# Loss of Satellite Signal on Hopper



## dishwater

For about a month I have been having an issue with one of two Hoppers not being able to find satellite signals. I can be watching tv with all channels available. When I go to change channels, an error message comes up that "Satellite signal has been lost." Try to switch back to the channel I was on and it shows the same message. After a reset, the Point Dish procedure will only find one or two satellites. For instance, tuner 1 only finds 119, tuner 2 only finds 119, and tuner 3 only finds 110. Or sometimes all three tuners find 129, or one of the others, but not all three.

The first tech that came out changed out the LNB on the dish. That worked for about 4 hours before the issue came up again. The second tech came and changed out the duo node on the outside of the house. Again, after a few hours the same problem came back again. Then this week, they changed out one Hopper that was having the most issues. Still having the satellite signal issue. And now, both Hoppers have the same problem.

The last tech said if changing the Hopper didn't work they would have to send out a master tech to find the problem. It has been two days and I have not heard anything.


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## P Smith

be patient - just wait; we can't help you remotely


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## harsh

If it is happening on both units, the suspects are the DISH, LNB and the Duo Node.

Is there any chance at all that the dish's view is being blocked intermittantly?


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## jerry downing

I've had some weird issues which crop up if more than one receiver is connected to a router via ethernet. If that is the case, try disconnecting ethernet cables from the receivers and see if there is any improvement.


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## moman19

Check all COAX connections for signs of corrosion. I had a similar experience a long time ago and it was all caused by one sloppy connection. Start with those exposed to the elements.


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## RASCAL01

I had the same issue. The problem was that the middle wire on the cable going to the Duo Node was two short. Changed cables and all is well.


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## P Smith

I don't feel OP will DIY action ... He should wait for a tech.


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## 3HaloODST

Sheesh, instead of patronizing the guy we could at least make suggestions...

Are there any sort of wall jacks or the likes on the line between the Hopper and the node? That can cause issues. 

I am leaning towards cable/connector issues, as was previously mentioned. Especially if only one of the Hoppers is having issues. I would guess that the issue is between the Hopper and the node as the other Hopper is fine. So check for cabling issues and/or bad connectors and/or connectors that aren't supplied by Dish.


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## P Smith

The question is: is OP willing/capable to do all the F-connectors check/rework ?
Seems to me he keep silence and not taking our DYI proposal for the reason ...


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## dishwater

Sorry, but just now getting a chance to check the forum since I posted. Thanks for all the input. 

The tech came late Friday afternoon. As is always the case, the system wasn't acting up when he arrived. I wasn't there but wife said he checked all connections inside and out. Found nothing so left. Just after he left, the issue started again. Wife called him and he returned. Couldn't find anyting obvious causing the problem, but did say that there were too many Joeys connected to one Hopper from when the other tech replaced it last week. Corrected that. When I got home the lost signal issue again started. Also noticed that one particular Joey was showing as being connected to every other location in the house. Also noticed that the signal issue only seemed to be happening when something was being recorded on the Hopper. Anyway, called the tech and left a message, but did not hear from him again.

Saturday turned on the tv and everything was fine. The one "everywhere" Joey was back to showing up only where it was supposed to. No signal issues. Worked well all weekend.


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## dishwater

Well, the "loss of signal" issue is still occuring. It has happened three of four mornings this week since Monday. And again, only on one of two Hoppers. It appears that sat 110 and 119 are not affected, but all the loss is coming from 129, which is the majority of channels that I have. By the afternoon and evening everything is fine. 

The regional supervisor of the installer/servicer handling this issue called Tuesday morning and asked if a tech had ever shown up. Told him he had last Friday, but the supervisor said that wasn't the master tech. He is still trying to get him scheduled to come look at the problem.


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## P Smith

Did you check for LOF drift the LNBFs ?


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## dishwater

It appears the cable from the node to the Hopper was the problem. 

The master tech came Saturday. He asked if the other techs had changed out the cable. Told him no, that they changed everything else out. He went out a few minutes then came back in and said it was the cable. It was too small and worn out. He said he had told the other techs to start by checking the cable, but none did. He changed it out in about thirty minutes and everything has been working perfect since.


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## RASCAL01

Glad it worked out. Tha is what was wrong with my Hoppers. After I swithched cables all is fine. See my prior post.


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## dishwater

Well, the "working perfect" lasted until last Thursday. Had no problems since the cable had been changed out, but while watching the news on a local, the "lost satellite signal" screen kicked back in. I reset with the red button, and then with a hard reset by unplugging. No change. The next day, the "lost satellite signal" page was gone, but so were all the channels from the 129 satellite. It stayed that way all weekend. Called Dish Friday and a tech came out Sunday afternoon. 

He checked all connections, said everything was good. He said he would "send a hit" to the affected Hopper. He did so, and all the channels were back. Two hours after he left, the "lost satellite signal" started again. It stayed that way all evening. By this morning the "lost satellite signal" was gone, and so again were all the channels from 129. Now waiting to find out from Dish what the next step is. Its beginning to sound to me like a software problem. There's no hardware left to change out.


