Channel Guide And Freezing Problem

[Bobmann]

This DirecTV installation has functioned for 5+ years or so. I am in Raleigh, NC. I had to reset the dish (5 LMB slimline dish) due to a broken pole mount. The dish is about 100 ft from the HD DVR receiver (hr21-100). Original installation was done by a Directv contractor.
It worked for several months since re-positioning. Now I keep getting error messages something to the fact that channel guide information has been lost for 1 (or 4 or 7 hours). The picture on all channels started freezing for an instant which gave the picture a jerky appearance every few seconds.
I can reset the receiver (HR21-100) and it works fine for a few hours, then begins to freeze again. Sometimes the channel guide has "regular schedule" or something on all channels. I also sometimes get a "771 searching for signal" message during the reset. When that happens, the channel guide is missing. If it resets without the 771 error, the channel guide is there, bit it starts freezing again within 24 hours. If I leave it for 24+ hours the channel guide still sometimes does not refresh.
Sat readings are:
Sat 101 all are 93-100 except (Tspdr 18 reads 79) and (Tspdr 26 reads 0)
Sat 110 is: #8 reads 84
#10 reads 87
#12 reads 88
Sat 119 is zero on all that are not N/A
Sat 99C is:
(1-8) 89 90 87 89 86 89 87 91
(9-16) 89 92 90 93 95 95
Sat 99S is zero on all
Sat 103S is zero on all
Sat 103CA is:
(9-16) 91 82 89 83 89 81 85 86
(17-24) 84 83 88 86 87 84 88 87
Sat 103CB is:
(1-8) 95 87 91 82 93 88 91 83
(9-16) 94 88 91 88 94 90

The questions are:
Are these readings acceptable for proper function?
Which satellite/transponder has the Channel Guide?
If the above readings are acceptable, what can I check next?

Thanks for looking, and thanks in advance for any help.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys Bobmann!

Your readings are a bit low, but not terrible. The dish should be realigned at some point, but I doubt that's the issue. Have you checked all of your cabling and connectors? You may also have a failing lnb, but there is no way to test it. You could replace it for little money. Check eBay for the exact replacement.

 

[texasbrit]

Your problem is the 119 satellite signals. You say they are all zero, some of them should be in the high 90s or even 100. Your 110 signal are low also (although you don't get any channels from 110).
You should have at least a few transponders active on 99s and 103s, are you waiting long enough for them to fill in, it can take quite a while.
Not getting 119 with a 5LNB dish will cause you to lose guide data. You really need a service call to check your dish alignment.

 

[raoul5788]

I missed that completely texasbrit! Good catch. Yup, you need the alignment sooner than later.

 

[ejb1980]

Do you live in the actual city of Raleigh or just near it? I ask because if you look at the D* website, many counties in the Raleigh DMA show WRIC Richmond (channel 8) as a SV local (not in HD), but it's on the 119 so many people wouldn't know. I get 3 Roanoke DMA locals with my 5 LNB dish. The site only lists WSLS 10 and WDBJ 7, but I also get WSET 13. I know the northern parts of the DMA get WRIC, do you? Some people out this way who live in the NW area of the Raleigh DMA get WRIC and WGHP, both on channel 8.

As others have said, you need to have access to the 119 for guide data.

 

[Bobmann]

Thanks for the feedback...I appreciate you all taking the time.

I am in NW Raleigh; I can throw a rock over the Durham Co. line.
I don't understand the question concerning the local channels...I get WRAL, WTVD, WRDU, etc.
None of the other network channels are available to me.

I did wait for all the readings for 119 to come up...all zeros.
What is curious is that I reset the receiver last night, and the channel guide is all there now. I am still seeing some minor freezing though.
I also just now checked 119 again and it is still all zeros.

99s and 103s does have some readings, I did not wait long enough to see them before.

