Openbox S9 And A TP On 97W??

[Lone Gunman]

My Openbox S9 on the Raydx dish suddenly had a TP not show any quality yesterday and I'm not sure what the problem is?

I use 4120 V 30000 on 97W to set time on my systems, mainly because most of my recording is done on 97W and 99W and that TP has the correct time. It's a CBS feed that's not broadcasting all the time but that TP always has the correct time whether there's a program on it or black screen.

So yesterday I noticed that the time was off on the S9 when I went to do a recording on KRBK? So I went back to 97w and 4120 to set the clock, but there was "No Signal" on the TV screen??? Hummmm.............. So I checked on the Winegard system that's here in the shop also with the Micro HD and that TP had Rachael Ray on. S9 system still showed "No Signal" on the Raydx?? So I connected the spare S9 I have to that Raydx system and got "No Signal" with that one also??

Then I connected the AZ Elite to that Raydx system and went to 97W and 4120 and Rachael Ray was on, meaning it is the S9 Receiver not the dish/system?? Rescanned with the S9 and STILL can't get 4120 to lock or scan in?? WTF??

So I took that S9 and connected it to the Winegard dish and got no signal on 4120 there either???

So, what would make that S9 loose that TP? Did something change in the TP/ feed??

 

[bpalone]

Suppose this could have anything to do with their change over to Mpeg 4? Just wild thought on my part.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Suppose this could have anything to do with their change over to Mpeg 4? Just wild thought on my part.

Hummm, not sure? I know 4100 and 4080 are 4.2.2/MPEG4 but 4120 isn't 4.2.2 because the Micro HD and that junk V7 play it fine? Just the S9 won't? I was thinking I'd read somewhere that the AZ Elite wouldn't do MPEG4?

 

[Lone Gunman]

Did a little reading this morning and from what I've seen it seems the S9 is "suppose" to do MPEG4 video? What baffles me though is I get NO signal quality at all and that TP doesn't even scan in?

 

[Magic Static]

Well you touched on most aspects of the signal and considered if there could be an issue except the FC ratio. Could it have changed to one the S9 can't do?

 

[KE4EST]

Do you have just the one S9?

 

[Lone Gunman]

Do you have just the one S9?

No, I've got two and both are doing the same thing. Not only that, but now I'm having the same problems with the KRBK mux, ie, it's been "no signal" all day while that jumk V7 is sitting right next to it connected to that Winegard dish and is working like a champ on KRBK baseball??

Well you touched on most aspects of the signal and considered if there could be an issue except the FC ratio. Could it have changed to one the S9 can't do?

Not sure what you mean by FC ratio? If you mean FEC, the CBS feed is 5/6 and KRBK is 3/4 and it should do both of those as there's tons of TPs up there that use those settings.

 

[KennyR]

Change the transponder freq and or symbol rate up or down a few numbers and see if it will bring it in,, has worked for me before.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Change the transponder freq and or symbol rate up or down a few numbers and see if it will bring it in,, has worked for me before.

Tried this with numbers from 1 to 4 up and down and still a no go. Every other receiver I have will lock that CBS feed on this Raydx dish except the two S9s I have? And FYI, this Raydx dish was used with that 16 APSK mux we had for a few months last year.

I guess I'll just have to use RT on the Ku side of 97w to set the time from now on on the S9s.

Oh, and KRBK etc did come back over the weekend? I've read where others have had the same issue with that one from time to time.

 

[Lone Gunman]

UPDATE, those channels on 4120 V 30000 are back on my S9?? I happened to land on that TP yesterday and noticed there was programming active so they are back?? Now, if I only knew why they left??

 

[wvman]

UPDATE, those channels on 4120 V 30000 are back on my S9?? I happened to land on that TP yesterday and noticed there was programming active so they are back?? Now, if I only knew why they left??

I've had similar problems with MeTV Ozarks and Movies on 99W. One minute it will be working fine, the next, nothing. Loses all signal. In fact, as I am writing this, Movies started breaking up and I lost it. Changed over to MeTV and it's gone too. No signal whatsoever. Over a year ago, I lost THIS, the Puerto Rican channel, COZI and one other. Now, THIS is back on, still breaks up a bit, but watchable. I can roll one of my other dishes down to 99W, and it has no signal either.

