Multiswitch Question

[Rappy]

The other day I suddenly lost all satellite channels and my ota signals were degraded. I have a 5x8 Eagle Aspen multiswitch in the enclosed crawl space under my house. Just as I was preparing to go under the house in zero degree weather the next day all channels suddenly came back on line. Then, last night, everything went off again for about an hour. What are some of your guesses as to the problem? I have three receivers and all of them were affected, so the problem must be with the multiswitch, but why has it come back online twice? Thanks for any input.

 

[jdspencer]

Do you know which satellites were affected? My first guess would be a bad connection between dish and multiswitch. This would affect all receivers. Then it could be the mulitswitch. Try bypassing it as a test.

 

[harley52]

Did this happen 2/3/07 in Los Angeles. Because I lost 110 sat and 1/4% of my signal, and then it came back on?

 

[barnebad]

It sounds like you have a 4x8 instead of a 5x8. I know it looks like it has 5 lines in and 8 out but the 5th one should be connected to a coax that is connected to a power source. Check and see if the Green light on the eagle aspen is on. If not check to see if your power supply is plugged in.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

First you need to look at your signal strength and determine if BOTH odd and even transponders are affected on all receivers. If not, then you might have a bad cable. If BOTH odd and even transponders are affected, then it cannot be a single cable from the dish to the switch.
Since all receivers are affected, it cannot be a cable from the switch to the receivers.
Since locals were affected, you are correct in assuming your switch. It is the only common device in your system.
A very case condition is when you have a couple receivers unable to provide power to the switch and one receiver carries the entire load. Just for giggles you might want to measure the output voltage on each receiver for both add and even transponders.
Look at the eagle aspen 3x8 on this web page.
http://www.dbsinstall.com/Directv/Directv_dishes.asp
It will show that power port mentioned above.

 

[Rappy]

Since ota signals were also affected, I would assume the problem would have to be in the multiswitch. One thing I will check is the coax between the multiswitch and the power supply. Maybe the connectors have to loosened and then tightened again to remove any corrosion, etc. I won't check anything until I have the problem again. I don't like crawling around in a crawl space in zero degree weather here in Maine.-

 

[Rappy]

Barnebad: I have a 5x8 multiswitch, with four coaxes coming from the dish and one from the ota antenna. And there is also a coax connection to the power supply from the multiswitch.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Rappy,
Here is one you will really like. The problem is a fitting or cable. Add to your list of places to inspect the inside and outside of the wall where the cable enters the building. Also shake the cable there and see if anything changes...........Fix by adding a barrel & two new fittings. Mice chew coax to get into warm spaces for winter.
The fact that all goes down at the same time suggests the problem is between the dish and the multiswitch. + Is the mast fiemply attached?

Good luck + post back what you do to fix it.

Joe