Starchoice issue or receiver issue???

[Mr Tony]

OK this has been bugging me for the last week or so

ON some channels it will "black out" where the screen goes black and the light goes from green to red for a second or so then back up. This happens constantly on these channels (like once every 30 seconds to a minute).
On some other channels it just kinda pixelates but never blacks out

After doing some research (options 6-0-2) the channels in question that black out are all on transponder 30. The ones that pixelate once in a while are on TP32

Normally I wouldnt care but the one that blacks out is Family West which the kids like when they are over. The one that pixelates is Omni 2 (395)....only thing on there I watch is night court

So I found a spreadsheet from Shaw Broadcasting that lists all the channels and what TP they're on and tried it out. All channels on TP30 black out. Now I know its not signal issues as the ebno on these channels is above +10 and I tried 2 LNB's and new cables. Receiver is a 205

So can some folks check out the following channels and see if they black out and on. It happens right away so you'll know

339 Global Edmonton (CITV)
545 Teletoon West
541 Family West
535 TV Land
322 CBC Lloydminster (CKSA)
319 CTV Lloydminster (CITL)

Thanks!

 

[SJ44]

Sound like a local interference that is frequency specific.
Any recent changes in the neighbourhood?

 

[Mr Tony]

not that I am aware of. I originally thought it was the dish because the ebno's on those were really low (around +6.5 or so) so I replaced the 75e dish with a Primestar 40x30" dish and now ebno's are around 10.5 or higher

My neighbors havent done anything nearby to screw with it (I live in a townhouse complex). And with my FTA setup there is a neighboring satellite at 105 that gets channels just fine in that frequency range (12100-12200)

 

[QCK]

So can some folks check out the following channels and see if they black out and on. It happens right away so you'll know

339 Global Edmonton (CITV)
545 Teletoon West
541 Family West
535 TV Land
322 CBC Lloydminster (CKSA)
319 CTV Lloydminster (CITL)

Thanks!

I don't get channel 535 as part of my subscription but all other channels are working just fine for me.

 

[Mr Tony]

shoot. Wonder if its the receiver? I've unplugged it for 5 minutes then plugged back in before and it helped a little with the frequency of blackouts but didnt remove them completelly

 

[QCK]

shoot. Wonder if its the receiver? I've unplugged it for 5 minutes then plugged back in before and it helped a little with the frequency of blackouts but didnt remove them completelly

Must be the receiver, there is no mention of any problems like this on the Canadian equivalent forum to Sat Guys.

It's time for you to upgrade to HD anyway...

 

[Frenchophile]

Those channels are coming in fine for me.

Not sure if it's related to your problem, but I've recently had some issues with channels on F2 on BOTH my 319 and 505.
I've lost Transponders 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29. The others are all coming in in the high 80 to low 90. What's even more bizzare is that some of the stations on the lost transponders have been remapped. This information gives the correct channel, but what airs is something different

711 - Pay Per View
723- Fine Living
758 - tac
759 - CosmoTV

The following are remapped to an unknown station, because it says "A subscription is required"
420, 700, 710, 713, 717

any ideas?

 

[bradleys]

I don't get channel 535 as part of my subscription, but all the others are fine.

 

[joshuals]

711 - Pay Per View
723- Fine Living
758 - tac
759 - CosmoTV

The following are remapped to an unknown station, because it says "A subscription is required"
420, 700, 710, 713, 717

Anything in the 700's should be in French, not as you describe above. I have the "toute en francais" package and all the above channels in the 700's are working normally with their corresponding French station.

Is it possible the F2 side of your LNB is not working properly (or not at all) and so when you select 723, for example, your system finds 723's transponder number from F1R and substitues that channel for what you should see on 723?

This is the situation with certain channels on my system because I have a single LNB pointed at F2 only. If I select 309, for example, I do not see CFJC, I see an SRC channel (french and in my package). I think this is because both CFJC and the SRC channel use the same transponder numbers: CFJC from F1R which my system cannot see and SRC from F2R which my system can see. The channel map doesn't know I can't see F1R, so it makes a substitution. This occurs in several instances in my system: I find duplicates of channels in my packages in unexpected locations. I probably haven't explained this very well...anyway, just a thought that you might check to see if the your are receiving F2 properly.

