A few weeks ago, I started having signal strength issues with my main receiver...a VIP722. It seemed that whenever I'd exit watching a DVR recording and go directly to "Live TV", I'd get a complete signal loss error message. I'd reboot, and sometimes this would remedy the problem for a while and sometimes not. Often, I'd get a message saying that the HD channel could not come in and that the receiver was defaulting to the SD channel. I'd check the signal strength and from what I could tell, all was OK. What's "OK"? I had a tech several years ago tell me that anything over 50 was adequate. So...last Friday, I had DISH come out and the first thing the tech did was re-peak the dish. He told me that there was a "top bolt" in the mount for my 1000.2 that "a lot of techs miss" and that the dish had "slipped down" a bit. After adjusting it, he told me that my signal was "70 or above". All seemed to be working well when he left, even though there were questions about the strange error messages that were coming up on the receiver during that past week. I'd run a check switch test and I'd have the receiver tell me it found "38 of 38", instead of 4 of 4. Anyway, the same issue occurred last night again. I couldn't get any HD channels. I ran the "Point Dish" test and on transponder 17, I was getting a signal strength of 75 on 110, 63 on 119 and only 35 to 40 on 129. I'm about 30 miles north of Milwaukee, WI on the western arc. My questions are these: 1. Can I safely assume that my HD channels are on the 129 satellite? 2. When aiming the dish, does a tech try to get the best signal for all 3 birds, or can he or she "prioritize"? In other words, is it possible to get the highest signal on 129 at the expense of a lower signal strength on 110 or 119? I have a feeling that I'm going to need to get a tech out here again to see what exactly is going on. DISH agreed to send me a new (I'm assuming "refurbed") 722 last night, so hopefully I can exclude the receiver from being the problem after I install that. Oh...and yes....I am aware that the Hopper receivers would offer me much more, but for now anyway, I have my reasons for wanting to stay with my 722, 622 and 211K. Thanks in advance for any help/advice the members here may be able to offer.
Signal strength for 110, 119 & 129...can you prioritize?
- Thread starter spudmancbr954rr
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 17
- Views 15K
722's have a habit, over time, in some cases of not processing the signal correctly. However, in this case, I'm going to guess you have water damage somewhere. In a fitting, the diplexer, ground block or a place where the cable itself has been damaged. The 38 of 38 means it's not seeing the LNBF at all, intermittently. Sounds like your tech didn't sweep the entire system
Thanks HipKat. I'll have to check everything that I can before calling out the tech again. One other quick question....in DISH's instructions for connecting a replacement receiver, they make no mention of removing the smart card from the old receiver and inserting it into the replacement unit. Just wondering...will the replacement come with a card already installed? I was under the impression that the smart card is what "linked" a receiver to a specific customer's DISH account. Thanks!
I had intermittent "signal losses" on a 722 last year, which turned out to be the tuner itself going bad. First I got a call from Dish saying that my receiver was reporting problems but everything was ok on my end so I didn't take it seriously. Then a few months later I started getting random intermittent pixelation on a few channels until it got progressively worse and the signal levels on all 3 sats were reporting much lower. The tech checked the outside signals with his meter and all was good, so it was either something in the line, or the receiver itself. A swap out of the receiver fixed it.
Since your signal levels aren't low on all sats, I think you have a different problem. One thing it could be is the OTA tuner (if you have/use one), either the built-in tuner on the 722 or the MT2 module on the 722k. There have been instances where if the OTA tuner is left on a weak signal channel, then the satellite "signal loss" message will pop up, even if you aren't currently viewing or recording an OTA channel. One way to test this is to make sure you tune to a strong OTA channel before changing back to a satellite channel and see if the message stops appearing.
Since your signal levels aren't low on all sats, I think you have a different problem. One thing it could be is the OTA tuner (if you have/use one), either the built-in tuner on the 722 or the MT2 module on the 722k. There have been instances where if the OTA tuner is left on a weak signal channel, then the satellite "signal loss" message will pop up, even if you aren't currently viewing or recording an OTA channel. One way to test this is to make sure you tune to a strong OTA channel before changing back to a satellite channel and see if the message stops appearing.
And some new receivers come with a smart card built in so don't be anxious over not seeing one. Smart cards are married to their individual receivers and are not interchangeable.
