It is likely that a cable was pulled out of a connector. Dishes these days have multiple "feeds" and each one looks at a different satellite. One of the cables was probably ripped out of its connector. You should be able to remove the mount for the feeds and see the connectors. One will probably look different from all the others and will be obviously missing a cable. It isn't hard to repair this. The connectors are the exact ones used for cable TV (RG-6 cable) and are available from Radio Shack or Home Depot. Instructions for installation are on the back of the package.

I can see and trace all of the cables from the switch to the LNB.
They all look fine, but one may be internally damaged.
I'm thinking one of them was pulled enough to break the connection,
but not pull it out of the screw on connector end.
So it looks connected, but it is really not.

I'll call the local installer in the morning.
And if he can come out and fix it then fine.
Otherwise, I may just have to look at it myself.
It's a short run from the LNB to the switch.
So I could just replace the whole cable if need be.

Pooh Bear

I called my local installer today.
He told me if I had all channels and everything was fine with one reciever,
then the the problem would be with the other reciever and not the dish.
He told me to unplug it and leave it unplugged for at least 30 minutes.
Then plug it in and test it. I'm going to leave it unplugged overnight.
I'll try it tomorrow sometime and see if this fixes it.

Oh, and for him to come out it would cost me $60.
So I hope the unplugging the reciever works.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

Well, I left it unplugged for two days.
Plugged it back in today. Still don't got all the channels.
So I guess my next move is a call to Dish Network to see what they say.

My DVR works fine. Just the other regular unit giving me problems.

Pooh Bear

Undo them one at a time out at the dish and see which one does not lose more channels. That has to be the bad one. It should be safe to do this without unplugging anything or shutting it off.

Or buy a new cable and substitute it for one. If it comes back, you got it first try. If not, take the cable you just removed and sub it for the second and so on.

-Ed

I know you are right about doing that.
It would be the most sensible thing to do.
And I will probably try it tomorrow sometime.

When I called my local installers office,
I only got to talk to the girl answering the phones.
She told me to unplug the unit and leave it for a while.
She also told me that since one unit gets all channels,
then the problem is not with the dish, but with the box.
Or it could be a bad switch.
I looked at the switch. There was some slack in the cables on that end.
If the cables had been pulled any at all from that direction,
then the slack would have been pulled out of the cables.

So I suspect the problem is on the other end.
The cables took a pretty hard pull when I caught them with those ag-bar tires.

Cable looks to be 6 or eight feet long from the dish to the switch.
Can I get an RG6 cable that length or does one need to be made.
I have anothe cable from another dish but it is about 30feet long.

Pooh Bear

6 foot and longer prepared cables are "off the shelf."

For testing, the long cable would probably work alright, you wouldn't lose much signal.

You could cut the long cable and put a new fitting on the cut end. It's not that hard and you can probably skip buying the crimping tool, just use pliers and care. Still, you have to make sure the ground braid or metal sheath over the inner insulation does not short out to the center conductor, plus get a good clean and tight connection without crimping the cable. With the cheap do-it-yourself connectors, it's tedious to get a secure connection without the special tools or more expensive fittings. If you're not experienced with such things, it may be easiest to just buy a more rugged prepared cable, as it's probably only a few bucks anyway.

If there's a TV shop, pawn shop, second hand or flea market, you may find they have a box of such cables just kicking around.

-Ed

Ok, went out today and tested a few things.
Since the 301(?) box said NC for input #1,
First I traced from the switch port input #1 to the dish.
I unplugged cable # 1. Lost local channels on the DVR.
Every thing else was un affected. So plugged back in cable # 1.
Local channels came back when the cable was plugged back in.
Unplugged Cable # 2 from the dish. Didn't seem to affect anything.
So I thought AHA. I have found the problem.
I got the 30ft cable from my old dish so I could replace cable # 2.
First mistake was sending someone else up the ladder to get it.
The old dish is still on the roof. I am in a wheelchair. I don't do ladders.
I sent my Dad up the ladder to get the cable.
He is hard of hearing. I said cut the the tie wrap cable.
He heard cut the cable. So he cut the cable.
Ok, so I had a shorter cable now and I put an end on it.
I'm not sure the end was on there good.
And when I plugged the cable in there was still no change.
No local channels on 301 box. I removed the cable.
I'm not sure the cable was any good at this point.
So, to be sure of my cables. I unplugged cable # 1 at both ends,
and plugged it in place of cable # 2. and I plugged cable # 2
into cable # 1's place. No change. DVR works fine. No Locals on 301 box.
So at this point I'm sure the problem is not with the cables.
I put the cables back like they were originally and put the
plastic covers back on the dish LNB. Everything is just like it was.
So I moved on to the switch. I know nothing of these switches.
It has 7 outputs. 4 to reciever boxes, 3 to a second switch if needed.
My 301 box was plugged into output # 1. The DVR was output # 2.
I unplugged output # 1 and moved it to (unused) output # 3.
No change. everything is as it was.
Ok, I unplugged the 301 box from output # 3 and plugged it into
output # 1 to the (non existant) switch # 2.
Lost channels on both recievers at this point.
So I unplugged it again and put the 301 line to output # 1 like it was originally.
Everything is originally like it was.
And I'm no closer to a solution.
Is it the switch. Or is it the # 2 output of the LNB.
Or is it something else altogether.

Pooh Bear

**For each test I reset the 301 box by pressing the power button on the box and holding it. This made sure to start with a fresh onscreen guide and channel list each time.

Boy, I'm kinda lost myself.

Do you have some way of testing your "spare" cable on some other connection, say indoors from the cable box to your set? If it works there, you've verified the spare is at least good.

Now, you could substitute that for any outdoor cable, then bring the suspect indoors for testing like we just did on your spare.

In this way you could once and for all eliminate cables or find the faulty one.

Another alternative is to use a multimeter to check each cable for shorts and continuity.

-Ed

I get signal from 1 and 3 on the dish. Unhooking cable 2 causes no change.
Swapping cables 1 and 2 elimated any chance that it was a bad cable.
It is either the center unit of the LNB (little pointy thing)
or it is the switch. I'm reasonable certain of this at this point.
But I have no way of testing either one. I don't know how.

Either way, this looks expensive to fix.
My 2 year agreement with DN is up. I may switch to cable.
My ISP is moving to cable internet anyway. So I may have to switch.

This is a super dish. I also have a regular dish that is not being used.
Does it have the little pointy LNB thing in it.
If so, I can swap them out and try it. (I don't think it has that.
I have a neighbor with a super dish he no longer uses.
Can I swap out his LNB to test mine. (if he lets me).

I rattled the dish really hard when I caught it with the tractor.
I'm thinking I damaged something in the LNB.
The slack wasn't pulled out of the cables on the end to the switch.
So I'm thinking it would be a coincidence for the switch to go bad just as I hit the dish.
If the cables test good then it has to be the LNB.

Pooh Bear

Maybe it's not pointed correctly if you shook the dish itself. Just swapping out parts here may mean you'd need to repoint. It might be easy or could be an exercise in frustration. I know the installer here made many trips up and down the ladder setting ours, and he had a van full of test gear!

-Ed

I have local channels back.
I have no idea why or what happened.
I have not done anything to the system since I last posted.
I heard my son in there watching a show on a local channel.
So I went to investigate. All channels work fine.
I don't understand it. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

I wonder what happened.

Pooh Bear