dead receiver no signal ?????

[thedrifter]

I am scratching my head on this one. I have the SD 505 receiver. The receiver shows no signal (0) at all for channel 299. Showing red satellite light. I tried a hard reboot and everything went dead on the receiver. It peaked my dish and there are not line of site issues. Prior to this the receiver has been performing well no problems for the last number of years. I have owned the this 505 since 2007. My wife did say that for the last couple of weeks the signal would pixilate and some of the channels would loose temporary signal. Where should I start to troubleshoot this pain.

 

[Frenchophile]

first thing, check all your lines and connections

if those all look good, your options really depend upon where you live

If you're in Canada, a service call to shaw direct is next.

 

[joshuals]

The receiver shows no signal (0) at all for channel 299. Showing red satellite light

It peaked my dish

How could you peak your dish if your're not receiving any signal

Is the receiver still totally dead? If the receiver is totally dead at this point, I think that tells you where the problem lies.

If your receiver is not dead at this point, then I agree with Frenchophile that it could be a connection problem. Check for corrosion at the connectors or a broken or disconnected wire. The fact that you are getting a flat "0" for signal level says to me that you're not getting any current from your receiver to the LNB. Otherwise you would see a signal of level of at least 20, even if the dish were mispointed. I suppose it could also be that the LNB has malfunctioned.

I agree with your wife on the pixelation issue....I noticed this for the first time on Saturday when I was watching an F2 channel......the picture pixelated & then I breifly got a red satellite light. Weather was not a factor. This happened a few times. I quickly changed to an F1R channel and everything was normal. Not sure what to make of it, but it sounds like your situation may not be related to that issue.

Also agree that if you're in Canada, it's time for a service call. If you're in the US you've got to determine if the problem is with the receiver; if it's dead, it's dead and you'll have to replace it. If you are now back to the point that your receiver powers up, you have to determine if it's a connection problem or an LNB problem.

If your receiver is working, what happens when you tune to 712?

 

[thedrifter]

dead receiver?

I checked my connections while home on lunch. They looked okay and did not notice any corrosion issues.

Signal strength on channel 712 it is at about 10. I peaked the dish slightly when the pixilation problem first appeared about a month ago. The receiver does power up but shows the red light and the incorrect time of day.

If it was a lnb problem any clues to look for.

Maybe I will have to get a new lnb and receiver. Question is: should I wait for the new rumoured receivers to come out or bite the bullet and buy a new 505. I am a southern subscriber so a service call is out of the question.

Thank you for your responses

 

[joshuals]

Before you invest a bunch of money, you need to absoultely sure that your dish hasn't moved due to wind or other factors. Check the obvious things like elevation & skew settings and ensure that clamps on the dish and LNB are tight. If you have any doubts, it would be smarter to start from scratch, trying to find the signal as if you were doing a new install, than to buy a new receiver or new LNB only to discover that they weren't the problem.

Signal strength on channel 712 it is at about 10

Hmm...this is kinda inconclusive......it appears that you're getting power from the receiver to the dish, since it's not zero. But I'm surprised it's not higher than 10. Background noise will usually raise the meter to about 20, but you should be getting this level on 299 also, and you're not.

Anyway, I'm presuming you don't get any audio/video on 712, or any other channel in your package...?

If you could beg/borrow/steal a satellite meter you could put it in line at the dish and see if you get a signal. But you would need one that is self-powered and does not rely on power from the receiver, and they're not cheap.

I don't really know how to isolate if it's the LNB under these circumstances. It's pretty tough to check the operation of the LNB if the receiver isn't operating properly. A new LNB costs about $60. I bought a spare for just such circumstances as this.

You could buy a new DSR-209 for the interim period until the "promised/rumored" new receivers come out. But if you buy a 505 now for retail price, you will still have to also pay full price for the new 6xx, being a southern sub. At least with a 209 you will have a temporary low-cost solution to SDef while waiting for the new line to come out. And, it would help to isolate the source of your problem.


Also, I'm presuming as a southern sub, you don't have a friend whose receiver you could substitute for yours to isolate the problem?

 

[Frenchophile]

something else to try is moving receiver and a small tv to the antenna and see what happens.