DirecTV B Band Converters?

[SkyKing4AR2]

The other day, the DirecTV would not fire up and while it was on, I noticed one of the B band converters (I had no idea what they were until later) had spun itself loose from the cable. I plugged it back in, but since then have had all kinds of goofy problems. 

I am assuming that when I plugged it back in hot, it took a little shot and scrambled its brains, so I ordered not one, but two new ones (since I have two installed) and hope that will solve the problem.

The question in the meantime is, do I have to have BOTH installed to get the program guide download and watch my channels? I had it working (kinda) with one swapped to the other side, but now I cannot get anything to behave as expected. I cannot channel select at all.

It's always something. 

Obviously, this is not life threatening but just another opportunity to understand and troubleshoot all the wires and whistles in the coach.

 

[BobNSam]

I would recommend calling DirecTV tech support. They have been quite good to me in the past. Bad B-band converter shouldn't cause goofy problems, should just cause missing programming channels.

 

[SargeW]

I am curious why you need the converter at all Kim.  Is it because of your location, or the equipment you have?  I use no such equipment in the rig or the stick house.

 

[Jeff3]

A system using the Slimline LNB and receiving HD will need the converters to receive some of the frequencies on Direct's 99 and 101 sats. SD and the newer SWM systems do not require the filter and some receivers/DVRs like the HR23 have the filter built in.

 

[Jeff3]

Kim:


Did you do a reset after switching the filters around? IIRC the guide data comes in on input 1 so if you took the good filter off 1 and installed it on two it might have caused the problem. Putting it back on 1 and setting up the receiver for one LNB should resolve that.

 

[SargeW]

Got it Jeff, thanks.  There is HD in the stick house, but not in the RV.  Too cheap to pony up for the HD dish.......

 

[SkyKing4AR2]

Did you do a reset after switching the filters around? IIRC the guide data comes in on input 1 so if you took the good filter off 1 and installed it on two it might have caused the problem. Putting it back on 1 and setting up the receiver for one LNB should resolve that.

Yes, I do the resets pretty regularly since we move so much. And we do have the HD DVR receiver with a Winegard Travel'r setup.

So if I understand the LNB thing, if I just use one I cannot record one channel and watch another? I was a little reluctant to change the settings much, but with a little guidance from smarter people, I would not be. 

I also have DNS which may be another part of this. It seems I can get the guide, or parts of it, and not the channels, or vice versa.

The one bad converter (or what I think is a bad converted and don't have a replacement for), once it was swapped, did alter the results. Like a dummy, though, I did not mark the bad converter with a piece of tape or something, and have crossed my hands several times.

 

[BobNSam]

A system using the Slimline LNB

and a multiswitch

and receiving HD will need the converters to receive some of the frequencies on Direct's 99 and 101 sats. SD and the newer SWM systems do not require the filter and some receivers/DVRs like the HR23 have the filter built in.

HR23 has built in B-Band converter and when doing setup with Winegard SK3005 will state on screen the B-Band Converters not required. HR24 does not have built in B-Band converter and when doing setup with Winegard SK3005 will state on screen the B-Band Converters are required for use with the multiswitch. I do not know of the latest Genie system requires converters or not. You will also lose half of your DNS and many of your other channels off the 119 Sat as well.
You can ask me how I know this  :-\ . That is also how I became friendly with DirecTV tech support

 

[DakotaRed]

Hi Kim,
The B-band converters allow you to view many of the HD stations.  Not having a B-band converter should only affect the HD channels.  It has nothing to do with the number of LNBs.  Every tuner coming from the SK3005 needs a B-band converter or equivalent.  The standard SK3005, connected to an HR24 (DVR with 2 tuners) need 2 B-band converters.  This is because you need one for each tuner.

Now there are situations where you don't need the B-band converters.  There are some units as has been pointed out that have it built in.  There are some dishes, and possibly new DirectTV dishes that have a multiswitch built in.  Even if it is not built in, you can buy one (as a kit with the power inverter, etc.) like the SWM8, and then have up to 8 connections to different units.  Strangely, you only need one connection to the HR24 with this setup, but it still takes up 2 slots out of the eight.  What is good about this, is you can have a single coax from the front of the coach to the bedroom, and still be able to hook up a DVR (although again, it will take up 2 slots).

Did you get everything hooked up with all the parts you wanted, like the hdmi switch?

 

[SkyKing4AR2]

I spent an hour with a DirecTV guy who claimed I did not need to B band converters, changed my dish type away from the Travl'er, and we took them off. The receiver worked for a little while and it would not pick up HD stations as expected. I then reinstalled the B band converter for the primary tuner and got that particular line working after changing the dish type back. I also reset the DirecTV to use a single tuner. All my functions, channels, etc. are working.

Leaving the B band converter off the second tuner, however, still results in no signal on tuner 2 when configured as a dual tuner.

