# Voom channels down?



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Since yesterday, all voom channels appear to be down. When tuning to any voom channel, it tries to find the satellite and comes back with "satellite signal has been lost" for satellite 129 transponder 23. Only seems to be happening to voom channels.

Anyone have info?


----------



## ASN21 (Aug 17, 2007)

They all work fine for me.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Thanks for the reply. I'll try a re-boot and see if anything changes.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Re-booted and no change - guess I'll call dish.


----------



## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

dbconsultant said:


> Since yesterday, all voom channels appear to be down. When tuning to any voom channel, it tries to find the satellite and comes back with "satellite signal has been lost" for satellite 129 transponder 23. Only seems to be happening to voom channels.
> 
> Anyone have info?


I'm good here.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Well, I just got off the phone with Dish. The level 1 guy tried to tell me that the Voom channels are 'obsolete' and are being 'phased out' and that this has been happening since August 2007. I told him that, if that were so, why were other people still receiving the channels and why are they still on the guide. He didn't know so I had him move me up to a level 2 CSR.

Level 2 CSR had me look at another channel on Satellite 129 (9425 ESPN2) which comes in fine so, since it only seems to be the Voom channels which all come from transponder 23, he thinks it's my equipment and wants to send someone out at $49.99 (or $29.99 if I sign up for DPHP at $5.99/month).

Since this same thing happened about a month ago and then the Voom channels came back on-line after a few hours, I'm hesitant to spend the money having someone come out. I guess I'll wait at this point to see if they come back. I have a hard time believing that something 'just happened' that is making me lose reception to one transponder. He asked if I had noticed any reception problems on these stations and we haven't. My husband has the monsterHD channel on all the time as background with no problem. Since the download of 4.48, I've seen problems on other channels but not on any of the Vooms.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

So I found the channel chart and tried some of the other voom channels. It appears that the ones on transponder 11 and 23 are out but ones on transponder 22 (Ultra, Gallery) are fine. I also am not getting trasponders 27 (History 9491) and 19 (Science 9490).

Possibly coincidentally but possibly not, the voom channels on transponders 11 and 23 are also the ones that had their programming mixed up over the weekend. Guess I'll wait this one out and hope that the problem is with voom and not my equipment. I'll update this if the channels come back or if I give up and let them send a tech out.

ASN21 and Bartendress, could you confirm for me that you are seeing MonstersHD (9481) and World Cinema (9475) as well as the HistoryHD and ScienceHD channels? If you are both getting these channels, then maybe it is my equipment. Thanks!


----------



## Deke Rivers (Jan 8, 2007)

dbconsultant said:


> Well, I just got off the phone with Dish. The level 1 guy tried to tell me that the Voom channels are 'obsolete' and are being 'phased out' and that this has been happening since August 2007. .


thats a dumb **** statement even for a level 1 CSR..


----------



## aloishus27 (Aug 8, 2006)

Deke Rivers said:


> thats a dumb **** statement even for a level 1 CSR..


Depending on the continent his call was routed to, I wouldn't be too surprised.


----------



## DBS Commando (Apr 7, 2006)

Run a check switch to see if you have any LNB drift


----------



## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

aloishus27 said:


> Depending on the continent his call was routed to, I wouldn't be too surprised.


DISH has *GOT* to do something about its off shore call centers. Given their high churn numbers last quarter I would think that someone should be able to figure out that the main problem is in the customer call center service area.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

aloishus27 said:


> Depending on the continent his call was routed to, I wouldn't be too surprised.


That's what I thought, too, but he was actually an American CSR. He and everyone in the background had southern accents so I think I actually got Kentucky!


----------



## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Any chance you could repoint the dish yourself? Maybe it's off just a smooch.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

DBS Commando said:


> Run a check switch to see if you have any LNB drift


Ran check switch (both when I was on with the CSR and again now) - didn't see any mention of lnb drift. Under sat 129 it shows a red box with a white 'x' and status says "reception error". The CSR told me that that is what is shown when not all transponders are being received but couldn't tell me why this would happen all of a sudden. It started yesterday. Nothing has changed or happened - no earthquakes, we were all dried out and sunny, nothing has moved.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

FTA Michael said:


> Any chance you could repoint the dish yourself? Maybe it's off just a smooch.


