...0, 14...52, 15...50 13...0, 14...53, 15...50
16...34, 17...0, 18...52 16...34, 17...0, 18...52
19...51, 20...0, 21...39 19...52, 20...0, 21...41
On both days the following transponders were the same values, no change
22...93, 23...93, 24...87, 25...82, 26...82, 27...91, 29...87, 31...93.

If this information is not inportant, then disregard. I will now go try to change that cable tomorrow and will get back to you.

Thanks guys, you are so helpful, and it's very much appreciated.

 

[deezoneezo]

I had a similar issue to this with a Directv service call. Turned out that someone (an electrician) had cut the existing cable and rather than add 2 connectors and a barrel he stripped and wire nutted them together. Also rusty connectors from cheapo's or no water seal. Maybe a staple penetrated the cable or is too tight. If LNB and receiver are not the culprit then it is the cable. It take ALOT less time and effort to replace then to troubleshoot.

 

[Newbie99]

Hello Ladies and Gents;

I just finished putting a new cable and still no joy, I even tried a 20" dish from my friend and nothing. Another thing, since this morning I have been getting less signal strength and all of the transponder that used to be at 40 or less strength are now at 0. I have read something about a signal amplifier here in these forums and was wondering if anyone knows where I can buy one, since I also read that the further north you are(and trust me I am the furthest north you can get, EXCEPT FOR ALASKA, I am in Blaine- Washington) the less strong the signal you get. Maybe that's what the problem is or who knows... Well again thanks so much for the ongoing help everyone is providing me. As always I would appreciate any advise. Thanks

 

[ShadowEKU]

It has to be something... those signal strengths are WAY too low (obviously with 0 right ).
Anyway so its not the cabe for sure if you ran a new one the entire way.
I know this was probably already checked but... is there a tree swaying into the way or anything?

So the LNB has been ruled out, the Receiver ruled out, the cable ruled out, you changed dishes? was it the apropriate dish? It sounds like your old dish could be warped or maybe twisting to one side... have you had alot of wind/rain recently?

I have to say its puzzling. Maybe Simple Simon could help out here

 

[NightRyder]

Very strange. How is your dish mounted? Is your dish mount plumb and stable?


NightRyder

 

[deezoneezo]

There has got to be something in the way then. Either a tree grw into your line of sight or maybe there is some sort of electronic interference. I read a few different forums and the gy that owns this company http://www.dbsinstallsupport.com/ seems to be one SMART guy and to make matters better he lives in washington. I know you had a ?PROFESSIONAL? installer come out but to be perfectly honest there are alot of installers that can only install and couldn't or won't troubleshoot service calls. Keep in mind that typically an installer gets paid $25-$50 for a service call so that's not a HUGE motivation to find your problem. SORRY

 

[fslove]

Do you have a switch of some kind inline on the cable (from Dish to receiver(s))? It so that could be going bad.

Also do you have a surge protector that you run your cable through? That to could be bad. Try using a barrel connector to bypass the surge if you are using one for the cable.

 

[Newbie99]

Dish seems to be in good condition(no worping or twisting), no wind and no more than the usual rain, and I know the dish is the right one because it came with the system.
The Dish is mounted on the rooftop of my apartment(flat roof) and it's very stable. As for any trees in the way, there is one in the path of the Dish, but it's only the very top of the tree, a few small branches and no leaves. The installer said that the tree didn't really matter since the signal comes on a sharper angle; Meaning that the signal comes from up high in the sky and not so much from the horizon which is where the tree is. Nevertheless the dish is still pointed the right angle.

Again, I cannot thank you all enough for the constant help.

Hope to hear some more ideas from everybody.
P.S. I will see if my building manager wants to cut the top of the trees down.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Hi guy! Welcome aboard!

I've been watching this thread, and everybody has been on the right track.

This is a strange one for sure.

