I have a problem that has being going in for over a month now and three receivers. Shawdirect tech support is of no help either.
Every day short of Sundays i loose or get blacked out channels at 11am and 8pm. It's almost always a CBS related channel, and the fact of the matter is if the show is fed to lets say global or ntv those channels are also blacked out.
The receivers are working perfectly and dish signal strength hovers around 92-95% which is well above base line.
After 11am and 8PM ( aka 12pm and 9pm) everything comes back but by then the shows are over, obviously.
50+ receiver refreshes since this problem began, lost count on how many factory resets were done.
The blacked out channels themselves are feeding since their menu, guide, show data and timers are working however there is no picture or audio.
Now if i refresh or reset the receivers they channel show comes back until i change channel then the black out happens again.
It does looks like a lack of memory on the receivers as if the codecs get changed and the relay feed to the other channels are also blacked out however channels like NTV are not in HD but it effects both standard and HD channels.
All other channels work and another fact that two of three receivers have different blacked out channels but still at the same times as the other receiver.
I have heard of CBS blacking out certain shows recently with at&t and such , however there are Canadian produced shows that are also being blacked out by shawdirect at those hours.
I'm in northern Canada, all the equipment is new sent directly from shawdirect. Shawdirect technician came over twice to work on it Changed the dish, coax, lnb, e.t.c.
I'm sorry, but I don't believe I can help you further. We'll have to wait for an SD expert to assist. The only other thing I can think of is for you to record/watch the Canadian channel whenever there is a simsub. Perhaps there is something about the simsub (switch) that is causing this issue with the signal. I've seen it on Rogers where if you try to record the US channel, a simsub can sometimes cause issues during the switchover from the signal to Global from CBS for example....
Your last paragraph seems to indicate that this many not help though, along with your refresh comment... I assume that your signal on Global/NTV is good also?
I ran through the suggested threads. One perhaps two seem plausible if it wasn't for the receiver reset bringing the channel back until you change channels and then it's gone again. Also being so high in signal strength including the french channels, sd and hd channels which are working correctly, covers the dual satellite end of posible factors. The fact of the matter with the blacked out channels are they and working just not decoding any video data and since the same show relayed to another channel is also blacked out. Sd or HD it does not matter.
Signal strength when this problems happens global, ntv, e.t.c. don't go below 87% and that's even in cloudy weather. I'm on top of a mountain at over 1000feet above sea level so no interference.
Do you have a multi switch. Are your cables connected from the LNB to the proper input. Another unusual possibility would be you have the wrong channel map for the type of LNB you have and the simsubs fail because of the wrong map. Good luck.
Here is quick fact that i decided to try out. I reconnected my c-band dish and there are a few free channels left including one CBS feed that had the same show running when the shawdirect problem occurs.
Take form that what you will.
LonSat. No, i have no switch. It's a direct single line coax feed from the lnb to the single available input on the receiver. Yes shawdirect changed the mapping on all three receivers several times. Again it would work for a short time and then stop. Resetting the receiver brings back the blacked out channel but if you change channels like most people do between commercials the black out happens again.
I suppose the most important fact in all this is that it happens at exactly the same times every day except for Sundays and only for one hour 11am to 12pm and 8pm to 9pm. Then everything goes back to working.
I don't have a PVR either. I'm on the diamond 150$ a month (ouch) shawdirect plan.
What type of LNB do you have an old barrel type or a quad LNB hopefully xLnb to get all three satellites. You say single line, and that got me thinking of the old days when most of the English channels were on F1 and French on F2. You could split the output of the single line as long as you didn't jump to a French channel. If you jumped to a channel on F2 it would black out the video and audio on the other receivers. As long as there is a separate line directly from the Quad LNB to each receiver you should be fine. If you are splitting the feed between receivers then either changing channels or a simsub could blank the signal to the other receiver.
It sounds like Shaw is blacking out the signal from their head end. It's the same mechanism that Shaw uses to do simsubs. Don't know why it's being blacked out instead of simsubbed or if the show is even subject to blackouts or simsubs but the way it is being done sounds the same.
