# Case Mismanagement



## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

My problem has been elevated to the case management department because my HR 24 and H24 keep showing reduced network performance. We had worked out a Sunday service call but somehow someway it gets screwed up and scheduled for tomorrow when I can't be here. If an alleged higher department can't get it straight what hope is there for DTV?

I remember a few months ago there was someone in Colorado (I think) who escalated these problems with techs and could arrange more convenient times for a service call. Anyone remember her name??

Thanks


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Ellen Filipaik <[email protected]> is the VP for Customer Service at DirecTV. Give the Case Management Group a chance first to try to correct the issue. While they apparently misscheduled your appointment, many people have had success with them. If they can't get the issue fixed for you, send an e-mail to Ms. Filipiak's office.

- Merg


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

Thanks.

I do have a call in for my case manager rep. It's just frustrating because I had 2 CM confirm a Sunday call only find the whole thing screwed up.


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## futurerebeldr (Jun 8, 2010)

Sounds like my troubles with case management currently. Due to some problems with MRV acting sluggish in a newly constructed home, they agreed to replace my 2 HR21 units, and ASSURED me, that they would be newer models (HR23 or HR24). When the two replacement units arrived Friday, they were NOT newer units. Rather, they were 2 HR21's just like I currently have. So after speaking to 1 CM I was told that they could not upgrade the units, but only replace "like for like". I called back in after opening the shipping boxes to confirm they were HR21's, and called back in. The second call, the CM said he was emailing logistics and they would hand pick 2 new units (HR24's) for me from the warehouse and ship them. Fingers crossed they get it right this time and I get 2 HR24's in the next couple days.

Frustrating, when you talk to the highest level of customer support and they still screw up things.


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## goblazers_6 (Apr 20, 2009)

futurerebeldr said:


> So after speaking to 1 CM I was told that they could not upgrade the units, but only replace "like for like".


That's the new policy according to our latest "Video of the Month".


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

goblazers_6 said:


> That's the new policy according to our latest "Video of the Month".


Except, DirecTV considers any HR2x receiver to be "like for like".

- Merg


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## goblazers_6 (Apr 20, 2009)

The Merg said:


> Except, DirecTV considers any HR2x receiver to be "like for like".
> 
> - Merg


Obviously you haven't seen it. With the equipment shortages we've been having they have made it very clear they are two seperate types of receivers (the 24 series vs previous models). They've gone so far as to call for specific models on certain work orders.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

goblazers_6 said:


> Obviously you haven't seen it. With the equipment shortages we've been having they have made it very clear they are two seperate types of receivers (the 24 series vs previous models). They've gone so far as to call for specific models on certain work orders.


That was my bad... I left my sarcastic smilie off that last message... 

- Merg


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## futurerebeldr (Jun 8, 2010)

Well, after all the phone conversations, mis-shipped equipment, and 4 service calls I'm a happy customer. A service tech came out and did an excellent job checking everything in the system and getting it fixed right. He wound up finding some wiring problems and fixed those for me. He also swapped out my HR21 units for HR24-200's (which made me very happy). And through all of this I did have problems with my old HR21's b/c after testing the cable and powering the unit back up, a hard drive failure message appeared. I have to say, if you ever have an unmarked van show up for your install (it's probably a contractor) immediately tell them you want to reschedule and make sure you get a certified D* installer. All of the wiring problems would have never happened.

So needless to say certain D* techs can be very helpful. Thanks to those of you like Clarence out there.


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## cerrdor (Sep 16, 2010)

futurerebeldr said:


> Sounds like my troubles with case management currently. Due to some problems with MRV acting sluggish in a newly constructed home, they agreed to replace my 2 HR21 units, and ASSURED me, that they would be newer models (HR23 or HR24). When the two replacement units arrived Friday, they were NOT newer units. Rather, they were 2 HR21's just like I currently have. So after speaking to 1 CM I was told that they could not upgrade the units, but only replace "like for like". I called back in after opening the shipping boxes to confirm they were HR21's, and called back in. The second call, the CM said he was emailing logistics and they would hand pick 2 new units (HR24's) for me from the warehouse and ship them. Fingers crossed they get it right this time and I get 2 HR24's in the next couple days.
> 
> Frustrating, when you talk to the highest level of customer support and they still screw up things.


