Transponder strength varies during the day

[countysat]

I'm finding that the quality on some transponders on 119 vary drastically during the day. It is usually worse in the morning/early afternoon where quality fluctuates between 15-50% and channels are unwatchable. In the evening signal strength goes back to normal strength of over 90% and everything comes in fine. 110 is unaffected. Seems this is more frequent in the summer months than the winter. Not sure if its an LNB problem or interference, system is grounded.
Any ideas as to a cause?
Running Dish 500, DP Twin LNB, DP34, Coolsat 5k and 6k RQ-SSSP getting sats 119 & 110 in SW Ontario.

[jonD]

I'm finding that the quality on some transponders on 119 vary drastically during the day. It is usually worse in the morning/early afternoon where quality fluctuates between 15-50% and channels are unwatchable. In the evening signal strength goes back to normal strength of over 90% and everything comes in fine. 110 is unaffected. Seems this is more frequent in the summer months than the winter. Not sure if its an LNB problem or interference, system is grounded.
Any ideas as to a cause?
Running Dish 500, DP Twin LNB, DP34, Coolsat 5k and 6k RQ-SSSP getting sats 119 & 110 in SW Ontario.
The last time I had a problem like that I had to play lumberjack. In the morning when the wind would pick up I had a tree branch swaying and at night when the wind died down the sig would pick up again.
Go to dish pointer(dot)com and check you paths to 110 and 119. You can zoom in on your location and see if it is an obstruction problem.
It's where you should start first. These problems are always a process of elimination. One thing at a time.

[Terryl]

If 119 is the lower of the two to the horizon, then it could be ground bounce due to the mirage effect, this is like seeing water on the road but there is nothing there.

The signal from the satellite will bounce like a light beam off a mirror, the ground at certain temperatures will cause the signal to bounce, the bounced signal is 180 degrees out of phase from the main signal.

The two when combined at the LNB will cancel each other out and you get a fade, if the bounced signal is weaker then all you get is a reduction in signal.

Raising the dish higher up from the ground, or lower could fix this problem, a bigger dish could also help.

How low is the elevation for 119 at your location.

[D-troit]

I'm finding that the quality on some transponders on 119 vary drastically during the day. It is usually worse in the morning/early afternoon where quality fluctuates between 15-50% and channels are unwatchable. In the evening signal strength goes back to normal strength of over 90% and everything comes in fine. 110 is unaffected. Seems this is more frequent in the summer months than the winter. Not sure if its an LNB problem or interference, system is grounded.
Any ideas as to a cause?
Running Dish 500, DP Twin LNB, DP34, Coolsat 5k and 6k RQ-SSSP getting sats 119 & 110 in SW Ontario.

All of the above are really good suggestions and as was suggested it is just a matter of trouble shooting your problem. Another suggestion would be to check your coax ends for corrosion this can account for your signal coming and going. As the sun heats the coax during the day the center copper wire will expand somewhat and as it cools in the morning or late at night it will contract again. Make sure you have enough of the center wire sticking out beyond the connector to make a good connection at least a sixteenth to an eighth inch. Solid copper core is suggested for all satellite installation if you do not know if its solid copper or copper coated steal use a magnet on the bare center of the coax and if it sticks it is copper coated steal or other alloy which is more prone to corrosion.

Had a problem similar to yours and it was driving me nuts trying to find the problem. I changed everything the lnb, new coax etc. come to find out a very small piece of the copper coated coax I was using at the time had broken off in the grounding block causing loss and intermittent signal. Changed the grounding block and all was well in addition to going to the solid copper center coax.

[iq180]

i had this problem two years ago with a dish 500 with a dpp lnb, and it was an easy problem to fix.
one can of flat gray spray paint to paint the dish and no more problems.

[countysat]

If 119 is the lower of the two to the horizon, then it could be ground bounce due to the mirage effect, this is like seeing water on the road but there is nothing there.

The signal from the satellite will bounce like a light beam off a mirror, the ground at certain temperatures will cause the signal to bounce, the bounced signal is 180 degrees out of phase from the main signal.

The two when combined at the LNB will cancel each other out and you get a fade, if the bounced signal is weaker then all you get is a reduction in signal.

Raising the dish higher up from the ground, or lower could fix this problem, a bigger dish could also help.

How low is the elevation for 119 at your location.

Elevation for 119 is aprox. 10 feet


All of the above are really good suggestions and as was suggested it is just a matter of trouble shooting your problem. Another suggestion would be to check your coax ends for corrosion this can account for your signal coming and going. As the sun heats the coax during the day the center copper wire will expand somewhat and as it cools in the morning or late at night it will contract again. Make sure you have enough of the center wire sticking out beyond the connector to make a good connection at least a sixteenth to an eighth inch. Solid copper core is suggested for all satellite installation if you do not know if its solid copper or copper coated steal use a magnet on the bare center of the coax and if it sticks it is copper coated steal or other alloy which is more prone to corrosion.

Had a problem similar to yours and it was driving me nuts trying to find the problem. I changed everything the lnb, new coax etc. come to find out a very small piece of the copper coated coax I was using at the time had broken off in the grounding block causing loss and intermittent signal. Changed the grounding block and all was well in addition to going to the solid copper center coax.

This could very well be the problem as my dish receives full sun in the morning and early afternoon. I have a solid copper core but will check the connections. I will also tune in 119 with another dish I had set up previously for 91 for any differences. This will have to wait for another day as it is currently raining and Daddy is about celebrate Fathers Day by taking a nap before catching the last round of the U.S. Open with a few pints. I'll post my findings once completed.

[Terryl]

Elevation for 119 is aprox. 10 feet



This could very well be the problem as my dish receives full sun in the morning and early afternoon. I have a solid copper core but will check the connections. I will also tune in 119 with another dish I had set up previously for 91 for any differences. This will have to wait for another day as it is currently raining and Daddy is about celebrate Fathers Day by taking a nap before catching the last round of the U.S. Open with a few pints. I'll post my findings once completed.


No I meant the elevation above the horizon in degrees, you can find that on dishpointer.com.

Did you get any fade out this morning when it was raining?

[countysat]

Problem solved. The original 10+ year old crimped connectors on both 119 and 110 were a little loose and showing signs of corrosion. I cut back a couple of inches of coax to get some fresh copper, put on new compression fittings and took a metal brush to the lnb thread. Reconnected everything and signal has been over 95% the last 36 hours on all problem transponders.

[Terryl]

Ahhhh, good thing it was something simple.

Get some dielectric grease for coax connections, (make sure it's for RF connections) it will save you some trouble, next time.....

[D-troit]

Problem solved. The original 10+ year old crimped connectors on both 119 and 110 were a little loose and showing signs of corrosion. I cut back a couple of inches of coax to get some fresh copper, put on new compression fittings and took a metal brush to the lnb thread. Reconnected everything and signal has been over 95% the last 36 hours on all problem transponders.

Glad to see you found the problem. Corrosion, bad connectors or short in the coax will cause most of the problems with intermittent sat signals. Now with the invent of IKS it is more important than ever to make sure a sat installation is done correctly from the start taking into account the added problems you may have with connection to your modem, router and internet and pixalation problems you may be getting from a server, troubleshooting becomes much more difficult.

I noticed you are using a DP34 switch with a grounding block. The DP34 switch can also be used as a grounding block eliminating the need for the extra connections for the grounding block if it is feasible for you to do so. The less connections you have the better off you will be down the road.

Nice job on troubleshooting your problem.