Thread: Why would looking at signal strength "fix" reception (no check switch run)?

Was trying to look at something on Encore channels on Friday night - all of the SD were unwatchable but the HD versions were great (different satellites?).

Went to the setup screen to check the satellite signals - 119 was up around 75, 110 was fluctuating between 50 and 60, and 129 was going from 7 to 15.

According to those results, I should be able to watch anything but my locals (129).

Decided to check the locals. Of course, when I exited the setup screen, I was still tuned to one of the bad Encore channels I had been checking - it was fine. I checked the rest, all good. Checked my satellite locals - all good.

I rechecked the signal strengths, and got the same results as before.

What gives?

Because you gave the receiver time to re-acquire the signal and re-fill the buffer to start over. And this time, the data that was corrupted causing the problems initially (from burst errors or fluctuating signal) wasn't present when the signal was re-acquired.

So looking at the signal strength display caused some kind of reacquisition?

My brand new 722k has been doing this since I got it last week. The voices would get muffled so I check signal strength than cancel back and it will be fine for an hour or so. This is really getting anoying as my other receiver doesn't have this problem. What's the fix?

Originally Posted by GTAE86

Was trying to look at something on Encore channels on Friday night - all of the SD were unwatchable but the HD versions were great (different satellites?).

Went to the setup screen to check the satellite signals - 119 was up around 75, 110 was fluctuating between 50 and 60, and 129 was going from 7 to 15.

According to those results, I should be able to watch anything but my locals (129).

Decided to check the locals. Of course, when I exited the setup screen, I was still tuned to one of the bad Encore channels I had been checking - it was fine. I checked the rest, all good. Checked my satellite locals - all good.

I rechecked the signal strengths, and got the same results as before.

What gives?

So are you saying the tps that you get LIL on were displaying 7 to 15?

I did not change the transponders to see if anything changed - in my experience, that generally has little to no effect.

Basically, it looked like the signal strengths on 110 and 119 were adequate, so I should not have been seeing distortion on premium channels. However, the signal strength on 129 was marginal (not uncommon), so I should not have been able to view satellite locals - 129 was losing lock the signal was so low. However, the satellite locals were working fine, and I was having trouble on Encore channels. Also, my wife and I started to watch a movie we had recorded from STARZ - not sure what night - and it was unwatchable.

I have always had terrible signal strength on 129 due to LOS issues. I have never had problems with 119 or 110 until now.

If Dish would get busy and just put my HD locals on EA, then I could transition to that constellation entirely. I am not holding my breath - they have been promising it for over a year now.... I would be more than happy to go to EA and just watch Richmond, VA locals.

Hurry and wait on the transitioning to EA. The EA spotbeams are full.

...which is why those of us who could easily get the signal from an adjacent market that is already on EA should be allowed to do so.

Originally Posted by GTAE86

So looking at the signal strength display caused some kind of reacquisition?

Originally Posted by GTAE86

So looking at the signal strength display caused some kind of reacquisition?

Yes. Before we see what is playing on the screen, the received signal is processed and sent to the "buffer" where it stores up enough to give you an uninterrupted playout of the program. In the presence of compromised signal, sometimes the buffer isn't big enough, or doesn't have enough delay to store up enough data for a high quality output. But television requires "real-time" viewing so the show must go on. In the worst case scenario, your receiver will "lock up" requiring a re-boot. Sometimes you will lose signal lock, but most of the time the receiver will output the best it can depending on the amount and/or type of data corrupted.

As you went to check the screen, your receiver stopped displaying the picture. In a sense, this is sort of like a mini-reboot. The program you were watching didn't stop and the signal didn't either, but the decoding process stopped. When you went back to the program the receiver started "fresh", processing the signal as it was being received.

It is like with computers that use wireless signal. When you are getting low signal and you are downloading video, there are various things that may happen.

Sometimes your whole computer will "lock up" and fail to respond to anything. So you reboot. The same with digital receivers.

Sometimes, a video will come in slow and stop very frequently to buffer, or it will get "stuck" and not continue, or the quality will be poor. Sometimes when this happens, refreshing the page and starting again will get you far better results on the very same video in the same low signal environment. With digital receivers you get all of the above, or you get loss of signal message because the receiver is not allowed to just stop and wait to buffer longer. You gave the system a fresh start by viewing the signal screen.

Signal quality and strength don't tell you specifically what is lacking in the incoming signal. It only tells you that it IS lacking. Exactly which bits of data that are corrupted determines how it manifests in your system. Sometimes it is overall quality, sometimes a little pixelation, sometimes edge artifacts, sometimes audio sync, etc.

In regards to your signal readings, I would only expect trouble free performance from your 119 satellite. The 110 is only marginal and the 129 is too low.

What we need to remember is that signal is constantly changing due to burst errors, environmental influences and other factors. These factors are not generally reported via the signal meter, though we can sometimes see variation when checking the meter. The sum total of the signal power versus the noise power is signal quality.