So A) the CMA should not have replaced 2 STB as per policy if two receivers go bad you roll a tech, and B) next time request a tech as the only way to get an HR24/H24 is to order from logistics due to everyone thinking the 24 model is the end all be all to receivers (until the newer ones come out, or the 24 takes a crap like all receivers eventually do) D* sends the majority of the 24 models out to the local offices due to everyone wanting it so the techs come with 24 on the truck to begin with. done and done.


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## futurerebeldr (Jun 8, 2010)

Well, my reasoning for not wanting a tech to come out is simple. I had already had 3 service calls in the past 2 weeks. A contractor for the original install, a supervisor to fix his mistakes, and another certified tech to fix the 'supervisors' screw ups. My employer was beginning to get frustrated with me having to take time off work so frequently for D* to fix problems.

In the future my first question to the tech is going to be if they are a contractor or not. If so, I'll cancel the visit and reschedule for an official tech.


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## cerrdor (Sep 16, 2010)

futurerebeldr said:


> Well, my reasoning for not wanting a tech to come out is simple. I had already had 3 service calls in the past 2 weeks. A contractor for the original install, a supervisor to fix his mistakes, and another certified tech to fix the 'supervisors' screw ups. My employer was beginning to get frustrated with me having to take time off work so frequently for D* to fix problems.
> 
> In the future my first question to the tech is going to be if they are a contractor or not. If so, I'll cancel the visit and reschedule for an official tech.


I can definitely sympathize with that, and I apologize I know it is difficult at times damn near impossible at other times but in CM if you need a service call the first one to come out is an DTV owned and operated installer if he messes it up the second s/c comes out a supervisor / QA tech and a normal tech ( so two guys this time) and keeps gettimg more people involved in the process until it gets fixed..even to the point of getting engineers involved in the process. Point is it WILL get fixed it just takes time sometimes and time is money I can understand that so make sure the s/c is scheduled for a day you are off and if you are not off dont insisit you be there if someone else is there that is fine he can fix it without you, and call one hour before the start time and ask where is my tech, DTV will then have the tech call you (sometimes he does LOL) but at least you can arrange the time and such if he at least gives you a call if he doesn't report that since he gets a fine if there are three unanswered request.


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

The Merg said:


> Ellen Filipaik <[email protected]> is the VP for Customer Service at DirecTV. Give the Case Management Group a chance first to try to correct the issue. While they apparently misscheduled your appointment, many people have had success with them. If they can't get the issue fixed for you, send an e-mail to Ms. Filipiak's office.
> 
> - Merg


Thanks again Merg,

My case manager never returned any calls so when I got a call from the office of President, I reported him as well.

My problem was getting a "reduced network performance" on both H24 and HR 24. Sometimes it would point to specific deca unit or media renderer. Just about everything was replaced (Ethernet cable, all deca's, splitter and even the h24) The HR 24 stopped showing error but the H24 still does. Every few days the HR 20's lose connection with one receiver.

The last solution is the tech is coming back this Saturday to replace both HR 20's with HR 24's. The good is getting HR24's, the bad is losing all recordings but totally worth it in the end.

I thought I had seen somewhere that you can transfer recordings to either a thumb drive or an external hard drive then reload on another DVR, is this possible?


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

hookemfins said:


> Thanks again Merg,
> 
> My case manager never returned any calls so when I got a call from the office of President, I reported him as well.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately, the best you can do with saving your recordings is burning them to DVD using a DVD recorder or using a PC Video Capture card.

As for testing, give this a try. Swap one of the HR20's with the HR24. See if the problem switches from the HR20 to the HR24. That will tell you if the issue is the receiver or something else. If it is the receiver, take a look at how you have the HR20's set up for the network. Many people have found that using Static DHCP Addressing or Static IP Addressing (outside the DHCP range) has resolved connection issues.

- Merg


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Thanks again Merg,
> 
> My case manager never returned any calls so when I got a call from the office of President, I reported him as well.
> 
> ...


It's unlikely that swapping the boxes will solve the issue. Attention to be focused on the cabling, connectors and splitters.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

RobertE said:


> It's unlikely that swapping the boxes will solve the issue. Attention to be focused on the cabling, connectors and splitters.


I agree, but just something to say it has been done to eliminate the possibility of it being the box.

