Can anyone explain the logic in this?

[highskies]

Can anyone explain the logic in this?


Yesterday afternoon we had a lightning and thunderstorm in the area. Just outside at the time we heard a loud pop and it sounded bad close. I assumed at the time lightning hit something close then, but at the time it never dawned on me what it may have hit. We usually don't watch tv much in the daytime, but at night my wife loves to watch the Justice ch on 97w.

So last night she went to turn the tv on but it wouldn't come on. She then asked me to see if I could figure out why. The tv and the MicroHD is plugged into one of those cheap power strips you might plug a computer into it, and that the powerstrip red light was still on. Then I discovered the MicroHD was no longer coming on either. So I tried both the lcd tv and MicroHD in another wall outlet, not using the power strip this time. Still neither would come on.

Here's where the logic isn't making sense. As to my Cband dish I have the motor hooked up to the 4dtv 922 and that that is plugged into a different outlet altogether. The 922 is still working fine and still moves the dish.
The C1-PLL is directly connected to the MicroHD. Putting two and two together then, the loud pop we heard outside must have been a direct hit to the LNBF. But looking at the LNBF, not a mark on it anywhere. It doesn't make sense if it took a direct hit how it then looks like nothing happened to it at all. And it also doesn't make sense how this lightning hit apparently fried the MicroHD and tv, but didn't also fry the power strip these were plugged into it, not to mention, didn't affect the 4dtv either. And on top of that, we never heard any pops in the house. I took the 2 screws out of the bottom of the MicroHD to look inside. Nothing appears to be burnt or melted or anything.

So what is the logic in this then? The way it also got the tv, I'm assuming is because the HDMI cable was connected to it at the time through the MicroHD.

 

[FTA4PA]

Can anyone explain the logic in this?


Yesterday afternoon we had a lightning and thunderstorm in the area. Just outside at the time we heard a loud pop and it sounded bad close. I assumed at the time lightning hit something close then, but at the time it never dawned on me what it may have hit. We usually don't watch tv much in the daytime, but at night my wife loves to watch the Justice ch on 97w.

So last night she went to turn the tv on but it wouldn't come on. She then asked me to see if I could figure out why. The tv and the MicroHD is plugged into one of those cheap power strips you might plug a computer into it, and that the powerstrip red light was still on. Then I discovered the MicroHD was no longer coming on either. So I tried both the lcd tv and MicroHD in another wall outlet, not using the power strip this time. Still neither would come on.

Here's where the logic isn't making sense. As to my Cband dish I have the motor hooked up to the 4dtv 922 and that that is plugged into a different outlet altogether. The 922 is still working fine and still moves the dish.
The C1-PLL is directly connected to the MicroHD. Putting two and two together then, the loud pop we heard outside must have been a direct hit to the LNBF. But looking at the LNBF, not a mark on it anywhere. It doesn't make sense if it took a direct hit how it then looks like nothing happened to it at all. And it also doesn't make sense how this lightning hit apparently fried the MicroHD and tv, but didn't also fry the power strip these were plugged into it, not to mention, didn't affect the 4dtv either. And on top of that, we never heard any pops in the house. I took the 2 screws out of the bottom of the MicroHD to look inside. Nothing appears to be burnt or melted or anything.

So what is the logic in this then? The way it also got the tv, I'm assuming is because the HDMI cable was connected to it at the time through the MicroHD.

Sorry to hear that! I've found there is no logic to a lightning strike. When we got hit it took out both a c and ku lnb plus the receiver. It did not affect the Vbox7 or tv hooked to the receiver but did take out the kids computer on another circuit in another room! I now routinely disconnect coax and unplug equipment as a precaution whenever I know there will be storms in the area.

 

[highskies]

I now routinely disconnect coax and unplug equipment as a precaution whenever I know there will be storms in the area.

That's what I'm going to do from now on myself, if I ever get the money to get another receiver that is. Currently I can't afford one, not even one of those cheap X2 Premium Mini HD STB I see on Ebay for around 40 bucks shipped. We do have other tvs, but it still sux that the main one we watched got fried. Plus I do have a cpl of spare lnbfs, though not a C1-PLL . As to the RG6 this was connected to at the time, could lightning have messed that up as well somehow? And if yes, I wouldn't have the money to replace that either, and I don't have a spare RG6 cable laying around, 50 feet or longer.

