Signal issues

[Boatright]

Greetings all, new poster here. I appreciate any suggestion you may have.

Okay here's the deal. I have a directv slimline 5lnb and one hr20-700 receiver.

The two problems I have is missing signal on SOME hd channels and a message I get every few hours that says "missing guide information".

Today I was up trying to adjust the satellite and well it didn't improve anything, so here I am.
Here are my signal readings 101 is 88%, 110 is 0, 119 is 0, 99(c) is 83%, 99(s) is 0, 103(s) is 0, 103(ca) is 0, and 103(cb) is 74%. The basic dish alignment was set by the receiver set up info which is A=189 E=38 T=82. All this is correct and did minor tweaking with a basic signal meter to get peek signal. I still do not get discovery hd, tlc hd, foodnetwork hd, animal planet hd and so on...

What am I missing? Is there a better or a affordable meter I should get? Should I switch the 5lnb to a 3lnb?

 

[Jam3s]

you are off alignment, possibly got a blockage. your 103 is weak, your 99 is fairly weak, and you are missing 119 altogether. 101 is pretty bad, too. If you can peak 101 a bit better and find 119, you'll be on the right track.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

The chances of 119 being 0 while having 101 at all are slim and none. You most likely have a defective lnb or los issue for 119. The error about missing guide issue is directly related to your 119 signal. But it seems as everything needs to be repeaked.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys Boatright!

As the others mentioned, you have either a bad lnb or line of sight issues. The guide data comes from 119 if you have a 5 lnb. You might want to check to see if anything is blocking your view to the southwest. Also check to be sure the mast and dish are tight. If it is a line of sight problem, a 3 lnb may be your best option.

 

[Boatright]

Thanks to all for your reply. There are no obstructions, clear sight line. I'm thinking at this point it's gotta be a defective lnb. I'm thinking of a 3lnb for a replacement. What is an affordable signal meter that could help me out? Here's the signal info.

 

[Jam3s]

Oh, one other thing I've run in to: If your reflector is warped, you can experience this stuff, and it doesn't have to be warped by much. I went out to one customer and spent 30 minutes trying to figure out what was going on, finally just changed out the dish and bam, did it. I later tried to stack it with a known good dish, and lo and behold, the shape was off. Not enough to eyeball, but more than enough to donk up the signal.

 

[Boatright]

Interesting thought. The dish looks fine, but like you said it just takes a little so not sure what to say.

 

[Jimbo]

The was the dishes are designed now with the edge on them it's very hard to get a dish that isn't correct.
Not saying is can't happen, but not very likely.

You need your dish properly pointed.
Make sure the mast is plumb as well.

You've already pointed out that you have a clear LOS, so that narrows it down.

 

[raoul5788]

How about all of the signals on 99c and 103ca/cb? Did you check to see if the dish is secured properly? Your numbers on 101 aren't perfect, but certainly good enough. The signal strength meter in the receiver is good enough for your purposes.

 

[Boatright]

Ok here's an update. I took all the suggestion and this is what I found. The mast wasn't perfect, level, but not plumb - made the slight change and it's perfect now. I had a 5lnb and replaced it with a new 3lnb.

The result? Sadly after hours of dinking around it's still the same problem, no had channels or I should say very few. It did improve the signals on some satellites and none on others. Pics attached.

 

[raoul5788]

Is this a swm setup? If not, do you have two cables from the lnb? Did you redo the satellite setup and change the lnb type?

 

[Boatright]

No swm. Yes, I did change the set up to a 3lnb. Yes, there are two coax cables from the lnb going to a hr-20 using b-band converters.

Also, I only have one tv. The set up couldn't be anymore simple

 

[raoul5788]

Try swapping the cables. If the no signal issue moves to the first tuner, then you have a bad cable or connector. Also, try using the other ports on the lnb. One could be bad, although not likely. Can you post the signal levels for all the transponders on 101, 99c, and 103ca and 103cb?

 

[Boatright]

Yes here you go.

 

[raoul5788]

Those numbers aren't great, especially on 103ca/cb, but you should be getting all of your hd channels. The dish still needs to be aligned better. You may have a bad bbc or two. What about the signal levels on tuner #2? If they are essentially the same, don't bother posting pictures.

 

[Boatright]

Thanks for the input chip. What does BBC mean? I understand that it needs to be tuned better, I guess I struggle with that. I'm trying to find a device that I can use besides the tv. Is there an affordable signal finder I can buy or rent one while I'm up at the dish? I guess I don't know the correct process on how to tune.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the input chip. What does BBC mean? I understand that it needs to be tuned better, I guess I struggle with that. I'm trying to find a device that I can use besides the tv. Is there an affordable signal finder I can buy or rent one while I'm up at the dish? I guess I don't know the correct process on how to tune.

The BBC is the device you put on the coax right before going into the recvr, ONLY use them if your NOT using a SWM set up ... The BBC allows the frequency for the HD signal to pass to the recvr ... (laymans terms.)

 

[raoul5788]

bbc is a b-band converter.