Lost one satellite feed . . . what's wrong??
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I assume you did cover the 110 horn and it went away? The standard problem is to point 119 to 110 and then 110 gets nothing. Can you swap or try one-at-a-time cables to the receiver to verify the rest of your system.mitchflorida said:
I had mine go intermitent on the SW-64. It was an installer copper-plated, iron-core cable from the dish to input 1. When I looked the "stinger" center conductor was missing -- actually it was still in the switch. Solid copper is a lot better. At 3-foot length, the "temporary" replacement solid-core RG-59 is not a problem. They use iron cores for strength on long suspended runs and only carry one type of cable on the truck, I guess.
-Ken
For what it's worth, the repairman from Dish came out yesterday and did quite a thorough job, though it took him an hour to trouble shoot the problem. It turned out the arm that the LNB is secured to was bent slightly out of shape. The Dish was aimed properly, but the LNB was thus at an off angle, so I could see only one satellite.
I had to buy the $5.99 warranty plus $29 service fee . . should I keep the warranty or drop it for now?
I had to buy the $5.99 warranty plus $29 service fee . . should I keep the warranty or drop it for now?
I agree that it should be done right the first time. However, I'll play devil's advocate.mitchflorida said:
Why spend the extra money to "do it right" when you can "do it wrong" and get away with it. Millions of installations have not and likely will not have water ingress issues and a waterproof box would be pointless. It's far better (read: cheaper) to fix a few bad installations on the company dime then it is to spend the extra buck or two on waterproof enclosures for every install, even if the cost was directly passed on to the consumer. Anything to keep the cost of the install down.
There is the classic CSR approach that sometimes works. Every now and then you have to unplug the RX for a few seconds and then do a check switch again. When I had a 811 it would do that about once a month...eg. loose a satelite. Another option is to reset the RX to factory settings...a drastic move...but it will at least clear out any buffer memory in the RX. Of course you will have to unplug the RX and wait for a new download which may not happen till tonight so do this as a last resort
Same problem with quad setup
I lost 119 in Louisville last weekend. Fluttering 119 signal strength and rock solid 110 at first. If I go straight to a channel on a 110 transponder on any of the recievers it won't show the program, just the acquiring satellite block. Now I don't show but half the transponders on 110 with a switch check. I use the o-ring seal connectors outside and have never had a problem til now. I ordered a new quad from the dish store. The humidity has been through the roof lately with storms and a near constant drizzle from the remnants of hurricane Dennis.
I ground my cable blocks, but I never grounded the dish (es) or the antenna. I read that it wasn't a good idea since I have no lightning rod on the house.
I have a weatherproof housing somewhere in the garage, but I don't think it's big enough for 4 blocks.
Any suggestions while I'm repairing on the ladder. I have a powered winegard antenna and a dish looking at 61.5, I need to put ground blocks on those while I'm at it.
I lost 119 in Louisville last weekend. Fluttering 119 signal strength and rock solid 110 at first. If I go straight to a channel on a 110 transponder on any of the recievers it won't show the program, just the acquiring satellite block. Now I don't show but half the transponders on 110 with a switch check. I use the o-ring seal connectors outside and have never had a problem til now. I ordered a new quad from the dish store. The humidity has been through the roof lately with storms and a near constant drizzle from the remnants of hurricane Dennis.
I ground my cable blocks, but I never grounded the dish (es) or the antenna. I read that it wasn't a good idea since I have no lightning rod on the house.
I have a weatherproof housing somewhere in the garage, but I don't think it's big enough for 4 blocks.
Any suggestions while I'm repairing on the ladder. I have a powered winegard antenna and a dish looking at 61.5, I need to put ground blocks on those while I'm at it.
Actually grounding can cut signal if an improperly grounded or the home's wiring is screwed up. Just had one last month at my neighbor's house, pull the ground off system was fine, put it back on no signal. Turned out to be his outlet where his receiver was wired incorrectly, rewired it, regrounded and no problems since. Storms ( 23 inches in June) and hot weather, been 90-100 with high humidity for 2 weeks and no problems
Ok, now I'm receiving all channels from 110 and 119. Why would 119 go out for 110 problems. I did absolutely nothing but run switch checks. Lost a week total to this baloney.
Dish Dude said:
Had one like this also but if it was grounded and you touched a connector outside it would shock the piss out of you.
Broke the ground prong off on the receiver and it worked fine.
I had the same problem last night. Both 110 and 61.5 suddenly unavailable. I would flip around and get 119 but not the other two. I went to a 61.5 Voom channel and left it sitting there and about 5 minutes later it came in and reception was fine from then on. Something is going on at Dish. It's not our hardware.
That is a totally bad idea and illegal in every state. I surely would not want you for an installer.Tate Satellites said:
Get a 3-prong tester, about $5, 2 yellow light and no red means it is fine.
When remodeling, I found 1/2 my sockets before replacement were wired backwards.
Black wire is hot (narrow prong), white is neutral (wide prong), green is ground (round prong). There should be no voltage between neutral and ground--they are tied together with outside ground at the breaker box. If there is a voltage between green and your ground strip, then either your house ground is wrong or you have a bad circulating current. In either case it MUST be fixed.
Do watch for equipment, plugged into different circuits, on separate legs of the AC as this will sometimes leak a small current--it should not be able to cause a spark and means failing equipment.
-Ken
KKlare said:
I think you need to back the hell off, you have no idea what kind of installer I am.
Most recievers dont even have the ground prong on them.
Didn't they just have a problem with one of their satellites? I only lost my signal twice during two severe thunderstorm warnings. We had a severe thunderstorm warning this morning and didnt lose the signal this time. It just knocked it down to the 60's.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It's been busy here. Not working today 'cause we've got rain (yay!).dave7424 said:
I use standard 12ga green insulated or bare wire. Sometimes, the messenger wire found on some coax is used. Certain people will scream about that, but it works fine. The objective is to drain off static, and the lower current that can be carried on the 20-something gauge messenger wire is not relevant.
KKlare vs. Tate Satellites:
KKlare is right. Tate is WRONG, very WRONG.
Just because some receivers don't have a 3rd prong has NOTHING to do with those different design receivers that DO have one. DUH!
Dish Dude is correct - bad house wiring certainly can cause problems - some of them are quite dangerous. He took the right approach by having the homeowner rewire it. We KNOWDish Dude said:
he didn't do it - that's only legal if he's a licensed electrician - even though he probably DOES know how. 