 

[highskies]

Those that still have a 4dtv, on my 922 the DC part quit working altogether ages ago, but I could still tune analog chs on it at the time. Are there still any active analog chs I could try, to maybe see if the RG6 cable is still good, plus to verify the C1-PLL is fried as well, which I'm assuming it must be?

 

[FTA4PA]

Those that still have a 4dtv, on my 922 the DC part quit working altogether ages ago, but I could still tune analog chs on it at the time. Are there still any active analog chs I could try, to maybe see if the RG6 cable is still good, plus to verify the C1-PLL is fried as well, which I'm assuming it must be?

Two were mentioned here back in February: http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/posts/3826909/

 

[FTA4PA]

That's what I'm going to do from now on myself, if I ever get the money to get another receiver that is. Currently I can't afford one, not even one of those cheap X2 Premium Mini HD STB I see on Ebay for around 40 bucks shipped. We do have other tvs, but it still sux that the main one we watched got fried. Plus I do have a cpl of spare lnbfs, though not a C1-PLL . As to the RG6 this was connected to at the time, could lightning have messed that up as well somehow? And if yes, I wouldn't have the money to replace that either, and I don't have a spare RG6 cable laying around, 50 feet or longer.

Anything is possible with lightning but hopefully your coax survived, ours did. I have an X2 M1 receiver w/ remote. It's DVB/MPEG2 only so it won't do DVB-S2 or MPEG4 channels. Don't know what channels you usually watch but if it would be helpful to you it's yours if you want it.

 

[highskies]

BTW, the HDMI cable that was hooked up to the tv at the time, the 32 inch Sony tv I also use as a PC monitor, my Nvidia graphics card supports HDMI, so I plugged that into the card, then into the tv, all I get is a black screen when switching to theHDMI port it is on on the Sony. I guess it fried the HDMI cable somehow as well then.

 

[highskies]

Anything is possible with lightning but hopefully your coax survived, ours did. I have an X2 M1 receiver w/ remote. It's DVB/MPEG2 only so it won't do DVB-S2 or MPEG4 channels. Don't know what channels you usually watch but if it would be helpful to you it's yours if you want it.

I appreciate the offer, and if it did S2, I wouldn't be too proud to take you up on the offer, but pretty much everything we watch is mainly S2 content. I doubt that we could find much to watch on dvbs chs only, meaning the kind of things we enjoy watching. The X2 M1s I saw on Ebay said they do S2 as well, so I'm assuming there must be different models with basically the same name or something. But I still appreciate the offer though, thanks.

 

[FTA4PA]

I appreciate the offer, and if it did S2, I wouldn't be too proud to take you up on the offer, but pretty much everything we watch is mainly S2 content. I doubt that we could find much to watch on dvbs chs only, meaning the kind of things we enjoy watching. The X2 M1s I saw on Ebay said they do S2 as well, so I'm assuming there must be different models with basically the same name or something. But I still appreciate the offer though, thanks.

Yes, this is the older M1 that they offered a couple years back. It's good for 97w and some other channels on several satellites which haven't switched to DVB-S2 yet. No problem and if you change your mind the offer still stands.

 

[waylew]

Do you have a volt meter?If so check that the power supply for the Micro HD is still putting out 12 volts DC,if not that may be all that's wrong with the micro.

 

[highskies]

BTW, I used to have a fairly good job in the past, that's when I acquired most of the things I have now. But the kind of work I do, it's been pretty slow around here for the past 7 years or so, and when I do work, mostly just grocery money since that's where it mainly goes to. My wife is drawing social security since she's a bit older than me. If it weren't for that, we would have been homeless a long time ago. But there is no extra money left for other things. We barely make it through the month the way it is, then then has to happen to us yesterday, and the fact I have enjoyed this hobby for years.

 

[highskies]

Do you have a volt meter?If so check that the power supply for the Micro HD is still putting out 12 volts DC,if not that may be all that's wrong with the micro.