99s
(1-8) 0 74 0 66 58 0
(9-16) 97 96
(17-24) 42 21 96 96 95 97 96

103s
(1-8) 0 83 0 68
(9-16) 0 70
(17-24) 0 0 82 74 95 89 0 0

I am interested in knowing how I could have gotten any channel guide at all with no readings on 119?
Also, what causes the freezing situation?
I am also curious to know exactly what the designations mean. Is there more than one 99 satellite or is 99c and 99s all from the same one?

It is raining right now...as soon as it stops I plan to go through all the connections to make sure there is no corrosion, and treat them with Deoxit. I will also check the ground connection and make sure none of the 3 cables from the dish are damaged.

I should also note that I have a SD receiver that is functioning properly. Matter of fact, there are many times that the HD receiver will lose signal due to weather, and I can still watch the SD TV. There are only 2 receivers in the house.

Thanks again for the assistance.

 

[texasbrit]

The complete guide comes from 119 when you are tuned to a station on 103 or 119; when you are tuned to a station on 99 or 101 the guide comes from 101. (there's a technical explanation for this which I will post if you really need to know!). That's why the guide seems to come and go when you can't see 119.
There are multiple satellites at the 101, 99 and 103 slots, but 99s and 103s are not really "satellites", they are combinations of all the locals spotbeams coming from the satellites in the 99 and 103 slots.

 

[ejb1980]

The question about the locals is this:

The Directv website thinks you should have these in that general area. I know you get the actual DMA channels, I am asking about WRIC.
4 UNC HD
4-2 UNCEX
5 WRAL HD CBS
8 WRIC ABC
11 WTVD HD ABC
17 WNCN HD NBC
22 WLFL HD CW
26 WTNCLP UMAS
28 WRDC HD MY
40 WUVC HD UNIV
47 WRPX HD ION
50 WRAZ HD FOX

I am asking if you can actually view WRIC, channel 8, with a 5-LNB dish in that area. I don't personally know anyone in that area with D* to ask them. It's just a personal inquiry - i know that areas north of the Triangle do get it, I was surprised to see it that far south. I was just asking for verification.

 

[raoul5788]

According to the charts, he should be getting WRIC in sd from 119.

 

[Bobmann]

So, I replaced the LMB with a new one ($20 off EBay) checked all connections, ground, and still the problems persisted...I could never see 119 and the picture would gradually deteriorate after 24 hours (random brief freezing that made it look like I was watching stop-action film) and I would have to reset the DVR, repeat every day. I tried resetting the receiver to a 3 LMB but it gave me an error message that the self check failed and the dish was out of alignment. Self check confirmed that 119 was not available.

Called DTV and they upgraded the system to the Genie for no charge. The installer indicated that 119 was not needed at all, and he could have reprogrammed the receiver to ignore it somehow, but that is irrelevant now. He said that 119 was only needed for spanish channels and a few music channels and that DTV would be decommissioning that one in the future anyway. Same with 110; he said that I did not need that one either.

He installed a single LMB on the existing dish and did not even have to re-align, as I am getting 90+ on all t'sponders.

Now mama's happy; she can record 5 shows at a time and there are no more error messages showing up every couple hours and the channel guide is all there!

Just thought you all would like to know the outcome.
Thanks for all the responses.

To ejb 1980...sorry I cannot answer your question, since that LMB is history now. Going on memory, I do not remember being able to get any local channels other than those listed...but relying on my memory is a dangerous thing.

 

[texasbrit]

What you have now is an SWM3 LNB. 3 LNB dishes always get their guide data from 101, and all SWM dishes (even the 5 LNB) get the guide only from 101 also.
DirecTV won't be decommissioning 119, but it's true that it only carries ethnic and some music channels, unless you are in one of the cities where the SD locals come from 119.
110 now only carries programming for Puerto Rico.

Not that it matters, but the installer could NOT have reprogrammed the receiver to ignore 119. If you have a non-SWM 5 LNB dish, it has to see 119.

 

[ejb1980]

According to the charts, he should be getting WRIC in sd from 119.

I know it's on the charts, I am just curious as to if it's reality. Rockingham County, NC is wrong on the charts (WSET is not listed, but I can assure you it's there!) so I was looking for physical confirmation.