Shaw Satellite TV

[Yarboro]

I have a Shaw Direct account in Ontario and use the same service here in Lakeside.  Last night the CTV High Definition channels 34 and 293 were breaking up badly in video and sound so I ran a system refresh on the Shaw website but with no success.

I then called Shaw support but they said they had no other complaints about that program and they were unable to correct the problem.  They did say that if the reception problem persisted they could send a technician out!

This morning when I tried these channels I got no reception whatsoever and it appears that they are the only ones affected.  Has anyone else experienced a problem of this nature and if so how was it resolved?

[El Cartero]

34 works fine, not subscribed to 293.  Weather?  Wind slightly moved your dish?  Mike Merryman or Mario would be with whom I'd touch base.

[johanson]

I hope you didn't mention that you are out of Canada. At one time those were grounds for halting your service..

It sounds that you are getting too weak a signal. Maybe it is your cable, maybe you need to phone Mike or Mario mentioned above at 766-1117 and they can come out and perhaps refocus (repoint) your satellite dish.  Good luck

 

[canmex87]

Both channels are working normally for us.

[Yarboro]

My thanks to those who responded.  Mysteriously, Channels 34 and 293 have returned to nearly 100% quality so I will wait awhile before taking any further action.

[lcscats]

10 hours ago, Yarboro said:

My thanks to those who responded.  Mysteriously, Channels 34 and 293 have returned to nearly 100% quality so I will wait awhile before taking any further action.

Some channels are stronger than others.  If your dish gets slighty tweaked (moved) lower power transmitters may not work in cloudy conditions to the south.  Clear sky channels  come back.  My dish is doing this now with CNN HD and Detroit PBS HD.   Usually if this is the problem re aiming the dish will correct.  We still have more clouds than normal now and than.  It also could be other things but check the dish first.

[snowyco]

5 hours ago, lcscats said:

Some channels are stronger than others.  If your dish gets slighty tweaked (moved) lower power transmitters may not work in cloudy conditions to the south.  Clear sky channels  come back.  My dish is doing this now with CNN HD and Detroit PBS HD.   Usually if this is the problem re aiming the dish will correct.  We still have more clouds than normal now and than.  It also could be other things but check the dish first.

 
If re-aiming the dish does not help,  consider cleaning the connection between the cable(s) and the LNB,  and clean the connection between the cable and the back of the receiver.

Even mild oxidation on the connectors & cable wire ends diminishes-degrades  some frequencies, while not affecting others,  especially with Shaw's broadcast frequiences.   The signal levels drop by 20% - 40% on some transponders (due to oxidation in connections)  while other transponders stay in the 90%+ signal strength range.

Some transponder's signals on our Shaw receiver drop roughly once a year,  and their signal strengths return to over 90% with connector cleaning. 

[RickS]

"Some transponder's signals on our Shaw receiver drop roughly once a year,  and their signal strengths return to over 90% with connector cleaning. "

Isn't that called 'living on the salty Gulf Coast' and hostile heat snowyco!?!

 

 

[snowyco]

RickS
Do you have a Shaw satellite system dish & receiver ?

We have had Dish, DirecTV and Shaw systems for over 10 years, here and in Colorado,  and all 3 of them experienced signal losses over time on selected frequencies/selected transponders, while other transponders remained above 90+% signal strengths,   where the selective losses recovered to normal signal strengths when cleaning   light oxidation** from the connections.

What are your experiences with satellite TV that would show that cleaning would not help ?

Realities: 
**Light oxidation on the surface of copper wires is not salt-driven, and happens both in dry Colorado & Mexico.

**Light oxidation is typically a thin grey film or slight brownish appearance, having nothing to do with salt.  

None of our systems have ever been close to salt air.

[lcscats]

My suggestion relates to low signal strength however nothing wrong with cleaning connections. Good point Snowco.  Another difference is real copper coax cable versus copper covered steel coax cable.  They behave differently in terms of corrosion or the ability to be pulled long distances thus the copper covered steel cable.  Coax is not created equal.

I find a dish tweak (repoint the dish)  twice a year prevents most problems with Shaw and the E75 Shaw dish especially after a brutal wind storm or people walking near your dish who bump it. It doesn't take much of a dish move to cause problems cause we are so far south.  You should be amazed that shaw works here at all considering how far south we are.

