SW44 switch discussion

[Armby]

Just to follow-up and correct the record. I thought it was strange that the voltage out of the power inserter would measure so high (40 V) when the adapter was rated at 24 V. I checked the voltage directly out of the power adapter plug and it also measures 40 V with no load, which is the way I measured the output from the power inserter. I checked with a electronics guy at work and he said its normal for that class of power adapter to behave that way. Under load the voltage should drop to the rated level.

[CONSTP]

Hi everyone,

I have a dual LNB dish pointing at 92 and 81. The 4 lines from the dish are feeding a SW44 as follows: 91 into 1a and 1b and 82 into 2a and 2b. Until today the only output was from port 1 of the SW44 through the power inserter to a 6131 HD receiver. I was always able to get all of the SD channels and most of the HD channels (some HD channels do not work even though the guide shows them in blue and not red - I've always chalked this up to incorrect guide presentation on Bell's part or channels moving around all the time).

Today I tried connecting a 4100 SD receiver to port 2 of the SW44. The 4100 could see the 91 satellite but not the 82.

I did a check switch test on the SD receiver and got errors (unfortunately I do not remember exactly what they were). I then went back to the HD receiver and did a check switch test there and got the error about finding fewer satellites than previously detected.

On the HD receiver, when I check the signals I do get strong signals on both 91 and 82 on both even and odd transponders (between mid-80s to mid-90s). The power inserter is working, as without it I get zero signal strength.

My questions are: (1) should I save the test on the HD receiver as is or will that cause problems; (2) should the SD receiver at least see the 82 satellite (even though it will not be able to output the HD channels on 82); (3) do I have a bad switch; (4) is there anything else I'm missing here?

[m3repair]

To me it seems your power inserter isn't plugged in properly, is your 6131 getting HD channels if you don't save the check switch? Is the wire going to the 4100 a straight feed from the SW44 ? (is it possible you may have bumped the dish and now it doesn't get 82?) I would start by checking your connections and plug at the power inserter side then try check switch again

[CONSTP]

Originally Posted by m3repair

To me it seems your power inserter isn't plugged in properly, is your 6131 getting HD channels if you don't save the check switch? Is the wire going to the 4100 a straight feed from the SW44 ? (is it possible you may have bumped the dish and now it doesn't get 82?) I would start by checking your connections and plug at the power inserter side then try check switch again

Hi m3repair,

I believe that the power inserter is plugged in properly because when I don't plug it in the signals at the 6131 for both 91 and 82 show zero strength. When I plug the inserter back in the signals show in the 90s for 82 and in the mid-80s for the 91. Also, without saving the check switch, I do get HD channels at the 6131 (just not all of the ones that are shown in blue in the guide). So for now, I suppose I shouldn't save the check switch so that I don't loose channels until I get to the bottom of this, correct?

The wire going to the 4100 is a fairly long RG6 cable (over 50 ft) and it terminates at one of those wall plates. From the wall plate another cable is connected to the 4100. I will re-check when I go home tonight this last cable, as it seemed to be a little thinner than an RG6.

[Pinza]

Do not forget that the 4100 will NOT see all the Transponders of 82, it only sees a few of them. Running a Check Switch on it will tell you if there are problems.

[CONSTP]

Originally Posted by Pinza

Do not forget that the 4100 will NOT see all the Transponders of 82, it only sees a few of them. Running a Check Switch on it will tell you if there are problems.

Hi Pinza,

I replaced the cable from the wall plate to the 4100 with a brand new RG6 cable, ran the Check Switch on the 4100 and got the following:

Port: 1B 1A 2B 2A
Satellite: 91 91 X 82
Transp: Even Odd X Odd

Status: Problem detected, check connections
Switch: Installed Switch Model SW44

When I go to the Point Dish screen I get good strength on all transponders for 91 but only get a signal on transponder 15 on 82.

Upstairs on the 6131 I get good signal on all transponders for . For 82 i get good signal on all transponders except for 16 (could this explain why I cannot watch some of the HD channels?). When I go to the Installation Summary screen I get the following:

Port: 1 2
Satellite: 91 82
Transponder: OK OK
Device:
Status: Reception verified
Switch: SW44

However, when I run the Check Switch test on the 6131 I get the "fewer satellites" error message. I'm stumped.

[Interceptor]

Yeah, not getting transponder 16 would make it that you would lose a few channels.

[CONSTP]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Yeah, not getting transponder 16 would make it that you would lose a few channels.

OK, so other than replacing the cable going into 2B of SW44 (the even transponders for 82) what else can I check? Could it be a bad LNB?

[Interceptor]

Yeah, it could be the cable or the connections or the LNB. I'd try changing the cable first if you don't see any bad connections.

[CONSTP]

OK, I've changed the cable with no success. Anyone know where I can get a new LNB?

[Pinza]

To prove it is the LNBF, swap it with the other one.....

[Interceptor]

and if it's not the LNBF, since it affects both receivers, it's probably the switch.

[CONSTP]

Update: I swaped the LNBs with no success, so I purchased a new SW44 and all is good now. Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions - great forum!

[Pinza]

Glad you are up and running and for updating us.

[mikalh78]

Hi, so I purchased a SW44 and installed my lines to it today but no luck. Can anyone help out here:
I have 2 lines coming from the dish into the switch, 1 for 91 and 1 for 82, the 91 is going into 1a and 82 is going into 2b. And then i have one line going from the switch into the house to the power inverter and then to the tv. and i have a 2nd line coming in going directly to a receiver. i did a system info and it shows me that both 91 and 82 has no signals. i have it hooked up as per the directions from a Bell rep. what did i do wrong?