I have had DirecTV for several years now and have been really happy with their service. (Had Dish before that, hated theirs) But, recently we developed a problem with one of our TV's. I don't say receiver because we've tried both of them in this location and had the same thing.

We are getting signal on almost every other transponder. The signal that I'm getting is high 90's, but only part of the channels are coming through. The other TV is getting all the channels with again high 90's for signal.

DirecTV doesn't really seem to have any more idea than I do. They just want to send a tech out at $80. I have switched receivers, run new cable to the dish, changed the lines around at the LNB. . . nothing works. The latest from them is that the LNB may be giving up. So, instead of paying for the service call, I bought a used LNB off of ebay for a few $.

Does anyone have any experience with this? If so, does it sound like that would be the next logical step?

 

You swapped receivers in the bad location and the other receiver did the same, no channels. Did you try the original receiver in the other location, worked fine?

New coax, no diplexers or splitters on the feed line are there? Sounds like signal loss, RG6 coax used correct?

I'm no expert but I like to play with our setup.

 

You could be on the right track with the LNB, as the transponders vary as to which satellite they are on. Depending if you have a single, dual or triple LNB you will have to determine which LNB could be bad.

 

You can activate your protection plan $5.00 a month and they'll cover your problem.

I didn't want to pay because I have spent a lot of money with them and have had a lot of problems...She agreed to cover the repair if I signed up for 1yr protection policy. I knew I needed a new Receiver but I owned mine I wasn't leasing it so I was going to be out an HD DVR if she didn't cover the cost.

So instead of $700 or so at the time for a new receiver I paid $60.00 over a year and got the receiver replaced at no charge...Well for $60.00 anyways...

 

Are there any diplexers in the lines? I had one go bad, and it just about caused me to go stir crazy trying to figure it out! Another member here, ( I apologize for not knowing his name ) helped me out tremendously! Hopefully he'll chime in again!

 

Your welcome

 

Oh yeah!!!!! I removed the diplexers and have had the best pictures and flawless operation for over a week now! Thanks again!

 

Original receiver in other location, no issues. RG6 Cable used, no splitters at all. It does run over 100' to that one, but has worked for several years with no issues.

I've got a replacement triple LNB on the way, but will have to wait for it. Bugs me though that the other receiver works okay though on a different line.

They told me this too. . . $6.99 a month for the protection plan, still cost $20 for the service call. Then if I want to cancel the protection plan another $10 cancellation fee. I know it's not much, but it seems like if they want to sell their service they would take a little better care. Although we did have a receiver and a LNB replaced before under warranty so I guess I can't complain too much.

I got the LNB used for $10, so we'll start there. Thanks to everyone for your input.

 

iwould just unscrew each connector from the dish and put them back on maybe some corrosion in the threads

 

O.K. this may sound really, really dumb, but is that particular TV on channel 3? I had a crappy signal and switched out the receivers still crappy. I felt like a real you know what when I figured out that the TV was on channel 2 and not channel 3. !!

 

Been there, done that. I took them off and put the one that I'm having problems with on the connection that I'm not having problems with, as well as the other two connectors. None of them made any difference.

I wish it was that simple. The fact is that about half of the channels come in great, but the other half show a "searching for sattelite signal" message. I think it has to be a problem with either the LNB or the cable, but I replaced all the cable with new stuff and still had the issue. Now I'm just waiting for the LNB to arrive.

 

Sounds like the LNB is going south.

On another note. What have you added to the house/location recently? A/C unit/Heater, fan or some other type unit may be causing interference on the cable even after you changed it out. With a 100' run, you need to check along the run and see what is near it that may be interfering with the signal.

 

Nope nothing new. The only thing that has been done recently was to replace the mast above the house for the electrical service, but that's been quite a while ago and we weren't having any issues.