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8.
Troubleshooting Guide
Satellite integrated receiver decoder will not turn on.
(1) Check to see if the receiver is plugged in to the
wall jack.
(2) Try plugging the receiver into a different electrical outlet. Be
sure you’re not plugged into a “half hot” or “switched” outlet
controlled with a light switch.
(3) Plug your TV into the same outlet and see if it will power on.
(4) Make sure the problem is not with the receiver. Turn on the
receiver both from the front panel and with the remote.
(5) Check the fuse box circuit breaker.
I cannot set the receiver to the on-screen menu.
(1) Check to see if your TV is tuned to the correct
channel either channel 3 (default) or 4 and select the same on the
back of the receiver.
(2) Check to see if you are using the correct connections from the
Receiver to the TV. Are you using the RF (To TV) connection and
connected to the “from antenna on the TV”. Are you connected to the
Video output from the receiver, to the video input on the
TV/monitor.
(3) If you are using the RF connection from the receiver to the TV,
tune to channel 3 or 4.
(4) Turn the receiver on from the remote or the front panel.
(5) In the receiver setup menu select NTSC.
I cannot pick up the satellite signal
(1) Have you gotten your receiver authorized?
(2) Check that all signal connections from antenna, receiver, and TV
are correct.
(3) Make sure there are no obstructions blocking the antenna’s view
to the satellite. Always stand behind the antenna, not in front
while checking. Vegetation like bushes and trees will block the
satellite signal.
(4) Check that the antenna is set to the correct polarity, for
example, horizontal, vertical, left hand circular or right hand
circular.
(5) Check the antenna azimuth and elevation settings, if wrong see
“Antenna Pointing”.
(6) Tune the receiver to the “Receiver Setup Menu” on the 9234 and
9834, the “Installer Menu” on the 9223, or the “Dish Setup” and the
9834 and 9835 receiver model. If the signal indicator reads Sig+Lock,
check the following for your location and service. If all of the
settings below are correct; chances are good that your decoder isn’t
authorized in the AFRTS decoder database. Re-do
step 1 of this guide, then
recheck the following information on our
AFRTS Satellite Information page.
a. Network ID
b. FEC Rate
c. Frequency
d. Band
e. L.O.
f. Polarization
g. Symbol Rate
h. Video Standard is (NTSC)
(7) If the signal indicator in the “Receiver Menu” reads No Signal
check the cable from the antenna to the Receiver.
(8) “Reboot” your IRD. Turn off the IRD using the remote control and
then unplug it from the electrical power. Wait a minute and then
plug the IRD back in and turn it on.
(9) Rarely you might be attempting to receive the signal during
either a sun outage or a signal outage caused by a technical
problem at the up link site. These outages would affect an entire
region at once so your neighbors and other service members at your
command would have also lost signal. An easy check is to see if the
signal is available at another receiver in your same location. A sun
outage lasts only 10 to 15 minutes.
Sun outages over the United States can affect signals in elsewhere
in the world.
I was receiving the satellite signal but it comes and
goes or I get a lot of freeze frames and digital artifacts.
This is the sign of a weak signal and can usually be
traced to one of the following problems:
(1) Poor connection from the Antenna to the Receiver. Wiggle the
connections to see if you can get the signal to intermit from Loss
of Signal to Freeze-Frames. If so, redo or replace connectors.
(2) Antenna is not peaked for best signal strength or is too small
for your area. See the section of this chapter on signal peaking.
Your dish should be at least the same size as other’s who are
watching AFRTS.
(3) LNB does not meet specifications. This typically happens with a
new LNB that has replaced a failed on or one from a brand new
installation. Heat and cold will often cause a marginal LNB to lose
signal.
(4) Poor quality cable or connectors in use or impedance mismatch.
Make sure that you are using the proper RF cabling between the LNB
and the receiver. Computer network cable is the wrong electrical
impedance and will cause signal loss.
(5) Signal level input to the IRD is too high; optimum input is –42
dBm. This is very rare.
(6) Antenna is not stable; wind moves or shakes the antenna
excessively. Extreme weather will cause the satellite dish to move
off the satellite’s position.
(7) Terrestrial Interference. Typically caused by radio transmitters
located in front of the dish.
(8) This could be caused by a regional sun outage where the sun
passes directly behind the satellite. At certain times of year,
approximately one month either side of the spring and autumn
equinoxes, there may be a conjunction of the sun and satellite
positions. Depending upon the size of the earth station antenna,
such events can lead to a serious impairment of the space-earth
link. These outages typically last only a few minutes at a time once
a day with a normal worse case outage of about ten to fifteen
minutes. Outages will affect each link in multi-hop circuits. For
example viewers in Europe or the Indian Ocean area would be affected
by an outage of first, the Atlantic satellite and then secondly, of
the actual satellite feeding their antenna. Antennas should not be
adjusted or re-pointed at these lost-of-signal times. The viewer
should wait out the outage until the sun finishes passing directly
behind the satellite.
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