Strange Switch Problem...

[eurosport]

Port 3 of my 4-way diseqc switch goes to a Zinwell 4x4 multi-switch. The 0khz inputs go to my G18 dish with Primestar LNB. It works fine. The 22k side goes to another dish on G28 also with a P* LNB. For some strange reason I can only get horizontal on this dish. I have tried swapping out the switch, LNB, and cable and still no signal on vertical. Anyone know what's going on here? (Oh, the G28 dish worked fine on both polarities before)

receiver----diseqc #3-----4x4-----13/18v 0khz G18
-----13/18v 22khz G28

 

[Lak7]

I have tried swapping out the switch, LNB, and cable and still no signal on vertical.

If you go direct, Receiver to LNB, is everything OK?
Are there other receivers connected to the 4x4 switch?

 

[Anole]

after you try the above good ideas...

Well, a bad cable or connector is my first thought.

But forgetting to program your receiver is one of those thing that happens to us all, as well.
Yes, I speak from experience.

And I prefer -powered- multiswitches, 'cause there is less confusion and fewer gotchas with 'em...
Check your voltages on the coax between the failing LNB and multiswitch.

 

[eurosport]

If you go direct, Receiver to LNB, is everything OK?
Are there other receivers connected to the 4x4 switch?

Yes, the G28 dish was connected to this same switch by itself on the non-22k side to diseqc 3 and it worked fine H and V.
I tried connecting my bedroom receiver to RX output 2 on the switch but it gets no signal at all. It's a Scientific Atlanta D9234 that has no setting for 22k so I put G18 on the 0khz side so that receiver would see that sat. The other dish for G28 (on 22k side) gets no vertical, on the main receiver, regardless of whether or not the bedroom one is connected. The main receiver gets both polarities fine on the 0khz (G18) side of the switch.The SA receiver in the bedroom worked fine on just the V of the G18 dish before I tried to combine them in this way...

 

[eurosport]

Check your voltages on the coax between the failing LNB and multiswitch.

I started to think that the 13 volts for vertical through 2 switches may not be enough for the P* LNB but one of 'em works on V and the other one doesn't through the same 2 switches.

 

[Lak7]

You lost me.

To eliminate the LNB and Receiver, replace both switches with barrel connectors, test with receiver that can do 22KHz. This will prove cables are good too.
Then....
Add in DiSEqC switch, test.
Add in 4x4 switch, test
Add second receiver to 4x4, test.

 

[eurosport]

Receiver to LNB....:up
Receiver to diseqc to V side of LNB....:up
Add 4x4 .....:down no voltage on 22k V output (tested with trusty multimeter) H works fine.
Second receiver....:down gets no signal at all from 4x4
Conclusion.....I have no clue why it's doing this, so I guess it's time to go back to old setup, with G18 dish only to bedroom RX and G28 on main system diseqc #3

 

[Mr Tony]

did you try receiver to 4x4 and eliminating the diseqc?

 

[eurosport]

I'll try that tomorrow... I've been on & off tinkerin' with this thing since about 4pm. That's enough for one day!

 

[eurosport]

Well as per Iceberg's suggestion, I eliminated the diseqc switch. Port 3 seems to be dying a slow painful death. Signal level (no quality at all) fluctuates wildly. Port 2 is starting to pixelate a bit too now. 1 and 4 seem OK for the moment, but I don't give 'em much more time. Problem is, the system will be one dish only, 'till I get another diseqc switch. I'm not sure what killed it 'cause I always power down when hooking-unhooking cables/switches etc. This was a $4 cheapie diseqc, so getting almost a year out of it is OK I guess! Thank you Lak7, Anole, and Iceberg for your help!:up
...Oh, BTW, what brand of GOOD diseqc switch do you guys recommend?

 

[Mr Tony]

I figured the diseqc port was going...have had many ports blow like that

 

[eurosport]

I figured the diseqc port was going...have had many ports blow like that

I only had that one. I'm thinking of replacing it with this:EMP-CENTAURI 4X1 DiSEqC SATELLITE LNB FTA MULTI SWITCH - eBay (item 390009081960 end time May-14-09 21:28:14 PDT)
4 year warranty and looks bulletproof!

 

[Mr Tony]

I've got a 8x1 of the emp-centauri's and its built pretty good

 

[eurosport]

Cool, that one looks like a good deal and I've been very satisfied with that seller before too.

 

[eurosport]

Update: Port 3 is gone completely now. Level fluctuates wildly between 0 and 99% and no quality. Good news is that only puts my DVB system down 2 out of 6 dishes. (and if I reaaly want to watch something on one of those 2 sats, I'll just swap ports) The new one has been ordered. We'll just add it to my whole "FTA overhaul" when it comes in! Thanks again to all who helped me figure out what happened here!:up