Background: Unplugging or resetting the receiver was a method commonly used to cancel simsubs. That's because Shaw modifies the channel map in the receiver itself to implement simsubs. Resetting the receiver restores the channel map to it's default which negates any blackouts or simsubs. That worked because Shaw would send out a single remap signal at the start of the show. They now repeat the signal several times during the show which effectively defeats that workaround.
My guess is that Shaw's head end has been programmed to send blackout signals to your receiver (and possibly others in your area) between 11am to 12pm and 8pm to 9pm. That's why a reset corrects the problem but only only temporarily. It's possible that a local station is requesting a blackout of CBS programming for your area. If they carry the same program at a different time, that is within their rights under CRTC regulations. It's not often done but it can happen. If they carry the show at the same time, the station could request a simsub. If that's not the case, then the blackouts are being done in error by Shaw.
@borrowingtime are you sure you receive all 3 satellites? It sounds like the U.S. program is being simsubbed with a Canadian channel that you can't receive. Do you have time shifting in your package? If so, are you able to watch the program on a different Canadian channel? The symptoms you report are similar to problems that people south of Canada have because they can't receive the G1 satellite.
LonSat: It's a quad LNB, it had to changed to support HD channels and it's been a while. My setup is just a basic single receiver on one tv nothing more.
Dr Dave: When the problem occurs any feed to affiliate channels is also blacked out. It also varies between receivers which happen to be identical receivers btw. So no i can't watch the same show on another channel that is taking form that feed unless i reset the receiver and then again changing the channel cause the blackout to happen again. The question here is why an affiliate feed (different channel) with the same show is blacked out. They are not on the same satellite and they are re-streaming the show on their on format. I am subscribed to all those channels.
One other fact i can provide is a new receiver will have those chanels working for perhaps a couple days then the blackout problem starts up again. I literally have three identicanl shadirect recerivers here all functional and all with different blackout results but they do all have in common the same base cbs, global and, ntv blackout problems.
It sounds like something is causing a simsub to fail. Can the local stations that carry the show at the same time be received normally? Has the LNB been replaced? If there is any other equipment such as switches, have they been replaced? Have the RG6 cables been checked for damage and the terminations redone with new connectors installed?
Exdilbert and 57: As i mentioned before they shows do come though on my temoprary c-band dish working again, the local Canadian stations don't carry theses shows. As for neighbors there is one that has NTV and it is also blacked out at those times. Another shaw lnb has been installeld by a shawdirect tech about 2.5 hours ago and i will tell you if it changes anything, however so far there isn't any change in signal strength from before and all satellites are detected. I'l know for certain in about 30 minutes.
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You say your neighbour has a similar issue? If so, you should contact SD's office as mentioned by @ExDilbert.
I'm thinking of getting a third party receiver compatible with shawdirect since this issue seems to one of memory or storage capacity and it never did this with the receivers i purchased outright form shawdirect for 200$ each.
...that have multiple outputs. I get the impression that the black out feeds are the ones last in line to get the decoding and the receiver runs out of memory. Both receivers having a different set of the same blacked out channels seems to prove this. As mentioned before. Resetting the receivers brings the channel back but looses it once you change channels and another protocol takes it's place.
To bad inserting a blank formatted usb flash drive into the receivers couldn't serve as a temporary buffer.
I'd be looking at Shaw Direct's head officet for a solution to this. It still sounds to me like Shaw is implementing blackouts or simsubs incorrectly on these channels. That's a problem at their control centre.
Ok CBS and Global Toronto are both on F birds so it not a G1 issue. I believe ExDilbert is correct there is some sort of blackout/failed simsub going on. Someone at Shaw should be able to tell you what rules are in place for your area. You said you live in Northern Canada can you narrow it down a bit maybe someone else on the forum in your part of Canada knows your rules
57: About mid way between between Ramore and Matheson on the QC/Ont border. It's part of the Duparquet region.
I did talk to shawdirect this morning and didn't get anywhere even after their tech explained the situation to them and they didn't want to transfer me to some one competent.
For time being i am taking a break form this problem. I can get some of the shows off my c-band dish so that will have to do.
Many thanks.
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