OT: DirecTV

[Ring 6]

2 of my other tvs get local stations but they are all jumbled up with voice mumbled too. On my downstairs tv i get nothing at all.

The local chanells are on a different satellite than the others. If your dish is positioned wrong you can get the other chanells but not the locals.
It sounds like the snow or ice is part of the problem, but its curious that they aren't all 3 affected the same way.
I'd try to go into setup. You cant really hurt anything, you just tell it what type of dish you have and what your zipcode is, and it checks all of the 'chanells' or 'segments' or whatever they call it. You will see n/a next to each then it will go one by one, and give you a number that looks like a percentage next to it. If you are getting n/a it means your dish isn't getting the signal from the satelitte.
Personally, I'd call directv and ask them to walk me through anything I can do.

I know that there is a reboot, but it can take up to 3 hours, and if you have the TIVO receiver it will delete everythign youve recorded. They make you do this when the equipment stops working properly before they replace it.

 

[sebman2112]

no, it's the whole piece...that one is a single LNB...you could have a new dish in which case you'll see two or three of those at the bottom of the front of the dish. If you can't see them, it's covered with snow and THAT is your problem. You could try to hose it down and melt the snow if you still have your outside water turned on, which I doubt, right?

The entire piece is the LNB, but the only part that's actually bounces the signal is contained within that (white) circular covering.

Generally you won't have problems with snow, as long as the dish is mounted correctly. Some techs don't fine tune your signal though, in which case weather will be more likely to effect your reception.

He could run a transponder test, or a switch test, depending on which system he actually has. I've actually installed quite a few dishes, and sometimes signal loss can actually be caused by weak, or bad cables.

To the OP, was this a fresh install, with all brand new cables installed by the tech? I ask because they use better cables now, and if they installed using old cables already there you might have these type of signal problems. I had to change out an entire system (dish, splitter, receiver) once, only to realize signal was being lost because of bad cables.

Oh, and check to make sure the snow hasn't shifted the tree line in front of the dish, if any tree branches have moved into the Line of sight than you can have problems. Believe it or not, power cables, or phone lines weighed down by ice can also get in the way.

 

[Joker]

ice coverage shouldn't really be a problem. I know snow is because I've through that a few times. The more you relay on the problem the more I'm convinced it's the LNB's. Sounds like your high def LNB is totally covered and your local channels LNB is only partly obscured.THat is why you're getting part of your local channel signal because some of the packets on the download from the SAT are reaching the LNB.

 

[bruinator]

This may be a stupid question that you have already checked out, but do any of the TVs hooked up to it work?
I've had Directv for abuot 3 years, and have about 2 cases of 2 minutes a piece where the weather had any effect at all.
I have however had cases where one of the TVs has issues. If its only one, check the splitter connection in your basement. Otherwise you can unplug the receiver from the wall, and wait a minute then plug back in. Turning the power off doesnt do it. Taking out the card and replacing it may help too.

If its all of the TVs then it is is probably the dish being obscured by snow.
But you can go into setup and have it search for the satellite signal. It has maybe 20 'channells' (cant remember the term in uses) and it will test the signal on each.

Hope that works for you. Otherwise, I would keep asking for supervisors until someone comes out tonight or tomorrow. If you bltch to a high enough level, you can usually get what you want.

By the way, I had mine mounted in the yard rather than on the roof, just in case I ever had an issue so I wouldnt need to climb up on the roof. They can pretty much put it anywhere as long as there is access to the southern sky. If you have a smaller yard and lots of tall trees, though it may not work. I believe they will come out and move it for free if you ask them.

Andy, thanks for your help too. I have trees in my back yard that are very tall so the roof is probs my only option.

 

[Joker]

Seb, he says the install is only 6 months old. It should have the latest cabling.

 

[sebman2112]

Seb, he says the install is only 6 months old. It should have the latest cabling.

That doesn't mean anything, trust me. I want to know if they actually used new cables, or installed the system using his old cable lines. They've done that in the past, as it's the easier way out, but sometimes you end up having to change the cables.

I'd like to know if this is a single, dual, or triple LNB system?

Also, while it could very well be his LNB's, there are many things that can cause these exact signal problems, as I stated above.

 

[bruinator]

The local chanells are on a different satellite than the others. If your dish is positioned wrong you can get the other chanells but not the locals.
It sounds like the snow or ice is part of the problem, but its curious that they aren't all 3 affected the same way.
I'd try to go into setup. You cant really hurt anything, you just tell it what type of dish you have and what your zipcode is, and it checks all of the 'chanells' or 'segments' or whatever they call it. You will see n/a next to each then it will go one by one, and give you a number that looks like a percentage next to it. If you are getting n/a it means your dish isn't getting the signal from the satelitte.
Personally, I'd call directv and ask them to walk me through anything I can do.

I know that there is a reboot, but it can take up to 3 hours, and if you have the TIVO receiver it will delete everythign youve recorded. They make you do this when the equipment stops working properly before they replace it.