- Merg


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

OK, I am ready to swap the two receivers but what is the proper way to hook up HR 20-100. It right now has a power inserter, splitter and BSF. 

We have 2 coaxes going into the Power inserter. One going from the PI to the splitter. Coming out of the splitter goes to the BSF and into Sat 2 the other to the Deca and into Sat 1.


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

hookemfins said:


> OK, I am ready to swap the two receivers but what is the proper way to hook up HR 20-100. It right now has a power inserter, splitter and BSF.
> 
> We have 2 coaxes going into the Power inserter. One going from the PI to the splitter. Coming out of the splitter goes to the BSF and into Sat 2 the other to the Deca and into Sat 1.


You can remove the coax that connects to the splitter above, leaving splitter, DECA, & BSF connected to the HR20-100.

That said, you've described a setup where the PI-signal side is used to supply satellite signal/DECA communications to a MRV device. It's no longer a recommended setup. See RobertE's post (#3 in this thread:http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=184115)

You can borrow the two-way green splitter from the HR20-100 setup and reconfigure PI coax per RobertE's photo and test the network performance using the HR24. You'll need a terminator for the PI-signal side.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

I'd actually redo your setup as armchair recommended prior to swapping the receivers. That could very well have been the issue.

- Merg


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

The Merg said:


> I'd actually redo your setup as armchair recommended prior to swapping the receivers. That could very well have been the issue.
> 
> - Merg


I think I misread what the OP was trying to do. If the OP has an extra splitter, he should try that before swapping the DVRs.

I made my suggestion thinking the OP was ready to replace the HR20-100 with a HR24 in-hand!

It's good that a tech visit is already scheduled! An additional coax needs to ran to PI and installed with a BSF and terminate the signal side coax to prevent any further mishaps or mischief in the DECA cloud. OK, maybe the BSF is optional or redundant for green-labeled splitters but IMO, over-kill is recommended. The OP should verify all needed terminators are in place before the tech gets a sign-off. Any other advice for the OP?


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

Nothing worked so the tech came today on time and replaced the HR20's with HR24's.

My setup is HR 24-100 bedroom Hr 24-500 bedroom 2 and HR 24-100 family room and h24-200 office. Did a system test on all units. Bedroom 2 and family room reported no errors and bedroom and office both said "The [OFFICE] receiver has a reduced network performance". Everything has been replaced (receivers, PI's broadband adapters, splitters and cat 5). So I guess we can narrow the problem done to the connection between bedroom and office?

Doing a system diagnostic from the H24:

Dropped session count is 0

Signal strength tuner 1 96% Network tuner 100%




Node ID Friendly Names Phy Levels
0 Office N/A
1 Bedroom2 38
2 Node 24
3 Family Room 38
4 Bedroom 36 
Phy Rate Mesh



Nds 0 1 2 3 4
0 225 228 246 238 238
1 222 220 230 237 236
2 243 227 219 237 239
3 219 232 226 217 238
4 220 231 229 240 219
My router is a Linksys 160n. Could I have a router issue instead?

Sorry for the table screw up. Forgot how to make them orderly. :scratch:


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Nothing worked so the tech came today on time and replaced the HR20's with HR24's.
> 
> My setup is HR 24-100 bedroom Hr 24-500 bedroom 2 and HR 24-100 family room and h24-200 office. Did a system test on all units. Bedroom 2 and family room reported no errors and bedroom and office both said "The [OFFICE] receiver has a reduced network performance". Everything has been replaced (receivers, PI's broadband adapters, splitters and cat 5). So I guess we can narrow the problem done to the connection between bedroom and office?
> 
> ...


Your tables are missing the | between the columns.

It might help to run these same tests from a HR24 and post them too. This would help to narrow down [I think] where in your cabling you need to look.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

48 – will be reported if the MRV network bandwidth is being degraded due to excessive interference, as opposed to signal attenuation which points to a likely problem with poor quality coax (scrapped together RG 59), diplexed off air signals, mixed in signals into the same coax distribution from a different provider such as cable TV or MATV. 

The error code is pretty much telling you and the tech what the issue is. Now it's just a matter of doing something about it.


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> It might help to run these same tests from a HR24 and post them too. This would help to narrow down [I think] where in your cabling you need to look.