 

 

 

 

[snowyco]

Agreed.

I've only set up 3 Shaw systems in Mexico, but my experience fits lcscat's descriptions.   The Shaw signals sit in such a narrow tight alignment, that even small dish movements whack the Shaw signal strengths, especially when there are light clouds.

For people who want to compare their DirecTV, Sky, or Dish Network experiences,  Shaw satellite dish alignment is far more sensitive to minute mis-alignments than Dish, DirecTV or Sky, so lcscat's advice is solid,   but if re-alignment does not help,  cleaning connections at the back of the receiver is easy.   Cleaning the connections on the LNB is more challenging.

Shaw has an additional  quirk that does not exist with Dish Network et al:  The LNB/s rotational position (skew) also can dramatically affect our Shaw signal strengths in Mexico.   

[RickS]

3 hours ago, snowyco said:

RickS
Do you have a Shaw satellite system dish & receiver ?

We have had Dish, DirecTV and Shaw systems for over 10 years, here and in Colorado,  and all 3 of them experienced signal losses over time on selected frequencies/selected transponders, while other transponders remained above 90+% signal strengths,   where the selective losses recovered to normal signal strengths when cleaning   light oxidation** from the connections.

What are your experiences with satellite TV that would show that cleaning would not help ?

Realities: 
**Light oxidation on the surface of copper wires is not salt-driven, and happens both in dry Colorado & Mexico.

**Light oxidation is typically a thin grey film or slight brownish appearance, having nothing to do with salt.  

None of our systems have ever been close to salt air.

Jeeese, snowyco, don't get your panties in such a twist. My Post was actually with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. I actually LIKE Merida... just too hot in the summer for me.

But to answer some of your questions:  No, I've never had Shaw. Yes, I've had Dish and DirectTV for many years here in 'dry' Colorado. Never said that cleaning connectors might not help somewhere, but I've never once had to clean them here with perfect reception. Aren't you about 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico? Thought that 'air' might be affecting your electrical connections.... always did when I lived on the coast. But thanks for the lesson on the Realities of what salty air does not do to satellite connections.

 

[JayBearII]

Have Shaw TV and there ARE certain times when the connection is iffy--recently, this has been due to rain. Otherwise, I just attribute it to sun spots and go read a good book.

[snowyco]

1 hour ago, RickS said:

Jeeese, snowyco, don't get your panties in such a twist. My Post was actually with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. I actually LIKE Merida... just too hot in the summer for me.

But to answer some of your questions:  No, I've never had Shaw. Yes, I've had Dish and DirectTV for many years here in 'dry' Colorado. Never said that cleaning connectors might not help somewhere, but I've never once had to clean them here with perfect reception. Aren't you about 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico? Thought that 'air' might be affecting your electrical connections.... always did when I lived on the coast. But thanks for the lesson on the Realities of what salty air does not do to satellite connections.

 

 

Our DirecTV & Dish network systems in Colorado had minor connection oxidation problems after a few years.  

Oddly, we've  had more problems with our Shaw receiver connections at the back,  (inside the house),  with it selectively losing signal strength on some transponders but not others,  4 times in 6 years.  The Dish Network & Direct TV issues were at the LNB connections.  The Shaw dish sits in a 5 ft deep well on top of the house, so, it's well sheltered from winds.

[ComputerGuy]

Hmm, never had that kind of problem on any of a dozen Shaw setups.

But living near the ocean can cause problems with coax:

Effect of humidity and water vapour on coax cables

One of the biggest enemies for coaxial cable is that of water vapour. If it enters a coax cable then it can significantly degrade its performance, requiring the cable to be replaced. Moisture causes two main effects that give rise to an increase in the level of attenuation or loss in the cable. The first is an increase in resistive loss arising from oxidation of the braid that gives rise to an increase in the resistance of the braid or outer conductor in the coax cable. The second is an increase in the loss arising in the dielectric. Water absorbed into the dielectric heats up when power is passed along the coax cable. This heat is as a result of power loss in the cable.

Water vapour, or even water itself can enter the coax cable through a number of ways:

1. Through the termination of the coax cable (i.e. through connector or other termination method)
2. Through pin-holes in the jacket
3. By water vapour transmission through the jacket.

Read the whole thing, including information on salt, here: http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/antennas/coax/coax-environmental.php