Is this a multiswitch problem? (wrong channels)

[wjarrettc]

Guys, I'm pretty sure I have a multiswitch problem but I'd like some "expert" opinions before I go and replace it. For the record, I have a SAM-3042 multiswitch.

Here's what's going on.

On one tuner of my DirecTiVo unit I am getting ShopNBC on channel 616, which should Fox Sports Espanol. Also, I am getting Discovery Home on channel 587, which should just be a DTV test channel.

Interestingly, I've noticed that ShopNBC and Discovery Home are on satellite 101(A) transponder 27 whereas Fox Sports Espanol and 587 test are supposed to be on 119(B) transponder 27.

It looks like I'm getting the 119B-27 transponder overridden by 101A-27.

Even more confusing is that I went out the multiswitch and pulled one of the outputs and all of sudden, everything started working. As soon as I plug the 2nd output back in, it goes haywire again.

With everything plugged in, Tuner 2 on my DirecTiVo is working fine. Only Tuner 1 is showing this problem.

What do you guys think?

Jarrett

 

[IndyTech]

Sounds like a bad stretch of Coax, Check the end connections, see if there any barrels in the line and if there are take them apart and look for corrosion, what is happening isn't matter off transponders, but rather a Voltage thing, it's rather hard to explain.but start with the coax.


Oh BTW i'm not an expert, just a Tech.

 

[sksatellite]

Yes, it could very much a small silver strip touch the center conductor, check all the connector within the lin.

 

[wjarrettc]

Sounds like a bad stretch of Coax, Check the end connections, see if there any barrels in the line and if there are take them apart and look for corrosion, what is happening isn't matter off transponders, but rather a Voltage thing, it's rather hard to explain.but start with the coax.


Oh BTW i'm not an expert, just a Tech.

Okay, after a huge amount of experimentation, I seem to have tracked this problem to (you guessed it) the line of coax running from the multiswitch to the wall outlet.

As long as that one line is unplugged, everything works fine. As soon as I connect it, everything goes haywire. It doesn't matter which tuner or switch outlet the line is plugged into, it's always the same bit of wire that causes the problem.

Not sure how to fix it yet besides having another line dropped.

 

[IndyTech]

before you start droppin lines, change the wall plate. look into the F-Connector on the coax, confirm there are no slivers of braid touching the stinger.check the F-Conn at the other end, or just change them both.if after visual confirmation and a new wall plate the problem stll persists. well, LOL you know.

 

[benj]

Guys, all the information is right there in front of us. You have the wrong multiswitch. The SAM 3042 (a 3x4 m/s) is not compatible with a multi-sat dish. I bet your system looks something like this:

4 lines coming down from the dish, 2 lines going to the 3x4, 2 lines going 'somewhere else'. 1 of the 2 lines going 'somewhere else' is actually going to Tuner 2 of the Tivo (that's why its working correctly). 1 of the lines coming from the 3x4 is going to Tuner 1 on the Tivo.

This is what's going on: the 3x4 is cutting off the 22Khz tone coming from the receiver when it wants to access 110/119. The box wants to look at transponder 27 119, right? So the tuner sends out 13v and the 22 khz. It gets back RHCP from the switch and then the receiver picks out transponder 27, finds it, demodulates it and then displays. Right transponder, wrong satellite though.

Replace the 3042 with a 4x8 utilizing all 4 lines from the dish and the problem will go away.



Regarding connectors and cabling causing a problem like these. If I've seen this problem a hundred times, only once have I found that a problem like this was caused by a bad connector, wall plate or cable (it was actually caused by a cross-threaded connector at the switch). The other 99 times was caused by a 3x4 on a multisat dish.

 

[Dknow]

If you don't have HD or Paratodos you could just repeat satellite setup and set the dish to round. That'll solve the problem from the couch.

 

[IndyTech]

LOL get'em Tiger, like i know exactly what a SAM 3042 is, lol i even googled it and came up with Guess What, LOL this thread. Kudos Benj for knowing all the multiswitches under the sun, really sorry you havn't seen this ever happen with bad coax,connectors or barrels though, keep pluggin away i'm sure you'll see it sooner or later. Cheers.

 

[benj]

Can't tell if your joking or not IndyTech but thanks for the encouragement anyways.

I will keep my eyes peeled for a trouble call just like this [wrong transponder populated] with a 122 and a 125 resolution code and think of you when I see it.

Seriously.