Hi there... am having trouble with my 9200 system this evening and was hoping you guys could help me diagnose. For no reason at all I have lost all of my channels and transponders from 82. Previously system worked 100% fine and alignment to both 91 and 82 has never been an issue. Now I can't pick up any channels from 82 and in fact the last time I tried a hard reset on my 9200 all of the channels from 82 have now disappeared from the guide. Only thing that I did today with the system out of the ordinary was unplug and disassemble my other recevier, a 5100, for about an hour for a move to another location.

When I run a check switch it tells me that there's no connection to 82 and that there's no signal on both tuners from ports 2a Odd and 2b Even. When I test the signal strength everything is fine on 91 (obviously 1a and 1b!)... but when I switch to 82 it tells me "Wrong Sat - Bell ExpressVu 91". I've done a gazillion "check switches", unplugs, and hard resets but the problem just is not resolving.

I've even tried flipping the 1a/b cables with the 2a/b ones on the switch to see if the switch inputs were bad on #2. After a check switch I got the reverse port errors - this time 1a and 1B could not be detected. Would this mean that it's likely not the swtich at fault?

So what do you guys think the problem is? Doesn't sound like the switch, right? Bad LNBF? Not a real windy day here... I don't think the skew could have been thrown off (an without affecting alignment to 91)? Guess I'll pull out the ladder tomorrow but in the meantime thought I'd ask the experts...

I am getting a signal from 82 right now; so we can rule out the satellite being completely dead.

I take it you are using 2 LNB's and an SW44? Can your 5100 hit the 82 bird?

If not, it sounds like a bad LNB. I'd try swapping the two around and seeing what happens.

I have about 93% on 91 and about 82% on 82. Like you, for no reason that I can understand, I will lose odd transponders and sometimes the program guide and other times either 91 or 8s altogether!

I have switched the sw21s, "check switche" more times than I care to think about, and re-booted the receiver over and over. Sometimes I am rewarded for my efforts with a signal accross the board, and sometimes the result is that I lose more channels.

Other times doing nothing other than scrolling through the channels I discover that I have some channels back??

On my most recent call, they think it is the wireing and not the receiver or the lnb's. This does not make sense to me at all.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

You're blessed with two LNBFs and two cable runs from end-to-end. Start swapping. You should be able to confirm where the fault lies with a few hours work spread over a couple of days.

Skew is usually set once when you assemble the dish. It shouldn't change.

If there are trees about, then search the forums for 'magnet-mirror'.

Hey Jeffy,

Not sure which post you were repling to, but I have swapped the coax on the lnbs, still the same.

I seem to get CNN 90% of the time, and I am thinking that if it was the cables, that it would be more eratic?

I take it you are using 2 LNB's and an SW44? Can your 5100 hit the 82 bird?

Thanks for replies everyone.

Last night the 5100 was behaving exactly the same as the 9200 (ie - no sat found at 82). I am using the standard supplied 9200 setup with 2 LNB's and the SW44.

This morning I woke up to find that I've now lost all odd's on 91 as well with signal strengths on the even's in the low 50's. We had a major storm in Winnipeg early this morning at 1:30am with winds of 90km/hr so I think the alignment is now thrown out. I'll have to go up there today and try to realign things for starters to see if that works and then go from there...

Thanks for all your suggestions. The swapping LNB's is a good one too and will be my next step once I get 91 locked again but can't reach 82. Too bad this storm has complicated factors becuase now if I can't find 82 I won't know if it's alignment or the LNBF! I guess the chances of the skew getting thrown out from wind are small so I'll make sure not to touch those bolts on the antenna when I start re-aligning....

If you are losing 91 as well, it could be a switch problem as well. You may want to try taking the switch out of the mix before adjusting anything on the dish.

I think I am slowy getting things diagnosed...

1) Re-aligned the dish to better point at 91 and am now getting both odd and evens again on 91. Obviously the loss of 91 overnight was due to the bad storm in Winnipeg (90 km/hr winds with trees knocked over). Unfortunately with the re-adjustment still can't get 82.

2) Switched the LNB that was on 82 to 91 and from 91 to 82. Same problem! The receivers can STILL pick up 91 but not 82. I guess this pretty much rules out problems with the LNB's since BOTH LNB's can receive 91.

When I go to the signal strength screen for 82 receiver still says "Wrong Sat - Bell ExpressVu 91" in red and gives me a signal stength. When I go on the roof and cover the 82 with my hand I get the same message. When I cover the 91 LNB with my hand the signal strength on 82 goes to zero. Weird...

3) Tried to connect the receiver up directly to each LNB without going through the switch. Connected my 9200 first up to 91 with no problems at all. Next connected the 82 LNB to the receiver and no connection. So...

What do you guys think? I think I've got a wiring problem. Have a buddy coming over tonight with his industrial crimpers and F-connectors (the kind that Shaw uses). Gonna pull off all my connectors and re-do with the good water-tight ones. Will check conductivity as well. Hopefully that will make a difference.

