12c error on dirdog usb 3.0

[paulls289]

has anyone been able to shed light on this issue? i am an installer with DIRECTV and alot of techs i work with have the same issue. just about all i ask have had the problem in some degree. i tried asking tech support on the birdog website but after 5 emails with no reply i gave up. i am hopeing someone on this site can give some information. it is a usb version 3.0 model and the issue im haveing is when i turn on the meter or change sats it flashes 12c and shuts down. any help or advice would be great. thanks paul

[bobkat]

I've had that before with one of my two Birdogs; one is a V2.0 and the other a V2.5. Can't remember which one did it but I found through trial and error it was caused by:

1) weak battery
2) very cold weather
3) short in the coax/LNB/connector
4) Splitter in the line

Hope this helps.

kat

PS: remove the F56 (or F59 if you use RG59) connector on the test cable from the input on the meter - you might notice little specks of metal on the meter's input connector. I believe this is caused by movement over time by the test coax being loosened and tightened all the time. The little metal specks will short out the center connector to ground. At least that is what I found. Clean off the meter's input connector.

[paulls289]

thanks for the response. i snuged up the terminal and it seems to be ok now. i hope thats all it was!

[bobkat]

Hope so too. Remember to snug up the test lead connector from time to time and also change the test lead at least every 6 months. I found that with all that flexing during installs the coax will eventually pull loose from the connector but you can't see it. This causes all sorts of problems.

kat