Audio & Video Signal Dropouts On Pvr's

[alwin]

I think I have read some part of a topic a while ago that some makes of pvr's have a problem with sound and video signals dropping out unexpectately and at random.

Is this a common problem with most makes of pvr's including the Topfield ?

I have a Mediastar PVR-820 which has had this problem from day one some 8 months ago. The problem improved with every upgrade of the firmware but still exists.

It is not my signal as it has been checked by 3 individual installers and I do not have this problem when I use the Austar decoder.

Does one have to live with this problem and accept it as the norm with pvr's ? I find it hard to believe taking into account the technology involved and that the reception is perfect for 99% of the time.

Is there a solution to this problem anyone ?

[dvduser]

Is there a solution to this problem anyone ?

Yeh, get your cabling checked and install shielded RG6 - check the FAQ's as well

[Anton-P.]

Yeh, get your cabling checked

Even after signal had been checked by 3 installers??

I thought they would have checked signal downstream of cable.

[alanh]

Alwin,

The most likely cause is the terrestrial TV signal since the Austar is ok.

Go to the Geographic Viewers’ Forum, which is near the bottom of the main forum’s home page. Select your region and read the pinned post “Get the Best Reception”. Please post any further correspondence in this strand for all in your region to see. I will see it anyway. You could also search your location in that strand for others in your area.

AlanH

[mtv]

alwin,

I would agree with alanh that the problem is most likely a signal/interference issue.

Do you have the antenna cable connecting directly to the PVR and not through any other device first?

When you say you have had your signal checked by three installers, can you post what the signal measurements were that they read? eg: Digital channel power and channel BER (Bit Error Rate) for each of your channels.

It is always helpful if you mention your location.

[ozdoc]

Is this a common problem with most makes of pvr's including the Topfield ?

I've had my Toppy 5000 for about 3 years, and only once have had a signal drop out - that being with the mother of all thunderstorms directly overhead.

So I agree with the other posters, it's more likely to be signal / interference issues.

[GSpot]

My old STB used to dropout all the time. T'wasn't random though. Any time a light was switched off, the fridge door was closed, microwave oven turning off etc, etc, etc.

Now I have a Toppy HDPVR.

Nuff said.

[FlashGordon]

I think I have read some part of a topic a while ago that some makes of pvr's have a problem with sound and video signals dropping out unexpectately and at random.

Is this a common problem with most makes of pvr's including the Topfield ?

I have a Mediastar PVR-820 which has had this problem from day one some 8 months ago. The problem improved with every upgrade of the firmware but still exists.

It is not my signal as it has been checked by 3 individual installers and I do not have this problem when I use the Austar decoder.

Does one have to live with this problem and accept it as the norm with pvr's ? I find it hard to believe taking into account the technology involved and that the reception is perfect for 99% of the time.

Is there a solution to this problem anyone ?

Once I got a new antenna, repositioned and new cabling - the drop outs on channel 10 stopped....but don't get any on other channels.

Now don't have any drop-outs whatsover - with the Tosh.

However, the Strong HD PVR - was a different animal - this had audio drop-outs from day 1 on all channels - so sent that back and its being replaced.

FG

[alwin]

alwin,

I would agree with alanh that the problem is most likely a signal/interference issue.

Do you have the antenna cable connecting directly to the PVR and not through any other device first?

When you say you have had your signal checked by three installers, can you post what the signal measurements were that they read? eg: Digital channel power and channel BER (Bit Error Rate) for each of your channels.

It is always helpful if you mention your location.

Thanks for the reply. The cable goes directly from the dish to the pvr, no other connections in between except the conncection at the dish just below the LNB. This is where they connected their signal meters.

If it was signal interefrence or bad cabling how come the dropouts did not occur on the Austar decoder ? The installers where twice by Austar and the third by an independent and none gave me any technical readouts. All just said the signal is good. The qulity signal bar on the pvr shows a constant signal at 95% but does drop down to 93% for a split second.