I hesitate to do this - wouldn't even know where to start. Don't know what would have made it move. It's been in the same place for over 2 years with no movement problems through big winds and all.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Bill R said:


> DISH has *GOT* to do something about its off shore call centers. Given their high churn numbers last quarter I would think that someone should be able to figure out that the main problem is in the customer call center service area.


Don't think it was offshore. The guy and everyone behind him spoke with southern accents. I think I was talking to the ones in Kentucky.


----------



## Taco Lover (Jan 8, 2007)

Get them to send someone out, but request the charge for the service call be waived. I had no problem doing this.

I've had really low signal on 129 since initial installation (I don't think the dish was pointed correctly), and since the CA storms I have no 129 at all. They're sending someone out to repoint/replace the dish and/or lnb, waiving the fee, and credited me $20 back for not being able to watch HD for a week.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Taco Lover said:


> Get them to send someone out, but request the charge for the service call be waived. I had no problem doing this.
> 
> I've had really low signal on 129 since initial installation (I don't think the dish was pointed correctly), and since the CA storms I have no 129 at all. They're sending someone out to repoint/replace the dish and/or lnb, waiving the fee, and credited me $20 back for not being able to watch HD for a week.


Thanks, Taco Lover, how did you get them to waive the fee? The csr I spoke to would only go as far as signing me up for dish home protection at $5.99 and then would lower the fee to $29.99. I declined at this point because I'm not convinced that it's the equipment. I didn't start having problems until last night and we're all dried up and winds have been over for a week for us down here! My other hesitation is that it happened once before with the Voom channels and came back on its own.


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dbconsultant said:


> Since yesterday, all voom channels appear to be down. When tuning to any voom channel, it tries to find the satellite and comes back with "satellite signal has been lost" for satellite 129 transponder 23. Only seems to be happening to voom channels.
> 
> Anyone have info?


Maybe the lemur scared them away? 

But seriously...

Do you have another receiver or is this your only one? It could be a dish alignment thing... or it could be a switch thing. If it is a switch thing, it is possible that swapping the receiver to another location might tell you something.

Another thought, it might be worth trying turning off your receiver... unplugging it from power... and also disconnecting the satellite cable from the receiver. Also, if you have a power inserter, unplug that as well. Wait at least a minute... then plug your receiver back in (don't plug in the satellite) and run a checkswitch. That should fail horribly of course... but then turn the receiver back off and re-connect the satellite cable (also plug in the power inserter if you unplugged one)... and then run a checkswitch again.

If you have a switch failure, this won't do any good of course  But if it is just "stuck" this kind of thing might reset it since it draws power from your receiver and/or power inserter (depending upon configuration).


----------



## Taco Lover (Jan 8, 2007)

dbconsultant said:


> Thanks, Taco Lover, how did you get them to waive the fee? The csr I spoke to would only go as far as signing me up for dish home protection at $5.99 and then would lower the fee to $29.99.


I asked. 

Good luck.


----------



## DBS Commando (Apr 7, 2006)

Would you happen to have a DPP44 switch? Did you try resetting it by unplugging it, plugging it in, and then running a check switch again with the 622?


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

HDMe said:


> Maybe the lemur scared them away?
> 
> But seriously...
> 
> ...


Ah, and here I thought you were over being scared of my avatar!:lol:

This is my only receiver. Nothing here has happened to change the alignment. We had a big windstorm (not our biggest by far last year) but that was last week and this only started last night. I tried the hard re-boot with no luck. I don't have a power inserter (that I know of) so I will try unplugging the electric and then disconnecting the satellite cable. If you hear cursing, it will be from me as it is a real PITA to get to my cables but if it solves the problem, it will be worth the bad words to get it up and running again.

I PM'd Ron Barry since he is closer to my area to see if he's having any problems with the same transponders. If not, and if this doesn't work, I will be calling Dish for a tech. Think good thoughts for me!


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

DBS Commando said:


> Would you happen to have a DPP44 switch? Did you try resetting it by unplugging it, plugging it in, and then running a check switch again with the 622?


How do I find out what kind of switch I have? I am about to unplug the receiver, disconnect the sat cable into the receiver, re-plug the receiver, run check switch (which I know will fail), un-plug, reconnect sat cable and replug in the receiver based on HDMe's suggestion. Is this the same as what you are suggesting?


