No signal on TP24

[phoneguy]

I have a strange problem here. I have an old RCA DSS receiver and transponder 24 is intermittent at best. Tried re-aiming the dish, checked and cleaned all my connections. I have two receivers with a dual output LNB, and on one output of the LNB I have the nearly-no-TP24 problem, and on the other side it's somewhat better, but TP24 still drops out periodically. All other TPs have solid signal levels. Sight line of the dish is clear. What's annoying is there's only one channel on TP24 that I am interested in -- the MSG alternate that's showing the Buffalo Sabres games!!

I tried swapping out the LNB for another one that I have here with the same results. It's a strange problem because it's only one TP, and not all the even numbered TPs. Also, the TP will suddenly become solid for anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes and then go back to being mostly not there.

Thoughts?

Tnx.

 

[dave29]

check ground block, or any other barells in the line, make sure they are rated usually blue center. or you might want to get rid of the giant cinder block of a receiver

 

[phoneguy]

check ground block, or any other barells in the line, make sure they are rated usually blue center. or you might want to get rid of the giant cinder block of a receiver

I did already go through all my barrels, but thanks for the suggestion. When I did the dish re-aiming I was connected more or less directly to the LNB with a farily short piece of cable so I wasn't using the lead that goes from the dish into the house, which is a goodly length of cable, and had the same results as when the receiver is in the house. Interestingly at the moment (8 PM EDT) everything is working great... Ch. 627 (TP24) is coming in just fine, nary a blip or stutter. Makes me wonder if there's a local RF source that's interfering somehow. Can't imagine what would be on those freqs, though, according to Lyngsat TP24 operates at 12559 MHz and the IF is 1309 MHz.

The thought of the receiver replacement has crossed my mind, but just don't wanna right now It's been working fine otherwise.

 

[dave29]

i have seen old dss boxes that i have replaced absolutely every other part of the system and have come back to life with the exception of one or two channels one time it was encore mystery only, swapped it out for a new d11 and boom encore mystery most people wouldn't have even noticed but this guy was a retiree with nothing to do but watch tv all day. Is there any certain time of day that this happens or is it random?

 

[phoneguy]

I am not looking for this channel other than in the evening, but the problem appears to be random. Some nights it's OK, other nights it's terrible, and doesn't appear to be related to weather. As I mentioned, there's really only the one channel on this TP that is of interest so it's not like I am watching it every time the TV is on. Haven't tried it during the day before today when I was messing around checking everything. All I know is it appears to affect both receivers (granted, both older RCA DSS rxs) at the time same. One receiver seems to have no signal at all and the other one cuts in and out a lot. It'll go from a signal strength in the mid-80s to nothing. Meanwhile, all the other TPs are coming in fine. Right now with everything coming in great on the one rx, the other rx is great as well on the same TP.

I tried both sides of the LNB this afternoon and I could duplicate what I see at the two receivers (one has next to nothing, other is in and out) by plugging the one rx into each LNB port. I want to say it's not the receivers, but the problem is just strange enough, I sure can't say it with any certainty.

 

[dave29]

if it is happening on both receivers at the same time then it would be nearly impossible to be the boxes. And you tried a different LNB, that is a strange one. Almost sounds like some kind of outside interference. Have you purchased any new electronics recently that could interfere? Maybe a cordless phone? If so unplug unplug the device when this problem occurs and see if it goes away. Some new cordless phones are operating in that frequency range. It is rare but I have seen it interfere.

 

[phoneguy]

I did try another LNB yesterday and I aimed and peaked the dish and it wasn't any better on TP24. I didn't extensively scan all the other transponders with that second LNB. I just threw it in and when I saw that 24 was no better, I swapped the other one back in.

I don't have have any new electronics, and don't have any cordless phones at all -- I collect and use the old wired kind -- but no telling what my neighbors may have.

Last night I had no problems at all on TP24. I was able to see the Sabres game on 627 just fine on both receivers. Just looked now (1:50 PM EDT) and it's a mess again. CH. 627 is on only during the games, but a quick check of the other channels on that TP (357 CNBC World for one) is bad. Signal strength on the TP is around 70 for a few moments then down to nothing for a few moments and then back to the low 70s. Sure looks like a local interfering source of some kind.