Do I need a new Receiver?

D

davevavra

Member
My Satellite Setup
Panasonic TU-DSB31 Receiver Invacom LNB single 0.3 LNB
Acer Aspire 3610 laptop, Microsoft XP
My Location
France Centre
Hi there,
I live in central France & having problems receiving some TV & Radio stations. I have a Panasonic TU-DSB31, Invacom LNB single 0.3 lnb & 60cm dish. Food Network used to keep freezing up even with 100% strength & 90% quality, changed from RGB to PAL & it worked but not on my other stations.Got No Signal on CBS Action changed my LNB to the Invacom & it worked but no difference on other stations,True Movies,True Movies2,Classic FM,Planet Rock,Gold,Smooth FM & Magic to name a few.They all keep breaking up no matter what the weather.I've read that there can be problems with this model I've had it for 4 years would buying another receiver rectify the problem? I was thinking of getting a Pace 2600 as it's supposed to be good at pulling in weak signals. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
Do you have a DECT phone at all?

I've not checked the frequencies of the affected Channels, so don't known for sure they are amongst those prone to lack of immunity to DECT phones ............... almost quicker for you to turn any such kit off and see if the problem remains!


Edit: Have now checked and a good number of those Channels are indeed on Transponders that can be affected.
 
Hi Tivu,
Disconnected the phone but made no difference, thanks for your prompt reply.
 
When you say "disconnected", did you remove power from the base unit or just unplug the phone line? Needs powering down fully.
 
Did as you said & all the channels are working now I would never have believed that the phone was the problem, does it mean I need to buy another phone? just a normal plug in and not DECT phone. I can't thank you enough for solving the problem I have spent months on & off trying different things, moving the dish tuning it in & looking through the internet trying to to find cures. I hit the jackpot tonight when I decided to sign up to this forum & got an answer from you straight away, once again Tivu many many thanks.
 
Cracking!

"No problem knowingly unsolved" :)



The weak part of your Satellite system is the cabling, particularly any joints. Wallplates can lack proper screening and are often the culprit.

But to save you any head scratching, relocating the Phone Base Unit is probably the easiest cure.
 
Hi tivu,
Moved the phone base unit upstairs but still ended up with the same problem so I will just have my normal plug in phone connected. It was great had the problem radio stations on all day with no breaking up at all. once again many thanks for your help greatly appreciated.
 
If moving the base station that far hasn't had an affect it sounds like the cable between the dish and the receiver is letting the interference in. Do you know what specification was used?
 
Nice result. Thanks for getting back with the confirmation the problem is solved - it may help someone else in the future :)

This commonly affects the CSC Media music tv channels on Eurobird.
 
Hi, don't know what the specification is bought it 4 years ago in Mr Bricolage, noticed that the Sat. cable & phone line come down side by side from upstairs could it being so close maybe causing the interference?
 
Satellite cable needs to be double shielded. You have a centre core surrounded by insulation material (dielectric). Then you have the shielding which should consist of a woven braid and foil sheath. Finally you have the outer insulation.

In the best cable the core, braid and sheath are copper. Less good cable has and aluminium sheath. I have also seen cable where both the braid and sheath are aluminium. The all copper cable seems to be difficult to buy outside of the UK so you hopefully have the second type.

Ordinary TV cable just has braid and no sheath (although with the new digital terrestrial TV transmissions double shelded cable is recommended). Is it possible you were sold this type of cable?

Running the telephone cable next to the satellite shouldn't have caused a problem as it doesn't (shouldn't!) carry the DECT phone frequencies.
 
I have the proper Sat cable & it's in good condition, I'll see if I can borrow another cordless phone to plug in & see if it's my phone that might be the problem
 
Do you have any joints in the cable?

ie Barrel connectors, Wall faceplates?

As Paul says, the phone cable shouldn't be implicated.

The issue is that DECT phones operate at around 1880 MHz: The Satellite signals are "downconverted" by the LNB to a range of between 1000 and 2000 MHz (roughly) ........... which is what is carried from the dish to the receiver.

The Channels you are having problems with "downconvert" to 1880MHz, so you see the problem! It's the signal between the DECT Base and the Handsets which is at issue, not the landline.

If, however, the DECT phone meets the prescribed DECT phone Emission standards and the Satellite cabling (including joints) are fully screened throughout, then the Satellite system should have sufficient Immunity not be affected.

I've never come across a case where the DECT phone exceeds the Emission standards - it's almost always Satellite cabling that is the problem.
 
No don't have any joins at all on the Sat cable it runs direct from the dish to the Receiver. I read on one of the Forums of a problem that might affect receiving some of the weak Sat. stations on my Panasonic TU-DSB31, do you think that might possibly cause the problem.
 
No. This is an absolutely classic case of DECT phone induced interference.
 
IIRC the DSB31 has a zero insertion tuner which might possibly not be as well shielded internally as other tuners?

Just grasping at straws here...
 
But the casing of the Receiver acts as a Faraday Cage and should render the innards immune ............... however, I suppose experimenting with some strategically placed cooking foil wrapped around potential weak points might help track down the culprit. OTOH, perhaps not!

I join you in the straw-clutching exercise.
 
Re maybe box problem I found if I switched back to RGB from PAL I get all the breaking up of these channels,soon as I switch back to PAL stations are normal, any ideas?
 
That's a curved ball!

Too curved for me, sadly.
 
You'll have to run it in PAL mode for a while to see if the effect is real. Strange though.
 
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