----------



## DBS Commando (Apr 7, 2006)

Yes (didn't read his post)

To find out if you have a power-inserter, follow the sat cable from the back of the 622 and see if it leads to a box that is plugged in. That is a power insterter. If it leads directley into the wall, then either you don't have that type of switch or the power insterter is in some other location. (I have heard of this before)


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dbconsultant said:


> Ah, and here I thought you were over being scared of my avatar!:lol:


Mostly... I think it is the combination of the evil stare and the friendly glitter that makes the lemur disturbing...



dbconsultant said:


> This is my only receiver. Nothing here has happened to change the alignment. We had a big windstorm (not our biggest by far last year) but that was last week and this only started last night. I tried the hard re-boot with no luck. I don't have a power inserter (that I know of) so I will try unplugging the electric and then disconnecting the satellite cable. If you hear cursing, it will be from me as it is a real PITA to get to my cables but if it solves the problem, it will be worth the bad words to get it up and running again.
> 
> I PM'd Ron Barry since he is closer to my area to see if he's having any problems with the same transponders. If not, and if this doesn't work, I will be calling Dish for a tech. Think good thoughts for me!


I have the same difficulty getting to my cabling too... usually have to push the TV from the wall and climb over some stuff, so I know the pain of that!

Since this is your only receiver... you probably would only have a power inserter IF you had a 110/119/118.7 and 129/61.5 config. This is because the LNB assemblies that get the 118.7 location don't have switches built-in to them, and the result of that + the 4th sat location means a DPP44 switch is necessary, and the power inserter is required for that.

Only reason you'd need that setup would be if your HD locals OR international channels were on 118.7... so the power-inserter bit might not be something you have to worry about. I've also heard of folks having those outside the home or just inside, though most of us seem to have them right at our receiver.

Hopefully the power cycling and "reset" of the switch will gain you something for the troubles.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

DBS Commando said:


> Yes (didn't read his post)
> 
> To find out if you have a power-inserter, follow the sat cable from the back of the 622 and see if it leads to a box that is plugged in. That is a power insterter. If it leads directley into the wall, then either you don't have that type of switch or the power insterter is in some other location. (I have heard of this before)


I don't have a power-inserter.

After running the whole process of unplugging recvr and sat cable and running check switch and then doing it again with the sat cable plugged back in (unplugging the receiver prior to both the disconnect and reconnect of power to the recvr), I now have transponder 19 back up so I have Disc, Science, etc. but still nothing on transponders 23, 11 (both vooms) nor 27 (HistHD). When I ran the check switch earlier today, I got a red box under 129 and the details for Port3 External LNB reads DP Single 129 Even only. Now when I run the check switch, reception is verified, green box under 129 and details for Port3 External LNB reads DP Single 129 Even, Odd.

So I got something back but not all. So I'm going to try it again to see if I can get the rest to come back.


----------



## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

dbconsultant said:


> ...ASN21 and Bartendress, could you confirm for me that you are seeing MonstersHD (9481) and World Cinema (9475) as well as the HistoryHD and ScienceHD channels? If you are both getting these channels, then maybe it is my equipment. Thanks!


Just in from work, but here you go...

9481- Monsters H: SS- 41
9475- World Cine: SS- 33
9490- Science HD: SS- 50
9491- History HD: SS- 37

Good luck.


----------



## aloishus27 (Aug 8, 2006)

I hope these resets solve your problem, I used to reset my 811 when I had it connected to an old SW64 switch. Thank God I am rid of that legacy equipment once and for all. First off once I moved out of my parents house and bought my own home i have a nice clean set up with all new DPP equipment. But 2 months after I moved out my parents upgraded to a 622 from an old 508 and their Dish installer rid them of all legacy equipment and installed a DP44 switch which seems much more reliable.

On a lighter note.... dude your avatar scares the s**t out of me.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

bartendress said:


> Just in from work, but here you go...
> 
> 9481- Monsters H: SS- 41
> 9475- World Cine: SS- 33
> ...


Thank you!



aloishus27 said:


> I hope these resets solve your problem, I used to reset my 811 when I had it connected to an old SW64 switch. Thank God I am rid of that legacy equipment once and for all. First off once I moved out of my parents house and bought my own home i have a nice clean set up with all new DPP equipment. But 2 months after I moved out my parents upgraded to a 622 from an old 508 and their Dish installer rid them of all legacy equipment and installed a DP44 switch which seems much more reliable.
> 
> On a lighter note.... dude your avatar scares the s**t out of me.


