San Francisco - New member with pixelation problem

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hihghatsize

New Member
Original poster
Jun 29, 2008
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Hi, again. I just posted the following message in the, "Chit Chat", forum for new members and am reposting it here because I am more likely to find members on this site familiar with Directv problems. Any help would be appreciated:

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Hi. You never know what you are going to find when you go on the internet. Who could believe that there are so many people interested in discussing satellite TV? I was looking for an answer to a question about my system when I found this site.

Pleased to meet you all.

I live in San Francisco and have a three Lnb dish feeding a powered multiswitch that splits the signals into eight coax cables, one being unused. I run four t.v.s; two directv/Tivos, one DirectvDVR, and one regular receiver. I had the system installed by a professional who does commercial installations because the initial Directv installation, (of a dual lnb, unpowered line), was pretty bad. None of my receivers is HD.

For the past six months, my pictures have been frequently pixelated, particularly on the channels around 250. Even though the dish is a commercial sized oval dish, my reception seems affected in those channels from fog, and, now with the forest fires south of San Francisco, smoke.

I just hosed off the dish which is the most that I can do since it is inaccessible without special equipment and was wondering what tests I could run to find out if there is a problem with my system and where it is, or if the problem is with Directv's satellite transmission.

If any of you have had similar problems, especially if you live in this neck of the woods, I'd appreciate hearing from you as well.

Thanks.

Cordially,
highhatsize
 
No replies. However, I had tightened every connection that I could find at the multiswitch. Some had quite a bit of play. I will let you know if the problem recurs.

 
It didn't work. We had a day of heavy fog two days ago and one of the stations became pixelated again. I suspect that it is a system flaw with the satellite. Here in San Francisco, we are at the edge of the satellite signal and the transponder(s) that broadcast USA and the like must be particularly weak.

Cordially,
hihghatsize
 
If your coax connections were loose I would unscrew the connections to make sure that the coax has not been compromised by moisture. Next I would with the help of someone and a receiver in the signal strength screen do the "bend" test and see if the signal goes up in strength. This is lightly pulling or pushing up/down and left/right. Make sure that the sat selected is 101.
 
Go into the satellite setup and post for us the numbers you are seeing for signal strength on the 101, 110, and 119 satellite. There will be upwards of 30 on 101, 3 on 110, and 10 or so on 119.
 
Time for the Experts

Dear raysat and Jason,

My satellite dish is so situated three stories above ground that only someone with specialized climbing equipment can touch it. I tried last week and, as I struggled to maintain contact with the pitched roof with as many square centimeters of my body as possible to avoid sliding off, decided that this was a job for a pro.

I did the signal strength test several times recently. The lowest signal strength that I measured was in the high 80s. Two of the transponders, (or was it three), had no signal whatsoever, but the Directv literature says that this is OK.

The coaxial connectors that I tightened were all within the attic. I can't reach any that are on the roof. So water infiltration is still a possibility.

I do thank everyone for their suggestions, but I am afraid that I will have to live with this condition until it become significantly worse or until it is time to upgrade to Directv's latest essential piece of equipment. Thereupon I will call Crawford Satellite, a responsive, reliable, efficient, professional and expensive private company which will discover the problem in short order and gore me like a clumsy matador in the Madrid bull ring after they fix it.

[Sigh!]

Cordially,
highhatsize
 
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