# Coax Cable Coupler causing issues?



## bullitt78 (Oct 6, 2008)

Hello,

I just installed a new cable run for my second tuner to my HR-21 Reciever and I'm not able to pickup odd numbered transponders. The Cable that I ran is using a coupler in between the run as it was the only way to get a cable to the location of the HR-21. The cables running inbetween the connection are both RG6 

The Cables test out good and the connections on them are good, so is there any other way to connect the 2 cables to see if I can get the odd transponders.

Current Setup is 5 LNB Dish, 8 Port Multiplex, Single HR-21. 

The Multiplex is connected to ground and Saw some where that it may cause problems so I'm going to test it without. 

Thanks for any feedback.


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## curt8403 (Dec 27, 2007)

bullitt78 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I just installed a new cable run for my second tuner to my HR-21 Reciever and I'm not able to pickup odd numbered transponders. The Cable that I ran is using a coupler in between the run as it was the only way to get a cable to the location of the HR-21. The cables running inbetween the connection are both RG6
> 
> ...


did you try something like this


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## bullitt78 (Oct 6, 2008)

Yea, just a standard coupler is what is there right now.


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## curt8403 (Dec 27, 2007)

bullitt78 said:


> Yea, just a standard coupler is what is there right now.


a standard barrel should not cause any signal loss


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## HarleyDog (Oct 7, 2008)

curt8403 said:


> a standard barrel should not cause any signal loss


Yes, it CAN.

A standard coaxial barrel connector is only rated to about 1.8GHz and with the new dish and receiver you need something rated to 3GHz. This applies to surge protectors as well.

Look on your barrel connector at the plastic part which has the hole for the center conductor to fit into. It is probably white in color. On the 3GHZ models it will be BLUE.

This should fix your problem


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## Hotscot (Sep 25, 2008)

Could the lack of 3GHz barrel connectors affect the signal in such a way to cause or exacerbate 771 errors?

Just wondering if I should change them throughout as I have them to extend the cable also. In fact can you get 3Ghz wallplates too? I'll google that...yes, you can.
Alan


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

HarleyDog said:


> Yes, it CAN.
> 
> A standard coaxial barrel connector is only rated to about 1.8GHz and with the new dish and receiver you need something rated to 3GHz. This applies to surge protectors as well.
> 
> ...


Unless the barrel connector is defective, it should be just fine. 3GHZ barrel connectors are somewhat akin to "Monster Cable". While they may certainly be tested to higher standards, those standards are neither required nor noticeable on practical applications.


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## dshu82 (Jul 6, 2007)

And is the 771 only occuring on the one tuner with the spliced cable?


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## Hotscot (Sep 25, 2008)

It is, Tuner 2. I know I have a lot of diagnostic steps to take. Just gathering all the advice before I begin. Then trying to find time to do it.
Mid 70's and low 80's on 99 c and 103 c
I'll secure the connectors first then try to adjust the satellite dish.


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## HarleyDog (Oct 7, 2008)

rudeney said:


> Unless the barrel connector is defective, it should be just fine. 3GHZ barrel connectors are somewhat akin to "Monster Cable". While they may certainly be tested to higher standards, those standards are neither required nor noticeable on practical applications.


Except that's what I had to do at my house. So you're wrong about this. My system worked fine until I upgraded to the 5 LNB dish and the new model DVR. I could not get all channels until install swapped out barrel connectors and removed surge protector. He had already replaced the grounding block on the exterior with the blue plastic centers. It has nothing to do with "Monster Cable", "Bose Speakers", or any other over-marketed hype. It has to do with the signal coming off of the LNB's being at a higher frequency.


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## bullitt78 (Oct 6, 2008)

Well Awesome. I'll go and get one fo the newer couplers tonight and give that a test. 

Thanks for the insite on that one.


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## jhillestad (Jan 13, 2007)

Never had a barrel connector not work , no matter what type it was... heck, on one of my hd receiver I have the final run to it with an old barrel connector and rg-59 that was there from my old cable days that was put in back the the early 80's ... ( I was too lazy to rerun the coax to that room) and it works!

