Forums > Specific Focus > Technical Mexico

tsanford

Jul 7, 2009, 3:55 PM

Post #1 of 25 (14477 views)

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Star Choice (Shaw)`

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We've been away for two months. Our Star Choice was working fine. We disconnected
the receiver to protect from lightening. Now we can't acquire the satellite and the signal
strength is only 25. Disconnecting the coax at the satellite makes no difference. Does
anyone know if the LNB could have gone bad?

johanson / Moderator

Jul 7, 2009, 5:19 PM

Post #2 of 25 (14461 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Boy. I don't know what could be wrong. I guess I would check the cables, connections, check whether branches have grown in front of the dish what have you.

If you are pointing at both Anik F-1R and Anik F-2 have you checked signal strength on both. I too was gone for almost 2 months on Vancouver Island and in Seattle, Everything is working fine in for me in Ajijic

taltman711

Jul 8, 2009, 6:40 AM

Post #3 of 25 (14433 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Any time the signal reception changes, you should first check the basics.
1. Has the dish moved slightly or gotten loose. It may need to be re-pointed and tightened.
2. With the rainy season, connections all along the cable need to be checked, and replaced if any water or corrosion is noted.
3. Things can grow pretty quickly during rainy times, so make sure line of sight has not been compromised. Remember that line of sight is actually higher than where the dish appears to be pointed.
4. Check any and all switches and the RG 6. You can run a temp. cable to the receiver bypassing switches and see if things get better. Then isolate the problem by adding things back one at a time. If you have no switches, this will still tell you if the existing cable run is bad.
5. I don't have Shaw, but if I remember correctly, the receiver needs to have the correct software for the particular LNB set up you have. The receiver may have lost those settings and require a re-hit. Correct me if I am wrong.
6. LNB's do go bad, but try 1-4 first. If no joy, perhaps you can borrow a similar LNB and switch out.
7. If still having problems, try a borrowed receiver.
8. If still having issues, call a tech.
My bet would be a dish alignment problem. However, I never seem to win more bets than I lose in Las Vegas, so take it for what it is worth

Tim

tsanford

Jul 8, 2009, 7:36 AM

Post #4 of 25 (14425 views)

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Re: [johanson] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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What is you signal strenght. I tried adjusting the dish again and got the strenght up to 39 buy
it still doesn't get channels. Says there temporarily unavailble which is what it was saysing when
I first turned the system on after returning from out trip.
How do I check both satellites? I don't see anything in the menu for selecting them. I have a
DSR 317.

tsanford

Jul 8, 2009, 7:38 AM

Post #5 of 25 (14424 views)

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Re: [taltman711] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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I've done what you suggested. Isolated to a short know good(works with Dish Network) cable and adjusted
the dish again. Now I'm getting a strenght of 39 but still not getting channels. Says they are temporarily unavailable.

johanson / Moderator

Jul 8, 2009, 7:55 AM

Post #6 of 25 (14416 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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If you disconnect your system too long, you need to call Star Choice for a re-hit. I don't know what kind of satellite dish you have but with the large Star Choice 75 E dish (36.5 by 26.5 inches) I'm getting a signal strength of around 50 along the shores of Lake Chapala. 39 sounds a little low and it would not take much rain for you to loose the signal.

As I recollect when you need a re-hit from Star Choice, you can still pick up a couple of channels to include channel 200. If you get no channels then it is not a re-hit issue.

You very well may be pointing at only one satellite. Much of what is on the second one and requires different equipment is in either french or HD.

If you were pointing at the second satellites, that many folks don't point at, you would get signals on such channels as those between 280 and 296. You wouldn't get a picture though, because you do not have an HD receiver

(This post was edited by johanson on Jul 8, 2009, 8:05 AM)

j64

Jul 8, 2009, 11:35 PM

Post #7 of 25 (14369 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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When there is power coming down and you can't correct with all that tech help you are getting, I think the little whatever on the dish that searches into the sky has failed, so have it checked for operation. My ? on the dish, whatever, had to be replaced and took the servicer 1-min to figure out and a ladder for the rest, another minute.
Also, it is very true if you shut down the electricity to your receiver, all the programming drops out and the receiver at each TV must be reprogrammed. Electricity shutdown gives you about 1-week, I hear, to get the receiver back on, working again. Otherwise you must reorder programming,

gbatrucks

Jul 12, 2009, 1:08 AM

Post #8 of 25 (14316 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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I had a similar prob. when I shut off a Dish receiver for a few weeks...the only channel I could get was NASA. If you can get ANY channel to work, just leave it on and, if your system is like Dish, after a while the rest of your channels may all become available.
"The trouble with life is there's no background music."

johanson / Moderator

Jul 12, 2009, 10:01 AM

Post #9 of 25 (14291 views)

