loss of many channels

[tube]

I have a recent problem with a complete loss of certain I believe are mostly Horizontal tp's from 2A north beam or Eutelsat. They are working fine and then suddenly maybe with a change of Channel they completely dissapear for a long period. The channels include Sky News HD, Nick J, Nick Jr +1, Nick Jr 2, ITV HD 1,2,3 and a number of film channels.

Would anybody like to hazard a guess at the problem? I am thinking at the moment an LNB problem or a problem with the Box (dm 500HD) but in truth I have no idea.


Regards

 

[Topper]

The most common faults that occur when switching problems are happening are as you say sometimes the LNB, but often it is the PSU of the STB where the power supply is failing. This is because horizontal and vertical switching require different voltages passing up the cable to the STB. Could be worth taking the top off the STB and checking for swollen or bulging capacitors before buying a replacement LNB and also check the cable for damage or water ingress.

I do notice you are in Malta though and it could just be you are no longer peaked on that satellite, i.e. dish has moved or a gecko has gone in the LNB for some shade

 

[tube]

Thanks hope its not the box... I am fairly sure its not dish allignment etc as the Nick jr are very strong SNR rate normally and some much weaker channels are still showing (also the fact that they cam back as strong as ever - as they did this morning). Now you mention it the strange thing is that the when they dissapeared this morning it was when swtiching from 2 channels on the same tp.

 

[kota]

I had the same problem here in Portugal for the past two weeks or so with exact the same transponders you mention but never lost any channel as such. A drop in signal strength for sure but always got a lock with still plenty of scope.

The problem is now completely gone and I'm almost certain it had to do with the sun position between the satellite and where you're located at that particular period of time. Also, NHK HD issued a series of warnings in that respect that picture could suffer from sun eclipses at that time.

Maybe it's your turn in Malta now but I'm no expert on the subject and I could be talking bollocks ...

 

[Analoguesat]

There are online calculators which tell you when you are likely to be affected by sun outages.

 

[tube]

Thanks for the replies... will try and have a look at the calculator. and hold fire in replacing anything for now

 

[PaulR]

Solar outages are well over by now so that won't be your problem I'm afraid.

 

[Analoguesat]

Change the lnb first - thats the cheapest option.

 

[tube]

Thanks guys. Doesn't seem to be sun outage problems as it just happened again. As far as I can see it seems to be all Horizontal Channels. Will try and change the LNB today if I get a chance.

 

[T1154]

Is there sufficient Skew on the LNB?

 

[T1154]

Incidentally I'm in 47 just outside Tournon

 

[smoggy07]

What Volt/Amp rating is the power supply? (presuming its not built in) See if you can lend another with the same rating for a couple of days and see if the fault returns

I power my DM500 using a 12v 8 to 10 amp CB power supply (over kill I know) because the el-cheapo supply that came with my DM died, it started loosing lock on some channels, then refused to move the motor and eventually wouldn't power the box (the light went from red to green when you turned it on but that was it!)

 

[tube]

First Prize goes to Smoggy07. It does appear to be the power supply. In one of the periods when the channels dissapeared I managed to find my old dm500 power supply and swapped it and the channels came back!.

Thanks to everybody that replied and made suggestions ... its appreciated.

The only other thing is that the power supply I have now looks fairly cheap one. I noticed that signal strength seems to be down 5-10% any chance that could be due to the power supply or is it more likely to be a poor fringe reception night?

 

[smoggy07]

First Prize goes to Smoggy07. It does appear to be the power supply. In one of the periods when the channels dissapeared I managed to find my old dm500 power supply and swapped it and the channels came back!.

Thanks to everybody that replied and made suggestions ... its appreciated.

The only other thing is that the power supply I have now looks fairly cheap one. I noticed that signal strength seems to be down 5-10% any chance that could be due to the power supply or is it more likely to be a poor fringe reception night?

Could be either or both really, if the power supply isn't producing enough amps that "could" be the cause