# Cannot hear audio feedback when testing Signal Strength on HR21-100



## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

I cannot hear the audio feed back via HDMI and an Optical Connection to my Receiver and Display.

I also decided to run an S-Video Connection and just a Stereo connection to my Display to see if I could hear sound from a different input. I've also disabled "Dolby Digital" in my DVR's audio settings. Still no sound. I can however hear audio when I'm watching regular programming through this type of connection. 

Any ideas?


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

Don't think that has ever worked on the HR2x series..


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

That's correct, it's never worked that I recall.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

OK, couldn't get anymore precise than that. lol

Thanks



I'm having issues with 103s, 103c, and 99s, with very low numbers. 101, 110, and 119 are right on the money with signal strength in the 90s.


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## looter (Oct 1, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> That's correct, it's never worked that I recall.


Then any idea why it is in the GUI?


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

looter said:


> Then any idea why it is in the GUI?


The signal strength meter? Why shouldnt it be there? I dont ever recall it making a noise like on the HR10-250 that I had for example.


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## looter (Oct 1, 2007)

jodyguercio said:


> The signal strength meter? Why shouldnt it be there? I dont ever recall it making a noise like on the HR10-250 that I had for example.


No, not the meter, I'm referring to the instructions to use audio feedback.

The HR21 on screen guide describes IN DETAIL that you can choose which tuner to select and listen to AUDIO FEEDBACK. This however does not work.

With DIRECTV is updating the software to these units so often I don't understand why either the instructions haven't been removed OR why the audio feedback function hasn't been fixed to work as described in the on screen guide.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

I updated to the latest CE last night and did not hear any audio while re-aligning my dish. Guess we'll have to wait.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

The audio meter not working has been an issue from the very beginning. I am a little surprised with all the advances that have been made over the last year or so, they never got to this particular bug.


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

The signal meter audio tones made it too easy for the simple minded homeowner to tweak his own dish. I used to turn up the volume and open the kitchen window up wide to adjust my old 3LNB dish to my satisfaction. To adjust these new high tech Ku/Ka dishes you need to call D*, wait 3 to 7 days for a scheduled truck roll, take a half day off, and watch a highly trained D* professional turn the fine adjustment a quarter turn or so.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

2dogz said:


> The signal meter audio tones made it too easy for the simple minded homeowner to tweak his own dish. I used to turn up the volume and open the kitchen window up wide to adjust my old 3LNB dish to my satisfaction. To adjust these new high tech Ku/Ka dishes you need to call D*, wait 3 to 7 days for a scheduled truck roll, take a half day off, and watch a highly trained D* professional turn the fine adjustment a quarter turn or so.


I'll admit when I first saw this new dish with all of the dials, I was a bit intimidated and the videos for aligning the dish were not user friendly to say the least. I was aware of how precise this alignment will need to be compared to my old 3lnb but the "IT Guy" in me had to go foolin with it lol. I've been waiting for overcasts to fly overhead because that's how sensitive some of the channels were. After the re-alignment and a couple of dark clouds flying by, channels such as TNTHD and HDTHeater have yet to fade out.

It can't be that complicated, or is it?


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

groove93 said:


> It can't be that complicated, or is it?


Not so much complicated as tedious to go through all the sats. I am fortunate to be able to take 2 steps down my ladder and peer into my bedroom to catch the meters on that tv. But I really would appreciate having the audio meters back from tivo days to make life so much easier.


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

It's really not that complicated at all. The main issue using the receiver signal meters, IMO, is the location of the dish. If it is high, and you need to be on a ladder, holding the ladder, a half inch wrench, and a cell phone causes one to compromise on holding something. Safety first! A sat meter works better up high since most you hang around your neck.

If safety is not the issue, then, after watching install video, print out a copy of install instructions and position yourself behind the dish and read the alignment sections, twice. Instructions are quite complete, you just need to visualize everything as you read them through.

Make sure mast is plumb. After that it's adjust aim for 101W (sprinkle of 100's in readings), adjust tilt for 119W (sprinkle of 100's), fine tune Ka sats (103c readings 90+), lock everything down tight and you're done. 

P.S. If you go the cell phone route, suggest you get a buddy or a teenager if you've got one. My wife, for one, just wouldn't work.


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## bpratt (Nov 24, 2005)

For about $25 you can get one of these:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=TLSF20

or for a lot more:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=SACUTRACPRO

Then using the allignment instructions from here:

http://www.hometech.com/pdf/gc-au9s.pdf

You can align the dish yourself and get it perfect.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

I've noticed you guys do not mention 110. I'm curious as to why because now after thinking about it, before my 5lnb dish was installed, my hr21 was attached to a 3lnb dish. The signal would fade on the very few channels I was able to receive in HD such as TNT HD, HD Theater, and HDnet.

Are these channels on the 110 bird? If so, these are supposed to move over to the new bird that was recently launched, correct?