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Re: [gbatrucks] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Yes, like DISH, you can simply plug in your receiver, if everything is working and wait for the next automatic hit from Star Choice. I once left a receiver connected that needed reauthorization from Star Choice connected, during a three months absence and when I got back, it was working. Now I'm not suggesting it takes three months for an automatic re-hit, but it could be several weeks or longer, or maybe the next day. With Star Choice you will always get some channels even without authorization or a hit from Star Choice. One of those channels is channel 200. I don't remember the others. So If channel 200 is coming in but not 98% of the others that suggests you need a re-hit or to just wait a long time. But if there is no channel 200, you've got other problems

tsanford

Jul 12, 2009, 11:31 AM

Post #10 of 25 (14277 views)

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Re: [johanson] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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I readjusted the dish and got the signal up to 40 on the status screen. I tried the hit-option on the Shaw
web site but no go. Then called them and once the tech did his magic it immediately came back on.
He said he had had complaints about the online option not working. We loose the picture during rain
storms but otherwise it's working. Do you have HD? I'm thinking of ordering one with a PVR but perhaps our
signal is too weak. Thanks for the help.

johanson / Moderator

Jul 12, 2009, 12:26 PM

Post #11 of 25 (14267 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Yes I have HD. In fact I can say that I had the first working star choice receiver in Mexico. How can I say the first? Well I might be tied for first. It was something like Feb 21, 2001 at 2 AM Monday morning. Using an 18 foot dish and a 4DTV digital C/Ku band receiver, I was watching as Star Choice activated the satellite. Later that day at maybe 9:30 AM Mike Merryman and Ed Linfoot (Lakeside satellite dealers) came to the house as we tried connecting a Star Choice receiver I had brought down with me the previous Christmas from Vancouver Island to a 2.4 meter dish. Of course it worked great.

Then maybe four years ago and that is a wild guess, Star Choice started broadcasting in HD. But from another satellite, located just to the west of the first one. I immediately picked up their HD500 receiver, the special dual LNB (electronics in front of the dish) and an elliptical dish that allows the special LNB to look at both satellites. Here lakeside using the Star Choice 75 E elliptical dish which is 36.5 inches wide by 26.5 inches, I'm getting a signal strength of 75 on the new HD bird and 47 on the satellite most of the Star Choice stations are on.

Could I be tuned in a little better? Maybe, but I've got no complaints. Today the basic HD receiver is not the 500 but the 505

Good luck.

BobC

Sep 1, 2009, 7:06 AM

Post #12 of 25 (14008 views)

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Re: [tsanford] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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I just now signed up for this excellent site. I hope this is the right spot for my question. My wife and I are going to the Lake Chapala area from Canada (Ontario) for the winter. We are switching to Shaw/StarChoice before we leave here so we can take advantage of the "home away from home" feature. My wife made a visit to the area in June and got the name(s) of the local agent(s) there and we wrote to them to see about getting the antenna installed on the house we have rented (with the permission of the landlord) and to inquire about whether it is better to get our dish there or bring one from here. Unfortunately, our emails have been returned as undeliverable. Can anyone provide an updated email address for the agents? Much appreciated if you can. Also, any comments on the adviseability of bringing a dish vs getting one there would also be welcome.

johanson / Moderator

Sep 1, 2009, 8:15 AM

Post #13 of 25 (14002 views)

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Re: [BobC] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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First, unless you have plenty of money, you want to bring the Star Choice (Shaw Direct) dish with you. They have two dishes, the 60 E and the 75 E. The 60 E is too small. Bring the 75 E with you along with the LNB and receiver and you will be in perfect shape. The only problem is the box the satellite dish comes in is big. While the 75 E, elliptical dish, is slightly smaller and measures 36.5 by 26.5 inches.

There are no Star Choice "Agents" here, but there are any number of satellite dealers down here who can install your satellite dish for you.

BobC

Sep 1, 2009, 6:02 PM

Post #14 of 25 (13971 views)

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Re: [johanson] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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That's terrific advice. Thanks so much! I am very glad I found this site. I will no doubt have reasons to use it again in the future--if not this forum, then one of the other ones. ... Bob

Flaekingur

Dec 2, 2009, 11:45 AM

Post #15 of 25 (12898 views)

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Re: [johanson] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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I am curious about how you call StarChoice/Shaw for a re-hit from a mexican phone number. I never had a problem with my Star Choice in Mexico but I often wondered how I would call from Mexico if I did. As I understand it, their licence does not allow them to provide service outside Canada and I assumed that if you called them from a US or Mexican area code they might cut you off.
Al

Rolly

Dec 2, 2009, 12:11 PM

Post #16 of 25 (12888 views)

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Re: [Flaekingur] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Use Skype or other VoIP that would not have a phone number to show.

Rolly Pirate

taltman711

Dec 2, 2009, 2:33 PM

Post #17 of 25 (12868 views)

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Re: [Flaekingur] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Check Shaw's "Home Away From Home" program. Though modified about a year ago, it still allows you to travel with your receiver and use it in any area where you can receive a signal. You do not need to volunteer the information, but certainly if asked, you can state that you are in Mexico and need a re-hit. Certainly I would not volunteer that Mexico is your permanent address. Rolly's advice is really the best solution.