Here is the test from Bedroom:



Node ID| Friendly Names| Phy Levels
0| Office| 35
1| Bedroom2| 30
2| Node| 35
3| Family Room| 31
4| Bedroom| N/A 
Dropped Session Count 0



Nds|	0|	1|	2|	3|	4
0|	225|	228|	246|	238|	238
1|	222|	220|	230|	237|	236
2|	243|	227|	219|	237|	239
3|	219|	232|	226|	217|	238
4|	220|	231|	229|	240|	219

Tuner 1 96%
Tuner 2 100%
Network 100%


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Here is the test from Bedroom:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So this wasn't as clear cut as it might have been. PHY Levels aren't that bad, though I'd thought they would be closer than they are between the two tests.
The Phy Rate Mesh aren't that good [which is what is triggering the error].
Time to get an idea of how all the coax is connected.
What type of splitter(s)?
Are these the green labeled ones?
Guessing you have a SWiMLNB with a single coax going to a splitter.
Can you guess how long all the coax runs are?


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> So this wasn't as clear cut as it might have been. PHY Levels aren't that bad, though I'd thought they would be closer than they are between the two tests.
> The Phy Rate Mesh aren't that good [which is what is triggering the error].
> Time to get an idea of how all the coax is connected.
> What type of splitter(s)?
> ...


4 way green labeled splitter and a 2 way splitter from the broadband adapter.
Correct on the SwiMLNB.
I would say each is less than 50'. I would even guess as less than 40'.

Everything is green labeled.

System test error codes are 48 and 116 from office. Bedroom is 48 and 906


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> 4 way green labeled splitter and a 2 way splitter from the broadband adapter.
> Correct on the SwiMLNB.
> I would say each is less than 50'. I would even guess as less than 40'.
> 
> ...


"OK", seems fairly normal. 
Where's the PI located?
Do you have wall plates in each room?
It would be worth checking that all the connectors are "snug" with a 7/16" wrench.

I too use a 2-way & a 4-way
With PHY levels:


0|24|n/a
1|BB|28
2|20|24
3|20|33But my Phy Rate Mesh are:



|0|1|2|3
0|246|250|249|250
1|248|245|250|252
2|250|250|244|249
3|253|253|253|252
Error 48 is listed with:
Probable Cause: 

The network may have excessive outside interference.
This test determines if the network bandwidth has excessive interference, as opposed to a poor signal. A service call should be made to address faulty cables or connectors and isolate outside interference.


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> "OK", seems fairly normal.
> Where's the PI located?
> Do you have wall plates in each room?
> It would be worth checking that all the connectors are "snug" with a 7/16" wrench.....
> ...


Everything appears to be snug. By wall plates I'll assume you mean for the coax from the dish? In the office yes but in the BR the coax comes in and runs along the wall to the receiver. The PI is located in the BR. I asked the tech and he said it was all connected correctly.

As far as "outside interference" could that be router related?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Everything appears to be snug. By wall plates I'll assume you mean for the coax from the dish? In the office yes but in the BR the coax comes in and runs along the wall to the receiver. The PI is located in the BR. I asked the tech and he said it was all connected correctly.
> 
> As far as "outside interference" could that be router related?


You might want to check the back connection in the office wall plate, or even change the barrel in the wall plate, as this has helped in another installation.
Some have found when they've moved the PI and used a longer/short coax, that this has helped.

"Outside interference" as to a router shouldn't be a problem, but if you're using a cable modem, then the cable could be a source as channels 14 through 41 are in the same band as the DECA.
Someone had much worse Phy Rate Mesh numbers and it turned out that the installer had connected a cable coax to the splitter. :eek2: :nono:

Another thing to make sure is you have compression connectors and no crimp connectors as these seal better.

If none of this improves your numbers, you might have the tech install a bandstop filter on the first splitter's input. Sometime "the noise" is really the DECA signal reflecting back from the dish and shortening the path with a filter can help.


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> You might want to check the back connection in the office wall plate, or even change the barrel in the wall plate, as this has helped in another installation.
> Some have found when they've moved the PI and used a longer/short coax, that this has helped.
> 
> "Outside interference" as to a router shouldn't be a problem, but if you're using a cable modem, then the cable could be a source as channels 14 through 41 are in the same band as the DECA.
> ...