WpgDan... gonna ask if I can hold on to his crimpers for a few extra days and will come over to your place and do your ends as well and see if that helps your situation...

ya that was some nasty wind and storm, I was without Power for about 14 hours, my signal did not change very much from yesterday afternoon till now only thing I can tell ya is I am getting around 78,80 on 82 transponder 11 and 80,82 for 92 at the moment nut it seems the strongest transponder is 3 at 88 Hope you get your situation fixed and your help once you get yours fixed would be appreciated.

Well after spending about 5 hours trying different combinations to rule out switches, LNB's, etc I am finally up and running.

The problem: used crummy F-connectors on 82 LNB.

The ones on 91 were fine since they were from the original install and had the high-end F-connectors on them. Used high-end Smart-Sealed F-connectors (http://www.action-electronics.com/sealsmart.htm) and seemed to clear the entire problem up. Didn't even have to readjust the dish for 82.

Note to all people about to install: use good F-connectors or you too can experience the fun of spending your Labour Day Monday trying to diagnose what's wrong with your system!!!!

Thanks again to everyone for their advice... perhaps some of these "checks" could be made into a FAQ. Lots of people seem to be asking "why can't I find satellite XXX".

Good news...

As was suggested, the swapping cross-checks should have also included the "two cable runs from end-to-end", not just the LNBFs.

Winds - for reference: My several dishes, including a huge 1m version aimed at IA5 (97W), didn't need any realignment at all after Hurricane Juan blasted through in 2003. They were, at times, facing more-or-less directly into the strongest winds. Lost at least a hundred trees; dishes didn't budge. Of course, I didn't know this for about two weeks after due to not having AC power... ...but that's another story.

I have about 93% on 91 and about 82% on 82. Like you, for no reason that I can understand, I will lose odd transponders and sometimes the program guide and other times either 91 or 8s altogether!

I have switched the sw21s, "check switche" more times than I care to think about, and re-booted the receiver over and over. Sometimes I am rewarded for my efforts with a signal accross the board, and sometimes the result is that I lose more channels.

Other times doing nothing other than scrolling through the channels I discover that I have some channels back??

On my most recent call, they think it is the wireing and not the receiver or the lnb's. This does not make sense to me at all.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Hey Phoenix:

I've got the exact same issue... did you find a fix?

Thanks

Hey Phoenix:

I've got the exact same issue... did you find a fix?

Thanks

I see phoenix hasn't been here since 9/11, any one have suggestions?

I am going to reaim the dish today and take the switch out to see if it's the culpret.

Problem I have have is no even transpoders on 91 and no TSN HD or Discovery HD everthing else is fine????????????

Problem I have have is no even transpoders on 91 and no TSN HD or Discovery HD everthing else is fine????????????

- Losing odd or even transponders is a common problem with bad wiring or loose connections. I'd start by making sure all of my F-connectors are tight and secure. Barring that start swapping the LNB's and cables as this thread suggests and try to isolate the problem.

- Are you getting all other HD content just not TSN and Discovery? If so then you are hitting 82 okay. Don't forget that if you are still on the OLD Bell pricing schemes then these 2 channels are NOT included in the HDTV package and will NOT be activated when you add the HDTV pack. The ONLY way to get them is to either upgrade to the NEW pricing structure OR purchase each a la carte (I think they are $1.99/mo each).

got to the bottom of it today....

One of the LNB's was bad out of the box new!!!!

working good now

im having the same problem with 82 i have 98 percent on 91 i had 82 last night for a couple hours i've been messing with it for 2 days now and cant seem to find it i've called bell a bunch of times and they keep telling to play with the scew is this right? i really wanna watch hd tv can sombody please help me

Hi,

Last night it rained a lot in Toronto. Happened to be home today off work and noticed that now Sat 82 doesn't pick up at all.

At first, on one TV some transponders read at about 40%. I could never get more than 75% on 82, probably due to the tree in the back yard that can't be pruned.... but once it dried up this morning couldn't figure out why it wouldn't go back up.

Did some tests with the Expressvu tech and the first test showed I have an SW44, but I really have 2x SW21's on the back of the dish. (I own 2 3100's).

Now that we did those tests, it shows an X on all 82 transponders. They're sending a tech out on Wednesday night to fix it, but any idea what happened here? I don't think the tree grew to block the signal overnight!

Thanks.

when Bell says they are going to send a tech over, is it free of charge? because usually when they send a tech over you will see at least an $80 service charge on your next bill.

when Bell says they are going to send a tech over, is it free of charge? because usually when they send a tech over you will see at least an $80 service charge on your next bill.

They said it was under warranty because it's within 3 months of install.... it should be free no matter what because I have a rental system... but you never know.

They said I got dinged for a 2nd receiver install when many bell csr's (not expressvu) said I would get it for free, and so did the tech. Haven't seen it on a bill yet so I will object when the next one comes in.

Here's my old thread from when I lost 82... go through all the troubleshooting. Through process of elimination you can figure out what's wrong. Sounds like a cabling issue to me.

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30034