Tim

johanson / Moderator

Dec 2, 2009, 5:18 PM

Post #18 of 25 (12853 views)

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Re: [taltman711] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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All points made above are very important and very good. I remember one time phoning from Central America and asking dish pointing questions of a level two tech at Star Choice. No problem because they knew I was traveling with a satellite receiver and dish; They know that I do that when I come to Mexico. I'm a snowbird. I have also had to fax copies of utility bills from my Seattle address to make sure that I wasn't stacking, when I phoned to activate a receiver while in Seattle, the same receiver I have with me down here in Mexico.

The important thing is that I have a legal address in Canada (Vancouver Island) and that I am not sharing my account (stacking) with others. And that I am paying full price, not splitting the signal and costs with a neighbor

(This post was edited by johanson on Dec 2, 2009, 5:23 PM)

j64

Dec 3, 2009, 10:22 AM

Post #19 of 25 (12821 views)

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Re: [johanson] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Now and then I need advice about things I'll never understand: My dealer stuck me with two nice Starchoice receivers that I must dispose of. Can these be sold Ajijic-Chapala? What do I represent? What value?

johanson / Moderator

Dec 3, 2009, 11:26 AM

Post #20 of 25 (12812 views)

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Re: [j64] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Do you have a residence in Canada? Are these receivers tied to an address in Canada? Or were these receivers part of a stacking scheme where several different persons were sharing the same real or phony Canadian address?

Gosh I sound like a cop from the CRTC (FCC). I don't mean to do so. But I can't very well know what to tell you until I know the status of these receivers.

Good luck.

j64

Dec 3, 2009, 1:05 PM

Post #21 of 25 (12799 views)

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Re: [johanson] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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So what do you advise to do with the receivers, for which there was a fat deposit? ( Sure, didn't know at the time they were part of what you call a "stacking" scheme. I have been able to pay that bill with the other stacks all gone, and I plan to abandon StarChoice for year end. I learned the antenna on the roof, a large non-starchoice make can't really be transported off the roof and it looks like Starchoice can't possibly work with the receivers unless tied to a friend in Canada, so I would like to wash my hands of the situation.)

taltman711

Dec 3, 2009, 1:49 PM

Post #22 of 25 (12791 views)

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Re: [j64] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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In Reply To

If I understand you correctly, you have been paying the Shaw bill every month by yourself. Has the account been canceled, or is it still active? If currently active, when you cancel, ask them to release the receivers from your account. They can then be sold and activated by anyone, assuming there is no balance on the account. Of course, the account has to be in your name. I don't know how the outfit from which you had service did their account ownership. Shaw does require a verification of transfer from the current owner of record. Either a phone call from the telephone number on that account, or a letter from the owner stating that permission is given for the transfer. So, if the owner of record is not you, you cannot provide a transfer verification to the new owner. The receivers can't be activated into another account. You can always call Shaw to find out exactly what the procedure is, and you may get lucky. What have you got to lose? As far as value, see e-bay for your receiver model and what they have recently sold for. You can probably add a bit since they are more expensive in Mexico.

Tim

Scottm

Dec 6, 2009, 7:33 AM

Post #23 of 25 (12695 views)

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Re: [BobC] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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Couple of points to remember: Starchoice recievers that have been idle for an extended period can be 'hit' (activated)
directly from the Starchoice / Shaw website. No need for phone calls. Just put it on '299' and access your account for
instructions on getting a 'hit'.
Best to bring a '75E' dish and LNB with you if your driving. Take the thing out of the box, and it gets down to
much more manageable bit to stuff into the car. The dish itself can even be strapped to the roof of the car if your
interior space is tight.

taltman711

Dec 7, 2009, 10:36 AM

Post #24 of 25 (12649 views)

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Re: [Scottm] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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In Reply To

I think you are confusing activation and authorization. You must first activate the receiver to your account. Then the receiver must be authorized to receive the programming that you have paid for. You can't just get a re-hit (authorization) and have the new receiver pick up your programming. The receiver must be tied to your account (activated) first. Each receiver is tied to an account, and must be released from that account by the account-holder of record. Shaw will not activate it to another account without this permission.

Tim

Scottm

Dec 7, 2009, 5:54 PM

Post #25 of 25 (12623 views)

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Re: [taltman711] Star Choice (Shaw)`

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You seem to have misunderstood my post. I was just trying to be helpful, with suggesting the nifty option
that Starchoice / Shaw has enabled on their website. Since my post assumed the client had 'an account', they
would be familiar with the obvious ramifications as Starchoice clients.
As a world-class supplier of out-of-this-world entertainment, the folks at Shaw have not fallen into the rut that
Bell has: ...."your call is important to us....please hold until hell freezes over"...
Just a nice touch from Shaw. Thanks guys....your not perfect, but your away ahead of your competition.