DPP 33 Failure Signs?

mso

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Original poster
Jun 28, 2008
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Hi,

I have a Dish Plus with DPP 33 switch and a 625 receiver, receiving from 110, 118 and 119. Yesterday I got a screen showing the "Acquiring Satellite" message (msg 015, I believe), but it never managed to get a signal. I took the following steps:

1. Powered down receiver, unplugged for a few minutes, started again, got the same 'acquiring satellite' message.
2. Checked signal strength in the installation/pointing dish menu. 0 signal on 119, didn't check the others at the time. Checked switch, it clicked through 38 tests and told me it was missing satellites. I clicked cancel on the test.
3. Climbed onto roof and checked coax connections on dish and switch. One input was a little loose -- tightened it. Checked signal again -- nothing. Unplugged the receiver overnight.
4. Next morning plugged in, still no signal. Checked all coax connections in the house. Some were loose, and I tightened them.
5. Checked signal on each satellite again. Within a few minutes, while checking 119, the signal strength meter sprang to life. Then checked 118 and 110, both had good signals.

The thing that puzzles me is that several minutes must have passed between the time I tightened the coax and the time the signal strength showed. Is there some latency in the system that would cause the strength to jump a few minutes *after* adjustment? I pointed my own dish years ago (single sat, single receiver) and used the receiver's pointing/installation meter to do it, and it was instantly responsive when I did that.

I've long been a little paranoid about the switch because the installer had problems with the first two outputs and ultimately used the third. It's worked fine for almost 3 years now, but...

Does my 'fix' of tightening the cables and then seeing signal several minutes afterward seem plausible? Or do you think it was coincidental and that I might be looking at an intermittent problem with the switch?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Does my 'fix' of tightening the cables and then seeing signal several minutes afterward seem plausible? Or do you think it was coincidental and that I might be looking at an intermittent problem with the switch?

You may have a bad connector or the cable is barely making contact with the port in the switch. Tightening the cable may have helped make the contact. If you have the tools to use compression connectors, you should redo that connector and make sure the stinger is a little long.
 
Indeed if the center conductor is discontiguous and making an intermittent contact, and you have only one receiver plugged in, then the DC voltage could drop and you would get no signal.

But I vote "No", and you have an intermittent problem with your switch. I used a DP34 cascaded with a DPP33 for years with twist-on F plugs just about everywhere. Never saw any such symptoms. The only problem I saw was the single receiver remaining on the DP34... If somebody unplugged that, the passthrough ports went dead as well and everybody lost signal.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the input. From what you both say, I guess my suspicions should lie with the switch, seeing as I only tightened the inside coax cables the morning it started working again. I had tightened the cables on the switch the night before without success, and -- again -- the signal strength only popped up about 4 or 5 minutes after I tightened the indoor cables only. So it definitely wasn't due to my tightening the switch connections. It's working now, but I guess the prudent thing to do would be to pick up a spare DPP33 on E-bay and swap it out next time I have to get back up on the roof for something (gotta sweep the chimney for winter soon anyway). Thanks again.
 
If the installer had problems with 2 of the ports to begin with, I would say you were lucky for the switch to last this long
 
It's outdoors, mounted at the base of the chimney. I'm going to order another on ebay and just swap it out when I get the chance.

Thanks!
Mike
 

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