That's dude-ette! And my lemur is cute not scary - course you're not the first one to be scared - ask HDMe!

The reset brought back one transponder out of the four - I have 19 back so now I can get Discovery and Science and TLC but the rest are still out so I'm missing HistoryHD, World Sports HD and MonsterHD. I'll give it a couple of days and if it doesn't come back (this has happened before and they have come back on their own), then I'll call a tech.

Thanks, everyone, for your assists!


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Well, thanks to Ron Barry, who lives close to my area, I now know that the transponders I'm missing are coming in fine in his area (about 60 miles away). So I guess I'll be calling in a tech.

Thanks, everyone, for your help and suggestions. At least I got Discovery and TLC and Science back!


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dbconsultant said:


> And my lemur is cute not scary - course you're not the first one to be scared - ask HDMe!


It's the glitter... and the hypnotic stare... it's like he (is it a he lemur?) is trying to hypnotize me to do his (her?) bidding.

Glad you made some progress... since that seemed to help, *maybe* it is indicative of a switch problem rather than a problem with your receiver. I guess you'll find out when you get a tech out there to look at things.


----------



## Ressurrector (Jan 1, 2008)

Deke Rivers said:


> thats a dumb **** statement even for a level 1 CSR..


it was but I never get good service by their CSR's on the online chat or phone....

Its kinda like when you go in an electronic store and ask for something but the beautiful young blond who helps you doesn't know a toslink cable from a hole in her ass..........


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

HDMe said:


> It's the glitter... and the hypnotic stare... it's like he (is it a he lemur?) is trying to hypnotize me to do his (her?) bidding.
> 
> Glad you made some progress... since that seemed to help, *maybe* it is indicative of a switch problem rather than a problem with your receiver. I guess you'll find out when you get a tech out there to look at things.


Well, I'd just be happy if she (I'm assuming it's a she because her fur seems to be sort of a drab brown and, in the wild, the males are the showy ones!) could just hypnotize my switch, if that's the problem, to settle down.

This morning, the transponders were still missing. But, after the game was over (I like the Seahawks but since I want to see Favre go to the Superbowl, I was happy with the outcome), my husband tuned to MonsterHD and it was back! So was HistoryHD and World Sport so I saw them all! Then, I changed from World Sports back to MonsterHD and it was gone again and turning back to the other showed them missing again as well. Guess I'll be calling a tech after all.:nono2:


----------



## kmcnamara (Jan 30, 2004)

The channels aren't gone. That's just the usual programming they show on the Voom channels. It just *seems* like they're missing. 

Hope you get it worked out.


----------



## ssmith10pn (Jul 6, 2005)

Sounds like a bad LNB. Notice the Odd TPs are the only problems?


----------



## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

Finally some in this thread has said what I was thinking from reading it. It is the LNB is only working on the even channels most of the time.


----------



## jacmyoung (Sep 9, 2006)

It looks to me you have exhausted the tests, and it probably is true the LNB is on the rope. So it is a good idea to call E* to arrange a tech visit.

However I would suggest you call E* Account Specialist department. This is the place E* subs always get transfered to when they call to cancel. Now you don't have to cancel your account in order to be transfered there. You can tell the first line CSR that you have talked to that department with a particular issue before and was calling back to follow up on it. If the CSR try to resist just say if you don't I will then have to cancel. The first line CSR will never cancel your account, so as long as you are firm you will end up been transfered.

People in that department are all employed in the US, well trained, and have authority to make things happen which can not be done by the CSRs.

Explain to them that you got run around, have clueless tech support and had to do your own tests to narrow down the problem. And you have been bombarded by D* calls to switch but you always enjoyed the good service at E* so you did not want to risk having a bad service from a new company, but now you are exhausted. You are willing to sign on to an E* protection plan, but after all the run around and time wasted to self tests (because the techs on the phone were not too helpful) and you believe E* should send some one to your house without question asked, no extra charges need because even your cable would not charge you for a tech visit.

At that point I can say about 95% chance you will get a free tech visits arranged by the account specialist. If not kindly say I will think about my options and call back, then come here let us know so we can all petition to the CEO email for you

I have alway asked for that department when I was in need. The way I look at it is this, we have some fine folks in that department, well trained and employed in the US, have the knowledge, desire and power to make things happen for us, and they deserve to be kept busy so they have job security!