Earlier in the day, I managed to get 103c in the high 80s, low 90s, but 110 had horrible numbers. I eased the dish back (tilt) and got a sort of "middle ground" for all the sats, 101 and 119 having the highest numbers.


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## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

110 isn't really mentioned because when aligning the dish if you get 101 peaked. Then set the tilt for 119 and peak that 110 should automatically be aligned. 99/103 may require a little more tweaking or dithering properly if your meter can't read them. If everything else is fine and 110 is really low you're probably looking at hardware problem or a LOS issue.


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

The way the slimline 5 LNB dish is setup 110W will take care of itself when you get 101 and 119 set. Think of the sats in a line across the SW sky. The dish has the LNB horns in a line that matches the sats. So you're just getting the dish line to match up with the sat line in the sky.

The 101 sat LNB is the centerline for the dish and is the prime focus for adjustment of azimuth and elevation. Once you have it set you've anchored the dish on one point on the line in the sky. Now, if the mast is plumb, plumb, plumb, you can rotate the tilt around the centerline to maximize 119 which will cause virtually no change at all to the 101 setting (if the mast is plumb. I'm repeating myself.) You now have two points set of the line in the sky which is all you need. 110 should take care of itself, it's on the line.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

2dogz said:


> The way the slimline 5 LNB dish is setup 110W will take care of itself when you get 101 and 119 set. Think of the sats in a line across the SW sky. The dish has the LNB horns in a line that matches the sats. So you're just getting the dish line to match up with the sat line in the sky.
> 
> The 101 sat LNB is the centerline for the dish and is the prime focus for adjustment of azimuth and elevation. Once you have it set you've anchored the dish on one point on the line in the sky. Now, if the mast is plumb, plumb, plumb, you can rotate the tilt around the centerline to maximize 119 which will cause virtually no change at all to the 101 setting (if the mast is plumb. I'm repeating myself.) You now have two points set of the line in the sky which is all you need. 110 should take care of itself, it's on the line.


I'm able to visualize your description and it makes perfect sense now. Sort of like "Orion's Belt" I guess.

Now when you take 99 and 103 into consideration, are they also part of the line too?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

You're right that it says you can get audio feedback, and you can't. You're also right that at some point they should address that. It's just such a low priority thing... if everything's working right you shouldn't need it, and DIRECTV's point of view is that 99% of people are going to call a CSR if they need reaiming.


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

groove93 said:


> I'm able to visualize your description and it makes perfect sense now. Sort of like "Orion's Belt" I guess.
> 
> Now when you take 99 and 103 into consideration, are they also part of the line too?


Yes they are. But the deal is that older Ku sats are easier to set and maximize than the new Ka sats (most of the HD stuff). I read somewhere that the Ku sat's aim point is a 2 degree circle in the sky and the new Ka sats it is a one half degree circle. So you get the dish line aligned with the sat line in the sky for the 101/119 sats, then use the fine adjustment dials to fine tune the 103c sat. The fine tuning should not be enough of a change to knock 101/119 off of maximum. In fact, if your mast is plumb, plumb, plumb you will be maximizing all 5 sat positions all at once.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

2dogz said:


> Yes they are. But the deal is that older Ku sats are easier to set and maximize than the new Ka sats (most of the HD stuff). I read somewhere that the Ku sat's aim point is a 2 degree circle in the sky and the new Ka sat's is a one half degree circle. So you get the dish line aligned with the sat line in the sky for the 101/119 sats, then use the fine adjustment dials to fine tune the 103c sat. The fine tuning should not be enough of a change to knock 101/119 off of maximum.


Now I understand your comment earlier in the thread about "simple minded homeowner".

They should've hired you to make that video I downloaded last week about aligning this dish. I simply just go out to the back and make adjustments to the dish, then walk back and check the meter settings on the screen. Not a big deal at all.

I'm going to read up on the dials on the dish, for I never touched them.


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

groove93 said:


> I'm going to read up on the dials on the dish, for I never touched them.


Just make sure you have the azimuth and elevation lock down nuts loosened. The fine adjustments do have some resistance, but it should not be "hard" to turn. The threaded rods can do damage to the dish due to their mechnical advantage.

Also just make a note of where you start from on the dial. You can always undo anything that seems to be going in the wrong direction signal wise.

Good luck, it's easy.


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

slingbox and laptop work great for tweaking dishes


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

houskamp said:


> slingbox and laptop work great for tweaking dishes


I used google earth to help me determine a more accurate location of where I live and where true north lies.


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## groove93 (Jun 10, 2008)

Looks like the rain fade issues are gone. It's been raining all afternoon and prior to the adjustments I made yesterday, it was very predictable to see certain channels go out. I'm not going to make any further adjustments to my dish if the performance has been great through a rainstorm on those channels.


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## Slyster (May 17, 2005)

Man they got to get this fixed! How am I supposed to go on the roof with my wife on the other end of a 2 way radio? My plan was to have her hold the radio to a speaker. Now she has to read data from a graph to me... and er... she's not so great with that sort of stuff.


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