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## wyy183

I feel your pain. I went through something similar with a 722K receiver.

I would be going along just fine and then I would start getting "002 - Partial signal loss" message. In my case, I had full signal, and if I were recording something, it still recorded just fine.

They swapped receivers, and it came back... after a few weeks, or a month, or so. One time I went three months without the issue, then it started again.

They did a complete re-install. Installed new wires. Moved receiver to another room. Replaced LNB. Swapped receivers.

Finally, after many months and many receivers, they wanted to switch me to a 922 receiver since they couldn't figure out the issue with the 722K.

I didn't have that issue any longer. (I had issues - but not THAT issue!)


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## dishwater

Still no resolution with the loss of satellite signal. Tech visits are up to almost ten. Generally, the signal issue starts late evening, lasts thru early morning. Signal back on thru the day. Could it possibly have something to do with cool vs. warm temps? I'm grasping at straws.


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## P Smith

it could, perhaps moisture penetrating into cable close to F-connectors or damaged cable in a middle ?


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## coldsteel

Sorry to sound pedantic (sp?) but has a check switch test been run?


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## dishwater

coldsteel said:


> Sorry to sound pedantic (sp?) but has a check switch test been run?


Yes, many times. When going to the Check Switch screen, all three tuners will show that all three sats are available. After running the test, tuner 1 will only show 119, tuner 2 will show 110 and tuner 3 119. Doing Reset will not bring them back. Later, usually the next day, all three satellites will show up again.


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## P Smith

That's not normal to see 119W twice.


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## [email protected] Network

dishwater said:


> Still no resolution with the loss of satellite signal. Tech visits are up to almost ten. Generally, the signal issue starts late evening, lasts thru early morning. Signal back on thru the day. Could it possibly have something to do with cool vs. warm temps? I'm grasping at straws.


Is there anything outside that may block the DISH antenna in the evenings causing the signal to be lost?

I had a customer once who's neighbor drove a semi and when the semi was parked in the driveway next door it caused partial signal loss because it was blocking part of the customer's LOS.

Please send me a PM and I'll be happy to see what I can do to get this corrected for you. Thanks!


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## P Smith

That's funny - a truck is blocking LOS each night.


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## RasputinAXP

I definitely had a moisture problem in a connector on the outside of my house.

I replaced the barrel connector and wrapped it in the sticky black tar-goo I use for outdoor long-throw wireless access point antennas, then wrapped that in outdoor use electrical tape. Not a problem since.


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## harsh

P Smith said:


> it could, perhaps moisture penetrating into cable close to F-connectors or damaged cable in a middle ?


It could also be an issue with condensation forming on the LNB lens. The other brand had some fairly serious issues with this a few years ago.


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## dishwater

[email protected] Network said:


> Is there anything outside that may block the DISH antenna in the evenings causing the signal to be lost?
> 
> I had a customer once who's neighbor drove a semi and when the semi was parked in the driveway next door it caused partial signal loss because it was blocking part of the customer's LOS.


The dish is mounted on the roof with a clear view of the southern sky.


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## P Smith

dishwater said:


> The dish is mounted on the roof with a clear view of the southern sky.


And your cabling/connectors are ... ? OK ?


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## dishwater

Four techs, including regional supervisor, came last Saturday afternoon. It looked like a Dish convention was taking place at my house. They replaced the dish, lnb, duo node, and all cable inside and outside the house. They did not replace the Hoppers and Joeys. It took about three hours. They did not find anything obvious that was wrong or bad.

Since then, everything has worked just as it should. Except Sunday evening. As I was watching a show, the "satellite signal lost" screen came up just long enough for me to look for something to throw at the tv, then it went right back to the program. Since then it has been fine.

Hoping for the best, expecting the worst.


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## Ray [email protected] Network

Please let me know if you continue to experience this problem. Thanks.



dishwater said:


> Four techs, including regional supervisor, came last Saturday afternoon. It looked like a Dish convention was taking place at my house. They replaced the dish, lnb, duo node, and all cable inside and outside the house. They did not replace the Hoppers and Joeys. It took about three hours. They did not find anything obvious that was wrong or bad.
> 
> Since then, everything has worked just as it should. Except Sunday evening. As I was watching a show, the "satellite signal lost" screen came up just long enough for me to look for something to throw at the tv, then it went right back to the program. Since then it has been fine.
> 
> Hoping for the best, expecting the worst.


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## lonerwulf

I've seen this problem b4 one of your drop cables from dish was bad or wasn't 3 gig. Once they replaced your drop cables they fixed problem. I've learned in a duel hopper install always always always replace drop cables it just prevents problems in the future


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## jerry downing

dishwater said:


> The dish is mounted on the roof with a clear view of the southern sky.


How about the southwestern sky. 129 is further west than 110 and 119. I had the same problem and fixed it by taking a chainsaw to a neighbors tree.


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