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dbconsultant said:


> Well, I'd just be happy if she (I'm assuming it's a she because her fur seems to be sort of a drab brown and, in the wild, the males are the showy ones!) could just hypnotize my switch, if that's the problem, to settle down.
> 
> This morning, the transponders were still missing. But, after the game was over (I like the Seahawks but since I want to see Favre go to the Superbowl, I was happy with the outcome), my husband tuned to MonsterHD and it was back! So was HistoryHD and World Sport so I saw them all! Then, I changed from World Sports back to MonsterHD and it was gone again and turning back to the other showed them missing again as well. Guess I'll be calling a tech after all.:nono2:


The only other thing I could think of... aside from the others' suggestion that it may be a failing LNB... is the possibility of a tuner failing. Since you have a ViP622, have you tried "swapping" between tuners and verifying that you have difficulty with the same channels/transponders on both tuners?

I only mention this because I had a different receiver (501) that started having weird problems like tuning to some channels and not others or failing checkswitch tests... then one day the tuner just died and all I could do was playback DVR recordings. Had to have that one swapped out and everything was fine.

In your case, with a dual-tuner, I would hope both tuners wouldn't fail at the same time... so if one was failing and the other was working, you might be able to determine that by tuning channels on both tuners.


----------



## Bichon (Jun 5, 2003)

dbconsultant said:


> Well, I just got off the phone with Dish. The level 1 guy tried to tell me that the Voom channels are 'obsolete' and are being 'phased out' and that this has been happening since August 2007.





Deke Rivers said:


> thats a dumb **** statement even for a level 1 CSR..


I think I know what confused the CSR. Mid August 2007 was when Dish started to transition the original Voom channels from MPEG2 to MPEG4.


----------



## MSoper72 (Jun 18, 2004)

I hate to intrude, but I read that he did not have a power inserter. He should try a switch check with a power inserter installed. That might fix the problem.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

HDMe said:


> The only other thing I could think of... aside from the others' suggestion that it may be a failing LNB... is the possibility of a tuner failing. Since you have a ViP622, have you tried "swapping" between tuners and verifying that you have difficulty with the same channels/transponders on both tuners?
> 
> I only mention this because I had a different receiver (501) that started having weird problems like tuning to some channels and not others or failing checkswitch tests... then one day the tuner just died and all I could do was playback DVR recordings. Had to have that one swapped out and everything was fine.
> 
> In your case, with a dual-tuner, I would hope both tuners wouldn't fail at the same time... so if one was failing and the other was working, you might be able to determine that by tuning channels on both tuners.


Can I do this in single-tuner mode by just hitting the "swap"? Or do I need to change it to dual tuner and then "swap"?


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

jacmyoung said:


> It looks to me you have exhausted the tests, and it probably is true the LNB is on the rope. So it is a good idea to call E* to arrange a tech visit.
> 
> However I would suggest you call E* Account Specialist department. This is the place E* subs always get transfered to when they call to cancel. Now you don't have to cancel your account in order to be transfered there. You can tell the first line CSR that you have talked to that department with a particular issue before and was calling back to follow up on it. If the CSR try to resist just say if you don't I will then have to cancel. The first line CSR will never cancel your account, so as long as you are firm you will end up been transfered.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestions on how to get the free tech visit. I figured I would ask since I've been an Echostar customer since before they even had "Dish Network" and have never had a tech out except to upgrade.


----------



## Crotulus (Jan 15, 2008)

Hello,

I have lost the same channels as dbconsultant. The VOOM channels, History, Science, and A&E all went out the same time, about 5 or 6 days ago. I got the same run around when I called Dish. The CSR told me it would be $49.99 for them to come out or $29.99 if I paid the $5.99 fee. 

I have a VIP622 and a 211. Neither one is picking up transponder 23 on SAT 129.

One last thing, I am in Temecula too. Seems odd that we would both have the same problem at the same time in the same area and have it be a bad LNB or some hardware issue. 

Your thoughts?

Joe


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Crotulus said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have lost the same channels as dbconsultant. The VOOM channels, History, Science, and A&E all went out the same time, about 5 or 6 days ago. I got the same run around when I called Dish. The CSR told me it would be $49.99 for them to come out or $29.99 if I paid the $5.99 fee.
> 
> ...


