Shaw receivers getting 0 signal

[Icicle]

Hello folks,

I'm in the process of getting Shaw Direct setup at my house. I had a satellite installer come out and do the install and using a meter he said he had signal strength in the 90s for 107 and 111. I have the 75E dish with quad output LNB.

I'm at the point of getting the two receivers I have setup and neither of them can get any signal strength. I tried running the coax directly from the LNB into the receivers and both of them stay stuck at zero signal strength.

On the installation setup I have tried plugging in 4128 for the Provider ID and it still just stays red with zero signal strength.

I'm starting to think that the LNB is toast because I have read that I should still get some kind of signal reading even if the dish is pointed at the wrong place? There doesn't seem to be much else I can try other than picking up a new LNB and swapping it out? Is it possible that the installer could tell the signal strength to the satellites if the LNB was toast though?

I'm used to the Bell setup where the LNB runs to a powered multi-switch. With this Shaw gear I'm just running coax right from the LNB to the receiver. Is that right? (no power required). Just trying to make sure I didn't miss something obvious... =)

Please let me know if you have any ideas/suggestions. Would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

 

[joshuals]

I don't see anything obvious with what you've posted.

Each receiver needs to be connected directly to the dish; one coax line for non-PVR receivers and two lines for PVR receivers. Any of the four ports on the LNB can be used for any receiver. No splitters can be used, and no switches are required for the setup as you've described it.

You don't state where you got the dish, so just be sure that if you have the 75e, the LNB is also marked "for the 75e" on the ticket attached to the LNB.

The power for the LNB is supplied by the receiver and goes "up" the same coax that the signal comes "down".

A zero signal strength ususally indicates a bad (corroded) connection or cable, or otherwise indicates that the receiver is not communicating with the LNB.

If the LNB was bad, you would get a zero signal strength, but you are right; it's unusual that the installer got a signal while you cannot. If this is truly the case, then it indicates that there is something wrong between the point where the installer made his connection to the LNB and the receiver.

If possible, I would take a receiver and a TV to the dish and connect it in where the installer connected his meter and see if this changes anything.

All that being said, you do not state if the installer had any Shaw Direct installation experience. If not, you need to evaluate his experience level and determine if you are confident with what he did. If your confidence level is low, I would begin by going to dishpointer.com and determining if the pointing of the dish looks reasonable. Also check the plumbness of the mast and the elevation and skew settings. If any of these pointings/settings appears incorrect, I would question whether your installer was being truthfull about the readings he got. I have read of cases where American provider installers have had difficulty doing a Shaw install for whatever reason.

I would investigate all these things carefully before investing another LNB. I think the chances of the LNB being bad are very low, especially if your installer's evaluation of the signal was done very recently.

 

[Icicle]

Thanks joshuals!!!

This was super helpful:

"If the LNB was bad, you would get a zero signal strength, but you are right; it's unusual that the installer got a signal while you cannot. If this is truly the case, then it indicates that there is something wrong between the point where the installer made his connection to the LNB and the receiver."

I had the installer come back out to confirm that he was still able to get both signals knowing that I was getting 0 on the receivers (and based on your comment sounded like the LNB was probably ok).

It was really interesting - his meter showed full signal for 107 and for 111 but only if he manually switched transponders for 111. He assumed that meant he had a line on both... But if the meter was on 107 with full signal and he generated a 20Hz tone to switch the LNB to 111 it wouldn't pick up the signal... He adjusted the dish to lock on 111 and then was able to confirm that he also had a lock on 107 by generating the 20Hz tone.

It was a combination of the bad alignment and not having received the hit from Shaw that was my problem - and I'm golden now! =)

The Shaw "Satellite Installation" interface/software is garbage compared to Bell... It seems like you can only validate Anik A4 (107) with that interface??? The Bell software at least lets you choose which bird and transponder you want to test and is much more user friendly for troubleshooting this kind of problem... =)

Thanks for all of the suggestions - really appreciate the help!