# Locals Channels Breaking Up



## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

Has anyone else had any problems with their local channels since the new channels came on line? I'm in the NY area and get my locals in mp4 on channel 2,4,5,7 (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC). Since last week I've noticed horrible picture break up on just these channels, with CBS being almost unwatchable at times. The mp2 channels 80,82,84,86 all come in fine. My signal strength is in the high 90's across the board on all sats. Prior to the 26th I don't recall ever having this problem. The new channels look fine. I watch primarily on the HR20 but I haven't really checked on the H20s I have.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

no issues by me


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## ansky (Oct 11, 2005)

I get an occasional audio dropout or picture flicker, but really its a non-issue for me.


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## JDubbs413 (Sep 4, 2007)

I've had a problem with HD locals since I got D* installed. We've replaced everything known to man and it didn't really fix it. Not on our end.


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

cg1200 said:


> Has anyone else had any problems with their local channels since the new channels came on line? I'm in the NY area and get my locals in mp4 on channel 2,4,5,7 (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC). Since last week I've noticed horrible picture break up on just these channels, with CBS being almost unwatchable at times. The mp2 channels 80,82,84,86 all come in fine. My signal strength is in the high 90's across the board on all sats. Prior to the 26th I don't recall ever having this problem. The new channels look fine. I watch primarily on the HR20 but I haven't really checked on the H20s I have.


:welcome_s 
I'm been having issues with my mpeg4 hd local from the start, not just since D10 started transmitting. I get 99-100 signal strength on the 103a TP's too. Every show has some soft of issue and they are ususally really minor but annoying. It;'s enough of an issue that once the SWM is out I'll switch to OTA.


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## JDubbs413 (Sep 4, 2007)

Sirshagg said:


> :welcome_s
> I'm been having issues with my mpeg4 hd local from the start, not just since D10 started transmitting. I get 99-100 signal strength on the 103a TP's too. Every show has some soft of issue and they are ususally really minor but annoying. It;'s enough of an issue that once the SWM is out I'll switch to OTA.


Same here it's not the multi-switch though trust me we tried it. It's some sort of interference maybe from a broadcasting station nearby? I think that is what my trouble is.


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

JDubbs413 said:


> Same here it's not the multi-switch though trust me we tried it. It's some sort of interference maybe from a broadcasting station nearby? I think that is what my trouble is.


Not blaming the multiswitch. I'm waiting for the SWM because I _only_ have four coax runs to the tv in the family room and don't want to give up one sat tuner to use OTA now.


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## Ben_jd (Aug 21, 2006)

cg1200 said:


> Has anyone else had any problems with their local channels since the new channels came on line? I'm in the NY area and get my locals in mp4 on channel 2,4,5,7 (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC). Since last week I've noticed horrible picture break up on just these channels, with CBS being almost unwatchable at times. The mp2 channels 80,82,84,86 all come in fine. My signal strength is in the high 90's across the board on all sats. Prior to the 26th I don't recall ever having this problem. The new channels look fine. I watch primarily on the HR20 but I haven't really checked on the H20s I have.


I've had trouble with locals since the D10 rollout (mostly NBC dropping video and audio for 10 seconds to several minutes; mimicks rain faid). Had no trouble before. Just waiting to see if it sorts itself out, but forced me to record SD Westcoast feeds to make up for missed recordings that I noticed in time.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

I have had the same problem. My locals come from NY too. Most of the problem has been from 5:00pm on to maybe as late as 10:00pm. Yesterday I adjusted my dish and picked up the signal about 10 points or more on the 103a sat that the locals come from. Next week we will see if that helps any when I watch the HD locals more.


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## DonCorleone (Jan 29, 2006)

Yeah, I get pixellations AND lost picture completely. My readings are like 88, 92, and 95, so it's hard to believe it's the alignment, but I don't know what else it could be.


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## Bowtaz3 (Sep 8, 2007)

DonCorleone said:


> Yeah, I get pixellations AND lost picture completely. My readings are like 88, 92, and 95, so it's hard to believe it's the alignment, but I don't know what else it could be.


Same here, my local hd cbs in Alabama during the Alabama game last night was so pixelated it was barely watchable. All other stations were fine including my other locals.


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## ansky (Oct 11, 2005)

bret4 said:


> I have had the same problem. My locals come from NY too. Most of the problem has been from 5:00pm on to maybe as late as 10:00pm. Yesterday I adjusted my dish and picked up the signal about 10 points or more on the 103a sat that the locals come from. Next week we will see if that helps any when I watch the HD locals more.


NYC locals come from the 99b sat.


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## ansky (Oct 11, 2005)

FWIW, Friday night I was watching the Yankees game OTA on WWORDT 9-1, and right around 10:30pm the picture started pixelating horribly with constant audio dropouts. So there may sometimes be issues originating from the source of the broadcast.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

There doesn't seem to be any consistency in what i've seen though CBS seems the worst of the 4 locals. I also seem to get the worst of it between 8-10pm. Survivor and that 5th Grader show were literally unwatchable the picture was so broken up. Not really sure what if anything I can do about it. I may start recording the MPEG2 channels instead until this gets sorted. Those seem fine all the time.