Hi Joe! I was just on the verge of getting a tech out here but last night the transponders that I was missing started coming in again. They'd been kind of hit & miss the last couple of days, which made me think it still might be an LNB on the verge of going out completely but now they seem to be back on steady and have been since last night. If you see it go out again, check MonsterHD, World Sports HD, and HistoryHD - these correspond to the three transponders I was missing.

Since you are in Temecula, I am now leaning more to the thought that it has something to do with transmission although I'm not sure why Ron Barry, who is in Orange County, would be able to pick them up when we could not. I wouldn't think 60 miles would make much difference to a satellite. If it happens again, we should PM each other and we can both check the channels before calling Dish.

Good to hear from another Temeculite!


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

ssmith10pn said:


> Sounds like a bad LNB. Notice the Odd TPs are the only problems?





whatchel1 said:


> Finally some in this thread has said what I was thinking from reading it. It is the LNB is only working on the even channels most of the time.


And I did notice this but stations on other odd transponders from the same sat are coming in fine (I checked one of the other ones this morning when I saw the others were out again) - I would think if it was pointing to the bad LNB via the odd TPs they would all be gone? Plus now I'm hearing from another person in Temecula, Crotulus, (thank you dbstalk!) that he has been having the same problem. I know of one other person that visits this forum that lives in Temecula. I'm going to search him out and see if he's noticed the same problem.



MSoper72 said:


> I hate to intrude, but I read that he did not have a power inserter. He should try a switch check with a power inserter installed. That might fix the problem.


No intrusion, MSoper72, suggestions always welcome! I have had the 622 for almost two years now so I would think that if I had needed a power inserter that I would have noticed it before now.

Appreciate everyone's input!

Debi


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

So now I see this thread regarding how some bad LNB's were installed about 2 years ago and are being replaced as they are failing.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=1392661&posted=1#post1392661

I've had my 622 for approximately 2 years so, if the LNB is going bad, I'll be sure to mention this info when I schedule a tech out. This guy was told that the insulation on the LNB's that were installed about 2 years ago was not up to snuff and they're replacing them as they fail.


----------



## Cokeswigga (Jan 25, 2005)

Lets see if I got this straight....

1.) You don't have a DPP44 switch.
2.) You get some of the 129 channels fine, but not the VOOM channels
3.) You've done a check switch
4.) You've done a hard boot
5.) You've done a soft boot
6.) You have NOT re-peaked your dish since the wind storms in October.


So I have some more questions.
How many receivers do you have in your house?
Do you have two lines going to your 622 or you do you have a seperator installed?

What is your current Dish configuration?
D1000 or 2 D500's or something else.

Since the big windstorm in october have you always NOT had the Voom channels or is this something new in the last week or so.

Is there anything obstructing the dish's view of the sky, say a plant, tree, bush, new motorhome, etc?

Can you do me a favor and post your signal strengths for each of your transponders?

Also when you do a check switch..can you click on the details...I think there is a screen in there that talks about LNB drift (if you have it)


I will check tonight on the VOOM channels in my area.. and post how to look for LNB drift.


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dbconsultant said:


> Can I do this in single-tuner mode by just hitting the "swap"? Or do I need to change it to dual tuner and then "swap"?


Sorry I missed your question.. somehow I scrolled past it yesterday!

Yes, in single mode pressing SWAP will usually switch to the other satellite tuner. I say "usually" because in certain situations you can also swap between the OTA tuner and your satellite tuner.

Easiest way to be sure... Do this when no recordings are in process so you don't mess up anything.

Make sure you are in single mode. Tune to a satellite channel that you know works. Press SWAP and then on the other tuner change to a different channel that you know works.

Now swapping back and forth with SWAP will definately be going back and forth between the two satellite tuners. Now pick a tuner, any tuner, and try all the problem channels. Press swap and try all the problem channels on the other tuner.

You can even go into the strength section and check transponder strengths for each tuner while you do this and note if either tuner is significantly lower than the other for a given transponder.

Obviously this is better done when you are actually experiencing the problem of missing channels... but I suppose it could be revealing if the signal strength is significantly different on one.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

HDMe said:


> Sorry I missed your question.. somehow I scrolled past it yesterday!
> 
> Yes, in single mode pressing SWAP will usually switch to the other satellite tuner. I say "usually" because in certain situations you can also swap between the OTA tuner and your satellite tuner.
> 
> ...


