bad or incompatible diseqc switch?

[orac]

Hi all,

I strapped a DSS LNB to the side of my universal linear LNB yesterday. Am using a Primestar dish with SG2100 motor and Lifetime receiver. Put a 4x1 diseqc 2.0 switch between the LNBs and motor, figured out the DSS needs a 5-1/2 degree offset, and everything was kinda working last night. By kinda, I mean both LNBs were working through the switch, but I had to go into setup and select the LNB power off then back on when I wanted to switch between LNBs.

This morning, I wake up and neither LNB is working, even using the LNB power trick. Can't receive any channels on any satellite. So, I go out and connect each LNB directly to the motor (bypassing the diseqc switch), and each works perfectly. This points to the switch being the problem, but I'm unsure if it's the fact it's a 2.0 switch versus a 1.2, or if it's just a bad switch. Or, are the terminators on the unused ports critical (I'm not using any - linear LNB is in port 2, DSS LNB is in port 3)? Am using 3-foot RG6 cable to/from the switch, versus a 6-foot RG6 cable when connecting the LNBs directly to the motor.

Also would like confirmation that an SW-22 could be used with the Lifetime instead of a diseqc switch. I think so, since the Lifetime seems to support 22kHz tone switching, but I'm unsure because I thought 22kHz is used for lower/upper band switching on the universal LNB. And which is better in this application, an SW-22 or a diseqc switch?

Obviously, I want to be able to switch between LNBs without having to move the cable between them, and ideally without having to go into the Lifetime's setup menu. (The Lifetime has version 2.19 firmware in it.)

Any help/advice appreciated.
____
Neil

[bobkat]

Sounds like the switch crapped out if it worked before and then stopped. Terminating the unused ports is not critical.

kat

Some switches are not good! some receivers just don't like switches or don't talk to them. Maybe both.

[orac]

Originally Posted by bobkat

Sounds like the switch crapped out if it worked before and then stopped. Terminating the unused ports is not critical.

Followup for all,

The fix was one of either flashing the receiver with the latest Fortec firmware (2.24) or plugging the two LNBs into ports 1 and 2 of the diseqc switch (rather than 2 and 3 as I originally had it). Seems to be working fine that way. Am loving the Sirius radio on Echo 7.

BTW, the latest firmware still hasn't fixed the clock problem, but has added a new option in the setup menu for "Screen Option". It's currently set to "on" - don't know what it does - haven't experimented with it. Anyone know?
___
Neil

[Skelp]

The screen option sets how the sytems acts when ya change channels.
If it's set to on you will see a black screen until the new channel comes in, if it's off you will see the previous channel until the new channel comes in. (I might have that backwards, but that's what it does).