Parts, soldering iron, etc.
I've had 6 years experience repairing consumer electronics, and 12 years in RF design/troubleshooting. Here are my recommendations:
N.B. Only go as far as you need to in order to fix the problem. It's too easy to break something else if you continue further. If part of this is beyond your equipment or abilities, stop there and get help. Better to do that than to do more damage. USE CAUTION AROUND THE POWER SUPPLY, THE 110VAC CAN KILL (or at least give you a nasty shock)
1. Soldering iron: Use a 30W iron from Radio Shack, just BE SURE TO CONNECT THE BARREL TO GROUND.
1A: Wear a grounded wrist strap (Radio Shack
1B: Work on a grounded antistatic mat (Radio Shack??? Digi--Key, MCM Electronics)
2. Replacement board: If the receiver is not too old (<5 yrs) AND if you can locate the manufacturer, SOMETIMES you can get a new PC board assembly. It might or might not be expensive. In any case, try. The worst answer you'll get is a $300 price or "sorry we can't sell you one," or no luck at all.
3. Ebay for a receiver of the same make and model for the right price, swap boards.
4. Be gentle when desoldering, it's easy to crack or overheat these kind of PCBs.
5. MCM Electronics, Digi-Key Electronics are two good parts sources.
6. For the module: With the receiver on, use a meter (better an oscilloscope) to look at the voltages on all of the pins. Typically one pin is the output, one is ground, and one is +5VDC. The output is usually digital, going between 0-5V typically (can go 0.8V low level to 1.6V high level as a worst case for TTL logic) with a pulse rate of 38-44 kHz (maximum, digital pulse streams are not constent frequency) as I recall. Get your ground from the satellite input connector's outer screw-on part.
Match the pinout on the old module with the new module.
If you can see the digital output (oscilloscope) check the old module when using the remote to see if its output is good (see above.)
Trace a (good) module output all of the way to the microprocessor. If it measures good on the actual microprocessor pin it's connected to, then it's probably time to replace the receiver. Otherwise find the bd resistor, capacitor, connection which is stopping it.
Troubleshooting microprocessor problems generally requires the full service manual and good manufacturer support. Even then, with good troubleshooting, with knnown good power, ground, clock and reset signals on the part, many times the microprocessor isn't bad, as proven by replacement not fixing the problem.
You can also check every pin on the microprocessor. Unless they are specifically noted to be analog inputs (such as a signal strength sensing pine) or analog outputs (such as audio,) they'll generally be 0V, 5V or a data stream swinging between 0-5V. If not, find out why and fix it.
Probing the surface mount parts (which many are these days, and most microprocessors are) is very tricky and risky. IC's especially can be damaged by shorting adjacent pins. The pins on some parts are only 0.020" apart on-centers! Get good probes and sharpen to needle points for this, brace your hands and make sure they are rock steady.