I need your help. I set up my RCA ultimate TV receiver (DWD490RE) the other day. It worked fine. I was able to get two tuner signals, record to hard drive etc. Last night following playback of a recorded movie I lost all satellite signals to both tuners. I have two other direct TV receivers which worked fine at this time.

My system is set up with a RCA 3in 4 out multiswitch. I tried going back into the settings option and setting up the dish again. I have an oval dish with 2 LNB's. During set up I get good signal strength on both tuners using transponder 1. When I try to finish the set-up process (pressing done after getting good signal strength) one of the two tuners (it is random which one) gives me a "not locked" signal. I go to the advanced settings page and set-up with the multiswitch but I still have one of the tuners give me a "not locked" message when I try to finish. I can't bring up the guide or anything.

It's not a multiswitch problem since I am able to switch the outputs from the multiswitch for my other receivers and they get signal fine.

Is this a receiver problem? Should I exchange for a new one? Is there something else I should do?

Thanks

Dan, it sounds like the receiver to me, too. You have the right signals to the other receivers, so, unless there is a cabling problem (don't assume anything), it has to be within the receiver. You could try bringing one of the working receivers to this location as a final test.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

Flying blind on this as I don't have an Ultimate unit.

Is all of this happening with Transponder 1? If not, are you just getting the "not locked" return for channels on the EVEN NUMBER transponders? This is a common problem when the 18v output from the box doesn't get thru to the LNB (or in your case, probably to the switch) to change from the odd transponders to the even transponders.

One common cause of this is cabling, as Larry suggested. Check your connections to make sure they are tight and dry. Also check the connectors themselves - even one tiny filament of the sheathing touching the central conductor might be enough to cause this.

Of course, it COULD be a problem with the box not properly outputting the 18v correctly, in which case you have a bad unit. You should be able to check this with a multimeter -- 13v for odd transponders, 18v for even.

Try rebooting your system. Either pull the power cord for about 30 seconds and put it back in or "heaven forbid", pop your acess card out and put it back.
D.D.

I have seen the same problem on a Ultimate TV and it ended up being a bad port on the multiswitch, I went to another port, and it worked fine. I am on my second multiswitch also (5in/4out) for the same problem.