Wow....dare2be....if what you say is true, that could VERY WELL be my problem! The last two times this has happened were the last two Sunday evenings when I happened to be recording a program from the PBS affiliate in Milwaukee. This particular channel is in fact a low signal strength channel! Never in a million years would I have thought that the built in OTA tuner would have anything whatsoever to do with the satellite signal loss message. I just remembered another weird thing that has been happening as well. I'll try to change to a different channel and will get the message asking me if I'd like to "stop the recording" on such and such a channel, when I am NOT in fact even recording anything! Starting to wonder if my 722 is in reality in the process of giving up the ghost.
That OTA signal problem isn't necessarily a sign of the 722 going bad. My thought is that the erroneous sat message being triggered by the OTA tuner is a quirk introduced by a software update some time ago. Others have reported it as well on healthy receivers.
I'd just make sure you tune to a strong OTA channel before going back to Sat and see how it behaves for a week.
I'd just make sure you tune to a strong OTA channel before going back to Sat and see how it behaves for a week.
I'll definitely give that a try dare2be. On another note, referring to what HipKat mentioned above....I'll admit I don't know exactly what a "diplexer" is or where it might be found in my system. I have a Dish "separator" behind my receiver, and those connections are obviously dry and they are good and tight. I went up on the roof earlier tonight and I can't actually see where the three coax cables connect to the 3 individual LNBs, as they sort of disappear into the long arm. I did find something in my basement though that looked kind of shabby. I can live without an installer screwing the connecting blocks/couplers to the ceiling joists, but there are NO grounding wires connected to either of them. I plan on getting this all cleaned up and done before the new receiver gets here in a few days. One quick question though...when doing a "check switch" test, where exactly is the "switch" that I'm testing? On my old dish, there was this massive contraption hanging off my roof mount called a DP44 Pro Plus. On the new 1000.2 dish I have, is this something that is now internal in the LNB arm or somewhere else? Just curious. Thanks!
![20200519_191536[1].jpg](https://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/attachments/20200519_191536-1-jpg.145186/ "20200519_191536[1].jpg")
![20200519_191337[1].jpg](https://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/attachments/20200519_191337-1-jpg.145187/ "20200519_191337[1].jpg")
If you indeed have 3 individual lnbs (probably not though) there has to be a external switch somewhere. If it is one molded unit with 3 "eyes" then the switch is internal.
Your check switch on 722k should be DPP 1K.2 w/separator
Your check switch on 722k should be DPP 1K.2 w/separator
spudmancbr954rr From the pic, you probably don't have a diplexer. Your TV connects right to the receiver, if you indeed have a TV2
Thanks for the info guys. Yep....I do indeed have that molded unit with the 3 "eyes". I was under the impression that each eye was a separate LNB. Well, I guess I'll wait and see what the new receiver does for me. If it doesn't cure the problem, I'll call out a tech. But my original question though....about getting a strong signal on one satellite or the others....in theory, should the dish be able to be aimed in such a way as to get a good strong signal on ALL of them (129, 119 and 110)? Or, will a strong signal on one usually result in weaker signals on the others? Thanks!
No. Signal values vary based on several things. The 110 and 119 are generally close in signal strength. The 129 is usually about 15-20 points lower. So 110/119 in the 70's on Transponder 21, 129 in the 50's. Also, each "eye" points at a different Satellite, then the inbred switch, combines them so each of the 3 output ports is sending all three satellites at the same time through each output
The 1000.2 dish will get a good signal on all 3 satellites, but 129 will always be the lowest of the 3 for a couple of different reasons. It is nothing to worry about. 110 and 119 should be in the high 70's and 129 will be low to mid 50's. The dish should be peaked on the 129 satellite.
Seriously though, thank you all for the helpful information. I'll update this thread after I install the new receiver tomorrow.Well....Day 2 with the new (refurb) 722 receiver and all seems to be working OK. Signal strength is: 129 - 52, 119 - 64 & 110 - 78...all on transponder 17. Also, the new receiver seems to be quite a bit more "snappy" and responsive. Who knows...maybe things were simply "wearing out" internally in the old unit (tuner, hard drive, etc.). Hoping this cures the problem. Thanks for all the help guys!
Similar threads
-
- Sticky
Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)
Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 8)
Latest posts
-
-
Joey 4's Lose Streaming & MOCA Internet, but Dish programming works fine- Latest: GraniteStateColin
-