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## jester7677 (Mar 7, 2004)

I've got the problem currently as well, and I'm in Southern CT with NY locals. 2,4,5,7 are all out. Signal strenth for 99 and 103 are high 60's to mid 70's. This is new as of Thursday as my recordings after Wednesday are all worthless.

No weather or adjustments were made to the system on my end.

Channels in the 80's work.


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## ansky (Oct 11, 2005)

jester7677 said:


> I've got the problem currently as well, and I'm in Southern CT with NY locals. 2,4,5,7 are all out.


I'm in Jersey City and the NYC locals are all coming in fine for me on MPEG 4. You must have a problem with your setup. You definitely need better signals on 99b. Mine are all 95-100.


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## curbside (Jun 30, 2007)

I've recently noticed jerky movement, pixelization, and audio drops on my recorded programs from the LA HD networks. Haven't noticed it on my local HD channels.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

The problem seems isolated to my HR20. My H20 works just fine. While the HR20 was breaking up badly I checked another TV and it was coming in fine. I get a good signal on all of the transponders on 99b except the third one. I get 100, 100, 23, 99, 100,99. THat third one is consistently 23. Not sure if that's my problem or not. It is very annoying. Football today was dfifficult to watch. FOX right now is awful. CBS was spotty all day.


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## mexxican (Sep 27, 2007)

Here in the DC area I've had problems since last Tuesday. D* told me my HD locals come from the 99 satellite and my signal was 2 60's, 2 30s, and 2 0s. The tech came this morning to realign the dish but the channels were fine. He said the problem was with D*, he's gotten calls all week. As soon as I started to watch football, they slowly started to go out again, now I'm back to a black screen. The other HD channels are fine, and so are my SD locals, which the tech told me to watch until he could swing back by later to check out the dish.


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## dtremain (Mar 3, 2004)

There is definitely a problem with tne New York locals. Check out this string.

http://forums.directv.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10282751

I've been having the problem as well.


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## dtremain (Mar 3, 2004)

jester7677 said:


> I've got the problem currently as well, and I'm in Southern CT with NY locals. 2,4,5,7 are all out. Signal strenth for 99 and 103 are high 60's to mid 70's. This is new as of Thursday as my recordings after Wednesday are all worthless.
> 
> No weather or adjustments were made to the system on my end.
> 
> Channels in the 80's work.


If your channels are all out, that's something else. The problem that the OP is describing, and I am having, is momentary and passing.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

I'll probably have to call D* though I'm not optimistic they can help. I had my LNB's replaced about a month ago when my 2nd tuner would not work. Since then, no problems at all. I can live off the MPEG2 channles but I will be wasting a lot of space on the HR20. I can't imagine that one transponder with the 23 signal strenght on the 99b sat could be causing this problem. All other TP's are coming in in the mid to high 90's. Any recommendations?


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## ansky (Oct 11, 2005)

I have been watching WCBS and WNBC mp4 over the past 4 hours and have not noticed any issues at all.


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## ActiveHDdave (Sep 15, 2007)

Here in the Harrisburg market I have noticed picture flutters that last 1 sec and it is not due to loss of signal that would be different kind of flutter and I have noticed a lot of pixelation during nfl football games


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## jrlaw10 (Feb 3, 2007)

Have noticed this problem in South Florida.


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## jbellanca (Sep 1, 2006)

cg1200 said:


> Has anyone else had any problems with their local channels since the new channels came on line? I'm in the NY area and get my locals in mp4 on channel 2,4,5,7 (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC). Since last week I've noticed horrible picture break up on just these channels, with CBS being almost unwatchable at times. The mp2 channels 80,82,84,86 all come in fine. My signal strength is in the high 90's across the board on all sats. Prior to the 26th I don't recall ever having this problem. The new channels look fine. I watch primarily on the HR20 but I haven't really checked on the H20s I have.


Just to add my $0.02... yes, since the new HD channels went live, my locals here in Atlanta have been breaking up A LOT. 95+ signal strength, so I know that's not this issue. I don't know what the new channels would have anything to do with it... I mean, different sat's an all. Maybe just coincidental timing?


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## dbldown768 (Aug 20, 2007)

my locals in chicago were horrible on sunday... not sure if it has to do with my alignment, but im having someone come out to check.


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## dcrabtree (Mar 30, 2007)

My local HD channels have had problems from day one of installation a couple years ago, especially ABC 7 out of Washington D.C. - and where are most of my wife's favorite shows telecast, ABC 7 out of Washington D.C.

I've been hounding DirecTV to give me the national feed to no avail, so what do we do, we watch the SD broadcast of my wife's favorite shows. Come on DirecTV hook a faithful subscriber up???


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## Bajanjack (Oct 22, 2006)

I have had the MPEG4 locals for quite some time, but lot's of problems on Sunday here in NJ (NY stations) with ABC-Channel 7 and to a lesser extent with NBC-channel 4.....I had these same problems with both my HR20-700 and H20-100 as the receivers...not only audio stuttering, but as long as 10 +- seconds of no sound


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## DonCorleone (Jan 29, 2006)

I don't know...seems hard to believe it's an alignment issue since mine are at least 88 with 2 in the 90's, but it only happens with HD locals. Perhaps, as you said, the D10 is having an impact, but I don't know why it would.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

I adjusted my dish and now get 100% signal on the 99 sat. I still get the breakup on my HD locals. It's not the signal. Can't say it isn't my HR20-100 crapping out. If it is I'll have to get another one. That would be only be my 5th one in a year!:eek2:  The wife is saying the C word a lot. (Cable).:nono2:


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## rebaztec (Apr 14, 2007)

sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. OTA is the only way to go if you can do it. MP4 locals in my neck of the woods is a joke. I thought it was the dish, so I had it realigned, but no love. Still get black screens from time to time.


