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Titanium said:

If this happens regularly, use a spectrum display to see if the noise floor is raised during the outage or if the satellite signal is reduced. Easy to figure out if the problem is because the satellite signal is being attenuated or interference is wiping out the satellite signal.

A cheap SDR RTL USB dongle connected to a PC or android and placed inline with a voltage blocked splitter would work fine if you don't have access to a satellite meter with a calibrated spectrum display. Just tune the SDR to the IF of one of the problematic transponders ( LO Frequency minus the C-band TP frequency).

Example: 5150 - 3900 = 1250 IF. Take note of the dB strength with e SDR in fixed gain mode. Also tune to a unused frequency between the TPs and not the noise level in dB (see satsignature.com for real-time spectrum display of active frequency range). This measurement is the noise threshold level and it will rise or fall with interference. Compare the peak TP measurement to the noise threshold and this will provide the approxiomate SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). An increase in the SNR is good! A decrease in the SNR is bad and if the margin gets too small, the transponder will not lock or decode.

Radar should be outside the C-band frequency range, but harmonics or other onboard gear could be the cause.

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wvman said:

It almost sounds like what happened to some of my channels on Galaxy 16. This, and some other channels will no longer lock, and they worked perfectly for over a year on a 7 1/2 foot dish. The problem is, I'm 8 miles out in the country, down in a hole between 4 mountains, and I can't even see a cell tower from here. I checked for local wifi setups, and couldn't find any other than my own. I even turned off the wireless transmitter in my modem, and still have the problem. I have wireless internet, but my antenna is 40 feet in the air so I can see over the hill to get an open shot to the tower my internet is coming off of. Not sure what's going on.

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Shicks4 said:

Did your electric company install a smart meter. I recently had one installed and discovered every time it sends a data burst (about every 10 seconds) on the lower power channels it completly knocks them out. so i go from picture to black screen every 10 seconds. I even see signal decrease on the higher power channels (on the meter) but its not enough to degrade picture quality.

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Shicks4 said:

I only mention it because it appears that is what is causing the interference. I only have a few simple methods available to check this but from what I can see it is highly likely it is the culprit. Also went to ask if there was an opt out to be able to go back to a non transmitting meter and they flatly stated there is no opt out provision.

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Shicks4 said:

Did your electric company install a smart meter. I recently had one installed and discovered every time it sends a data burst (about every 10 seconds) on the lower power channels it completly knocks them out. so i go from picture to black screen every 10 seconds. I even see signal decrease on the higher power channels (on the meter) but its not enough to degrade picture quality.

Click to expand...