No I don't, but I think my wife's brother might. Even if I had one, not certain how to use it. If that ends up being all that's wrong with the MicroHD, what does that mean as far as repairing it?

 

[Titanium]

Is the coax grounded via a ground block before entering the home? If so, where is the ground wire connected? Is the dish ground bonded to the structure ground?

The dish was not directly hit, otherwise you would probably see widespread damage throughout the home rather than just a damaged STB and TV input . Likely an EMF generated by a nearby lightning was discharged to ground via the path of least resistance. It is possible that the LNBF is not damaged and the voltage surge traveled down the shield of the coax, through the micro, HDMI cable and port into the TV. Since the microHD uses an external ac/dc power supply, there is no connection to ground, so the voltage would seek a path to ground via the TV set. The 922 is probably grounded to the electrical outlet via the power cord?

 

[highskies]

Is the coax grounded via a ground block before entering the home? If so, where is the ground wire connected? Is the dish ground bonded to the structure ground?

The dish was not directly hit, otherwise you would probably see widespread damage throughout the home rather than just a damaged STB and TV input . Likely an EMF generated by a nearby lightning was discharged to ground via the path of least resistance. It is possible that the LNBF is not damaged and the voltage surge traveled down the shield of the coax, through the micro, HDMI cable and port into the TV. Since the microHD uses an external ac/dc power supply, there is no connection to ground, so the voltage would seek a path to ground via the TV set. The 922 is probably grounded to the electrical outlet via the power cord?

If there is still any analog chs ITC in the 4DTV, I should be able to hook up the C1-Pll to the 4dtv in order to verify. Is there any analog at all remaining per the 4dtv? According to Lyngsat it looks like there may be one on AMC 10 at 135.0°W, tr 9. But then again, don't know if Lyngsat always keeps things up to date all of the time. I can't really check atm since it looks like it might start raining out there again, and I'd rather not chance it, though I realize lightning striking the same place two days in the row is probably unlikely.

As far as grounding, I had the dish grounded in the past but apparently no longer do, though I can't recall why I still don't? So unfortunately it wasn't grounded at all.

 

[highskies]

Hmmm....the last time I looked outside it looked pretty cloudy, so I assumed it still was. I just looked outside now after making my last post, hardly a cloud in the sky now. I guess the rain has maybe moved out of the area then. So I guess I can check after all then, maybe after lunch, assuming there is an analog ch to try.

 

[Jason S]

Reading through this reminded me of this thread: Lightning strike and the discussion about putting a loop (or several) in coax runs...

 

[FaT Air]

You could also put a 10 buck satellite meter inline and see if there's any responses as the dish moves
Jason, I got loops in all coax and wires entering the house, and never been hit. Tree in the backyard wasn't as fortunate a few yrs ago. (no damage at that time, other than a deceased tree)

 

[highskies]

Here's what I just tried. I hooked the C1-Pll straight into the 922 via the RG6 that got struck last night. It registered 10 as Signal. If I recall correctly, that means no power at all per the 922. So I then took the C1-Pll off the dish and brought it inside, then hooked it up the 922 via about a 6' cable. The signal now showed about 86. Would that be a good sign that the C1-Pll [possibly suffered no damage then?

 

[Titanium]

A very good chance that it is not damaged! The presence of an IF signal on the coax indicates that the amplifier output portion of the LNBF is working. Now to actually see a satellite signal to confirm the downconvertor input section has not been damaged.

 

[highskies]

You could also put a 10 buck satellite meter inline and see if there's any responses as the dish moves

I actually have one of those if I can recall where I put it. But it looks like the lightning did damage to the RG6, apparently. Don't have any spare RG6 lying around, which needs to be 50' at least, unless I can find some out in the shed. Maybe I put some out there in the past, except I don't recall if I did. I do have a 100' RG6 cable hooked up the 31" motorized dish. But it might be a hassle rerouting it to the big dish since one dish is in one section of the property, the other dish in another section. Fortunately I wasn't using a switch yesterday afternoon I mean, thus the 31" dish wasn't even connected to anything at the time, otherwise it may have destroyed that lnbf for sure, or at least messed up that RG6 as well. Making a lot of typos here...Arrrggg!