Whatever the case, I don't think you should see anything but French in the 700-range.

 

[Mr Tony]

correct joshuals. If you have only one satellite setup it will try and show whatever channel is on the opposite satellite

As an example, I am set up on F1 but if I select 711 (TVA Montreal) it maps to a PPV channel. Only reason I found out was the one day I selected it and there was a 5 minute preview (the beginning) of a movie with the "order this program" option

 

[joshuals]

To get back to your situation, Iceberg, I suppose if you had nothing better to do, you could repoint your setup to F2 and see if you have the same problem on the TP 30 & 32 channels from F2, if there are any. Not sure what this would prove, though.....

 

[joshuals]

And....Iceberg, if Frenchophile had a quad LNB that for whatever reason, was not receiving/processing the F2 signal, would he experience the sort of thing he describes?

 

[Frenchophile]

About half of the stations are working correctly on F2. Methinks I will have to swap in a new LNB (and/or switch)

 

[Mr Tony]

yep sounds like you need a new LNB. I had the same issue with one shorting out and that is what I thought the issue was......but it wasnt

 

[mikekohl]

Chances are better than not that you have a defective Quad LNBF.
This is the advantage in using separate antennas with easily obtainable parts such as LNBFs and 22 KHz switches---you can isolate your problems.
Before jumping in and troubleshooting further at the antenna, try a soft reset with the receiver by holding the power button on the console IN until it shuts off the receiver. Let it boot up by itself and see what happens. Sometimes such a fix will straight out logic problems....either your receiver is not communicating properly with the Quad LNBF, or the Quad LNBF itself is at fault.
The fact that Quad LNBFs have a built in switching circuit that activates F2 in the presence of a 22 KHz signal from the receiver can complicate things, if either end is not working right. IF you have a separate dish with conventional LNBF on F2 only, you could connect and see if the satellite is working---before chasing logic problems caused by switching issues.

Good luck!

 

[Mr Tony]

Mike
I assume you were responding to frenchophile?

I have only a dish at F1 right now

 

[Frenchophile]

Chances are better than not that you have a defective Quad LNBF.
This is the advantage in using separate antennas with easily obtainable parts such as LNBFs and 22 KHz switches---you can isolate your problems.
Before jumping in and troubleshooting further at the antenna, try a soft reset with the receiver by holding the power button on the console IN until it shuts off the receiver. Let it boot up by itself and see what happens. Sometimes such a fix will straight out logic problems....either your receiver is not communicating properly with the Quad LNBF, or the Quad LNBF itself is at fault.
The fact that Quad LNBFs have a built in switching circuit that activates F2 in the presence of a 22 KHz signal from the receiver can complicate things, if either end is not working right. IF you have a separate dish with conventional LNBF on F2 only, you could connect and see if the satellite is working---before chasing logic problems caused by switching issues.

Good luck!

Thanks for your detailed response, Mike, and everyone else, too.

I have two separate antennae, one pointed at each bird.

I tried soft resetting resetting both receivers with no luck.

I assume F2 is pointed correctly because I get channels on the following transponders with signal strength in the high 80s to low 90s:
2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15

That being said, I will be going out this week to connect the receiver directly to the LNB and see what happens.

I will keep you informed. If I am still having trouble, I will call you during the week, Mike, since I bought my gear from you.

Happy Easter, everyone!

 

[Mr Tony]

its the receiver

Hooked up the 410 which was originally used for HIts2Home and a while back tried to load new channel mpas in it. Could get it to remapped to Starchoice so I turned that on, saw green light and brought up 541

in 5 seconds the green light on the 205 went red and back to green. In a minute it had done it 9 times (ugh).....yet the 410 green light stayed on the whole time

time to upgrade I guess....is the 505 stable? I remember at one point it wasnt

 

[QCK]

time to upgrade I guess....is the 505 stable? I remember at one point it wasnt

Mine has been solid as a rock for 7 months now. No problems at all for me with it or my 530. :up

 

[bradleys]

My old 505 worked fine with no problems for two years.

My 530 has worked fine with no problems for the last two years.