Loosing signal

[mfs54729]

I have two Dish 510 receivers and a Superdish with a DP34 switch. I just started
loosing the signal on my local channels. A window will pop up every couple of minutes
saying searching for signal. It stays up for a couple of seconds and then the show comes
back on. This is happpening on both receivers so I think the problem is the switch or
LNB. I checked the signal strength. The signal strength holds steady at 58 and then
drops down to 0 and then back to 58. It wasn't windy out so I don't think my dish is
moving or a tree branch is getting in the way.

I haven't checked the connections at the dish or switch yet. That is the first thing I am
going to do. Do these symptoms sound like a bad LNB or switch? Can I bypass the
switch and cable a receiver directly to the LNB to determine if the switch or LNB is
bad?

Thanks for any help.
Mark

 

[Dish Dude]

where are you at? doesn't sound like your 105 or 121 signal is peaked out

 

[Van]

Your problem is at the dish, the dish has most likely settled some. This happens sometimes with superdishes that are mounted on to wooden posts that have just been cemented in ground. This can also happen if a superdish is mounted onto a sub mountable surface such as a roof and it was not aided by the addition of struts ( idealy a superdish should never ever be mounted to a roof ). Go out to the dish and see how easy it is to nudge the dish up and down and side to side, if its easy then its to loose and should be remounted to a more stable mount location. Either way you will have to have a service call to have this issue corrected.

 

[Mr Tony]

it could be the LNB...there were some bad ones out there

which cities locals?

 

[mfs54729]

I think my locals are coming from satellite 121. It is Eau Claire/LaCrosse WI locals.

My dish has been up for over a year. It is mounted on my garage roof and yes they
used struts.

 

[Stacy A]

Isn't there some serious solar flare activity going on right now? That could be the cause, especially if it just started happening in the last three or four days.

 

[Dish Dude]

if you are in Eu Claire you definitely should have a higher signal than that, you should be in the mid 70's to low 80's at minimum depending on sky conditions,

 

[Van]

Ok, if they used struts thats good but still not a garauntee, if you can go up and move the dish by nudging it then its gonna need to be mounted. The mast plate should have a total of 6 lag bolts going into the roof with 2 center lags imbedded into a roof stud and idealy the two studs for the struts should be into studs also.

Another possibility is that you do have one of the 121 fss lnbfs that is part of a recall and its going bad, however Im more inclined to believe that its an issue with the dish being out of alignment.

 

[mfs54729]

Would being not aligned cause my signal to go from 58 to 0 and back to 58?
Whenever I've aligned a dish the signal would gradually increase/decrease as I moved
the dish. I never saw it jump so suddenly.

How can I tell if my LNB is part of the recall?

Thanks.

 

[Dish Dude]

i think your problem might be 2 fold, yes signal can drop from 58 to 0 due to several reasons, 1 bad lnb, get a replacement see if it does the same thing, 2 terrestrial interference caused by EMI, microwave repeaters, cell towers, old power transformers etc.3 check all connectors, make sure they are all rated 4 bad switch, try changing th e ports on the switch of the inputs. secondly what are your 119, 110 readings throught out this, they should be in the low 100's in your area, if not at least in the mid to upper 90's you are definitely out of alignment as well

 

[Van]

You will need to remove the plastic shroud on the lnbf, this is the large one that looks like a kids helmet, there is a single screw at the front of the shroud that can be removed, on the back of the lnbf there is a label on it, this one should say fss and on that label should be a part number. Write it down and call dish and ask for advanced tech support and go over the issue with them, idealy your signal on the 121 should be atleast %70 easily and in the range of %70 - %90, the best Ive ever gotten was %110 but only one time. If your signal is rollercoasting from %58 to 0 and back again then its most likely the recall issue, but as dish dude has stated there have been issues with local interference but Im thinking most are now due to the recall.