Ohio Receiver not working in California - Help

g4dyr · Mar 16, 2013

We have 3 DirecTV receivers in our Ohio home and I just came to work in Palo Alto, CA for two months.
My apartment has a DirecTV dish all setup and the previous short term tenant assures me he was receiving DirecTV ok a month ago.
So I bought the bedroom receiver with me and a small TV.
Hooked it all up as normal and no signal received.
I am a radio amateur and know what I am doing connecting and setting up antennas sat dishes & receivers etc.
Checked the transponders on 101 and 0 signal strength, have used the red button reset several times
I am presuming that in California the signals are not on same frequencies or something similar.
Suggestions please ??

Thanks ... Roy

Juan · Mar 16, 2013

I think your dish is out of allignment

raoul5788 · Mar 16, 2013

to Satelliteguys Roy!

What model of Directv box do you have? Is your setup in Ohio a swm type? How about the dish in Ohio and California? Are they the same?

g4dyr · Mar 16, 2013

Thanks for trying to help.
The receiver is a Model H20-100, I do not know what "swm" type is.
The sat dish at home looks identical to the sat dish here.
A caveat, is that at home we have 2 DirecTV dishes, the other one is for receiving the Korean channels 2080 and up.
All receivers at home have the SUP 2400 B Band Converter on the Sat In connector.
I have tried with and without the B Band converter no signal strength received on the 101 transponders.

Roy

Jimbo · Mar 16, 2013

g4dyr said:
Thanks for trying to help.
The receiver is a Model H20-100, I do not know what "swm" type is.
The sat dish at home looks identical to the sat dish here.
A caveat, is that at home we have 2 DirecTV dishes, the other one is for receiving the Korean channels 2080 and up.
All receivers at home have the SUP 2400 B Band Converter on the Sat In connector.
I have tried with and without the B Band converter no signal strength received on the 101 transponders.

Roy

Go to your Menu/Settings/Sat and Antenna/Repeat Sat Set Up/dash then the correct dish type needs to be selected.

So, you'll want to find out what the actual dish is that is installed.

IF, it's a SWM dish, you'll need a Power Inserter in the line in order to get power to the LNB, this could very well be the reason you have no signal on any sats.

Look to see the location the last guy had his recvr, is there 1 line coming out of the wall or 2 and do they go out to the dish ?

Before you get a PI, lets check with others here about your recvr, I don't remember, but the H20 may or may not handle SWM.

If you look at the back of the recvr, theres 1 Sat input.
It says Sat Input, does it also say SWM or anything else ... ? FM...(FTM) something like that .
Can't remember, it's been a LONG time since I had a H20

raoul5788 · Mar 16, 2013

The H20 does swm, it doesn't do whole home dvr. It should say ftm on the input from the dish, not swm.

Jimbo · Mar 16, 2013

raoul5788 said:
The H20 does swm, it doesn't do whole home dvr. It should say ftm on the input from the dish, not swm.

Thats what I was trying to remember the FTM ...

Thanks Chip !

If thats the case, then I bet he just doesn't have the PI hooked up, which they may have taken with them.

moghedien14 · Mar 16, 2013

Do you have access to the all the cabling/equipment from your receiver to the dish? Is there a MDU System Operator that maintains the Directv system for the entire building? I ask because MDU buildings don't necessarily require you to have a power inserter in the apartment to power the SWM. Introducing a power inserter to an already powered SWM may cause problems. So if you could give a more complete description of your setup would be helpful...

g4dyr · Mar 16, 2013

Thanks guys, we will make a number of checks and report back here in next few days.

Cheers
Roy - W8/G4DYR

Jimbo · Mar 16, 2013

moghedien14 said:
Do you have access to the all the cabling/equipment from your receiver to the dish? Is there a MDU System Operator that maintains the Directv system for the entire building? I ask because MDU buildings don't necessarily require you to have a power inserter in the apartment to power the SWM. Introducing a power inserter to an already powered SWM may cause problems. So if you could give a more complete description of your setup would be helpful...

I am under the impression that the D* units at his apt are individual units, getting D* on thier own, not as a whole for the entire apt.

YES, IF it's a MDU, the PI probably isn't required, but IF he's using a unit set up for JUST his apt, he'll probably need one.
This would be a strong reason for him having NO Signal Strength as the LNB needs the PI to have power to run the LNB.

g4dyr · Mar 16, 2013

moghedien14 said:
Do you have access to the all the cabling/equipment from your receiver to the dish? Is there a MDU System Operator that maintains the Directv system for the entire building? I ask because MDU buildings don't necessarily require you to have a power inserter in the apartment to power the SWM. Introducing a power inserter to an already powered SWM may cause problems. So if you could give a more complete description of your setup would be helpful...

This is a small apartment and the Sat Dish just feeds my apartment.
Yes, I access to all the cabling, but the dish is on the roof and can't access it without getting up there.

Here is a photo of the dish on the roof .........................

Thanks again, you folk are great !

Roy - W8/G4DYR

raoul5788 · Mar 16, 2013

Can you get a picture that shows the cable/cables coming from the dish?

g4dyr · Mar 16, 2013

raoul5788 said:
Can you get a picture that shows the cable/cables coming from the dish?

It is just a single white coaxial cable that comes down from dish, through the wall into the living room.

Roy

raoul5788 · Mar 16, 2013

That means it's a swm setup. You need a power inserter, but find out first if there is already one connected.

mr.crane · Mar 31, 2013

Does direct allow to use a receiver from one state to next state? Will they not know you disconnected receiver?

raoul5788 · Mar 31, 2013

They wouldn't know unless you connect it to a phone line. I'm assuming no one is using it at your home when you are using it on the road, yes? If they are, that's not allowable.

mr.crane · Apr 1, 2013

thanks for the explanation

g4dyr · Apr 1, 2013

Thanks to all for great help.
The receiver is now working fine, I bought the Power Inserter and reset the system up for a SWM dish and all is good.
On the question, "does Directv allow the use of a receiver in another state" the receiver is paid for every month, so DirecTV are not losing anything at all.
Only the main receiver at home is connected to a phone line, no phone lines in the other rooms where we the other 3 receivers are normally used.

Again, thanks to all who chimed in with the help to get this unit up and running in my temporary apartment in California.

raoul5788 · Apr 1, 2013

g4dyr said:
Thanks to all for great help.
The receiver is now working fine, I bought the Power Inserter and reset the system up for a SWM dish and all is good.
On the question, "does Directv allow the use of a receiver in another state" the receiver is paid for every month, so DirecTV are not losing anything at all.
Only the main receiver at home is connected to a phone line, no phone lines in the other rooms where we the other 3 receivers are normally used.

Again, thanks to all who chimed in with the help to get this unit up and running in my temporary apartment in California.

Not to belabor the point, but if one account is being used in more than one location at the same time, Directv is losing out.

g4dyr · Apr 1, 2013

raoul5788 said:
Not to belabor the point, but if one account is being used in more than one location at the same time, Directv is losing out.

Not so, the receiver when in Ohio is used at the same time as 3 other receivers in my home. Often they are all on at the same time.
Also, if this receiver did not work here in CA, I most certainly would not be buying another subscription for what is now just the next 4 weeks.
AND, I have been a subscriber to DirecTV since 1998, currently paying over $200 month, a very loyal customer don't you think !

Ohio Receiver not working in California - Help

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