The question is now whether I actually have a signal on the line or if the receiver's tuner 2 has gone out.

Is there a quick multimeter test that I can run on the cable to prove I have a signal coming down the line? (and I am not a multimeter genius, so you better provide step by step, foolproof information  )

 

[Jeff3]

Leave the filter on #1 and hook the #2 coax to it. if you get a signal it is the filter or receiver and if you don't you have a problem in the coax (Usually one of the connectors) or in the second filter. While you have a good signal on #1 try putting the second filter on that line, that should resolve the filter.

 

[SkyKing4AR2]

Jeff,

I thought only one of the cables was the primary cable? that was the gist of what I thought the conversation with the DirecTV tech was...I had them backwards.

Are you saying either cable should deliver the same signal?

Kim

 

[Jeff3]

It does on our Slimline. I am parked under our roof so I am not sure about the Kingdome.

 

[SkyKing4AR2]

We have a Winegard Trav'ler so I will give that another shot, now that I know where all the setup is located.

 

[Quillback 424]

With a Genie system (HR-34 essentially) a SWM-8 is used between the Trav'ler and Genie. Then, a C-31 client is used between Genie and a second TV at the TV location and again for a each additional TV. A client is not needed at the primary TV and B-Band converters are not used at all.

 

[DakotaRed]

The Travl'er Slimline SK3005 at least as of last year, does not have a built in SWM8.  There are four ports that can come from the dish, none of which are considered PRIMARY (or maybe you would say that they are all PRIMARY).  So for my personal hookup, I have three coax lines coming from the dish.  Two go to the DVR HR24, and the third coax to the bedroom receiver which is not a dvr, a H24, and only needs one coax. Every tuner with this configuration needs a B-band converter  So my HR24 gets 2 B-band converters, and my H24 gets the third.


If I wanted to switch to using a SWM-8 I would first have to run the fourth coax from the roof dish, because it requires all four connections to the SWM-8 input.  You can now throw away your B-band converters, because you no longer need them with the SWM-8. This now gives you eight outputs to tuners.  You only have to run one coax to the DVR even though it had two tuners, but it takes up 2 of the 8 output slots.  I'm thinking of switching to using a SWM-8 but I have to run the fourth coax into the coach first. Then I could have a DVR in the bedroom without having to run an additional coax from the front of the coach to the bedroom.

 

[Jeff3]

Larry:


I am planning on putting a SK-3005 on our m/ h next month with exactly that configuration. I do have an early beta version of Whole House run entirely over Ethernet that allows watching shows recorded on the front HR-22 on the bedroom receiver.

 

[DakotaRed]

Larry:

I am planning on putting a SK-3005 on our m/ h next month with exactly that configuration. I do have an early beta version of Whole House run entirely over Ethernet that allows watching shows recorded on the front HR-22 on the bedroom receiver.

I am very interested in your final hookup details, Jeff.  The whole-house thing is appealing, and one of the reasons I am considering switching to the SWM-8 style hookup.

 

[Jeff3]

I was able to install whole house myself when it was in beta mode and Directv allowed those of us who were running it over Ethernet to keep it as long as we agreed to pay them and expect no tech support for it.


They now require one of their techs to install it before they will activate it and I am not sure they will work with our RV installations. Perhaps someone here has tried to get it done.

 

[Quillback 424]

Jeff:

I had A-Z Mobile RV Repair do my install (see my recent post on this PC forum) of the entire system and Direct TV did the final remote initiation after the Genie was installed. They had no problem and, in fact, the installer of my S/B D-TV system provided me with the phone number and programming steps for the initiation. I had also talked to a full timer who had A-Z install the SK dish for his RV Dish network.

I don't know anything about pre Genie and pre SK satellite systems but I feel the need to just say that you may want to ensure yourself of a couple of things before you arrive for the install.

- Is your wiring Cat 6 or above; if it's only Cat 5 something, will it work?
- I believe the C-31 client does not have the ports for Cat 6 in and out or HDMI in and out. I did Cat 6 in and HDMI out to the TV and just ignored the client video out.
- If you go with Genie, it requires a new power inserter. Don't use the one from a previous receiver.
- Are your TV's compatible with D-TV's RF controllers? My Vizeo's are not so I need the Vizeo controller for volume control. I haven't checked with D-TV or Vizeo to see if there is an update available.
- There is an issue of premium channel incompatibility with wiring being a security issue currently being discussed on this forum -- I don't understand it yet but you may want to look it up.
- My Vizeo's will only display 1080i and not 1080p; of course, my S/B install with an HR-24 is only 1080i into a 55" Samsung and I haven't checked to see if the Samsung will do 1080p -- can't imagine a better picture.
- If you go with Genie you will love getting rid of all the other receivers and/or recorders and operating the entire system from any TV.