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## bmerrow (Jul 26, 2007)

I do get sporadic but infrequent pixilation and audio drops on local channels - some of these incidents at least were confirmed to be on the actual local channel feed. The new HD channels are not a factor as the local channel problems predates the addition of the new HD channels.
I am in NY area like the original poster.


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## Lefky (Jun 23, 2007)

My Washington DC Locals have been having pixelation issues also. One channel, WJLA, became unwatchable at times. My signal strenght has been fine.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

Really bad breakup of the local channel 2 out of NY at 7:30 news. Just about unwatchable.


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## shendley (Nov 28, 2005)

I don't watch my locals a lot but today it was tuned to the Fox local when I turned it on and I noticed quite a lot of pixellation and picture break up. Same thing on another mpeg4 local. I even noticed it on one or two of the new mpeg4 channels (A&E was one of them). But then I switched to another new mpeg4 channel - looked good. Went back to the problematic ones and they looked good too. Pretty wierd.

And I have signal strengths in the solid to high nineties on 103b. The two active transponders I get on 99b are both 100. So no problem with signal strength here.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

I thought I found a fix for the breakup of my picture on the HD MPEG4 channels. I adjusted the dish with the wife watching the picture. The picture came in perfect after the adjstment. An hour later the breakup is back so bad I can't even watch the shows on the locals. Its almost like the dish is moving out of adjustment by itself. It is on a pole in the back yard and all screws are locked. There is no wind or weather that would cause this problem. All signals are strong. 100% on my locals.

In the next few days I will try other adjustments to see if it helps. If it doesn't I have know idea where this problem is coming from. Maybe a bad LNB. Maybe a bad DVR. Maybe D* is playing games with me.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

Seems like lots of people around the country are having this issue yet others in the same region aren't. I'm in southern CT and all of my MPEG4 locals are horrible just about all the time. All other channels come in perfectly. I did not notice this problem until the new channels launched. The third transponder is still showing a low signal (in the 20's) but all others are well into the 90's. my 3 other H20's do not have this problem so I can't imagine it's the dish. Biggest Loser right now is breaking up badly as I type this.

Think someone mentioned this might be spotbeam problem. Seems likely to me. What a drag. So close to HD bliss. At least I get a solid picture on the channels in the 80's. Hopefully they won't take those down anytime soon.


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## JDubbs413 (Sep 4, 2007)

I attribute this issue to interference. Unfortunately for me, I have a local television station (that isn't worth anything). I have frequent break-ups on my HD locals and also noticed it on TBS HD Monday night. I haven't noticed it on any of my other channels and I think it is because the local station does broadcast on the same frequencies my dish is receiving the HD channels. 

Interestingly enough, I don't notice it on most of the new HD channels thank goodness.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

cg1200 said:


> Seems like lots of people around the country are having this issue yet others in the same region aren't. I'm in southern CT and all of my MPEG4 locals are horrible just about all the time. All other channels come in perfectly. I did not notice this problem until the new channels launched. The third transponder is still showing a low signal (in the 20's) but all others are well into the 90's. my 3 other H20's do not have this problem so I can't imagine it's the dish. Biggest Loser right now is breaking up badly as I type this.
> 
> Think someone mentioned this might be spotbeam problem. Seems likely to me. What a drag. So close to HD bliss. At least I get a solid picture on the channels in the 80's. Hopefully they won't take those down anytime soon.


That's interesting. I also get the same signal on the 3rd TP (in the 20's). I am also in CT. Right now the picture is perfect again 6:00am on the locals. Just as you said this all started when we got the new HD channels from D10. No problems before that.


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## elove (Aug 17, 2007)

I have been having the same problem, especially with CBS (WUSA-9) and ABC (WJLA -7) in the Washington, DC metro area. I recorded CSI Miami and the picture breaks up continously and it's almost unbearable to watch. I had to switch over to the Tivo, no problems there, but that was OTA.


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## comp4pod (Apr 23, 2007)

Is the 3rd TP on 99b the NY HD locals?


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## Steveknj (Nov 14, 2006)

FWIW, I have been having issues with my NY locals with pixelation and audio dropouts, but it's not confined just to HD. CW11 last night lost video for about an hour completely and of course it was just during a show I was recording. Interestingly, it recorded fine on my D* Tivo box. And I do notice it has been worse since the new HDs were added


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## sr6376 (Sep 18, 2007)

Steveknj said:


> FWIW, I have been having issues with my NY locals with pixelation and audio dropouts, but it's not confined just to HD. CW11 last night lost video for about an hour completely and of course it was just during a show I was recording. Interestingly, it recorded fine on my D* Tivo box. And I do notice it has been worse since the new HDs were added


Are you serious? The picture on the tv lost audio "live" yet was recording it and played back without lost audio? This would certainly lend to my thought that this is a hardware issue w/ D* and not a signal issue. I have an antenna mounted on the roof w/ 3 major locals to pick-up. I see major pixellation on them at times (clear day, not all the time, etc). I have said all along that I don't believe this to be a signal issue, but rather a hardware issue with my H20 unit. There is no other logical reason for the pixellation, and certainly what could be the reason for your audio drop other than hardware issue. It recorded the program fine and yet played "live" with issues....