Just spoke with the tech and he's coming by sometime this week to try your suggestions.

He did say on your last point that a BSF is not usually used with a green labeled LNB. He also said that all the connections are compression.

I'll follow up after his next visit.

Thanks VOS.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Just spoke with the tech and he's coming by sometime this week to try your suggestions.
> 
> *He did say on your last point that a BSF is not usually used with a green labeled LNB*. He also said that all the connections are compression.
> 
> ...


He's right, and the problem should be related to something else within the system. The DECA signal runs through several paths within the system, and sometimes "the noise/interference" is actually one of these other paths that is too close to the same amplitude as the primary path level for the DECA to distinguish. By removing the run to the dish and back, with a bandstop filter, this _may change _the primary and secondary relationship to the point where the bit-rates improve.


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

After 3 hours with both the installer and area manager, problem solved. Through 3 hours of testing they found out that the PI needed to have separate power from what was supplying the PI and DVR. The picture below shows they ran a 2 way splitter into the 4 way and now I don't get any errors (other than phone line).

The white coax comes from the lnb and the black wire supplies the 4 way.

Thanks again for all the help.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

This almost sounds like the PI was the cause of the noise. Was the PI ever swapped out before this rewiring?


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> This almost sounds like the PI was the cause of the noise. Was the PI ever swapped out before this rewiring?


Yes it was. The problem seems to be, for some reason, not enough power was getting through the system. That is what was causing reduced network performance. Once he separated the power, there was no more error message. He was able to use the old coax that was in place before the DECA system.

He was on the phone with their tech support for over an hour in order to diagnose the problem after all sorts of troubleshooting. I had coax running all through the house.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Yes it was. The problem seems to be, for some reason, not enough power was getting through the system. That is what was causing reduced network performance. Once he separated the power, there was no more error message. He was able to use the old coax that was in place before the DECA system.
> 
> He was on the phone with their tech support for over an hour in order to diagnose the problem after all sorts of troubleshooting. I had coax running all through the house.


While I'm glad they got this fixed for you, "power" has nothing to do with this.
Since they tried another PI, this had it fixed it would have meant it was spitting out some noise, which it wasn't.
Going back to your test results:


Node ID|Friendly Names|Phy Levels
0|Office|N/A
1|Bedroom2|38
2|Node|24
3|Family Room|38
4|Bedroom|36 These show DECA power/losses were well within specs.

Phy Rate Mesh


Nds| 0| 1| 2| 3| 4
0| 225| 228| 246| 238| 238
1| 222|
*220*
| 230| 237| 236
2| 243| 227|
* 219*
| 237| 239
3|
*219*
| 232| 226|
* 217*
| 238
4|
* 220*
| 231| 229| 240|
* 219*These were what was causing the error.
As I last was mentioning, using a bandstop filter may have helped, even though the SWiM has one, by changing the location would effect the DECA signal path and could have improved these numbers.
What they did instead was to add a 2-way splitter on the input of the 4-way splitter [so they could connect the PI, but it isn't the PI connection that helped].
What this added splitter did was:
The signal going to the internal filter was bouncing back and being seen as "the noise", so by adding the splitter the signal going to the SWiM was attenuated by about 1.5 dB, then bounced off the filter and comes back through the splitter with another 4+ dB of attenuation. This means the "noise" is a good 5 dB lower than it was before.
This is how they got the PHY MESH rate to improve.
You more than likely could move the PI back to where it was and terminated the port on the 2-way they added and have the same PHY MESH rates.

Please bare with me here because I hate it when someone finds a "fix" and doesn't really know what the change did and this causes myths to then be passed around as "facts".

Before you had:
SWiM/Filter --> 4-way splitter --> PI & receivers.
You now have SWiM/Filter --> 2-way splitter --> 4-way splitter --> receivers.
This is close to my setup:
Filter --> 2-way splitter --> PI --> 4-way splitter --> receivers.
I've posted my PHY levels and mesh here earlier.
While there isn't anything wrong with your current setup, if your coax runs were very long, you've just dropped the SAT signals by over 50%, to all the receivers which [with long cable] will cause rainfade to increase.
You might have been able to not drop your SAT power by adding a filter on the 4-way splitter input. The cable length between the filter and the splitter can be tweaked/adjusted to have canceled [well change the phase of it so it wasn't causing this problem] the return signal [noise] and not affect the SAT signals at all.

