DC LIGHT

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sugzzee

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
May 21, 2007
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I have a 4dtv receiver and I am having a lot of trouble keeping my digital channels on. I unplug my receiver while it is on G1 3 and plug it back in and then the quality will build back up and the digital channels will come back on. Today it is taking longer for the digital channels to come back on. I was told that I need a new reed sensor. Is a reed sensor hard to put on the outside dish? A reply will be greatly appreciated.
 
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Do the channels come in OK after you move the dish, or do you have troubles even when changing channels on the same satellite?

I would be more tempted to say that the polorotor motor (the one that controls the polarity) might be malfunctioning.

If you tune your dish on to an analog channel, and then go into the option to program satellites. Pick the option to auto-peak the skew. Does the picture go fuzzy and then come back in clear, or does the picture stay the same the whole time? If the motor is working good, then the picture should go fuzzy and the receiver should be able to automatically adjust the polarity (skew) for the clearest picture. If the picture doesn't go fuzzy, then the motor could be shot or at least malfunctioning.

The reed sensor is the sensor inside the arm that detects how many 'ticks' go by as the motor is turning so that the receiver can count it's way to the next satellite.

So.. Are you having troubles after moving the dish, or are you even having troubles when changing channels on the same satellite?
 
When I unplug and then replug my 4dtv receiver back up the dc light will come on but it will not stay on, it will go on and off, but evenually it will stay on. This afternoon after unpluging the receiver and pluging it back in the dc light finally stayed on and what I do is once the light comes on and stays on I will let it stay on the G1 3 satellite channel for a while then I will change the satellite to W1 507 and it stays on. But, this afternoon it did not stay on. The next morning I repeat what I did the day before because when I get up in the morning usually the dc light is not on. Usually when I unplug and replug in the morning the dc light comes on and stays on through the day. I watch a couple of programs on W1 507. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
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If your receiver is a DSR920, you might want to avoid unplugging for very long. There is a battery on the board inside that maintains the unit ID #. On an aging 920 model it's risky to leave them powered down.

Did you try to auto tune like Davage suggested?

You can also manually try it. Press the up arrow on the remote that opens a banner on top on the screen. Try moving the skew highlighted in yellow up or down a little (remember what it was) to see if the quality improves.

Did a storm or anything move the dish? Bees or insects nesting in the feed horn?
 
It's a 922. I will try what you suggested. Thank you very much for your help.
 
I am thinking of a lot of possibilities here not being physically there to diagnose:

Possible causes from simplest to more complex-

1. bees or nests in your feed horn (common problem)
2. Dish out of alignment (any recent storms or high winds?)
3. Bad polorotor or also called servo motor that changes the polarity from H to V
4. Malfunctioning lnb on the feedhorn.
5. corroded coax or damaged coax cable from dish to receiver


Do you have KU band on your dish?
Do you have a FTA receiver connected or slaved?

I don't know of any ku band 4dtv feeds to try as a test for your dish alignment (ku is more critical on alignment that C band).

If you can , give us more detailed info about your dish and setup. The type of lnbs you have.
 
I have KU BAND but I don't have the FTA receiver. I don't believe it is the polorotor motor. When the DC LIGHT comes on it will flicker on and off. It, (the dc light) eventually stays on during the day, but today was one of those days that it decided not to stay on. I will appreciate any help.
 
You may have to bump your dish to get directly on the satellite to get a good lock on TP 3. I had to play with it to get it in. Once I got it to lock I haven't had any problems.
What do I need to do to bump my dish to get a good lock on TP 3? I will try this and hopefully it will solve the problem. A reply will be greatly appreciated.
 
I think Jim means to "bump" east or west a little with the remote. Try the side arrows on the remote.

I'm starting to think about moisture or corroded cable connections too.

We still are curious about the LNB style you have and settings on the receiver. Did you see the signal and quality levels yet?
 
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