LNB Drift Service

[leegart]

my drift has been reporting -7 or -6 for a year now and no drop outs of the signal that I ever see other, weird

My drift is also -6 on 61.5 and I have had no problems.

 

[Islandguy43]

lnb service update

That sucks! Sometimes they can be real jerks. They even hassle me sometimes, wanting to "troubleshoot" things with me on the phone. I have to gently remind them that I'm a TECHNICIAN, and have been doing this for a long time, please just do as I ask!

Intertech the local installer for my area, came out on saturday, and replaced the lnb on my 61.5, along with some adjustments (screw tightening) on the dish, and my signal strength almost doubled.

Also; I called them saturday morning (intertech the installer) and let them know, I was available earlier in the day, if their tech was; and they ended up coming earlier and were gone an hour before the beginning of the 12 noon to 5pm window even started. Furthermore, they called me yesterday to make sure I was satisfied with the service call and I had a 90 guarantee if there were any problems. So I know this much, Intertech is making sure their customer service is outstanding, even if E* own csr arent.

 

[dishcomm]

Intertech the local installer for my area, came out on saturday, and replaced the lnb on my 61.5, along with some adjustments (screw tightening) on the dish, and my signal strength almost doubled.

Also; I called them saturday morning (intertech the installer) and let them know, I was available earlier in the day, if their tech was; and they ended up coming earlier and were gone an hour before the beginning of the 12 noon to 5pm window even started. Furthermore, they called me yesterday to make sure I was satisfied with the service call and I had a 90 guarantee if there were any problems. So I know this much, Intertech is making sure their customer service is outstanding, even if E* own csr arent.

All DNSC work whether done in house or by contratcor is guaranteed 90 days.

 

[nh_dish]

OK, so today is the first time I've even heard the term "lnb drift". Got a couple questions:

How do I see the drift numbers that y'all are referencing? I've scrolled through menu and didn't see anything. Does PVR-721 display that info? Maybe I just overlooked it?

I own all my equipment. Will they still replace free of charge? Somehow, I just find that hard to imagine.

Would my signal bars in point dish menu show 85-90% and green (locked) even if suffering from lnb drift? I'm assuming that the signal bars show overall signal quality, and drift is referring to the separation of individual channel frequencies within a single carrier?

Given E* notorious reputation for rude and ignorant CSR's... have anyone here opted to just buy new LNB's and install yourself? Is that even a viable option? How would one confirm that the new LNB's are new-style?

T I A

 

[Smith P.]

I would recommend you to spend some amount time for reading all posts/threads related to "LNB Drift" - you'll have better understanding and we will no suffer from deja vu syndrome.

 

[nh_dish]

I would recommend you to spend some amount time for reading all posts/threads related to "LNB Drift"

LOL, did that first... that's how I landed here. This was about the 10th thread that I read on the topic and hadn't found any real answers.

I will continue down the list, though. Maybe I should start with the older threads, rather than the newer.

 

[UGAChance]

All the STBs that report LNB Drift numbers like -6 also have LNB Drift Compensation Software for tuning. So, people that say they do not see problems is because the tuner is compensating for it and locking to the shifted frequency.

The DP721 does NOT have LNB Drift Reporting or LNB Drift Compensation Software. So, it is trying to lock on a channel at a certain frequency and if the LNB has drifted -5 or -6 megahertz... it can't because the tuner chip in the 721 has a +-5 locking ability.

 

[cparker]

My 622 showed me LNB drift at -6. First time I've ever seen it. It didn't go from -2 to -3 or -4 and work it's way UP to -6 ..... about a month ago (last time I checked system info) it didn't mention LNB drift at all.

I called Dish tech support only because I had never seen LNB drift before and they told me, "when it gets to -8, the LNBF needs to be changed".

That sound accurate?

 

[charlesrshell]

My 622 showed me LNB drift at -6. First time I've ever seen it. It didn't go from -2 to -3 or -4 and work it's way UP to -6 ..... about a month ago (last time I checked system info) it didn't mention LNB drift at all.

I called Dish tech support only because I had never seen LNB drift before and they told me, "when it gets to -8, the LNBF needs to be changed".

That sound accurate?

When you were getting the -6 drift were the LNBs red or green?

 

[Stargazer]

Maybe this is why I am seeing an issue with my 721 but not my 522's with the locals going out.

 

[tdillon]

When you were getting the -6 drift were the LNBs red or green?

When I look up at the dish, the LNBs are gray. Where do they look red or green? Do I have to take the casings off?

 

[charlesrshell]

When I look up at the dish, the LNBs are gray. Where do they look red or green? Do I have to take the casings off?

I have only seen LNB drift one time and it was in the System Info screen (menu 6-1-3) on a 722. In the System Info screen when the test is complete the LNBs will be green or red. When I had a red 118 LNB one time the details said I had about a -3 drift. When I did the test again later on and all other times the LNB drift wasn't there anymore but the red LNB details said a bunches of signal loss. Where are you reading that you have a LNB drift? Is it only in the System Info screen or does it show up in other places too?

 

[Smith P.]

No other place to check it, exclude looking into 'stb_health' XML file.

 

[charlesrshell]

No other place to check it, exclude looking into 'stb_health' XML file.

OK, thanks Smith, P. That is what I thought.

 

[UGAChance]

My 622 showed me LNB drift at -6. First time I've ever seen it. It didn't go from -2 to -3 or -4 and work it's way UP to -6 ..... about a month ago (last time I checked system info) it didn't mention LNB drift at all.

I called Dish tech support only because I had never seen LNB drift before and they told me, "when it gets to -8, the LNBF needs to be changed".

That sound accurate?

It only shows when it is +-5 or greater.

Yeah they have told the CSRs not to change them until -8 or greater, but if you have older boxes without drift compensation software... you are going to see signal loss at -5. I would tell them you are losing signal on this stb and your other stb reports lnb drift.

 

[UGAChance]

Maybe this is why I am seeing an issue with my 721 but not my 522's with the locals going out.

Yes... call and say you are losing signal on 721 due to lnb drift.

 

[Laddyboy]

They will change out the lnbs for any drift that causes any receiver you have to not be able to lock on. I had a 508 and a 721 with -6 drift. The 508 was able to compensate but the 721 obviously could not. They came and replaced without any questions or fuss.

 

[cparker]

When you were getting the -6 drift were the LNBs red or green?

Green

 

[nh_dish]

When I look up at the dish, the LNBs are gray. Where do they look red or green? Do I have to take the casings off?

Almost fell off my chair. That was a good one.

 

[charlesrshell]

Almost fell off my chair. That was a good one.

Me too