Thanks for posting the transponder strengths - definitely important info. 11 & 12 are the benchmarks normally used, and they are way low. The high numbered tp's are VERY strong, so aim and LOS are not likely issues - but everything else has been ruled out - I think.

If convienent, a temporary cable run direct from the LNB to the receiver with NOTHING in between would be a final test of that. I'm talking something like buying a packaged RG-6 with pre-attached F-connectors. They come in 50' & 100' lengths at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.

Another possibility is that the replacement LNB is also bad. I can only assume that it's an old Legacy unit because of your receiver type (2700). It's extremely unlikely that you have a brand new one.

Trouble is the pattern of bad transponders doesn't fit any of the usual failure modes.

I'm going to try to look up which birds actually transmit which transponders. Yes, there's more than one actual satellite at each orbital slot.

I'm speculating that with your location, maybe your bad tp's are on one bird that might have a different footprint than the others. It's a longshot. SO, do you have neighbors with good signal across the board? What types of setups do they have (DishPro vs. Legacy, Dish 500 vs. 300)?

Note that moving your receiver to a neighbor's house can be problematic due to the differences between DishPro and Legacy. Don't do it unless you're sure you've lined up your ducks.

 

[Newbie99]

What I have right now is the cable from the LNB to the receiver, nothing else in between. My neighbor has the same system(2700) which, he's had for over 5 years.
Their signal will go down on a cloudier day than usual, but very rarely will they not be able to see an image. Where as I don't get anything(only the "satellite signal has been lost, signal acquisition is in progress, please wait or press the up or down arrow button to change channels" Channel 834, sat 110, transponder 16.)

The LNB that was tried was a new one out of the box, which the installer had in his van, from a new system.

Also, for the past 2 or 3 days I have been getting 0 signal strength for a few hours during the day at around 11am until about 3 pm everyday on the transponders that I had previously posted as having 35 to 39 signal, and have been getting almost 33 to 37 on the ones that were giving me 50 to 53. Help!!!!!!!! I'm going crazy.

I'll go to home depot first thing in the AM( like Simple Simon says) and buy a new 100' cable and try that to finally rule out the cable. As well as try to get my building manager to cut the top of the trees, even if they are not very thick. But it will be done in the name of troubleshooting...

Well thanks again for the ongoing help, and we'll see what happens after tomorrow when I try the new cable and hopefully the trees get cut down (at least the top )

 

[deezoneezo]

Hire someone to fix the problem!

 

[SimpleSimon]

If you had a DishPro Twin LNBF, I'd say you had one of the lot CS9601 ones - which have been recalled. But you can't have DishPro equipment.

You mention trees, but you also know that the signal comes from higher than where the dish appears to be looking. It's about 20 degrees higher, BTW. Use a protractor to double-check the clearance if you think it's an issue.

I'm wondering if you're getting some kind of terrestrial radio interference. Military bases, radar domes, even (illegal) speed radar jammers in cars. One way to check this is to hook a meter to the dish and "un"-aim it to see what kinds of signal you still get. This takes experience to tell - and because your neighbor (close-by?) isn't having any trouble, it's unlikely, but I'm starting to grasp at straws here.

 

[Newbie99]

Thanks guys;
I cut the top of the trees down today,(my building manager said he was too busy, so he said for me to do it.) I sacrificed those poor trees because it didn't fix the problem . There is a large radio station like antenna at the top of a building near my apartment behind my dish(about 3 city blocks) Every time I drive by the building, my radar detector goes off .

Anything else gents, just shoot it this way.

Thanks.

 

[SimpleSimon]

How does your location vs. that antenna relate to your neighbor with good signal's location? In other words, is he farther away, or is the dish at a different angle to it?

An antenna directly in front of or behind the dish (ie. on the same line as the LNB arm) will be worse than if the antenna is at a 90 degree angle to it.

 

[Newbie99]

My neighbor's antenna points at the same location as mine and it is about 3 to 4 meters away from mine. Maybe I should just ask the installer to move my dish to a different location.

Thanks Simple Simon