# HDVR2 does not have 13v switching voltage - I think



## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

I have a HDVR2. In the process of hooking up new cables between the dish and the receiver the cable may have been shorted – center to shield. Now the receiver claims is can not find any satellites.

Everything else between the receiver and the dish seem to be fine. At least my Acutrak III says there is plenty of signal. But when I try to get the signal strength for the 101 dish on the receiver I get zero.

I am making the assumption that I should see a 13v switching signal on the coax when trying to get the 101 signal strength but I see zero voltage between the center and the shield. So either my assumption is incorrect or the 13v is not being applied to the coax. The rest of the receiver works fine so it is not a total power supply failure. I am wondering if there is a fuseable link in the tuner output that might have been “activated” to protect the output circuit if the cable is shorted. And if there some type of "one shot" protection circuitry, how can I fix it.

Thanks,
Arvid

p.s. System configuration - Yesterday the weather in Minnesota was good enough that I could start my conversion to HD.

I replaced the 3lnb dish with the 5lnb dish and performed alignment per the instructions and the Acutrak III. New cables between the dish and new ground blocks. New cables between the ground blocks and a new SWM8.

Checked all four cables at the SWM8 end with the Acutrak III and everything looked good so I attached them to the four SWM8 connectors.

Checked to voltage on the new cable from the SWM8 power module and it shows 18v, +/- a tenth. Attached it to the appropriate SWM8 connector - red to red. I also put a 75 ohm terminator on the unused SWM8 power module - the white one. The green light is on inside the SWM8 power module so that and the voltage on the coax to the SWM8 suggests all is good in those areas.

Took the two existing legacy cables and attached them to legacy port 1 and 2 on the SWM8. I then went to the HDVR2 receiver expecting all to be well but got "no signal" message. Then started the debugging process above.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

arvidj said:


> I have a HDVR2. In the process of hooking up new cables between the dish and the receiver the cable may have been shorted - center to shield. Now the receiver claims is can not find any satellites.
> 
> Everything else between the receiver and the dish seem to be fine. At least my Acutrak III says there is plenty of signal. But when I try to get the signal strength for the 101 dish on the receiver I get zero.
> 
> ...


Which tuner is it not finding signal on? Tuner 1 or 2? 
If reading correctly, you have two lines running to the Tivo right?
Did you have two lines run there before?
If only one line, did you re-run the sat setup and tell the Tivo you now have two lines?


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

Thanks for the quick response. I'm at work so 'no satellite' is not a big issue, but the wife is wondering "when will it be fixed?" 



RobertE said:


> Which tuner is it not finding signal on? Tuner 1 or 2?
> If reading correctly, you have two lines running to the Tivo right?
> Did you have two lines run there before?
> If only one line, did you re-run the sat setup and tell the Tivo you now have two lines?


I am not getting a signal on either tuner. I had and continue to have two lines from the back of the Tivo to the SWM8 - formerly two lines to the 3lnb dish.

I ran the automatic sat setup and it first tried for a multi-lnb dish and could not find anything at all. It then tried for a round dish - a single-lnb dish I think - and it couldn't find anything. Which is when I started to measure voltages out of the receiver under the assumption that the new SWM8 would 'do the right thing' and was not defective if the correct switching voltages were present - and all of those assumptions could be wrong.

Arvid


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## yogi (Feb 8, 2006)

arvidj said:


> Thanks for the quick response. I'm at work so 'no satellite' is not a big issue, but the wife is wondering "when will it be fixed?"
> 
> I am not getting a signal on either tuner. I had and continue to have two lines from the back of the Tivo to the SWM8 - formerly two lines to the 3lnb dish.
> 
> ...


 Let me see if I got this. You are trying to use a HD TIVO with a swm-8? The only receiver you can use with a swm-8 are H, HR 20 &21,D12's. If you use the legacy ports it will work


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

yogi said:


> Let me see if I got this. You are trying to use a HD TIVO with a swm-8? The only receiver you can use with a swm-8 are H, HR 20 &21,D12's. If you use the legacy ports it will work


No, it is a legacy non-HD TIVO, the old Hughes HDVR2.

Yes, I am using it with a SWM-8. The reciever is plugged into the legacy ports. But it doesn't work.

The receiver worked Sunday morning when attached directly to the 3lnb dish. I removed the 3lnb dish, installed the 5lnb dish, attached the 5lnb dish to the SWM-8, attached the existing cables from the receiver to the legacy ports on the SWM-8 and no joy.

I have tested the signal from the dish to the SWM-8 by attaching the Acutrak III to the cable end that attaches to the SWM-8 and appear to have a very good signal on all four cables - which are then attahced to the correct ports on the SWM-8. So I am assuming the SWM-8 is getting a signal from the dish.

I have tested the cable from the SWM-8 power supply to the SWM-8. There is 18 volts on the center connector, which is then attached to the correct - the red - port on the SWM-8. And, per the instructions, I have a 75 ohm terminator on the unused side of the SWM-8 power supply - the white connector. And the SWM-8 was warm this morning. Not hot, simply warmer than the cold attic it is in. So I am assuming the SWM-8 is getting power.

Everything seems to be connected correctly so I was thinking that the reciever may not be providing the correct switching voltage and/or tone to the SWM-8. This failure may have been brought about by my accidentially shorting the cables attached to the reciever when I moved them from the 3lnb dish to the legacy ports on the SWM-8.

