Odd Temperature-Related Reception Issue

[iridium111]

I received my 2 Hopper / 1 Joey combo back in June to replace my VIP receivers and everything has been absolutely great until the last few weeks. I'm experiencing an odd issue where one of the Hoppers (the one by itself) is intermittently losing reception. Here are the facts:

• 1000.2 system run through a duo node. Hopper and Joey going one direction, and the problem Hopper going the other direction with one client output on the duo node unused. A HIC is inserted alongside the problem Hopper. I've attempted a straight connection without the HIC and it makes no difference.
• When I run a check switch, under "node" where it normally says "Duo", it lists as "Not Connected" and the switch is listed as "DP Feed". Of the nine checkmarks that should show, I'm usually getting two. System status fails with two or three red boxes. Since I am getting two checkmarks on check switch, I usually can receive one satellite on one tuner, but try to change channels and it brings up the lost reception box. Signal strength is fine on what I do receive.

• The other side of the house with the Hopper/Joey combo is fine. No obvious issues.
• This only occurs when the temperature outside (where the node is) drops below 45°F. I first observed the behavior a couple of weeks ago. Last week was very warm and I didn't have one problem, but when the big cold front on the east coast moved through yesterday, I've been knocked out (one one Hopper) since.
• When I power down the working Hopper/Joey on the other side, the malfunctioning Hopper detects the node again and regains normal reception and passes the check switch. Turning the other Hopper/Joey back on restarts the problem.
• MoCA still works fine on all systems. Even the troublesome Hopper can access the other Hopper's recordings, or play programs on the home network via DLNA at all times.
• When first installed, the installer ran into a bad node. He left me with a solo node overnight to hold me over and then another installer came the next day and replaced it with a (new?) duo node.

I'm thinking this might be a bad node, or maybe a wiring issue, but I wanted to check and see whether anyone else had seen this problem. I really didn't want to call a tech to my house to have him show up on a nice day and tell him to wait until the temperature cools off to see the issue.

 

[3HaloODST]

Sounds like LNB drift to me. Press YELLOW - 9 - 2 and see if it indicates such. Even if it doesn't still sounds like LNB drift.

 

[iridium111]

Sounds like LNB drift to me. Press YELLOW - 9 - 2 and see if it indicates such. Even if it doesn't still sounds like LNB drift.

The status screen errors and shows one red box for 129, with the other satellites not even listed (at other times 119 was the one listed.) No mention of LNB drift anywhere. 'Details' just mentions multiple signal losses within the last few hours.

One new thing that I noticed while doing this is that now my other Hopper is affected. It errored while I had my problem Hopper on, but returned to normal after I unplugged the Hopper on the other side of the node. It seems like I can have one Hopper/Joey side of the node working at any time. It's getting colder, so I might go outside today and try to manually warm the node up to see if that makes any difference at all.

 

[sca]

dp feed almost always indicates a bad signal path (cable). is it good quality 3000 mhz cable? the other thing that may cause this issue on a checkswitch is electrical. is it plugged into a properly wired grounded outlet? you may want to test it with an outlet circuit tester.
third, try switching ports on the node. remove the host cables and swap them. see what happens

edit: i just re-read and you say it works if one hopper is unplugged? i am almost positive one of these two hoppers is plugged into an improperly wired outlet. if you cant test the outlets, try using different outlets and definately bypass any surge protectors.

 

[iridium111]

Replying with the resolution of the issue: After our Sandy-spawned blizzard, reception was out with the cold temperatures most of the week. Described the problem to the installer (along with a few pictures of the check switch screens just in case it 'resolved' itself temporarily before he came) and he went straight for the LNB although there were no LNB drift messages. Replaced it and problem solved. His theory was that one of the seals on it broke at some point in the last few years allowing moisture to enter, and that the freezing/thawing cycle damaged it such that it became temperature sensitive.

Thanks to all the suggestions here and kudos to my installer for getting me up and going in under 20 minutes.

 

[papalittle]

I have a customer with the same problem and after 4 visits replacing everything I replaced the cable from the node to the hopper and that fixed it.

 

[sca]

Replying with the resolution of the issue: After our Sandy-spawned blizzard, reception was out with the cold temperatures most of the week. Described the problem to the installer (along with a few pictures of the check switch screens just in case it 'resolved' itself temporarily before he came) and he went straight for the LNB although there were no LNB drift messages. Replaced it and problem solved. His theory was that one of the seals on it broke at some point in the last few years allowing moisture to enter, and that the freezing/thawing cycle damaged it such that it became temperature sensitive.

Thanks to all the suggestions here and kudos to my installer for getting me up and going in under 20 minutes.

replacing the lnb is often a temporary fix. not sure why, but if there is another issue in the system, changing the lnb may fix it for a while.