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Thank you for your reply as it help us get on the right track. It was not a typo and we were indeed locked on A5. Using 4128 and setting up both dishes side by side mad easier to get to the correct satellite. We are getting signal levels in the low 70's now however the big mystery is that it works. I was under the impression with the new Quad LNB's a call to SC was required for them to do something to the receiver to enable it. The other observation is that even with the higher signal level we are seeing some channels still "blip" in and out although on much fewer channels - 506 and 513 - seem the most noticeable.

Do you know if we should make that call to SC and would they do something that would improve? I have found information on this board more reliable than SC so would like your thoughts/experience on this? Again - thank you so much for the help.

Well we have now recorded most of the channels that come in solid and those that flicker or blank out (about half). Can anyone confirm what signal level is required to guarantee a solid picture? I am starting to wonder if there is something (compatibility) with the broadcast signal and the receiver I have. So the other question is there anywhere I can verify the correct firmware revs for the receiver DSR-400. SC help is not much help as they keep telling it is the dish pointed incorrectly but offer little explanation as to why we can watch one channel without failure and then switch to 299 and watch the fireplace blink in and out at the same signal level. They then tried to blame it on a snow storm in Ontario however one of the channels that works was from Kingston and the fireplace is supposed to be coming from Calgary which is clear. I am off today to by a brand new cable just in case however I am not optimistic and everything I am seeing leaves me to believe this unique to the up-link signal not the down-link.

Can someone tell Steve how to get into the diagnostics screen to read the EBNO readings on the 400? I am sorry I have forgot since last summer when our 400 died because the CMOS battery bit the farm. Oh well, a 205 was easily had at a garage sale for $5.

The EBNO readings are much more reliable than the signal strengh meter anyways.

Yes we did get about 3 inches of smow last night from a storm in Michigan - the sticky kind - had to go out and knock some off the lnb. This is the first time I have ever had to do this - must be the extra S/N ratio needed for 8SPK.

Hope this helps.
Satboyz

Steve : Is yours a 405?

Steve:

I know you mentioned something about a 400, but is your receiver a DSR405? If so, (in case you did not know/have this already), here's the link to your receiver's user manual

http://www.starchoice.com/english/store/download/DSR405_manual_e.pdf

All manuals can be found at Star Choice - Customer Care - User Manuals

As SatGuyz suggested, have you tuned into those problematic channels and then going into diagnostics to check signal strength/Ebnos on those channels? The manual tells you the steps to fine-tune and you could use those in any specific channel also. A quick look at manual page 22 (page 36 per adobe acrobat reader) and if the steps listed there are accurate (Other 405 owners can chime in):
(1) go to your problematic channel
(2) Press OPTIONS on your remote
(3) Press 6 (system settings)
(4) Press 3
(5) Press 1
(6) Enter "4128" for Provider ID.
(7) That should list you signal strength in the box named 'Signal'

If all that is fine, the only other question I have is I know you had a round dish previously. Was the LNBs starchoice supplied? Were they Stacked? The new 75E dish has non-stacked LNBFs and if that is the case, no harm in calling Starchoice and asking for a re-hit, since you switched from a stacked lnbf to non-stacked. From what I gathered from this forum, when you do this, make sure that you are on channel 299 when you make this call.

Good luck and post your results/solution for this 'unique' problem.

Again thanks for the guidance. It is a DSR405. If you view the signal level on a channel by channel basis you will see some variation but in general the level for a channel goes from a low of 65 to a high of 78 when viewing the tune in signal selection (6-3-1). If you look at status (6-4) you will get readings sometimes as high as 90 but in general it tracks slightly higher than 6-3-1.
We just got off the phone with Star Choice and then did a complete reset of our receiver with no change in symptoms. I have made an observation that there is something in the content of what is being broadcast and the symptom of stations blinking in and out. We were watching a show on 322 that was fine until the station would broadcast a banner ad at the bottom and the flickering would start immediately. As soon as the ad was gone the picture stabilized again and was fine. During commercials the problem returned - when the show returned - no problem. Which leads me to believe it is something in the content of the signal. I also noticed if there is a bad signal and you hit info the picture in the background comes in clear until the receiver text is turned off and the signal blinks out almost immediately.

Star Choice has told us the receiver has gone bad and we will need to replace it and they can not do much for us until they have tried this - good news it is covered and the replacement is free. Bad news I need to arrange for shipment.

Should anyone have further info or suggestions it would be appreciated - when I arrange to return the receiver and get the new one back I will continue my story.