HD Signal issues suddenly

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stlpaul

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Apr 14, 2008
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Hi, I got DirecTV HD with the H21-100 receiver a few months ago... it's been working fine as far as signal goes. I'm a big hockey fan and have been anxiously awaiting the start of the season, so, of course, a few days ago I started getting crappy HD reception. It comes and goes, seems like it is worse at night but maybe that's just when I've been watching... maybe it only affects certain stations, I haven't noticed a real pattern so far as far as that goes, but it'll basically be fine for anywhere between 5 and 30 seconds, then go out for 3 or 4 seconds, then come back, etc. Off and on like that constantly.

Tonight I'm watching the game on channel 671 (HD). It was fine during the first period, but during the second period it was horrible, freezing and showing the 771 message constantly. I ended up switching back and forth between the SD channel and the HD channel, which sucks since most of the games are not in HD so it is frustrating for the first game of the year to be messing up on me.

Based on DirecTV USA on Spaceway 2 & DirecTV 11 at 99.2°W - LyngSat it looks like the channel I'm trying to watch tonight is on 99, which is showing between 77 and 82 on 99(a) and all zeroes except for one 29 on 99(b). Should that be strong enough to get uninterrupted signal? All of the other satellites have strength in the 90s and some even hit 100.

It's not raining, it was a beautiful and clear day today and has been pretty much all week. No wind, no obstructions between the dish and the sky.


Thanks for any advice. ("Wait for it to stop acting up" is my plan for now)
 
77-82 is low for a clear night sky. you need to peak your dish. if you don't feel confident doing this yourself then call D.
 
Well, it got worse as the game went on. I had to watch the whole 3rd period in SD because now the HD channel is 771 most of the time, with a few seconds here and there of video. Other channels like HBO and CNN are doing the same thing, while the SD channels all seem fine (i understand they probably need less bandwidth so are more tolerant)
 
I forgot to mention that last weekend (saturday or sunday) when I woke up, the HD receiver was totally frozen... it would turn off and on, but not respond to any other remote control or front panel commands. I had to unplug it from the wall and reboot it. It seems like the poor signal started after that.
 
your sd is on the 101 sat. you mentioned the other sats are at 90-100. this is where your 99a and 103a need to be.
 
The Sd's are on a different bird, probably on one of those 95 signal sats. The 99/103 are just touchy & are the first to go out when a storms coming my way. It's sort of my own version of weather on the 8's. Once in a while D might be having some trouble with one channel, but if your losing HD channels across the board the dish needs a tweaking. Unfortunately, with a 70-75 signal D might not do anything under the protection plan as they generally accept 70's as being adequate.
 
signals in the 70's rain are very susceptible to rain fade. i had 99 and 103 between 75-85. every time it rained i would lose signal fast. after peaking the signals are at high 90's to 100. the longest i've lost signal in a strong thunderstorm is about 7 minutes. before it was longer than that and more frequent.
 
On 103(a) I'm getting nothing less than 95, so that one's good. It seems that 99 is the only one with weak signals. Is there a guide somewhere that says how to adjust the dish? I did it in the olden days with an old RCA dish (when you only had one thing to aim at), but with the 5 LNB I'm clueless... It is up on my roof and honestly I haven't even had a look at it up close. Does it have separate antennas for each satellite? Can I adjust the aim for the 99 antenna without affecting the apparently good position of the others, or does it all move together? Sorry if these are newbie questions covered in a FAQ somewhere :)

In a serious thunderstorm I've lost signal (on all channels) for 2 straight hours, but I can accept that because that's just the way it goes... but there's nothing going on at all here now. I'm in Missouri and it's clear for 500 miles in every direction.
ECI8.JPG


No rain in the forecast until the middle of next week.

Thanks again
 
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The Sd's are on a different bird, probably on one of those 95 signal sats. The 99/103 are just touchy & are the first to go out when a storms coming my way. It's sort of my own version of weather on the 8's. Once in a while D might be having some trouble with one channel, but if your losing HD channels across the board the dish needs a tweaking. Unfortunately, with a 70-75 signal D might not do anything under the protection plan as they generally accept 70's as being adequate.

I don't have the protection plan anyway.
 
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