Weird Directv happenings with 3 boxes hooked up (1 Viewer)

[Chip_G]

Background:
I have a triple LNB RCA Oval Sat Dish. I have 3 cables running from the Sat Dish to 3 Sat Receivers. The dish can handle 4 total receivers, and I have coaxial plugges into the first, second and fourth hook up.

The Setup:
In my TV room, I have an HDTV setup, Sony HDTV and an RCA DTC-100. And 2 regular receivers in 2 different bedrooms(Bedroom A and Bedroom B).

The Problem:
If I have only 2 of the receivers hooked up to a power source, everything runs fine. As soon as I plug in the third receiver, I loose the signal and get the "searching for satellites" message at the bottom of my screen.
HOWEVER, if I put the HDTV on an HD Channel(199), both of the regular receivers in the bedrooms will work with no problem. But as soon as I switch off of an HD channel, boom, no more reception on ANY of the TVs...


I was supposed to have an appointment with a Tech today, but he was running late and now he won't be hear until Monday......LAME(and yes I am REALLY mad about taking another day off from work).

I'm *guessing* it has something to do with a bad LNB, but this system was just installed on MLK day...

:frowning:
Any help is appreciated,
Chip-

 

[RayJK]

I had this problem and it turned out to be a bad diplexer at the "problem" receiver. I hope that yours is a simple a fix.

 

[Chip_G]

What's a diplexer? http://forum.e46fanatics.com/images/smilies/confused1.gif

Chip-

 

[RayJK]

A diplexer is used to combine or split out the OTA antenna and SAT signals into one line. A multiswitch will do the same if it has an OTA antenna input or the OTA signal can be diplexed into one of the LNB lines before going to the multiswitch. At the receiver end you need a diplexer to split the OTA and SAT signals apart again. If you arent't combining OTA and SAT you won't need a diplexer. If this is your case then you have some other problem besides a bad diplexer.

 

[Ernest]

Searching for Satellite Signal normally means there is a bad connection in the line or a bad line all together. I also have three receivers and was experiencing somewhat of a similar problem. Receiver 3 was searching for the signal while 1 and 2 worked perfect. By process of elimination I ended up replacing the cable itself and the picture popped right in and the problem was solved. Good luck.

 

[Chip_G]

Ray and Ernest, thanks a ton! I had forgotten that I was using a a splitter when it came into my house as a temporary solution until I got an adapter to hook up to male ends together. Well, the splitter was a 5-1000mhz, not sure if that was what the problem was, but I replaced it with an inline female part and now all three boxes work flawlessly. Thanks for all the help guys!

Chip-