[jokiin]

I think most people have assumed you were having issues with FTA DVB-T, I guess they may have missed the reference to Austar in your original post.

It could be a compatibility issue with the Mediastar and Austar pay TV, a bit hard to compare if you don't have an Austar supplied PVR for comparison, this is not normal behavior for PVR's with pay TV, the Foxtel supplied IQ PVR does not have this problem. I'm not sure what Austar are using but it if they are still using IRDETO encryption it could be something as simple as them rolling the keys and the box not doing this seemlessly that is causing the hiccups, could be the CAM, hard drive issue perhaps.

Other users of this box don't seem to be having issues so it does look like it may be a hardware issue, this is perhaps a good place to look for further info http://www.austech.info/forumdisplay.php?f=9

[Refidim]

Thanks for the reply. The cable goes directly from the dish to the pvr, no other connections in between except the conncection at the dish just below the LNB. This is where they connected their signal meters. All just said the signal is good. The qulity signal bar on the pvr shows a constant signal at 95% but does drop down to 93% for a split second.

The 820 PVR does both satellite (pay tv) and terrestrial. Whilst watching terrestrial the card decoder will not update the keys, when you change back to Austar it needs a few second to update the Austar card. Dropout whilst watching Austar live does happen when it rains. In heavy rain you get "No Signal" banner. Happens on the Austar box too. My 820 working fine with Selectv.

[mtv]

The cable goes directly from the dish to the pvr, no other connections in between except the conncection at the dish just below the LNB. This is where they connected their signal meters.

Thanks for the heads-up jok11n. I had indeed presumed it was a FTA terrestrial problem, as the OP said Austar was ok.

alwin, could you please clarify exactly which you are having the droputs on.. Digital terrestrial FTA, Austar Satellite, or both.

You only mentioned signal measurements being taken directly from the LNB, so this would only concern Austar satellite. Measurements at the LNB only would not indicate if there were any cable/connection faults between the LNB and your receiver. Measurements should have been taken where the cable enters your PVR. Unfortunately, you can't go by meters/graphs in receivers as they are not accurate and do not display actual dBuV readings.

Do you also have a terrestrial antenna connected to your PVR? If so, is it designed for digital channels, with no band 1 & 2 elements? Does it have an amplifier and/or more than one outlet connected to it?

It could be possible a terrestrial antenna is picking up impulse noise, allowing it to enter the tuner.

It is interesting to note that you said the problem has improved with firmware updates, so it's also possible, as mentioned, that there is a slight incompatibility problem with your PVR receiver as opposed to the Austar box.

[dischucker]

I think the problem may be an issue with the Mediastar unit itself. I have the DT-920 and it also suffers from sound dropouts regularly and video glitches semi-regularly, despite having perfect reception and new cabling . A number of Mediastar owners have reported that upgrading the hard drive to a bigger and faster (more cache) model has resulted in these glitches disappearing. So I think the problems is that that the PVR can't write to the drive fast enough, when recording.

[Refidim]

Ideal Power 40 to 70% if over 70% may be overdriving the tuner. Remove boosters

Quality 90 to 95%. any slight fluctuation will give you dropouts even at the higher level.

Cross modulation from other devises can also cause dropouts. RG6 Quad shield from the antenna through to the box including the flylead usually fixes the problem. Avoid looping the antenna via VCR or DVD.

A typical confirmation of this scenario is when you get dropouts on some channels whilst other are OK

Brief dropout can also accrue when the autodelete removes a file from HDD.

[alwin]

Thanks for the heads-up jok11n. I had indeed presumed it was a FTA terrestrial problem, as the OP said Austar was ok.

alwin, could you please clarify exactly which you are having the droputs on.. Digital terrestrial FTA, Austar Satellite, or both.