Ok, I checked this today during one of the times when the transponders were down again and it behaves the same on both tuners. So at least that's ruled out!


----------



## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

dbconsultant said:


> Ok, I checked this today during one of the times when the transponders were down again and it behaves the same on both tuners. So at least that's ruled out!


It sounds like you have an unstable LNB that is having an output problem. It may very well be a transistor that is starting to go out and passing signal part time and then going down it will completely fail in the future.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Cokeswigga said:


> Lets see if I got this straight....
> 
> 1.) You don't have a DPP44 switch. Don't know what my switch is
> 2.) You get some of the 129 channels fine, but not the VOOM channels. I'm not getting any channels on Sat 129, Transponders 23, 27 or 11 - VOOM channels on other transponders are fine (like Gallery). The problem with 23, 27 (which is History HD not Voom so my post title turned out to be misleading) and 11 has been intermittent but they seem to have been up and working most of today. When they were out, I did tune in to another channel on a different Odd transponder and that channel was fine.
> ...


 Thank you!


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dbconsultant said:


> Ok, I checked this today during one of the times when the transponders were down again and it behaves the same on both tuners. So at least that's ruled out!


I'm officially out of self-help ideas then. On the plus side, if you do have to get a tech out there and you get a good one, you can share some of your self-tests and hopefully make it a quick fix.


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

HDMe said:


> I'm officially out of self-help ideas then. On the plus side, if you do have to get a tech out there and you get a good one, you can share some of your self-tests and hopefully make it a quick fix.


It appears that the problem has fixed itself. The transponders appear to have been up and running consistently since about 10 yesterday morning and they're still up today, so keep your fingers crossed. I'm still not ruling out the lnb thing since I heard from Crotulus that his were still out last night at 7.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. This is definitely the place to be if you need to figure stuff out!


----------



## Cokeswigga (Jan 25, 2005)

To see about LNB drift.....
Click on Menu-->System Setup-->Installation-->System Info---> then let it do it's thing... then click on details section (a) of this screen will give an error if there is lnb drift .
This menu will also tell you if you have a switch. (my guess is that you don't since you have one receiver, one line going to it.)
I am willing to bet that this screen will tell you that you have a DPP Twin and DP Dual. Since dish doesn't like to give away switches unless they have to.


To see your transponder strengths
Menu-->System Setup-->Installation-->Point Dish 
Then select the satellite and the transponders


Here are my 129 strengths ( I have a 30" dish for 129)

1-40
2-47
3-54
4-x
5-46
6-42
7-x
8-50
9-46
10-55
11-37
12-54
13-49
14-x
15-x
16-52
17-47
18-44
19-53
20-x
21-41
22-48
23-41
24-x
25-x
26-45
27-x
28-x
29-x
30-53
31-57
32-48
33-x


----------



## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Cokeswigga said:


> To see about LNB drift.....
> Click on Menu-->System Setup-->Installation-->System Info---> then let it do it's thing... then click on details section (a) of this screen will give an error if there is lnb drift .
> This menu will also tell you if you have a switch. (my guess is that you don't since you have one receiver, one line going to it.)
> I am willing to bet that this screen will tell you that you have a DPP Twin and DP Dual. Since dish doesn't like to give away switches unless they have to.


Followed your suggestions and came up with the following:

No LNB drift - status good

Details listed DPP Twin(1), Twin(2), Single(3)

And your 30" dish is doing a much better job! Here are my signal strengths next to yours (all transponders up and working right now):

1-40 20
2-47 23
3-54 39
4-x
5-46 29
6-42 20
7-x
8-50 34
9-46 35
10-55 37
11-37 18
12-54 39
13-49 36
14-x
15-x
16-52 34
17-47 32
18-44 21
19-53 35
20-x
21-41 30
22-48 25
23-41 21
24-x
25-x
26-45
27-x 21
28-x
29-x
30-53 37
31-57 37
32-48 32
33-x

So, at the very least, at this point I'm thinking they need to re-peak the dish. When it was installed, the installer didn't check signal strengths because he didn't want to wait for me to figure out how to get the tv over to the proper input (I had blocked it out several years earlier when I got the tv and couldn't figure out how to un-block it). Of course I realize now that all he would have had to do was connect the s-video since that input wasn't blocked to at least check signal strengths but he was obviously in a hurry. So, I'm not sure it was ever pointed for the optimum on 129.


----------

