Losing signal on 1518 daily

[jazzzen]

OK - can't find this one anywhere. After several weeks of trouble, my 1518 and I have settled into a pattern. Several times a day - up to 1/2 dozen - I lose my signal. The 1518 does what it's supposed to do - starts looking and usually finds the signal again. Sometimes it doesn't find it and I have to unplug it and start over. I haven't moved, the 1518 hasn't moved, the trees haven't moved and I'm assuming the satellite is where it belongs as well. It's almost like the dish is loose and drifts away from locked.

Any ideas?

[Bill Adams]

What model receiver are you using?
Dish or DirecTV?
Where are you located?
Are specific channels missing or does a working channel suddenly go away?
Any other details would be helpful.

[jazzzen]

Directv receiver model r22. I'm in the Seattle/Tacoma area, and it doesn't matter what channel it's on. During the day, it's on the music channels and loses signal. When I'm watching a program, it could be any channel. Doesn't seem to make much difference.
I've moved it, reset it, reset the receiver - including hard reboots, replaced the coax, gone through the setup and made sure all of the settings on the receiver are correct, pulled it a bit away from the rig thinking rig bounce might be bumping it - nothing is working. It still loses signal, seemingly randomly. Although it does seem to happen more frequently in the evening. Now, that could be perception on my part. I likely notice it more - and am more irritated - when it goes out when I'm sitting down to watch something. Has happened twice today - that I know of. As I said, it usually finds the signal again on it's own, but it shouldn't be happening. Nothing is new - I moved it to take my rig in for service and put back where it had been. Nothing has been the same since
I get so excited when I see it has found the signal again, thinking maybe this time! It doesn't seem to have trouble finding it and the signal it finds is at about 70% - I've had better, but I've had a lot worse too.
Still confused. . .

[Winegard Tech Help]

jazzzen,

The signal strength is low and may be dropping out enough to lose programming.

I would recommend unplugging the antenna when it is on signal and see if the problem continues to happen. If that's the case, something is either causing the signal to drop below the acceptable level for programming or either the receiver or LNB is having an intermittent issue. I would say in that case almost 99% of the time it will be receiver related as an LNB almost never has an intermittent problem - it gives us a hard failure when it goes defective.

[Bill Adams]

Can you check the actual signal strength numbers when it's locked on and you are watching TV and then check them again when the programming goes away?
You might alway want to try setting the receiver to 18" round, multi-switch, dual (assuming you have 2 cables running from the Carryout directly to the receiver), let it lock and to 101 and then walk through the rest of the Repeat Satellite Setup routine.

[jazzzen]

Winegard tech - I've wondered about unplugging it. I'll give it a try. I've also wondered about the receiver - unfortunately, the receiver self-check still says it's healthy, so DTV won't discuss the possibility with me. And If I just go out and buy (lease) a new one, they want another 2 year commitment from me. I guess my 20+ years as a customer doesn't really mean much.

Bill - When it locks on, I'm getting 68-72% ish. When I loose the signal, it shows 0%, searches and locks on again at the upper sixties, low seventies.

I went several days recently without losing signal that I'm aware of. Was just allowing myself to be hopeful when it started losing again yesterday. I'll try unplugging it and see what happens. And will keep you posted.

Thanks for you help!

[jazzzen]

OK - Just out of curiosity - what if unplugging the dish solves the problem? Is it the dish?

I unplugged soon after my last post and haven't lost signal since. It's not a done deal. I've gone a few days without losing signal. I'll give it a full week before I'm willing to say that the issue is resolved.

Day 2 . . .

[Winegard Tech Help]

jazzzen,

This is an interesting situation. Can you tell me what kind of power supply you're using for the Carryout?

[jazzzen]

I have the 12v that comes with the dish with a 110 adapter. Still unplugged and still haven't lost signal. . .

[Bill Adams]

Could you tell us the make/model of that 120V to 12V converter?