Ill try the other tv's tomorrow with taking the card out and resetting it. If that don't work I'll keep on calling and asking for supervisors and *****ing to them like you said. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Joker]

I had that type of tree problem too...One of my LNB's picked up that SAT that's the lowest one on the horizon, the one that is geosynchronous over Mexico I think? Anyway, in the winter I get the HD signal fine...as soon as the leaves come in it slowly breaks down until it reaches zero response. If he has a clear line of sight , then it HAS to be the cable to the dish or the LNB's, right?

 

[bruinator]

The entire piece is the LNB, but the only part that's actually bounces the signal is contained within that (white) circular covering.

Generally you won't have problems with snow, as long as the dish is mounted correctly. Some techs don't fine tune your signal though, in which case weather will be more likely to effect your reception.

He could run a transponder test, or a switch test, depending on which system he actually has. I've actually installed quite a few dishes, and sometimes signal loss can actually be caused by weak, or bad cables.

To the OP, was this a fresh install, with all brand new cables installed by the tech? I ask because they use better cables now, and if they installed using old cables already there you might have these type of signal problems. I had to change out an entire system (dish, splitter, receiver) once, only to realize signal was being lost because of bad cables.

Oh, and check to make sure the snow hasn't shifted the tree line in front of the dish, if any tree branches have moved into the Line of sight than you can have problems. Believe it or not, power cables, or phone lines weighed down by ice can also get in the way.

Cables used by the dish tech were left over from my cable tv which was installed in the early to mid 80s. I had a try near the dish up until 2 weeks ago when the town cut it down so that shouldn't be an issue,

 

[Joker]

yeah,I'd call the installer and tell him to get the *** out there and put in new cables if he used crap to start with.

 

[bruinator]

T

I'd like to know if this is a single, dual, or triple LNB system?

I wouldn't know this until i actually look at it tomorrow.

 

[Joker]

Cables used by the dish tech were left over from my cable tv witch was installed in the early to mid 80s.

Seb was right. Call that company up and tell them you want the appropriate cabling immediately. Jeezus, what kind of cretin installs a HD dish using analog wire?

 

[Ring 6]

Ill try the other tv's tomorrow with taking the card out and resetting it. If that don't work I'll keep on calling and asking for supervisors and *****ing to them like you said. Thanks again for the help.

Taking the card out doesnt do anything bad. You can take it out at any time and you will get an error code, like the searching for signal, then put it back in and reception comes right back.

 

[Joker]

http://www.tech-faq.com/directv-satellite-dishes.shtml

look at these dishes and tell us which one you have or which one looks closest to what you have.

 

[sebman2112]

Cables used by the dish tech were left over from my cable tv which was installed in the early to mid 80s. I had a try near the dish up until 2 weeks ago when the town cut it down so that shouldn't be an issue,

OK, while you might have a blockage issue due to snow, I wouldn't at all be surprised if it was those old cables giving you problems. Trust me, I've had that exact problem before, and I've known other techs who've run into this. That tech was a moron to install over old cables. It's the fast way out, but old cables can't handle the same capacity, which cuts down your signal strength, and makes it easier for the weather to effect your system.

 

[bruinator]

http://www.thesatelliteshop.net/bmz_cache/8/87c4cc456427211033432325f5d7defa.image.125x150.jpg

see that appendage at the bottom of the dish? That's the LNB fixture.
i
What Andy is talking about is a tab in the menu...you can easily walk through it with the aid of a tech on the phone...call 1-800-DIRECTV and follow the prompts.

I assume the LNB in that url is a dual and if there was another that would be a triple one?

 

[bruinator]

Cables used by the dish tech were left over from my cable tv witch was installed in the early to mid 80s.

Seb was right. Call that company up and tell them you want the appropriate cabling immediately. Jeezus, what kind of cretin installs a HD dish using analog wire?

I don't have an HD dish just normal dish.

 

[Ring 6]

Cables used by the dish tech were left over from my cable tv which was installed in the early to mid 80s. I had a try near the dish up until 2 weeks ago when the town cut it down so that shouldn't be an issue,

I had a problem with one of the 3 TVs. Had my wife calling directv and they sent a new receiver, it changed nothing, they were scheduling someone to come out. They had already come out 2-3 times, did something with the cabling, it worked for a few days then stopped.
I took it into my own hands.
Went down into the basement. You have what looks like a splitter (it could also be attached to the side of the house) The cables come from the dish to the 'splitter' then out to the TVs.
All I did was switch the 2 non-Tivo cable from the 'in' side of the splitter. Bam the one that didnt work, now worked and the one that did work didn't.
Wnet back down and reconnected them carefully so it was a good connection, and it has been fine since.
Not sure if that will help because you are having problems on all of them.

The thing that puzzles me is that all 3 arent doing the same thing.

 

[Joker]

yeah...look at the SAT page I linked up and tell us which one you have

 

[Joker]

The thing that puzzles me is that all 3 arent doing the same thing.

that why I think it's a covered LNB...if he has the dual LNB system the High Def node sounds like it's covered and the local channels one partly obscured. But still, like Seb said, no way you should have a new dish with old cables...it just doen't make sense.