No cable rot is a whole other matter.... I have had to clip of coax leads and re do them because of weather that turns the ends green..... I guess I should seal them...


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

I had a brand new splitter not work because the little metal springs that clamp on the center conductor of the cable, were loose and did not make good contact with the wire. It was a bear to find because I had just split the dish inputs to a WB68 multiswitch and SWM8. That was 12 possible problem points on the splitters. To say the least it took a while to find the offending connection.


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## curt8403 (Dec 27, 2007)

lwilli201 said:


> I had a brand new splitter not work because the little metal springs that clamp on the center conductor of the cable, were loose and did not make good contact with the wire. It was a bear to find because I had just split the dish inputs to a WB68 multiswitch and SWM8. That was 12 possible problem points on the splitters. To say the least it took a while to find the offending connection.


advice: never use a splitter on a Satellite line (it is ok on the out to TV part, but not the satellite line part)


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## HarleyDog (Oct 7, 2008)

bullitt78 said:


> Well Awesome. I'll go and get one fo the newer couplers tonight and give that a test.
> 
> Thanks for the insite on that one.


Oh, by the way, some DirecTV installers are claiming that some of the B-Band converters (the little thing that attaches between your coax and the receiver's "F" connector) are either bad OR the "F" connector on the flying lead of the B-Band convertor is not good. So, try swapping B-Band converters between the two inputs and see if the problem moves to the other tuner. If so, replace the "F" connector on the B-Band converter. If still bad, have DirecTV send a new B-Band converter.


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## joe diamond (Feb 28, 2007)

HarleyDog said:


> Oh, by the way, some DirecTV installers are claiming that some of the B-Band converters (the little thing that attaches between your coax and the receiver's "F" connector) are either bad OR the "F" connector on the flying lead of the B-Band convertor is not good. So, try swapping B-Band converters between the two inputs and see if the problem moves to the other tuner. If so, replace the "F" connector on the B-Band converter. If still bad, have DirecTV send a new B-Band converter.


Try swapping the BBCs AND the lines. If you canget tuner#2 to work the problem is the cable or fittings. If it will not work with the know good line the problem is tuner#2.

Joe


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## lwilli201 (Dec 22, 2006)

curt8403 said:


> advice: never use a splitter on a Satellite line (it is ok on the out to TV part, but not the satellite line part)


The splitter was defective and would not work with any application. Many on here have split the sat inputs the same way and it works well.


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## Sleepercell (Feb 8, 2007)

Again someone injecting there knowlegde without understanding the origanal statement. Splitters work with directv in certain locations only


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## eandras (Feb 16, 2007)

Sleepercell said:


> Again someone injecting there knowlegde without understanding the origanal statement. Splitters work with directv in certain locations only


I agree with you and you will be getting a private message from him when he replies to this tread.


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## sswheeler (Aug 27, 2008)

He says 8 port multiplex. What type of multiplex is he using? If it is the wrong one, then he will lose the transponders because proper switching will not work.


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## bullitt78 (Oct 6, 2008)

Well reporting back. 

I got a new barrel with the blue insides and it didn't do the trick. So I went and checked the BBC. If I started to unplug the cable from the BBC it would all of a sudden start posting the odd transponder that I was watching. 

I took off the BBC and replaced it with one I have on a STB that is not in use. Now the odd transponders come up when I look at them individually, but when I run the test with all transponders on 101, it comes back showing the odds with Zero. 

Now it gets funny. If I go back out and run the test on the full list of transpoders on 101 it comes back with signal on evens and odds. But randomly checking it sometimes they are there and sometimes not. I'll have to see if I get a 771 error now on any channels since I'm not aware of how to swap tuners. Damn I miss my Tivo.


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

may need to restart after replacing bbc, I had to last time I replaced mine.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Sleepercell said:


> Again someone injecting there knowlegde without understanding the origanal statement. Splitters work with directv in certain locations only


You are correct.

Splitter are only used in SWM(Single Wire Multiswitch) applications.

Just to be clear, if you don't have SWM you must not use splitters.



