mike528 said:
After several days of good weather, fairly heavy rains have returned in my area. I noticed last night that my Starz HD, 261 and 262, and the other channels mentioned, 206, 226, and 229, suddenly stopped working again. On some of them I will sometimes get picture briefly, but it quickly freezes up. The channels are not watchable.
I checked signal strength -- I am getting about 69-71 on those channels, but about 80-82 on other HD channels. So I am guessing that I have lower signal strength on those channels to begin with, and the rain really degrades it to the point where I lose the picture completely. I will see if they come back, and measure my signal strength on them in good weather when it stops raining.
Unfortunately, I can't get onto my roof to take out the diplexor or change LNBs -- I would have to have Voom make a service call for that. I wonder if changing to a larger dish (I have the basic 18" model) would help. I haven't had time to call customer service about it yet, but will try that tonight. If nothing else, I want them to have a record of the problem so that I can build the case for getting a service visit, if that is necessary.
If the problem is that those channels alone are on a different polarity, then I wonder why they don't change the polarity to make it the same as the other channels? Wouldn't that be easier than replacing a lot of customers' LNBs and diplexors?
One has to wonder if Voom will look at ALL the pros and cons when they review how this diplexor solution is doing.
Pros with diplexor.
Less install cost since only one cable has to be run (if the Sat dish and OTA antenna are close to each other).
Cons.
Cost of diplexor (most likely less than pulling the extra cable)
Call center load (poor customer service reps attempting to trouble shoot problems)
Cost of sending tech back out to customer to resolve problems like we see here.
Cost of sending tech back out to customer to fix OTA issues because OTA antenna was placed in a convinient place in regards to the diplexor and not in the optimal place for OTA reception.
Cost of replacement STB. Easiest solution from the customer service rep's point of view
Frustrated customers, difficult to put specific cost on this.
Mike,
In your case, since you loose all the channels on the alternate polarity, the culprits are IMO (and in order of what I think is likely);
1. Faulty Diplexor (perhaps installed incorrectly, perhaps replaced)
2. Faulty cable (perhaps a short)
3. Faulty LNB (LNB is same as DirecTv uses for SAT A and SAT B, yes the most common LNB)
4. Faulty STB (hmmmm)
5. Dish not peaked correctly
The STB uses two different voltages to make the LNB select the correct polarity. My guess is that for some reason, the LNB is not getting the correct voltage for those specific channels. That is why I always recommend removing the diplexor as a FIRST test.
Since they installed it on the roof (got to get the dish and antenna close
) I would call Voom immediately. Why pay for a service that is frustrating instead of enjoyable.