You only mentioned signal measurements being taken directly from the LNB, so this would only concern Austar satellite. Measurements at the LNB only would not indicate if there were any cable/connection faults between the LNB and your receiver. Measurements should have been taken where the cable enters your PVR. Unfortunately, you can't go by meters/graphs in receivers as they are not accurate and do not display actual dBuV readings.

Do you also have a terrestrial antenna connected to your PVR? If so, is it designed for digital channels, with no band 1 & 2 elements? Does it have an amplifier and/or more than one outlet connected to it?

It could be possible a terrestrial antenna is picking up impulse noise, allowing it to enter the tuner.

It is interesting to note that you said the problem has improved with firmware updates, so it's also possible, as mentioned, that there is a slight incompatibility problem with your PVR receiver as opposed to the Austar box.

Thanks mtv for the reply. These dropouts mostly occur with Austar sattelitte reception. But I do sometimes get this on FTA as well, but very seldom.

The FTA antenna comes from a splitter within an amplifier, as I have 3 other tvs in my home, and connect to the pvr. I think the FTA antenna is the correct one as I have very good reception and have been using a digital STB for 2 years.

I think there is something wrong with the pvr, but funny when this started I had the pvr swopped by my supplier and this problem was the same in a new pvr. So I took back my old pvr which had newer firmware and had fewer dropouts.

I have taken this issue up with OPAC and their comment was "we have about 2000 of these units out there and you are the only one that has this problem" I am confused that is why I need to know if this occurs with other Mediastar or any other pvrs.

[alwin]

I think the problem may be an issue with the Mediastar unit itself. I have the DT-920 and it also suffers from sound dropouts regularly and video glitches semi-regularly, despite having perfect reception and new cabling . A number of Mediastar owners have reported that upgrading the hard drive to a bigger and faster (more cache) model has resulted in these glitches disappearing. So I think the problems is that that the PVR can't write to the drive fast enough, when recording.

Do you know if anybody has upgraded the harddrive on the 820 ? And if so did it help like on the 920 ?

Also will this really help my problem because I get the dropouts while watching. In other words does the harddrive work and write files during normal reception ?

[dischucker]

Do you know if anybody has upgraded the harddrive on the 820 ? And if so did it help like on the 920 ?

Also will this really help my problem because I get the dropouts while watching. In other words does the harddrive work and write files during normal reception ?

I don't know of anyone upgrading the HDD on the 820. Try searching for it or failing that post the same question in one of the existing Mediastar 820 threads.

But there's not much to loose doing the upgrade anyway, as it doesn't void your warranty, and for $125 for the 300GB model, will double your storage.

[Refidim]

Do you know if anybody has upgraded the harddrive on the 820 ? And if so did it help like on the 920 ?

Also will this really help my problem because I get the dropouts while watching. In other words does the harddrive work and write files during normal reception ?

• How many dropouts do you get in a day or hours?
  
• What power and quality do you get on CNN?
  
• Do you get any fluctuation on the quality level ?
  

My 820 doesn't have dropout and since you had a 2nd box exhibiting dropouts it's not likely to be the box. When my kids play their slot car racing the picture is tiling up. Try turning off a few appliances in the house see if it makes a difference.

[alwin]

• How many dropouts do you get in a day or hours?
  
• What power and quality do you get on CNN?
  
• Do you get any fluctuation on the quality level ?
  

My 820 doesn't have dropout and since you had a 2nd box exhibiting dropouts it's not likely to be the box. When my kids play their slot car racing the picture is tiling up. Try turning off a few appliances in the house see if it makes a difference.

Dropouts varies from about 2 to 4 times say during watching a movie of 1.5 hours on Austar. I have about one clear movie in ten. Most get interrupted.

Power(strength) stays at an average of 67%, varies between 67 and 70% on CNN.

Quality stays at 95%, and occasionally drops to 94 to 93%, but only for a second or two.

I will try your last suggestion. I have my FTA antenna looping through a HDSTB and then into the PVR. I hardly ever use this STB. Maybe I should get rid of this loop ?