For the past few weeks I have had problems with my local channels. The first couuple weeks it occurred only during evening hours (8-11pm). It didn't occur every day at first. Then last week it was happening every night, and it was so bad that I pretty much couldn't watch anything on the locals. On Friday it happened in the morning and was so bad that the "acquiring signal" message never left the screen. I was so frustrated, because I contacted Dish (phone and e-mails) several times. Their solutions --- it's the weather, reset the receiver, or pay $99 to have someone look at it. After Friday morning and not being able to get a signal at all, I called Directv to schedule an install. I got home from work that evening and everything was working perfectly. Same thing on Saturday. I thought (stupid me) that maybe Dish had sent someone out on Friday to check the outside setup. I called Directv on Saturday evening and canceled the installation. Sunday night came, and there was a show at 8:00 on a local that I wanted to watch. I turned it to that channel at 7:50. The picture was fine. At EXACTLY 8:00, the picture started messing up severely! It was doing it again last night and a little this morning. I'm very frustrated that I can't get an answer. I have had the 522 for over a year without any major issues. Has anybody else had this problem, or does anybody know what could be causing it? Thank you so much for your help!!! (sorry about the long post)
problem with locals only
- Thread starter bagsy
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I get the Charleston/Huntington locals where I "Live", but get them from a dish 1000 ( 129 degree location ).
The superDish gets them from the 105 location.
The only issues I have with the locals is WSAZ 3 ( Ch 7317 ) gets interference at night, usually "sparklies"
What is you signal strength for 105? You'll be mostly interested in Transponder 9 on your signal strength screen.
Maybe someone else close by can chime in and compare signal strength, since I get them from a different satellite, giving my signal strength wouldn't help.
All other channels seem to continue to work, right?
So far, the only thing I can think of is that 105 is not peaked good.
The superDish gets them from the 105 location.
The only issues I have with the locals is WSAZ 3 ( Ch 7317 ) gets interference at night, usually "sparklies"
What is you signal strength for 105? You'll be mostly interested in Transponder 9 on your signal strength screen.
Maybe someone else close by can chime in and compare signal strength, since I get them from a different satellite, giving my signal strength wouldn't help.
All other channels seem to continue to work, right?
So far, the only thing I can think of is that 105 is not peaked good.
I'm not at home right now, but I remember it showing up between 50 - 55 when I checked it during the problems. I think in the past it was around 75.
The locals are the only channels affected. Everything else is perfectly fine. A couple of my co-workers also have Dish, but they aren't having any problems.
The locals are the only channels affected. Everything else is perfectly fine. A couple of my co-workers also have Dish, but they aren't having any problems.
Compare your 105 signal when you are not having problems and when you are. Check the fittings at your dish, make sure they are tight, and make sure the mount is solid. Since the problem occurs about the same time every night, you might check to see if any neighbors bought a new radar detector recently and they leave it on when they get home from work. Those things can wreak havoc on the 105 signal, you will see it bounce all around in the signal strength screen.
I'm amazed ---- I am going to get a free service call. Also, if anything needs replaced, they are going to do it for free, including s/h. I guess I finally contacted the right person (used the ceo e-mail address I've seen on here). I'm happy that I finally got an answer from them, even though I'm not sure how much it will help, considering the problem exists mostly at night. They are coming Friday afternoon, so hopefully I will have a happy weekend!!
I am not using a microwave or any other equipment during these times. Sometimes it can last for several hours. I'm not sure if anybody in the neighborhood has gotten any new ham radio / radar equipment. I haven't see any antennas for radios in plain site. It's a possibility, though. I guess if the technician doesn't find any problems during the service call, then it has to be caused by an outside source. I'm hoping it's something wrong with my equipment or satellite direction. That way it will be corrected on Friday, and I can enjoy again.
I believe there was a batch or two of the 105 LNBF units that were recalled due to temperature-sensitive issues, i.e. lose signal when it gets cold. You might have one of those.
avediswolf said:
I have been getting sparkles as well for the past two or three weeks on Channel 3 but today the sparkles does not seem to be there. I knew by the way it was on the screen that it was on their end. If you DVR a show you could skip ahead on the frames and the sparklies would be more dominant.
Stargazer said:
I knew it was on their end also, I could pause the sparklies.
I too noticed that the channel was clear this morning. Guess we'll wait and see.
The other night around midnight, it was almost unwatchable.
I looked up the General Manager E-Mail address on WSAZ website, figured if it doesn't clear up, I'll send an email off, and let them know, as well. I called Dish, and inquired about it, even the tech support has me do nothing but check signal strength, and check switch, even after I tell them it's not on the consumers end.
Anyway, back on topic... bagsy, Keep us updated on how it goes.
I had one of the reporter's card but I cannot find it now. They did a report on a house fire just up the road from me a little while back and I had seen him twice (in two different places). I could have called him about it but I would figure that he may not be the right person to contact. I was going to contact them as well but I forgot and it cleared up since then and I do not always notice the sparklies. I remember when you could not hardly see the picture a little while back.