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

So far (7:40pm) no breakup at all on my NY HD locals. It was going strong yesterday. Now that the new HD channels have been released this week, it has gone away.

Edit:

No breakup at all on the night of 10/3/07


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

Truly bizarre. My wife records a soap opera every day at 3pm on ABC (channel 7). It has been perfect all throughout these problems. Last week I forgot that I recorded all 4 hours of the Today show to catch Bruce Springsteen's performance. Again no issues. I've only ever noticed the problem in the late afternoon last Sunday during football but almost every night between 8-11pm. 

However tonight it has been perfect. No pixelating at all watching Deal or No Deal. My signal meters still show very low readings on TP 3 (now it's down to 18). My H20's have never been affected by this. I've never seen any issue on any of the other HD channels either. My problem is strictly confined to NY MPEG4 locals and now only at night (except tonight).


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## billk1 (Jan 21, 2006)

cg1200 said:


> Has anyone else had any problems with their local channels since the new channels came on line? I'm in the NY area and get my locals in mp4 on channel 2,4,5,7 (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC). Since last week I've noticed horrible picture break up on just these channels, with CBS being almost unwatchable at times. The mp2 channels 80,82,84,86 all come in fine. My signal strength is in the high 90's across the board on all sats. Prior to the 26th I don't recall ever having this problem. The new channels look fine. I watch primarily on the HR20 but I haven't really checked on the H20s I have.


I'm having exactly the same problem, but always beginning in the evening about 5PM. How is your reception during the day?


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## apace (Feb 1, 2007)

Same problem here. I get HD DNS from NY. 
Noticed it several nights on ABC.


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## ClerkDante (Sep 20, 2002)

I never seem to have any trouble live, but playback of recordings has been very erratic lately. "Brothers & Sisters" this week was horribly out-of-synch, which was resolved by a system reset. Most shows recorded in HD during prime-time tend to have 3-4 second break-ups about every 5 minutes and Tuesday night my recording of Reaper was nothing but an hour of blackness.

Strange things are afoot.


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## jaycrow (Aug 7, 2007)

I am getting the 771 searching for satellite problem on my HR20 as well, but interestingly enough, only when I am watching NBC-HD (WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland). I can tune into ABC, FOX, or CBS just fine. Signal strengths are fine, and my SD receiver tunes the SD locals just fine. This has only been happening since D10 went live, similar to what others have been reporting.

Anyone else in Cleveland having the same problem with NBC-HD?


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## Skins Fan (Sep 18, 2007)

Prior to the HD launch I would get picture break up occasionaly on ABC and CBS from the 99 sat and H20. I have a Sony H300 used for OTA on a bedroom TV and that would be fine, no problems. Since the HD launch, the local HDs have been pretty much solid. However a strange thing happened the other night watching Fox. The picture went to a Test Picture and audio signal out of Fox - Los Angeles. I had been watching a local D.C. show. But I have to say, since the launch, the local HDs have been solid and I think better PQ then it was.


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## Swede (Aug 15, 2007)

I've had a problem with HD locals since the new national release. All was good before then.


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## Skins Fan (Sep 18, 2007)

Skins Fan said:


> Prior to the HD launch I would get picture break up occasionaly on ABC and CBS from the 99 sat and H20. I have a Sony H300 used for OTA on a bedroom TV and that would be fine, no problems. Since the HD launch, the local HDs have been pretty much solid. However a strange thing happened the other night watching Fox. The picture went to a Test Picture and audio signal out of Fox - Los Angeles. I had been watching a local D.C. show. But I have to say, since the launch, the local HDs have been solid and I think better PQ then it was.


P.S. I was at my son's house last night and his HD locals CBS, ABC & NBC were all breaking up at times. He has a HR-20. He said it just started about a month ago.


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## otis30223 (Oct 4, 2007)

Here in Atlanta, I've had problems with locals here Atlanta since I got D* HD, mainly on WSB (ABC). It has gotten better in the last week, but it is a problem with D* or the local signial, not your setup. I had this confirmed by an experanced installer.


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## gjbmd (Sep 25, 2007)

TRY hooking up your off air antenna directly to your TV (provided your TV has a tuner) rather than the Directv receiver. The fequency of local HD channel signal loss and accompaying picture breakup is much lower since I made that change .


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

I've been on vacation the last week and when I returned on Wed I did not see the problem anymore. 2,4,5,7 all look fine again. A friend of mine in the same area has also seen his problem mysteriously disappear. I still get a lousy signal on the third transponder on the 99b sat but as of last night, the problem was gone. Anyone else seen improvement with their locals?


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

They were breaking up big time on 10/10/07 for me around 8:00pm to about 10:00pm. 

I wonder if anyone finds that their HR20 locks up for a few days after this happens. My HR20 worked fine about 2 days after the breakup went away last time. Duing that time it would lock up when using trick play and when watching recorded shows. Same thing is happening this week after the breakup on 10/10.

