# 501 No signal, was working ok



## atwrk (Feb 1, 2007)

I will try and keep this short. My 501 started (well, like 2 months ago) cutting in and out while watching tv. It would loose signal for about 3 seconds then come back on. It would do this some days about 20 times. Then, for some reason I could go a week or so and have no problem. Today while watching football it would loose signal for up to 10 seconds, turn on for 2 seconds, then right back off again for 10 seconds. It got to a point where it would do that all the time. 
Now, I called Dish and they said I need to pay someone to check my outlets. No thanks, I checked them myself (used a multimeter to check for continuity) all looks good. 
I now turn on my 501 and do a check switch and it showed both 110 and 119 are not set to "odd". Dish says one is suppost to be "even" and the other to "odd". Ok? So I check the switch again and I lost 119. I have signal on 110.
I leave for a while and come back leaving the receiver on. Now I have zero signal on 119 and 110.
What i'm gettin at is........is my receiver shot? Is this what happens to them? Dish wont let me turn on my old 301 receiver and try it out because the card is not married to it. I told them thats a bunch of bull as I just bought this 501 last March and they turned that on with no problem. They told me it's policy that I buy a new receiver..............
Anyways, sorry for the long post. any idea what to do now? Buy a new receiver or what?


----------



## BNUMM (Dec 24, 2006)

It sounds like you have a bad connection (corrosion on the center conductor ). Or moisture may have gotten in one.


----------



## atwrk (Feb 1, 2007)

Well, I had all the wires checked, and all were ok. I hooked up my old 301 receiver just to test out and it did receive a signal. So I reinstalled the 501 and sure enough I had signal again. I have no clue to as what was done. All I can think of is just by unpluging it and plugging it back in again helped it out.

I will run if a day and see what happens. I just know the losing signal and getting signal on and off a bunch of tie will act up again like it has. I will reply back here again soon.


----------



## wimcolgate (Mar 29, 2004)

atwrk said:


> Well, I had all the wires checked, and all were ok. I hooked up my old 301 receiver just to test out and it did receive a signal. So I reinstalled the 501 and sure enough I had signal again. I have no clue to as what was done. All I can think of is just by unpluging it and plugging it back in again helped it out.
> 
> I will run if a day and see what happens. I just know the losing signal and getting signal on and off a bunch of tie will act up again like it has. I will reply back here again soon.


How is your line of sight? I have had no trouble with my satellite for years ... until one pesky tree had some lower branches creep into my line of sight -- mostly with 119. trimming the tree limb solved the problem completely.

Wim


----------



## atwrk (Feb 1, 2007)

Thats the wierd part. I have zero trees by me. The 501 is still running but is cutting in and out. Usually about once every few minutes. I do have a new LNB coming this week so I will try that out.
On a side note, when the house was built two years ago there were two wires ran to each outlet. I connected the receiver to the second outlet and still having the same problem as with the first.


----------



## Highdef Jeff (Jul 1, 2007)

You've got a splitter somewhere and it is going bad. You could have a bad receiver but not a bad LNB. Look for a splitter that is probably where it shouldn't be and remove it. If you can't remove it, replace it. 

When a splitter is going bad (and you shouldn't have one in the incoming signal line, but I've found a whole lot of 'em) it fails as you describe. 

Run a check switch and you get odd or even on one satellite. Run a second check for good measure and you get the opposite satellite or opposite odd/even. That is a classic splitter failure, even though there's not supposed to be one.

If it's not a splitter, it's probably a switch or bad connection/ barrel, but I'd almost bet that you've got a splitter somewhere. 

Surprisingly, splitters can pass signal just fine for 12-18 months (and sometimes longer). How long has the system worked?


----------



## atwrk (Feb 1, 2007)

After calling Dish 3 times, and sitting on hold for over 20 minutes each time, I now have a working receiver. It ended up being the 501 receiver was bad. I finally was able to convince Dish to turn on my old 301, and I have had zero trouble since I turned it on yesterday.
I'm going to run it for a while till I figure what my plans are. 

Is there anyone that you all know that repairs old 501 receivers? thanks


----------



## TorinoCobra (Sep 24, 2006)

atwrk said:


> After calling Dish 3 times, and sitting on hold for over 20 minutes each time, I now have a working receiver. It ended up being the 501 receiver was bad. I finally was able to convince Dish to turn on my old 301, and I have had zero trouble since I turned it on yesterday.
> I'm going to run it for a while till I figure what my plans are.
> 
> Is there anyone that you all know that repairs old 501 receivers? thanks


When my 501 bit the dust this summer, I, too, had to convince Dish to reactivate one of my old receivers (legacy 5000) to troubleshoot. Due to LNB drift I was unable to get half the transceivers on 2 of 3 satellites. I finally spoke to a Dish rep who understood my dilemma, and I got a replacement 501 from dish for $20, plus $15.00 for shipping. I'm not covered by DHPP and the 501 was leased. I'd give Dish a call and see they can give you the same deal.


----------



## atwrk (Feb 1, 2007)

TorinoCobra..... thanks for your information. I will check into it.


----------