HarleyDog said:


> Except that's what I had to do at my house. So you're wrong about this. My system worked fine until I upgraded to the 5 LNB dish and the new model DVR. I could not get all channels until install swapped out barrel connectors and removed surge protector. He had already replaced the grounding block on the exterior with the blue plastic centers. It has nothing to do with "Monster Cable", "Bose Speakers", or any other over-marketed hype. It has to do with the signal coming off of the LNB's being at a higher frequency.


I'm pretty sure the standard barrel connectors should not be a problem unless they are defective.

They are the standard connectors used on the wall faceplates in most houses

Right now I use three because I have SWM but when I had two DVRs, four were in use (two on each faceplate) and they were never a problem.

Both these setups(before & with SWM) were with the 5LNB and HD-DVRs and have never been an issue.

Unless they are defective I don't think the use of standard barrel connectors are not a problem. Otherwise we would all need to replace the connectors on our faceplates.

However, I've been know to be wrong. 

Maybe this is why some have issues and others don't....Hmmmm :scratchin

Mike


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

HarleyDog said:


> Except that's what I had to do at my house. So you're wrong about this. My system worked fine until I upgraded to the 5 LNB dish and the new model DVR. I could not get all channels until install swapped out barrel connectors and removed surge protector. He had already replaced the grounding block on the exterior with the blue plastic centers. It has nothing to do with "Monster Cable", "Bose Speakers", or any other over-marketed hype. It has to do with the signal coming off of the LNB's being at a higher frequency.


I have those cheap barrel connectors all over my house. Each room has Leviton modular wall plates with them and they are the "clear" insulator and not the blue 3GHZ type. I have a 5LNB dish and 4 HR20's and one H20 connected this way with no problems at all. In fact, I even have an extra set of really old barrel connectors on one HR20 because I wanted to move the BBC's away from the receiver. I'm relatively certain that I may even have a few used as a cable splices in the attic when the mutliswitches were moved around during the AT9 dish install.

My guess is that in your case, you may have had a bad one, or maybe it was the surge protector causing the problem. I'm not saying that 3GHZ barrel connectors aren't tested and certified as such, just that they are not necessary for D* applications. Using "regular" connectors in good working order will function just as well. Keep in mind that the 3GHZ certified RG6 cable is rated as such based on sweep test, which indicates how much signal loss there is over a given length. Since the distance of the barrel connector is so short, there just isn't much room for signal loss (again, assuming that it is not broken). I'll bet that most all old barrel connectors would pass a 3GHZ test (of not even higher frequency tests).


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

my bet is surge protector was causing issue. but could be wrong.


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

curt8403 said:


> advice: never use a splitter on a Satellite line (it is ok on the out to TV part, but not the satellite line part)


Curt, he's talking about splitting the outputs from the dish to his multiswitches and that is acceptable. I currently have a similar setup where each of the four outputs from the AT9 are split to two WB68's to give me 16 ports. Also, if you use a SWM, then splitters can be (and in fact almost always are) used there (except on the legacy ports).


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## curt8403 (Dec 27, 2007)

rudeney said:


> Curt, he's talking about splitting the outputs from the dish to his multiswitches and that is acceptable. I currently have a similar setup where each of the four outputs from the AT9 are split to two WB68's to give me 16 ports. Also, if you use a SWM, then splitters can be (and in fact almost always are) used there (except on the legacy ports).


we should say that for that application, you should use Powerpassing splitters. or at least Wide Band. 
Never use a splitter after the Multiswitch. (swm is an exception) A regular multiswitch output can feed 1 tuner, no more. a swm can feed 8 tuners, and can be split a maximum of 8 times


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

curt8403 said:


> we should say that for that application, you should use Powerpassing splitters. or at least Wide Band.
> Never use a splitter after the Multiswitch. (swm is an exception) A regular multiswitch output can feed 1 tuner, no more. a swm can feed 8 tuners, and can be split a maximum of 8 times


That's right. Officially, you should use 2-2150MHZ units when splitting either dish-to-multiswitches or SWM-to-receivers. However, the more widely available 5MHZ-2.3GHZ will probably work. Also, as long as the power inserter is "upstream", you don't need power-pass capable splitters.


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