Think I need another DVR. That will be my 5th one and my last one. Getting sick of having to reset the DVR all the time. To bad D* has such a good channel lineup. Doesn't do me any good if I can't watch it half the time. You can only replace the dish, all the wires and the DVR so many times before you have to give up!


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## phlevin (Apr 3, 2007)

Have people seen any change on this issue? 

Are NY HD locals on Sat 99b transponder 3? If that is correct and it is a spot beam- then it just a matter of where you are not alignment of dish, correct? That is if the other transponders are near 100.

Thanks


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## d56alpine (Mar 18, 2007)

Lefky said:


> My Washington DC Locals have been having pixelation issues also. One channel, WJLA, became unwatchable at times. My signal strenght has been fine.


I just talked with wjla engineering. they requested that you email and discuss your issues by contacting [email protected] Hopefully if we get enough people, they can find the problem.


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## bigben7 (Jul 11, 2006)

phlevin said:


> Have people seen any change on this issue?
> 
> Are NY HD locals on Sat 99b transponder 3? If that is correct and it is a spot beam- then it just a matter of where you are not alignment of dish, correct? That is if the other transponders are near 100.
> 
> Thanks


I'm still having problems with sat 99b. The channels go down with just a little rain and sometimes with no rain. I was wondering the same thing about transponder 3 because my signal is always low.


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## gquiring (Jan 8, 2006)

You can add me to the NY locals problem list. NBC is my main problem. It pixelates like crazy. I tried watching Chuck last week and even with all the eye candy the show was not watchable with the pixelation.


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## Skins Fan (Sep 18, 2007)

d56alpine said:


> I just talked with wjla engineering. they requested that you email and discuss your issues by contacting [email protected] Hopefully if we get enough people, they can find the problem.


WJLA breaks up on one of my TVs not even hooked up to *D. WJLA can be counted on to pixilize every evening while watching DTV local HD. Just out of curiosity, I checked out another TV in the house hooked up to a Sony HD300 and WJLA, channel 7 was breaking up on that TV also so it had nothing to do with *D. Now, with that said, I have seen video break up on all the D HD locals and not on my Sony fed TV. I do think the major cause was probably due to my dish not being aligned and a bad LNB. The dish was replaced and as of this writing (It has only been a half day) WJLA was pixilizing (is that a word?) during the Opra show. The other locals appear to be holding solid --- fingers are crossed!


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## BigSey (Oct 18, 2006)

Have noticed break-up here in Seattle too. NEVER happened before the new channel rollout.


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## ksupersano (Oct 19, 2007)

This is crazy, I too have issue's with the NY locals. Transponder 3 on 99b is 13, the rest are 100. This can't be localized to our specific installations, this is a D* issue.


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## snapper (Oct 13, 2006)

I have this issue too. I have a HR20-700. My main problem channel is WABC. It's driving me nuts. It's been a month now. No other HD channels pixelate or do this. I occasionally get it on WNBC, but every 10-20 minutes on WABC. Sometimes more frequent. All my cabling is new quad shielded RG-6.


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## gquiring (Jan 8, 2006)

I am convinced it is a D* source issue because I had the same problem with the Tivo HR10-250 with the locals.


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## ksupersano (Oct 19, 2007)

Has anyone gotten any kind of resolution with this? Channels 2, 4, 5, 7, are either completely unwatchable or get the 771 searching for Sat. This must be related to the 99b transponder 3 low signal. Since we all didn't have the same installer and we all don't live in the same house, it's pretty obvious where the responsibility lies. The question is, how do we get D* to respond? 

Personnally, as long as the MPEG2 channels (80+) don't go away it's not a major deal. I don't keep loads of DVR programs stored forever so the space thing is no big deal. 

It just shouldn't be this way...ya know?


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## Skins Fan (Sep 18, 2007)

ksupersano said:


> Has anyone gotten any kind of resolution with this? Channels 2, 4, 5, 7, are either completely unwatchable or get the 771 searching for Sat. This must be related to the 99b transponder 3 low signal. Since we all didn't have the same installer and we all don't live in the same house, it's pretty obvious where the responsibility lies. The question is, how do we get D* to respond?
> 
> Personnally, as long as the MPEG2 channels (80+) don't go away it's not a major deal. I don't keep loads of DVR programs stored forever so the space thing is no big deal.
> 
> It just shouldn't be this way...ya know?


Well it seems, in my case, the dish replacement, mast plumbing and checking & tightening all connections has improved my local reception as well as the other problems I was having. For the past few nights or more, I have not had any problems with the locals breaking up ----not even ABC WJLA out of D.C. Now, one thing I have noticed. The signals for 99b and 103b have been steadily improving every couple of days. In the past 2 weeks, the 99b spot beam has gone from 78 to 86 and the 103b from low 80's to high 80's and 90's. This proves to me at least, as the sat gets more in position and *D fine tunes, our svc will improve ------depending on the quality of our installations and set up.


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## bd3 (Jan 21, 2007)

My OTA locals break up, blank out and put up a box that says searching for signal. When it finishes all my locals show a signal strength in the 90 to 100 range. Its very annoying. I think its the OTA tuner in the H20-100. My other TV with a built in ATSC tuner has no problems with reception. Both are connected to the same off air antenna. I've also checked the cables by bringing the other tv into the room where the H20 is.


