Losing all signal strength at night. A headscratcher - Techwatch Support Forums: Digital & Satellite TV, FTA, Cable, Computers, Mobile Phones, Apple and General Tech Forums

francisi1 · 12-05-07, 04:18 AM

For the past 6 evenings, all 5 receivers in the house have begun to loose strength just as the sun is going down (8-8:30pm Eastern Time). The picture breaks up and is gone very quickly. Nothing I've tried enables me to get any signal at all.
I'm using a mix of older and brand new components including HD equipment.

The multi switch is new and is getting power, there is nothing blocking the dish at 10 pm that wasn't there at 4pm that same day. The connections are all good...I'm stumped.

I'd greatly appreciate any advise.

nousernamesleft · 12-05-07, 08:01 AM

This isn't going to help but my mum has a similar problem with winter - gets a great picture all summer but as soon as the winter comes signal is greatly reduced.. Has been happening for years and have not yet figured out why. (She does live in the West country, but I thought voodoo had been stamped out now!!!!)

nanochickin · 12-05-07, 08:48 AM

I think it has something to do with atmospherics :?

I cannot get anything watchable off Nilesat @ 7w until after 11pm (BST). Shortly after 11pm it stops pixilating and the BER (bit error rate) drops down leaving a watchable broadcast

I have also had a similar phenomenon while in the Spanish Balearic Islands (Menorca). My daughter could watch her favorite UK channel cbeebies all day while we were there, but when the channel switched over to BBC3 after 6pm the signal would disappear around 2 hours later (8pm)

I think the only way of stopping it IMHO would be to get a bigger dish

Nano

BGonaSTICK · 12-05-07, 10:50 AM

Welcome to the forum m8 :welc1:

Where are you located?

Multiswitch? Do you have terrestrial fed in there as well? What is the make and model? Do you have a quatro LNB, a quad, octo or what?

Can you please describe your dish, LNB(s) and switching arrangement in detail.

The first thing I would be looking at are the common points i.e. the switch, LNB etc. The first test I would do would be to run a temporary c@ble directly from the LNB to one of the receivers and see if that was working correctly.

If yes, do you get a strong signal/good signal quality from the dish?
If not, change the LNB and retest.

It could possibly be a change in temperature, or the level of humidity/condensation externally.

Let us know the result

BGonaSTICK · 12-05-07, 10:55 AM

Ah, I see from your IP address that you are in America.

Are you using Ku-band, C-band or both?

Dish Network, DirecTV?

12-05-07, 04:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
francisi1 Junior Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Losing all signal strength at night. A headscratcher For the past 6 evenings, all 5 receivers in the house have begun to loose strength just as the sun is going down (8-8:30pm Eastern Time). The picture breaks up and is gone very quickly. Nothing I've tried enables me to get any signal at all. I'm using a mix of older and brand new components including HD equipment. The multi switch is new and is getting power, there is nothing blocking the dish at 10 pm that wasn't there at 4pm that same day. The connections are all good...I'm stumped. I'd greatly appreciate any advise.

12-05-07, 08:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
nousernamesleft Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 158 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Losing all signal strength at night. A headscratcher This isn't going to help but my mum has a similar problem with winter - gets a great picture all summer but as soon as the winter comes signal is greatly reduced.. Has been happening for years and have not yet figured out why. (She does live in the West country, but I thought voodoo had been stamped out now!!!!) __________________ X38-DQ6 Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz 8Gb 1066Mhz 640Gb raid stripe 8800GTX Vista X64 24 Dell Flat Panel SkyStar 2 Sky Dish Motorised 1M Dish TM1000D New V*rgin box.

12-05-07, 08:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
nanochickin Retired Mod & Sat Guru Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Wolverhampton Posts: 3,825 Thanks: 46 Thanked 338 Times in 270 Posts	Re: Losing all signal strength at night. A headscratcher I think it has something to do with atmospherics :? I cannot get anything watchable off Nilesat @ 7w until after 11pm (BST). Shortly after 11pm it stops pixilating and the BER (bit error rate) drops down leaving a watchable broadcast I have also had a similar phenomenon while in the Spanish Balearic Islands (Menorca). My daughter could watch her favorite UK channel cbeebies all day while we were there, but when the channel switched over to BBC3 after 6pm the signal would disappear around 2 hours later (8pm) I think the only way of stopping it IMHO would be to get a bigger dish Nano __________________ Sanity is nothing more than an excuse to be boring

12-05-07, 10:50 AM	#4 (permalink)
BGonaSTICK Dodgy Geezer Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brighton Posts: 9,718 Thanks: 3 Thanked 166 Times in 60 Posts	Re: Losing all signal strength at night. A headscratcher Welcome to the forum m8 :welc1: Where are you located? Multiswitch? Do you have terrestrial fed in there as well? What is the make and model? Do you have a quatro LNB, a quad, octo or what? Can you please describe your dish, LNB(s) and switching arrangement in detail. The first thing I would be looking at are the common points i.e. the switch, LNB etc. The first test I would do would be to run a temporary c@ble directly from the LNB to one of the receivers and see if that was working correctly. If yes, do you get a strong signal/good signal quality from the dish? If not, change the LNB and retest. It could possibly be a change in temperature, or the level of humidity/condensation externally. Let us know the result __________________ Dreambox 7000, Skystar2 PCI, Skystar USB, Fibo 90cm on Moteck SG2100, Triax TD110 multi-LNB. Sky + ART cards. 45.0°E - 58.0°W

12-05-07, 10:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
BGonaSTICK Dodgy Geezer Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brighton Posts: 9,718 Thanks: 3 Thanked 166 Times in 60 Posts	Re: Losing all signal strength at night. A headscratcher Ah, I see from your IP address that you are in America. Are you using Ku-band, C-band or both? Dish Network, DirecTV? __________________ Dreambox 7000, Skystar2 PCI, Skystar USB, Fibo 90cm on Moteck SG2100, Triax TD110 multi-LNB. Sky + ART cards. 45.0°E - 58.0°W