In the process of investigating the lack of signal at the reciever I attached a short piece of coax to the back of the reciever and measured the voltage, assuming that I would see the 13 volt switching voltage for the 101 satellite - at least that is what was implied by the Acutrak III and the dish instructions - on the center connector. But there is no voltage on the center connector which suggests the reciever would not be telling the SWM-8 to use the 101 satellite and therefore the SWM-8 is not providing any signal on the legacy port for the reciever to use.

But maybe there isn't suppose to be a switching voltage on the center of the cable when the reciever is trying to get the signal strength for the 101 satellite?

Your thoughts?

Arvid


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## Mavrick (Feb 1, 2006)

Have you tried bypassing the SWM8 and going directly to the 5lnb? that would be where I would start if that works they you know it has to be a problem with the connection to the SWM legacey ports


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

Mavrick said:


> Have you tried bypassing the SWM8 and going directly to the 5lnb? that would be where I would start if that works they you know it has to be a problem with the connection to the SWM legacey ports


I have not tried that. Can I assume it is as simple as taking the cable from the receiver and connecting it directly to the dish the same way that I had the 3lnb hooked up - directly to the dish - no SWM-8, no multiplexer, just a simple one receiver one dish setup?

Thanks,
Arvid


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## yogi (Feb 8, 2006)

arvidj said:


> I have not tried that. Can I assume it is as simple as taking the cable from the receiver and connecting it directly to the dish the same way that I had the 3lnb hooked up - directly to the dish - no SWM-8, no multiplexer, just a simple one receiver one dish setup?
> 
> Thanks,
> Arvid


Yep, I'd try hooking straight to the dish.


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## Mavrick (Feb 1, 2006)

arvidj said:


> I have not tried that. Can I assume it is as simple as taking the cable from the receiver and connecting it directly to the dish the same way that I had the 3lnb hooked up - directly to the dish - no SWM-8, no multiplexer, just a simple one receiver one dish setup?
> 
> Thanks,
> Arvid


Yep just connect straight to the dish the same way that had it the 3lnb hooked up, just a simple one receiver setup.


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

Thanks to both of you. I'll try this evening when I get home. That should narrow it down to either the receiver or the SWM-8 because - at least according to the Acutrack III there is plenty of signal comming from the dish.

Arvid


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

Here's how I replied to your same question on the TiVo Community Forum.

Tune to chs 480-484 to verify reception of the 101, 110, and 119 sats. Also do a signal strength test to verify which TPs are being received.

BTW, 13v/0khz signals the dish to receive the odd TPs on 101, 18v/0khz is used for the even TPs, 13v/22khz is used to receive the 110/119 odd TPS, and the 18v/22khz is for the evens on the 110/119 pair.

As how the SWM gets into the act, I'll let those with more knowledge answer.


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

arvidj said:


> Thanks to both of you. I'll try this evening when I get home. That should narrow it down to either the receiver or the SWM-8 because - at least according to the Acutrack III there is plenty of signal comming from the dish.


Well that didn't work out like I hoped. Still no signal according to the receiver.

I feel kinda lucky as I found another HDVR2 on the local Craigs List for $40. I have it at home now and will be trying that this evening.

And, as a last resort, if it stops raining tomorrow morning and I can get back up on the roof without doing a lightning rod imatation, I will be "starting over" and re-aligning the dish and working back to the receiver from there.


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

jdspencer said:


> Here's how I replied to your same question on the TiVo Community Forum.
> 
> Tune to chs 480-484 to verify reception of the 101, 110, and 119 sats. Also do a signal strength test to verify which TPs are being received.
> 
> ...


Is it reasonable to assume that I can measure the switching voltage on the center core wire? That is to say "hook up a coax to the back of the receiver and measure the voltage between the core and the shield when trying to get the signal strength of the 101 satellite".


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## arvidj (Oct 23, 2007)

As it turns out, this thread should be called "things you can do wrong even if you have an Acutrak III".

First of all, when looking at the lcd and doing the initial azimuth and elevation alignment, look at the middle bar - the Ku bar - not the bottom bar - the Ka bar. That way you will align the dish to the 101 satellite and not the 99 satellite.

As suggested in the instructions, check the receiver to insure you are on the correct satellite - that you can receive something from the 101 satellite. If you happen to be in the middle of the roof and don't want to bother hooking up the coax so you can check the receiver in the living room, rethink that idea. It will save you time in the long run.

Third, after you have successfully fine tuned the dish to the 99 satellite and discovered that things don't work, and then discovered that you were looking at the wrong set of bars on the Acutrak, do not assume that you can just twist the dish around the azimuth to get at least some kind of reading on the Ku bar. You may miss the 101 satellite and accidentally get a very good reading when you get to the 110 satellite.

After you have the very good reading on the 110 satellite, check the receiver to see if you are getting anything on 101. Or you can waste you time fine tuning the dish to the 110 satellite and then go check the receiver and discover that you don't have anything on 101 or 119 but have a heck of a signal on 110.

You can then go back up on the roof and see that the felt tip marks you made on the mast and the dish mount when you used the compass as a starting point no longer match up. They're off by about 10 degrees. A coincidence? I think not.

Now finally take you compass and reset the azimuth and using the meter get something reasonable on the Ku band. Now get off the roof in into the living room to see what you might have. And then slap your forehead as you have finally figured out how to do it the right way.

And then go back up on the roof and fine tune the dish. You will get to enjoy signal strength values on all of the satellites between 90 and 100.

Thanks to all who tried to help this misguided soul,

Arvid


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