DSTV + HD PVR + Frustration

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mbeylis

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Hi,

I have recently moved into a new home. The previous owner was kind enough to leave his Dual LNB and satellite dish. I thought awesome as this is the setup I had at my previous house

I had bought one of those splitter boxes that takes the 2 cables from the sattelite dish and splits them into 4 which then plug into the HD PVR

The problem I am having now is that the DSTV will work fine for a while then all of a sudden go wonkey. By wonkey I mean that certain channels will become unavailable due to "signal loss" according to the message on screen. This is only certain channels though not all and random channels. I though maybe it was like just all the HD channels but this is not the case as some HD channels will work others not

Also sometimes the transparent menu will stop working. It will only show what is currently on that channel with no description and no option to see the next 2 shows

Also my PVR capabilities dont seem to work. Shows that I have set to record the series don't seem to record

What is strange to me also is that there are 3 cables coming into the house from the sattelite dish. I would understand 1, 2 or 4 but why 3?

Should I by pass my splitter box and plug all three into my HD pvr. The splitter only has input for 2 cables so I can't plug the 3rd one into it

I have alternated the 3 different cables from the sattelite with the 2 inputs on the splitter and get different results

I am thinking I need all 3 cables going to the HD PVR but am confused as I thought I would need 4 for the HD PVR

Any advice appreciated
Mark
 
One of the cables is probably from an antenna... and your problems are signal related. Get a technician to check your installation.
 
Quantum Theory said:
One of the cables is probably from an antenna... and your problems are signal related. Get a technician to check your installation.
Click to expand...

There is no other antenna on the roof, only the Dish and all 3 cables run straight into the LNB

As for the signal I do notice fluctuations, I just thought with signal loss I would loose all channels but I guess that is dependent on why signal frequency range I am receiving
 
Groups of channels are carried on a frequency. If that frequency has quality or level issues, the whole group will have break-up or no signal. The HD channels are currently not in one group. Your dish or LNB skew might be out of allignment... or your LNB or multiswitch might be faulty... or the cable might be old or poor quality. A good technician should be able to trace the problem in minutes.
 
Quantum Theory said:
Groups of channels are carried on a frequency. If that frequency has quality or level issues, the whole group will have break-up or no signal. The HD channels are currently not in one group. Your dish or LNB skew might be out of allignment... or your LNB or multiswitch might be faulty... or the cable might be old or poor quality. A good technician should be able to trace the problem in minutes.
Click to expand...

That would make sense. I know the multi-switch is not faulty as I have been using it at my old house without any hassle, that leaves the cable or dish, will look into calling out a technician

Still curious as to why I have 3 cables coming out of the LNB though
 
Id the type of LNB. Take a picture, write info whatever is on LNB.

Google LNB's see if you can identify what make/model LNB it is.

See where the cables are supposed to connect to your type of lnb.
Copy this to your setup, ie. remove 3rd cable, then test again.

Also, before getting tech, take your pvr to monochice/dealer to test, costs only fuel, to be 100% sure it is not pvr.

ps, lnb are cheap at Builderswarehouse, under R300, get new twin lnb if needed.
ps ps, cut incoming cables fresh, make sure they look right, before connecting connectors at back of pvr.
 
Last edited:
mbeylis said:
Still curious as to why I have 3 cables coming out of the LNB though
Click to expand...

How many outputs on the LNB? Is there a 4th one? If there is only 3, it might be a SatCR LNB with 2 legacy outputs. You will have problems if you plugged the SatCR output into the multiswitch. You need the 2 legacy ports to feed the switch.
 
Ok

Think I figured out my problem. Managed to get a ladder and get up close to the dish and LNB. The third wire was not actually connecting to the LNB and looks like its just acting as an earth. The LNB itself has 2 cables coming out of it although in my lounge I have 3 cables coming into the TV room but after climbing into the roof discovered that one of these 3 actually runs to the main bedroom so this must just be to extend the DSTV to the bedroom

After playing around with the 3 cables and my 2 inputs on my switch I found the correct 2 cables. Also the one connection on the one cable was loose and thus the pin which plugs into the switch was not going all the way in, after retightening the connection i now have 98% quality and 100% strength on Tuner 1 and Tuner 4 :->
 
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