Strange operation with SK-3005

[tincup]

I just installed the SK-3005 on my motorhome, easy install, it works great. I have a strange situation that I hope someone can address. Here goes. I just subscribed to HBO a month ago, prior to the SK-3005 install everything worked great.

I have a new HD/DVR receiver from DirecTV with two B Band converters, one on each tuner. My problem is that sometimes the HBO channels come in fine, other times only some of them come in. I'm currently parked and the dish hasn't moved, I've re-tuned it twice but still have the problem. I've swapped the B Band converters to no avail, next I'll swap the cables to see if that helps. Sometimes if I hit the down channel button then go back to a channel I wasn't receiving, it comes in fine ! That makes no sense to me.

Has anyone experienced this? If so, what was the fix.

Thanks for your time.

Paul

[Winegard Tech Help]

Paul,

Are the HBO channels you're working with the high definition versions?

If so, you may want to check your signal strengths on satellites 99c and 103ca and see if you're missing any transponders or have low signal strength on any. Those are the high definition satellites for DirecTV and you should get signal on a majority of transponders not listed as NA.

[Bill Adams]

Also verify that in the Satellite Setup routine you have the antenna type set to Slimline 5 , Multiswitch and dual tuner. As you move through the setup verify that BOTH tuners are receiving good signals. The signal strength on the 101, 110 and 119 satellites should mostly be in the 90+ range and the signals on the 99 and 103 satellites should mostly be 70+ on both tuners.

[tincup]

I'm getting good signals on 101,110 and 119.

On 99 & 103 I get the following
103

1-8 15 15 0 16 0 0 N/A N/A
9-16 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 42 95
17-24 0 0 95 96 99 47 37
25-32 ALL N/A

99 (S) both tuners

1-8 0 0 0 33 42 N/A N/A
9-16 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 100
17-24 0 0 98 100 98 100 0 0
25-32 ALL N/A

They don't look good to me but how do I improve that? This is one button tuning, it either is good or not, I don't see how I can improve this. Is there a manual tuning I can do for 99 & 103?

Also, in the box I got 30' of black cable and 30' of grey cable, they look to be the same I used the grey on the installation. Why would they send two different colors and list them in the installation manual? Maybe I should use the black on tuner two??

Thanks for your time.

[Bill Adams]

Did you run 2 separate cables from the antenna to your DVR's 2 inputs? There are 2 identical coax cables included (I have no idea why Winegard sends a black and a grey) and you must run a separate coax cable for every tuner you want to power. That would be 2 cables to a dual tuner DVR and another cable to another receiver should you have a second one. No splitter of any kind can be used with the DirecTV setup and you must ensure that the receiver is setup (in the Repeat Satellite Setup routine) for Slimline 5, Multiswitch (never SWM) and dual tuner.

[tincup]

Bill,

Yes, I have one receiver and ran one cable directly to each tuner via a BBC on each, no splitter. And, the setup is as you described. Yesterday it was fine until about 6PM PDT, then I lost channels sporadically, they would go out, a few minutes later they're fine. We had no wind and clear skies with outside temps hovering around 70F, internal receiver temp was 104F.

I've been going over my installation and re-reading the installation manual. At the top of Page 3 they have a drawing which indicates no more than 3/16" between the roof and the dish base plate. Here's what I did, as you're on the roof facing the front of the rig, I put a 1/4" shim on the right side of the base plate, unfortunately, I DID NOT use a level. Assuming the shim is tilting the dish too much, do you think I'm kind on the edge of the "tuning envelope" so to speak? Just to eliminate that as a possible problem, tomorrow I'm going to remove the shim and get the base plate perfectly level and see what happens.

Thanks for your time and comments.

[Bill Adams]

No, that should not be any kind of an issue as long as the base is absolutely secure and the dish cannot move. The Trav'ler can adjust for a slope of up to 5% so unless you are WAY off this would not be where you problem is coming from.
Take a look at the signal strength screen when things are good and then when things are bad. Check all the satellites but especially the 99 and 103. Let us know what you find, it could be an issue with the receiver itself or possibly a bad LNB from DirecTV.

[tincup]

The dish is securely bolted to the roof and doesn't move at all.

I will do that but it will be later today and may not get posted until the morning.

I bought the SK-3005 new at Quartzsite from Satellite Electronics Inc., if it does prove to be a bad LNB I'll have to see if they replace it or Winegard, but that's a way down the road.

I'll post my readings later.

On another item, it sure would be nice to have a print out of each satellite and transponder/channel assignments, does something like that exist on the net in PDF form or do they change too often to make it of any use?

[Bill Adams]

Take a look at the attached files. One is the channels listed by satellite and one is the channels listed by channels. I believe it is fairly up-to-date but may not be 100% accurate. The transponders info listed is limited and I don't know of anywhere else that this information is available.

tpntochl_080727.pdf

chltotpn_080727.pdf

[tincup]

Here are the readings I'm getting on all the satellites I'm receiving. I have HBO but no local channels, the network feeds I get are west coast feeds, I do not get the east coast feeds. The difference in readings between tuner 1 and tuner 2 are plus/minus 1 point and all of my channels are now coming in fine.

99c T1/2
1-8
87 91 87 90 88 89 87 90
9-16
87 91 86 88 91 94 N/A N/A
17-32 All N/A

99s T1/2
1-8
0 0 0 32 0 42 N/A N/A (These two don't look good to me)
9-16
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 100
17-24
0 0 98 100 99 100 0 0
25-32
All N/A

101 T1/2
1-8
97 96 97 0 96 98 96 99
9-16
95 96 97 0 97 100 96 100
17-24
94 100 95 78 97 100 97 100
25-32
96 0 95 100 97 100 97 100

103s T1/2
1-8
0 0 0 0 0 0 N/A N/A
9-16
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 33 95
17-24
0 0 95 96 99 98 34 24
25-32
All N/A

103ca T1/2
1-8
All N/A
9-16
87 90 86 87 85 86 84 86
17-24
85 87 88 88 85 89 88 91
25-32
All N/A

103cb T1/2
1-8
91 95 84 86 89 93 83 85
9-16
90 92 85 86 90 92 N/A N/A
17-32
All N/A

110 T1/2
1-8
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 96
9-16
N/A 96 N/A 96 N/A N/A N/A N/A
17-32
All N/A

119 T1/2
1-16
All N/A
17-24
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 91 51 91
25-32
96 94 89 92 0 95 0 95

Tonight when the channels drop out I'll check the signal strength again but some I'm reading now in the 30, 40 50 unit range don't look good to me and I'm receiving all channels.

The HBO channels I'm getting are HD west coast feeds.

I don't know if this is useful information but the outside temp now is 68F and internal receiver temp is 103F.