More 211 problems?

[sam_gordon]

I have a 612 and a 211 on the Western Arc. On Thursday(?) night, the 211 had problems going to any HD channel. When I checked signal strengths, no matter what satellite I selected, the display said it was looking at 119. So I did a 'Check Switch', and it ended up doing the '38' section test. After that, I could change satellites on the point dish screen and it saw the appropriate sat. I exited the menu, it did the 'acquiring signal' thing, then downloaded the guide and all was fine. The 612 was fine throughout this.

Fast forward to this morning. The 211 again has problems going to many channels. I go to the signal strength again and I get the same issue (no matter what sat I select, it shows as '119'). Multiple 'Check Switches' keep returning 'less satellites found'. I check my 612 and it shows 129 and 119, but no 110.

I'm assuming the switch is embedded in the LNB since I have no external switch. A couple other 'facts'... it did drop to freezing, and one of my cables I did wrap with electrical tape after hitting it with the trimmer over the summer. That's on my list to replace this afternoon, but I don't know if that's the cable feeding the 211 or the 612.

Assuming I change the cable and still have problems, what's the next thing to try?

 

[Dah-Henny]

Seems reasonable that your issue is one of two possibilities. A 211 bug/corruption, or the lnb switch. It'd be nice if you had a spare 211, or lnb to test with, or even an external switch, to pinpoint your issue.

edit: Since running a check switch solves the problem for a short time, I would strongly suspect that it's a 211 problem.

 

[sam_gordon]

Well, it looks like the cable. Two cables going to from the receivers to the dish... call them A & B. A is the one I had hit with the trimmer. I disconnect A and both receivers show loss of signal. That's interesting. I replace A with new cables and connectors. Both receivers come back fully (211 shows good switch). I decide to change cable B out since it's as old as A (12 years). I disconnect B and the 211 has loss of signal, 612 is fine. I disconnect the other end of B and notice the end (compression fitting going into a ground block) was corroded out. I replace cable B and the ground block and the 211 has good signal on all three sats.

Just interesting.

 

[Bobby]

There ya go!

 

[boba]

Did you think to put a piece of PVC pipe on the cable where you nicked it to keep it safe?

 

[sam_gordon]

Did you think to put a piece of PVC pipe on the cable where you nicked it to keep it safe?

Think about it? Yes. Do it? Nope. I was in "meatball surgery" mode. lol. Get it working before the family revolts.