SatSig topic:

HX windstorm and signal problems

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Jun 16^th, 2009 at 9:25pm

I just took over as the unit's Bentley Walker account guy here in Iraq when our unit changed out. Last week we had a windstorm that knocked out our signal. We were able to get the signal back to 80 and everything worked fine for about 3 days. Then the signal dropped to 1 for no obvious reason. After some troubleshooting we are getting a strange phenomenon. The signal strength stays at 29 regardless of where the dish is pointing. If we disconnect the 'sat-in' cable the signal strength drops to 15, again regardless of where the dish is pointing. I've tried a different cable and even connected a spare receiver unit and nothing changes. I'm very new to this and have no idea what this means. Any help is greatly appreciated. I am using a HX50 modem, and I can attept to provide other information on our system if it would help.

Vince

Jun 16^th, 2009 at 10:44pm

First some advice to minimise risk of damage to the equipment. Power off at the mains wall plug or switch before disconnecting or connecting the coaxial cables between the outdoor equipment and the indoor HX50 modem or disconnecting or connecting the low voltage multi-way connector as it plugs into the HX50 modem.

Regarding the signal dropping to 1. This suggests that the receive coax cable from the small outdoor LNB module to the SAT IN socket was bad connection. The centre pin wire should stick out 2mm proud of the rim of the plug and when inserted into the socket the pin must actually slide into the hole and not push back the cable. Do up the F type plug carefully and firmly using hand force only. There is a fine wire braid and foil on the coax cable and this must make proper contact at both ends to the outer of the plug. There must be no tiny fragments of braid wire causing a short circuit. Check that the coax cables are not crossed over.

A signal of 29 means that some powerful signal is being received but it is the wrong signal or the modem is not tuned to the wanted frequency etc. Readings up to 29 are just power (any signal power, any and every satellite). Readings above 29 are wanted signal quality for the specific wanted signal, as per tuning settings.

A fixed 29, while antenna movement, might be explained by the PC screen no longer being in communication with the modem due to wrong IP address etc. The PC is simply displaying an old reading which is no longer being updated.

Regarding the dropping to 15, check all coax cable connections. Check the cables are not crossed over. Check that all four terminations are perfect.

In Iraq, the dish should look something like this:

Contact Bentley Walker and get help from them also.

Best regards, Eric.

Jun 16^th, 2009 at 11:21pm

Thanks for your reply. I have checked all the connections and even tried different cables without any change. Also, the pc is properly communicating wthe the modem while the signal strength remains at 29. I've tried reconnecting to the modem several times with the same result. Does that sound like the modem could be bad?

Jun 17^th, 2009 at 12:57am

OK, after leaving the modem off for about an hour the stuck signal strength problem went away, so I'm not sure what was causing it. After some searching, we located the correct sat and now have good service. I'll let you know if the same problem shows up again.