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## hoosierfan227 (Apr 12, 2007)

I have been having a similar issue on my OTA channels with my HR20-100. D* and our local CBS station have not reached an agreement for the HD feed so I have to use OTA for CBS. The problem seems to occur when the other tuner is on a MPEG-4 local. For instance my wife will record Survivor on OTA CBS and Ugly Betty on the local D* ABC MPEG-4, Survivor is virtually unwatchable due to the picture breaking up. As soon we get the other tuner off an MPEG-4 local the picture on CBS clears up. Happens to me all the time when watching football also. Watch college football on CBS(OTA) and ABC(MPEG-4) can't do it. The CBS picture becomes unwatchable. I have resorted to using OTA for all my locals.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I turned on my HR20-700 receiver this morning to a blank screen on channel 7 KABC HD. Channel was coming in fine last night. Other HD locals, 2, 4, 5, and 11 are also blank. I get the banner heading but nothing else. No searching for signal.

Tried reset with no joy. Called Direct, who of course first wanted me to do a reset. She also had me check bband converters. Bottom line is a truck roll is scheduled for Monday. All local SD's are coming in fine and all other satellite channels are working.

Fortunately I've got OTA hooked up and can get the missing channels that way. Another reason why the HR21 is not a option as a replacement receiver.

This all happened before sunrise this morning. I noticed heavy fog when it got light outside. Could fog alone cause the HD locals to disappear?  

Bill


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

Same here on having problems with locals sense the New HD channels were released.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

Today has been the worst it's been in a while. I actually thought it was gone. Seemed like things were ok for about 2 weeks but today, CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX were unwatchable. I had to switch over the MPEG2 channels in the 80's. Same issue here. 99(b) shows a very low # on TP 3. Hope D* fixes soon. As far as I'm concerned I don't even have MP4 local channels. H20's are crystal clear. Only DVR looks like crap.


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## apace (Feb 1, 2007)

Can anyone confirm DTV is aware of this problem, and has it pretty much been narrowed down to HR20's? I get HD locals from NY in the 80's channels and ABC is good for two or three picture breakups a night. I have seen it on CBS also, but ABC is the worst offender for me.
DO the NY DNS HD stations come from 99b or 103 a
My signal readings with some moderate cloud cover today:
99 b 1-8 46 98 49 0 43 95 n/a n/a
103 a 1-8 37 80 48 84 37 68 n/a n/a
103 b 1-8 94 92 92 92 92 88 88 87
9-16 90 88 88 88 89 90 n/a n/a
17-24 95 n/a n/a n/a n/a 95 n/a n/a
25-32 all n/a
101 110 and 119 all are 90-100 except a 70 and a 78 on 101, and a 23 on 119


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

apace said:


> .....DO the NY DNS HD stations come from 99b or 103 a
> My signal readings with some moderate cloud cover today:
> 99 b 1-8 46 98 49 0 43 95 n/a n/a......


NY local HD's are on 99(b), and you've got one tp at 98 and one at 95, so that looks OK. IIRC, each tp can handle up to 6 channels.


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## bmerrow (Jul 26, 2007)

WABC NY is a serious problem for HD - we get breakups of pixelataion or loss of sound and loss of sound synch frequently on this channel. The problems occur with clear sky or clouds but there is no linkage and no apparent signal problem from sat (at least not as a primary cause). Is there a problem with the ground feed?
This is serious for me as my wife has moved back to SD on WABC and often wonders aloud if DirectTV is the right choice. She expects technology to work and wants to find a source that does work.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

Too many people have this problem for it to be on our end. When is it going to be fixed? It's not right that we can't use channels 2,4,5,7 Mpg4 in the NY city market. I stopped using them all together because so many shows are unwatchable. I get 97% - 100% signal on the 99 sat.


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## monroe (Nov 7, 2007)

bret4 said:


> Too many people have this problem for it to be on our end. When is it going to be fixed? It's not right that we can't use channels 2,4,5,7 Mpg4 in the NY city market. I stopped using them all together because so many shows are unwatchable. I get 97% - 100% signal on the 99 sat.


Even on transponder 3? I get all 100s or close to it on 99 except for transponder 3. I get <20 on it here in CT.


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## bacardi151 (Sep 21, 2007)

Since monday, i have been losing just the local channels here in south florida ( 4, 6, 7, 10). Every other channel comes in just fine . All of a sudden the channels return and last for quite awhile before losing the signal again. 

They will be on, then all of a sudden get pixelization and then go completely black for a long while. Before this week, things were working perfectly for well over a year. The same thing is happening on all 3 receivers we own (2 h20's and 1 hr20).

Quite annoying and not sure what happened. The dish hasnt budged as far as i can tell.


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## bret4 (Nov 22, 2006)

On TP 3 I get something like 15 or so. I'm guessing 3 is not used around here.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

Still awful break-up here in CT. D* obviously doesn't care about this because they have yet to address it. If I didn't have the MPEG2 channels in the 80's I'd be very upset. I can't believe they've let it go for so long.


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## cajunbug (Jan 28, 2007)

having the same problems on other channels...no local hd in the baton rouge market, but discovery, espn, and some others are breaking up and sound skips. Signals are at 90 plus.


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## robd54 (Aug 3, 2007)

hey cg1200, i'm in ct too, what channels/issues are you having?


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## Bofurley (Oct 11, 2006)

How many had problems with the sound during the KC Chief's and Colts game uesterday? Mine just kept cutting out!