I even lost Decades, H&I, Movies MeTV HD for the longest time, and now they are back on. I'll be damned if I know what's going on with these channels. I've tried 4 different receivers, all with the same results. I can watch MeTV Ozarks all evening up until 10PM when Hogan's Heroes comes on with no problem, and as soon as Hogan comes on, it starts breaking up. Right now, Movies and MeTV Ozarks has no signal whatsoever. Had 92/ 87 signal level and quality five minutes ago.

If C-Band analog had been this flaky, we would have had lawsuits out the wazoo. This is why I am not a big fan of digital broadcast. Just too unpredictable. Good thing this is a hobby.

 

[phlatwound]

...I can watch MeTV Ozarks all evening up until 10PM when Hogan's Heroes comes on with no problem, and as soon as Hogan comes on, it starts breaking up...

These channels are OTA for me (Springfield MO DMA) and we have noticed similar drops in power in the OTA signal around that time, almost like they are decreasing the power every night.

I'm not smart enough to understand wtph is going on with frequency allocations and all the moves that have taken place but something is different OTA-wise in the last couple of months.

 

[Cham]

Regarding OTA reception... Jusy FYI.
Be aware ATSC is very sensitive to interference from wifi, cell towers, and other RF signal sources. My TV antenna is located about 40ft above my wifi a/p, the latter installed about 10ft off the ground. When the a/p is running I miss several somewhat-nearby channels, 12 (VHF), 16, and 21 (both UHF). When I turn off the a/p, these channels come in perfectly, zero BER and 70-100%Q. This is using a Ubiquiti wifi radio/antenna combo set to a medium power level (as low as I can get good client reception), dropping it to lowest power setting helps but does not eliminate the interference. Also, using a shielded cat6e STP cable has helped significantly, otherwise I would only get one channel!

Adding a screen above the a/p didn't help.

In a populated area where everyone has a wifi router and many RF emitters, I can only imagine the interference issues!

I managed to install an antenna in a different location and use two HDHomeRun receivers to pick up local channels and DX now, connected to the main switch using several hundred feet buried cat7stp cable. No interferece at that site. Works for me but I have a large yard where I can do this...

 

[wvman]

These channels are OTA for me (Springfield MO DMA) and we have noticed similar drops in power in the OTA signal around that time, almost like they are decreasing the power every night.

I'm not smart enough to understand wtph is going on with frequency allocations and all the moves that have taken place but something is different OTA-wise in the last couple of months.

We have one OTA channel near us, but since the FCC forced the locals to go digital, we can't get them out where I live. I am in a valley on the south slope of the hill between them and us. No one out here gets their locals since they forced everyone to go digital. MeTV Ozarks and Movies went off at 11AM and still have not came back on. I have no signal at all on MeTV and Movies will bounce up and down from Zero to 60% and back off. I still get MeTV HD and Movies on SES1, but nothing on Galaxy 16.

There are several channels on Galaxy 16 that are flaky and only come in part of the time, but this is the 1st time MeTV and Movies went completely off and did not come back on. I went in this morning and edited the transponder frequency up and down a few Mhz, but it did nothing to bring them back in. I am relatively sure it's not the LNB drifting because I have one dish in the array that is still movable and I moved it down to Galaxy 16 and they were out on it too.

Not sure what's going on. I don't watch MeTV much since their summer lineup sucks pretty bad. I do like Hogan's Heroes and Perry Mason. FeTV also carries Perry Mason. I'd love to know what's causing all this. If Titanium had the dual output LNB's with the Wifi filters in it, I'd buy two of them and see if I'm getting interference from that.

 

[wvman]

Regarding OTA reception... Jusy FYI.
Be aware ATSC is very sensitive to interference from wifi, cell towers, and other RF signal sources. My TV antenna is located about 40ft above my wifi a/p, the latter installed about 10ft off the ground. When the a/p is running I miss several somewhat-nearby channels, 12 (VHF), 16, and 21 (both UHF). When I turn off the a/p, these channels come in perfectly, zero BER and 70-100%Q. This is using a Ubiquiti wifi radio/antenna combo set to a medium power level (as low as I can get good client reception), dropping it to lowest power setting helps but does not eliminate the interference. Also, using a shielded cat6e STP cable has helped significantly, otherwise I would only get one channel!

