# R22-100 Problems - need some help and advice



## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

I got the R22 back in late January. It has had intermittent problems from the time I first installed it. Usually I get a "Searching for signal" message and am unable to use the receiver at all. If I leave it alone for a long period of time it will usually come back around. I have another DVR in the other room (an older r-15) and I am able to use it just fine when the R22 is not working.
At any rate - I called DTV and they sent out a tech who swapped my R22 for an R15. 
I don't want to use the R15. I was hoping maybe I could do a firmware update on the R22 or something to fix the problem. Do you guys know of anything I can do? Are there any hidden menus I can access to reset the device and maybe fix it?
Customer service will not guarantee the type of receiver they are sending out. I already ordered another and got another R15. GRRRRR.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks~!


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Searching for signal indicates a satellite signal problem. What are your signal strength readings (for all transponders on all satellites)? What type of dish do you have, and is the R22 set up properly for that type of dish (in satellite setup)? It may be the R22 is set to an improper dish type, so it is searching for a signal that your dish can't provide.

Check your sat signal readings on both your R15 and your R22. Report the results in the following format:
Satellite 101:
1-7 xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx
8-16 xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx
etc.
Repeat for satellite 110, 119, 99s, 99c, 103s, and 103c (as applicable). You won't see 99 or 103 on the R15. You might or might not see them on the R22.

Dish types could be a round 18" dish, an oval 3-LNB dish referred to as the Phase III dish, or an oval 3 or 5 LNB dish that has "Slimline" written across the face of the dish. Let us know which type you have.


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## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

Ok I apologize for not providing enough information. I am very unfamiliar with the whole satellite technology and not sure what I need to be doing here.  I will see what I can do to get that info in a few minutes and report back


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## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

Ok I ran the test on the R22 and got this:

1-8 94 84 89 0 91 95 91 95
9-16 91 83 90 0 93 95 90 95
17-24 91 0 90 0 93 94 91 92
25-32 93 100 91 0 94 0 90 95 

My wife is in the middle of watching a show on the r15 and she is sick so I will have to get that in just a little bit. Now is there something I need to do in order to have it show the other satellites that you mentioned (the 110, 119 etc..)? It did not show them that I saw, only the four groups listed above.

Oh and the dish is the round 18" not the ovals.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Those signal readings look good. Dish alignment (at least for the 101 satellite) appears to be okay.

On your R22, push and hold the INFO button for a few seconds. You should get an information screen. One of the options you can select is "More System Info". Highlight that and push SELECT. Near the bottom of the first screen it should show you the dish type. What does that say?


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## miketorse (Jul 30, 2008)

Check the signal levels on tuner 2 on your R22 as well. On the screen where you check the signals there should be a + and - sign option next to the tuner number to toggle between the two. Tuner 1 and tuner 2 should have very similar numbers.


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## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

Ok as an update:
I got home tonight to find the R22 searching for signal. When I tried to do the satellite test naturally I got zeros across the board.
I went in and tested the R15 and got this:

1-8 43 78 40 0 83 42 86 0
9-16 40 38 83 0 43 66 61 88
17-24 41 0 63 0 87 87 64 64
25-32 62 73 83 0 63 80 84 83

Dish type said 18" Round. I noticed that there were a few different "Round" options as I scrolled through. Is there a difference between them?

I was going to check tuner two after I started typing this reply however, I went up to do that and the screen was completely grey. I had to hit the reset button and it is taking it's sweet time coming back through the setup. I will check that in a few minutes and report back.

I am really hoping you guys have some magic tricks I can pull on this thing so I don't have to downgrade to an r15.


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## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

I just checked the beast again and it is still on searching for signal 771. Any ideas?


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

What type of dish is actually installed? Are there four coax wires coming out of the dish, with two running to each DVR (no splitters)? Are there two coax coming out of the dish going to another device (a multiswitch), and then two coax going out of the multiswitch to each DVR?

Your inconsistent readings and experiences can be caused by various things.

Possible problems:
1. Using splitters between dish and DVRs.
2. Bad LNB assembly in the dish.
3. Bad connector or other wiring problem.
4. Bad multiswitch.
5. Bad DVR.

What happens if you completely disconnect one DVR and use the other by itself? Both ways (disconnect the R15 and use only the R22, then disconnect the R22 and use only the R15).


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## LI-SVT (May 18, 2006)

volksman said:


> Ok as an update:
> I got home tonight to find the R22 searching for signal. When I tried to do the satellite test naturally I got zeros across the board.
> I went in and tested the R15 and got this:
> 
> ...


Those numbers are low. They are different from what you posted earlier. Did the weather change?
Wind, rain?


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

You have one of two problems:

1. A bad (intermittant) R22

2. A problem with your cabling/multiswitch/dish.

The easiest way to check this out is SWAP the R22 with the R15. Since the R15 never seems to have a problem, if the R22 is still having "searching for signal" issues when it is located where the R15 used to be, you have a bad R22. If not but now the R15 exhibits "searching for signal" you have a problem with a cable, connector, or multiswitch. Since you have an 18" round dish, there is a multiswitch somewhere (a small silver box with two cables going into it and four cables leaving it) Check to be sure all the cables are securely connected to this multiswitch.


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## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

I will swap the two devices and see what that does. I also checked a couple of things this morning too. There is a multiswitch outside that has two cables coming in and there can be up to eight coming out. Right now only five are being used. I am not sure how many connections are on the dish. It is mounted up on the top of my roof so I will have to get up there later and look at it.

When I turned on the R22 this morning it was working again. I did the satellite test and once again the numbers are pretty high like before. One poster asked if the weather had been a factor - no it was dry and clear in the time I did the two tests.

I will upate this after doing the receiver swap.


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## prowler (Jun 26, 2009)

Sorry to hi-jack a fine discussion here, but I wanted to share my recent R-22 issue. We received the R-22 just one week ago today as a replacement for our old Tivo. The old Tivo "remote control" would not communicate with our new Vizio TV. 

Everything worked well for 5 days Until the picture became distorted with yellow -green - red smudges intermingled with a "no signal" indication. Since we're also using a roof top antenna for local channels, we were able to switch over to local viewing without problems in order to check the validity of our TV. The DirecTV assist person had us do the basics (reset/power down/flip cables) with no successful fix. A DirecTV tech came to the house a couple of days later and replaced the R-22 with an R-16 which he said was the current plan by DirecTV .... switching out R-22s with R-16s.

We're one day into trouble-free viewing. This discussion peaked my interest.


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## volksman (Jun 24, 2009)

Well I am guessing it has to be this r22. So far the r15 isn't having any of the same issues after replacing the r22. Kinda sucks really.

So let me ask you this:

If I bought another R22 from somewhere would it be possible to pull the hard drive from the old one and put it in the new? Just curious...


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

volksman said:


> Well I am guessing it has to be this r22. So far the r15 isn't having any of the same issues after replacing the r22. Kinda sucks really.
> 
> So let me ask you this:
> 
> If I bought another R22 from somewhere would it be possible to pull the hard drive from the old one and put it in the new? Just curious...


You could move the drive over, but you would not be able to watch/recover any recordings on it. They are encoded to the specific DVR/access card combination.


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## mhayes70 (Mar 21, 2006)

What kind of multiswitch do you have? Also, how long is the cable run from the switch to your R22?


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