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

robd54 said:


> hey cg1200, i'm in ct too, what channels/issues are you having?


Channels 2,4,5, and 7 (MPEG4 HD) all break up horribly with massive pixelization. This is happening all day every day for the last month or so. They may as well take them off the dish. They are just wasting bandwidth. I have friends in my office in CT that have the same issue. It only affects the HR20. The H20 works just fine. Also, MPEG2 channels in the 80's are fine. All other new HD channels look great. The locals looked fine prior to the first wave of new HD channels launching in late Sep. Since then it's gotten worse and worse. Signal strenght is fine except on TP3 (or 4 can't remember) on the 99b sat. That one is consistently showing a signal under 20 vs high 90's ont he other TP's.


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## ksupersano (Oct 19, 2007)

Hey guys, D* reported this fixed. And lo and behold, it actually is fixed, at least for me. I am in CT 06484, and my MPEG4 locals are now working properly. The D* forum that has a similar thread reported the fix a few days ago. Hopefully it works for you too.


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## mangusta1969 (Oct 11, 2007)

There has been no improvement in my area for the reliable reception of HD locals. My continuing intermittent reception of the satellite-delivered Reno HD local channels has been escalated to the point where I have a direct number to a DTV tech and they are looking into my periodic heavy pixelization and dropouts (usually in mid morning and late afternoon, but it happens at other times, too).

The tech yesterday told me that all four of these HD channels for Reno are carried on Satellite 99(b), transponder 5. He does not know why my steady 97-98 signal readings for this transponder are not giving me consistent good reception on these channels, but DTV is continuing to troubleshoot the problem.

During my periodic signal outage periods, my H20 and HR20 receivers are reporting the same, excellent signal strengths (97-98 on transponder 5/Sat 99), so I don't think this is an HR20 problem, as some users have speculated. 

I would appreciate any feedback from other Northern NV users having similar problems on the HD local channels.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

ksupersano said:


> Hey guys, D* reported this fixed. And lo and behold, it actually is fixed, at least for me. I am in CT 06484, and my MPEG4 locals are now working properly. The D* forum that has a similar thread reported the fix a few days ago. Hopefully it works for you too.


I was coming back here to report that I had noticed significant improvement with this problem since this past weekend until I saw your post. I watched a fair amount of the Giant game this Sunday on channel 5 (instead of 88) and it looked perfect. I've checked my signals and it looks like on 99b TP3 the signal has improved considerably (can't recall actual #). However TP1 shows a signal of 0. Prior to this weekend TP1 was showing 100%. I haven't noticed any other problems so maybe TP1 isn't in use. But as far as I can tell in zip code 06470 in CT this appears to be fixed. Hoepfully it stays that way. I will leave all my recordings on the channels in the 80's for a few weeks just to be on the safe side.

Did they post what the problem was and why it took so long to fix?


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## ironfoot995 (Dec 24, 2004)

NBC has been breaking up so much this evening that it is unwatchable. Tried to watch Heroes and finally had to switch to OTA. The satellite feed was terrible. I live in Norman OK which is close enough to Okla City that I can get locals OTA.

John


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## BJM (Dec 9, 2006)

Since last Saturday, 11/24, Sacramento HD locals for me have been close to unwatchable, with the curious exception of when the 49ers were on Sunday AM 12/2. 99b is getting very low signal strength for me. I e-mailed D*, told me to reset my receiver (already done). I flirted with installing OTA even though I will need a hi gain antenna (~70mi to most antennae). But the LiLs should really work - SD channels are no problem. Frustrating.


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## tweekme (Sep 24, 2007)

Atlanta, GA market

For the last 3-4 weeks, I have been having the same issue as all of you... Local MPEG4 HD channels are horrible. The worst one is Channel 11 NBC. When D* first rolled out the MPEG4 locals, it was perfect. Now, it is almost un-watchable day or night. For some interesting reason though, it totally clears up by 10PM every evening.

I called D*, told them of my issues, and all of the ones in this thread and other threads on the Net.

Thanks, Scott K.


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## cg1200 (Aug 30, 2007)

I am in the NY DMA and it appears they've fixed this for us. It looks like a lot of others around the country are still having issues. I hope they fix it soon for everyone. I still had the NY MPEG2 feeds so it wasn't that big a deal for me. But if that was all I had, I would have been really aggravated with D*. I don't know what the issue was but if they fixed if for the the NY market I imagine they'll get around to fixing it for all the LIL's.


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## apace (Feb 1, 2007)

The NY HD DNS stations still suck.


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## dpkimmel2001 (Dec 12, 2007)

Sorry this is quite long but I'm very frustrated with DirecTV.