Adding a screen above the a/p didn't help.

In a populated area where everyone has a wifi router and many RF emitters, I can only imagine the interference issues!

I managed to install an antenna in a different location and use two HDHomeRun receivers to pick up local channels and DX now, connected to the main switch using several hundred feet buried cat7stp cable. No interferece at that site. Works for me but I have a large yard where I can do this...

I get my internet out here from a local wireless provider that uses 900Mhz and 2.5Ghz to transmit to their customers. Their tower cannot see my dishes, but I'm left wondering if their tower isn't the culprit with these channels messing up. I need to get a field strength meter that's capable of detecting 900Mhz and 2.5Ghz to see how hard it's hitting the area where my dishes are. They are in the process of installing fiber cable out here, and I don't think the wireless internet will be around long when the fiber gets here.

It could be a self-curing problem. I wouldn't miss them. They are the biggest bunch of liars you ever seen. They promised 3mbps service, and I have never got that in 3 years (.5mbps or lower), and if you complain, they just ask you if you want to disconnect. They know I'm stuck because they know I need internet to stay connected with the office I work at. Team Viewer will not work with satellite internet. I have 7 computers I service and I can do it at home via Team Viewer. The best day of my life will be when fiber gets here and I can tell them where to stick their equipment.

 

[Cham]

Yes, fiber is where it's at these days. RF will be around for a long time though since most use mobile devices these days. I try to keep any 2.4 (and 5.8)GHz at least out of the house, except for an ipad the Wife and I use once in a while, and I tried to shield the house from the wifi a/p with the tower, as well as pointing it away.

If you have a wifi router or client radio, try turning it/them off and scan for channels. If some channels disappear when you turn the wifi back on, you have found your trouble.

 

[wvman]

Yes, fiber is where it's at these days. RF will be around for a long time though since most use mobile devices these days. I try to keep any 2.4 (and 5.8)GHz at least out of the house, except for an ipad the Wife and I use once in a while, and I tried to shield the house from the wifi a/p with the tower, as well as pointing it away.

If you have a wifi router or client radio, try turning it/them off and scan for channels. If some channels disappear when you turn the wifi back on, you have found your trouble.

I mentioned earlier that MeTV Ozarks and Movies were off. Now it's back on and running at 85% signal and 78% SQ. I watched THIS all weekend and I haven't had it for a year. When the 1st two channels went off, I switched over to the 12 foot dish, and it was completely gone there as well. I find it odd that these two channels would be gone on Galaxy 16, with both working on SES1. I'm up a tree on this one. Have no idea how they could be booming in one minute and completely gone the next.

Maybe Titanium could chime in on this one, or perhaps he has a solution.

 

[Titanium]

If you have a PCIe / USB tuner or a spectrum analyzer, compare the spectrum display between when channels are viewable and not. You are experiencing signal loss on channels and during times that others are not. I wold lean towards agreeing with your suspecting localized interference.

 

[phlatwound]

I hadn't checked the sat feed in a long time but the recent OTA dropouts we have been having prompted me to swing the trusty beat-to-heck-but-well-tuned 10' Perfect 10 over to 99W yesterday.

Since then I have checked several times and seen a consistent 79-83%Q (3844 H 8703) using a microHD.

 

[waylew]

I mentioned earlier that MeTV Ozarks and Movies were off. Now it's back on and running at 85% signal and 78% SQ. I watched THIS all weekend and I haven't had it for a year. When the 1st two channels went off, I switched over to the 12 foot dish, and it was completely gone there as well. I find it odd that these two channels would be gone on Galaxy 16, with both working on SES1. I'm up a tree on this one. Have no idea how they could be booming in one minute and completely gone the next.

Maybe Titanium could chime in on this one, or perhaps he has a solution.

SES 1 channels are the actual feeds,G16 channels are retrans from KRBK,two separate entities.Also the G16 channels are horizontal and the SES 1's are vertical,which can make a difference in how interference affects them.