Power And A/V Cable Connections

• It's always best to start with the most obvious fixes before diving into more difficult troubleshooting tasks. Try looking for loose or disconnected cables. Is the satellite receiver's power cord disconnected from the wall outlet or surge protector? Also, check the A/V cable. A/V cables have two sets of prongs, one on either end of the cable. Each set has one white, one red and one yellow prong, and these plug into color-matching A/V ports. One set of prongs plugs into a set of A/V ports on the back of the receiver, and the other set of prongs plugs into A/V ports on the back of your television. Make sure none of these prong-to-port connections were accidentally switched up.
  
  

Satellite Dish to Receiver Connection

• If your satellite dish is incorrectly connected to your receiver, you will have no chance of enjoying satellite TV programming. The connection between the two is made using the coaxial cable, which runs from the back of the dish's mast into the port on the back of the receiver marked as "ANT IN." Take care to ensure the coaxial cable is in this port and that it is tightly fastened in, as it has a habit of coming loose. Also, it is recommended that you do not use a wire splitter on the coaxial cable. This will result in the signal being sent between the dish and the receiver to be greatly diminished.
  
  

Satellite Dish Calibration

• Even if your receiver and your satellite dish are correctly connected to one another, the dish itself must be pointed in the right direction. If the dish is not correctly calibrated, the receiver will not receive information from the dish and you will experience no satellite TV programming. The satellite receiver provides the tool to do this calibration via its signal meter screen. Select the "Signal Meter Screen" option from the receiver's main menu upon boot up. Have a friend remain with the meter screen and go outside to the satellite dish. Make slight up/down (elevation) adjustments to the dish, and wait five to seven seconds after each. The signal meter screen will inform your friend as to how close you are to hitting the right coordinates with your dish pointing. In the same way as the elevation adjustments, make azimuth (left/right) adjustments to the dish, again waiting five to seven seconds for meter screen updates. Eventually the screen will indicate you have correctly hit all coordinates, at which point the dish and receiver will work together to successfully provide satellite TV.