This has been a big problem for me. I started to notice this same problem shortly after the launch of the newer HD channels only on my HR20 and not my other H20's. I called DirecTV and had a replacement HR20 sent to my home. I hooked up the refurbished replacement receiver only to find out that it was defective. I called DirecTV to have them send me another unit but was told that they would not do so. They stated that I had to make an appointment for a service tech to come out. I made the appointment on Monday for the following Saturday between 8:00-12:00. As Saturday was fast approaching, I had received no confirmation of the appointment. On Friday I called to confirm the Saturday appointment. Two separate people confirmed the appointment. You guessed it, Saturday came, no service tech. I called again and put up a fight for another receiver. They sent me another. I hooked it up and I'm still experiencing the same problem, unwatchable local HD networks. I made another service call to set up an appointment. The tech called on the day of the appointment to cancel because of the weather. I was able to talk to him and after reading the signal strengths to him he was sure that it was a problem with the dish alignment. I rescheduled for the following week. A different tech was sent out. He told me that it is not the dish, it's a problem with the wiring. He couldn't do anything for me because it was too late in the day for him to run cable. His supervisor called last night to apologize. I told him that I didn’t believe that the cable is the issue as all other receivers are working fine. He is going to run a temporary set of cables to the HR20 to see if this fixes the problem.

I live in the Pittsburgh, PA market. I don’t know which bird my locals are on. I think that it is the 99b. I get no signal on the odd transponders. The ones that I do get on the even ones are weak. I have no problems with any channels other than the locals and even then only on the HR20.


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

You are correct, your Pittsburgh locals are on 99(b). You should not be concerned with odds and evens, but you should have at least one tp with a reading in the 90's. So what have you got?

Also, I assume you've done the whole BBC thing, but just for drill, temporarily remove your BBC's altogether, since they are only required for 103(b), and see what happens to your HD locals.


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## dpkimmel2001 (Dec 12, 2007)

K4SMX said:


> You are correct, your Pittsburgh locals are on 99(b). You should not be concerned with odds and evens, but you should have at least one tp with a reading in the 90's. So what have you got?
> 
> Also, I assume you've done the whole BBC thing, but just for drill, temporarily remove your BBC's altogether, since they are only required for 103(b), and see what happens to your HD locals.


99(b) info

Tuner #1 Trans 1-8 29 85 19 92 46 29
Tuner #2 Trans 1-8 00 83 00 67 00 00

Switched the cables and got....

Tuner #1 Trans 1-8 22 82 00 48 00 00
Tuner #2 Trans 1-8 28 85 19 92 47 30

Switched BBC's with another pair and got....

Tuner #1 Trans 1-8 34 82 00 40 00 00
Tuner #2 Trans 1-8 28 85 21 92 48 30

Bad cable connected to Tunder #1 ?????? The lower signal strengths seem to follow the cable that's no connected to tuner #1


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## K4SMX (May 19, 2007)

Obviously there's a problem with the cable originally connected to tuner 1. It acts like you've got a cable tv-type splitter in the line, one previously unknown probably. It also could be diplexers in the line from a previous installation. After eliminating that as a possibility, I'd check that cable for loose/corroded/shorted connectors from the BBC through the ground block all the way to the dish, if possible. The cable itself could also be bad, if it's old, and maybe even if it's not old. So I think the installer was right. It's not impossible, though, that there's a bad port on the LNB or a bad connection there.

You just never know about a cable for sure, unless you replace it with a temporary. I had to troubleshoot one of my 2 LNB dishes a couple of years back, because one of the two cables was not working. The cable was 100' of good quality RG6, only about 2 years old, and run in conduit. The two cables came off the same reel on the same day. 

I put a new connector on each end - no go. Ran a temporary and everything worked fine, so I figured the cable was damaged somehow - critters, whatever. Checked the shield and the center conductor for continuity and shorts - no problems. Ran 9 volts DC down it to the other end - no problem. So I figured there must be water in the conduit that ruined the satellite frequency characteristics of one cable, but not the other. Pulled it out and it was perfectly dry. Looked great from one end to the other. The thing would just not pass radio frequency energy. DC, yes, RF, no. It had worked for two years, and then it quit over a fairly short period of time, not sure how long, because I rarely used it. So you really have to be able to totally swap out a cable to troubleshoot a cable problem, or you could go nuts trying to figure out what's going on. You might go crazy anyhow.


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## Soulweeper (Jan 10, 2005)

I'm getting a quite a bit of breakup/pixelating tonight on channel 7(KGO) in the Bay Area.


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## Ext 721 (Feb 26, 2007)

OK...Is anyone's pittsburgh HD ABC perfectly clean coming from the satellite? Is anyone's breaking up?


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## Soulweeper (Jan 10, 2005)

Coming back to this thread after realizing that my picture issues since my second HR21 are definitely specific to my HD locals. I've been monitoring this and trying to use some sort of process of elimination. I watched CNNHD for about 3 hours the other night, and HBOHD for a couple hours a few nights ago with no problems at all. I know for a fact that I cannot watch any one of my HD locals for even an hour without some pixelation or breakup. Like someone said early in this thread, it's enough to be annoying.


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## mangusta1969 (Oct 11, 2007)

After having endured intermittent daytime only problems with my HD local channels for almost 3 months, DTV finally changed some equipment in my new installation. On Friday, the original antenna 5 LNB assembly was changed out with a new one. 

Although the signal levels on the 99(b) satellite which carries my four HD locals remained unchanged (steady 98 on transponder 5), so far no intermittent reception problems have occurred with these four channels.

If you are only having problems with the HD locals, you need to determine which transponder and satellite is carrying those channels for your area and check out your signal strength, as you may have an antenna alignment problem. My antenna was aligned properly and there were no LOS obstructions, but perhaps the LNB specific to satellite 99(b) had some noise/temperature issues. I will report back whether the recent LNB changeout resulted in a long term fix for me.


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