WSI 241 LNB problem?

[bassist]

Last night, as my wife was watching ewtn on 91W with a Coolsat 5000, the signal suddenly disappeared. I checked the other channels on 91W, everything on a horizontal TP was showing "no or bad signal" while the vertical TPs are operating normally.

I tried my other cband sats & everything on a H tp was "no or bad signal" on every sat.

So today I try eliminating the switch, several versions of firmware on the CS5000, a couple of versions of FW with a CS4000, cleaning all my connections and nothing works for any H tp on any satellite.

Next, I go out to within 10 ft of the BUD with both STB's and the H tp's operate normally both without & with the switch!! On all the sats!!

The 241 LNB is operated on one side of a LONG RG6 cable run. However this lnb operated very well for more than a year at its present position w/o glitches.

Now it appears to operate normally on a short cable run but not a long one.

I'm stumped. Could the WSI 241 be going bad??

 

[Anole]

13v for Vert, 18v for Horiz:

Well, I suppose it could be the LNBF ... or the receiver.
Check on your coax, as to what voltage the receiver is delivering for Horizontal, when it's in the house
Then, re-check out at the LNBF.
You might have a puncture in your coax, or a bad grounding block, too.

 

[bassist]

Well, I suppose it could be the LNBF ... or the receiver.
Check on your coax, as to what voltage the receiver is delivering for Horizontal, when it's in the house
Then, re-check out at the LNBF.
You might have a puncture in your coax, or a bad grounding block, too.

Just so I understand:

To check the voltage do I disconnect the RG6 from the lnbf & use my DMM in DC mode to check the voltage drop between the center conductor and the shield while the Coolsat is turned on & set to a station that's on a Horizontal TP??

Or do I need some sort of dummy load connected between the shield & the center conductor and then check the V drop across the load??
And if there's a dummy load needed, how many Ohms?

 

[bassist]

I'm not going to check for voltage until I get more instruction.

But here's some more testing that I tried:

I did clean the connectors but did not replace them.

And I did try two models of CS (the 4000 & the 5000). And I tried each with different firmware versions.

Most of the ribbon cable is buried in conduit between my dishes & the crawl space under the house, so checking for nicks would be very difficult.

More tests:
1) The H TPS do not show up on either RG6 strand for the Cband lnb.
2) Both strands DO work for H & V for the KU band and also DN.

 

[Anole]

study the evidence:

I'm afraid to recommend methods for monitoring the voltages.
Considerable care is required to prevent shorting out the receivers power supply.

I go out to within 10 ft of the BUD with both STB's and the H tp's operate normally both without & with the switch!! On all the sats!!

Okay, that says both receivers are working normally.
It also says your LNBF is working normally.

The 241 LNB is operated on one side of a LONG RG6 cable run.

There is a voltage drop on any cable. Longer ones are worse.
Some cables have more drop than others. Different core. Wrong type.
Corroded connectors have more drop. Moisture, bugs, etc...

However this lnb operated very well for more than a year at its present position w/o glitches.
Now it appears to operate normally on a short cable run but not a long one.

What else is left? Cables and grounding blocks are about all.

edit:

More tests:
1) The H TPS do not show up on either RG6 strand for the Cband lnb.
2) Both strands DO work for H & V for the KU band and also DN.

I'd say the C-band LNBF pulls more current than the Ku.
Or, the voltage switching point of the C-LNBF is different for H than the Ku LNBF.

Maybe someone has a better idea.?.

 

[bassist]

ASA shade appears at my BUD I'm going to disconnect the cable going to my Cband lnbf & check the whole run for static resistance. When I was setting up my dish farm a couple of years ago I did that and my DMM read very close to "zero" if I recall. (I used an F-mini plug adapter, shorted out b/t the center & the shaft, went outside & measured the resistance b/t the core & the shielding. At least as far as the "R" part of an LRC voltage drop b/c of the cable, there should be negligible loss)

Then I'm going to replace cables.