VIP211k never finds signal after loosing it

[sic0048]

First a little background.... my VIP211k looses it's signal sometimes. I have trouble holding the 110 and 61.5 satellites sometimes. I generally have a signal of about 52-53, but I also have to shoot through some trees that are about 100' away. I can live with the lost signals (I think it is just my location with so many trees around) except for this problem....

When I loose the satellite signal, the screen on the TV says that it is trying to find the signal again. The problem is that it never does automatically. I have to manually press the "recall" button on the remote which switches the channel, and then recall again to go back to the original channel. I never have an issue re-establishing the signal this way, so it's not like I cannot reconnect to the satellite. But I'd like it to happen automatically. It's not a big deal when you are sitting there watching TV, but the problem is that is kills any future DVR recordings until someone manually hits the recall button on the screen. This could be a day or more before anyone actually decides to watch live TV. So I regularly loose LOTS of shows due to this "Lost Signal" problem.

Any suggestions on how to make the box automatically reconnect to the satellite without changing channels or is that the typical experience? If it is the typical experience, then why does the screen say it is trying to reconnect?

Thanks,

 

[M Sparks]

Shouldn't it say "Loost Signal"?

 

[sic0048]

It displays this "Error 002 "Satellite signal has been lost. Signal acquisition is in progress."

I did find this thread where someone discribes the same scenerio as I exerience, but he didn't get any suggestions either.

It just seems odd that I can immediately find the signal again if I move to another station and then come back to the original station. I would think that the box should be "smart" enough to recover from a lost signal like that. I'm sure it happens when a tree moves and momentarily blocks the signal.

I'm researching the idea of forcing the DVR to send the STB a "Recall" signal before tuning the station to record. This would reset the box should I have lost the satellite signal and allow me to tune into and record the station I want.

Currently the problem is that the bo will not respond to numeric keypresses while displaying the Code 002 screen. So while the DVR sends out the channel number prior to recording, it has no effect and will continue to display the Code 002 screen.

For example, if I am watching History channel on 140 (I think that is the correct channel number) and the signal is lost, even if I press 1 4 0 on the remote (or any other channel) the box will not reply. I have to press "Recall" to get it off the Code 002 screen.

Hopefully that makes sense to everyone.

 

[StonesCat]

I get what you're saying, my 612 does that sometimes, although it will do it for a few minutes, and then not again for a week. I always just hit guide, kind of like what you do, except it doesn't change the channel. It hasn't done it for a few weeks, so hopefully it's out of it's system. I don't think it has anything to do with signal strength really, I've seen it happen day, night, windy, calm, sunny, winter, summer, etc. Doesn't seem to affect recordings.

 

[WildBill]

This is a long shot. Do you have any in-line couplers or grounding blocks between your dish and the receiver that are not rated for high frequency (at least 2ghz)? I had a similar problem with intermittent signal loss (especially in cold weather) on a line that was spliced with a cheap in-line coupler. Replaced it with one rated for 3ghz and the problem went away.

 

[sic0048]

There is a grounding block where the line comes into the house. It was installed by the original installer and I have not checked the specs out on it. That is the only break in the cable before it gets to the STB. The cable actually connected directly to the STB - no wall plate or anything like that.

It does seem that the problem has gotten worse as it has gotten colder. That is one thing that has confused me because I would have thought that I would get a better signal now that there aren't any leaves on the trees that I have to aim through.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll certainly check the block and see if that might be a problem.