"So" after all of this trouble, if I was there I would have cut about 3.5" off the coax to the 4-way and then checked your PHY MESH numbers. Then I might have done it again if the numbers hadn't improved enough. These changes should be very close to making either a 90º or 180º phase change to the return and the goal is to have the return in phase with the primary DECA signal and thus canceling the detected "noise".

"Someday" maybe DirecTV will give their techs & tech support this much training on how DECA works.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

"For grins":
I played with a filter off my 4-way using the short [5.25"] coax it comes with and measured the PHY MESH on the node back to the same node and then used two slight longer coax.



5.25" |250 | 253 | 252
7" | 249 | 231 | 233
9.25" | 230 | 209 | 240
I hope this shows some how this can come down to "inches" of the length of the coax to filter and not "the feet" to it.


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## hookemfins (Jul 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> While I'm glad they got this fixed for you, "power" has nothing to do with this.
> Since they tried another PI, this had it fixed it would have meant it was spitting out some noise, which it wasn't.
> Going back to your test results:
> 
> ...


Here is my current test results after the change on the office receiver (H24-200).



Node ID|Friendly Names|Phy Levels
0|Office|N/A
1|Node|24
2|Bedroom2|38
3|Family Room|38
4|Bedroom|35 These show DECA power/losses were well within specs.

Phy Rate Mesh


Nds| 0| 1| 2| 3| 4
0| 248| 249| 252| 253| 252
1| 231| 231| 251| 253| 252
2| 231| 251| 231| 253| 253
3| 228| 253| 252| 228| 252
4| 231| 251| 252| 253| 230



> Please bare with me here because I hate it when someone finds a "fix" and doesn't really know what the change did and this causes myths to then be passed around as "facts"......
> 
> "Someday" maybe DirecTV will give their techs & tech support this much training on how DECA works.


I kept suggesting the BSF route but they kept saying that it's not needed because of the green label and already in the LNB.

With all your knowledge, maybe you should apply to train the trainers.

This is another subject for another time but tech support and installers have one way to do things and are afraid to go outside the box. And I think a major part of that is the companies won't allow anything to be done but "there way".

I wish I could get up there and try what you said but I am a disaster with tools, especially putting me on a ladder with them. :lol:



> "So" after all of this trouble, if I was there I would have cut about 3.5" off the coax to the 4-way and then checked your PHY MESH numbers.


If your ever in South FL


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hookemfins said:


> Here is my current test results after the change on the office receiver (H24-200).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 While these are "good enough", they point to where the cables lengths can be adjusted for improvements. 


> With all your knowledge, maybe you should apply to train the trainers.


 I've met a trainer and it is clear they're not taught enough to train at a level I'd like them to. 


> This is another subject for another time but tech support and installers have one way to do things and are afraid to go outside the box. And I think a major part of that is the companies won't allow anything to be done but "there way".


There are good and "not so good" techs out there. As with most of DirecTV, there is a disconnect between all groups/sections and information is lost. "To be fair" the technology has changed drastically from the "simply dish, with a coax to a receiver", to what we have now. SWiM changes from switches and dedicated coax drops to a splitter based system. Nobody offered the training to know what/how to work with this type of system.
Now we've added the DECA signal and instead of all the signals starting at the dish and ending at the receivers, we now have all receivers sending and receiving these signal and "bouncing" off the filter back into the system. This type of signal path requires a much greater understanding than anything previously, and most are still trying to grasp how splitter systems work.
Maybe this is a poor analogy but:
figure the old switched system could be done by junior high students, SWiM by High school students,
and DECA would require College grads.
The only difference here is knowledge & training, but when the teachers don't have a clue... 


> I wish I could get up there and try what you said but I am a disaster with tools, especially putting me on a ladder with them. :lol:


You're working now and I wouldn't suggest messing with it.
You don't have the tools to do the job.
"If I were there", I go to the 4-way, remove the 2-way [getting it back to where you started] and then trim 4" off the coax from the dish. Check/test, then repeat and check/test. At most it would take 3 cuts & 3 connectors to find the improvement. If I cut it a forth time, I'd be back to where I started.
Last time I was in South FL, I think it still belonged to the Spanish. :lol:


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