Does zero signal strength mean a broken cable?

Pride Of Cucamonga

Pride Of Cucamonga

Regular Member
My Satellite Setup
Cheap piece of junk Spanish (Tecatel) 120cm(x110) dish, Inverto Ultra twin LNB and Sky HD box.
My Location
Valencia (city)
Trying to connect to an old satellite system and getting zero signal strength. i suspect the cable has been cut ( it's an extremely long run and hard to tell), but the LNB arm is also damaged so the LNB might be off centre. The LNB is also very old.

Am i right in thinking that a connected lnb pointing at the floor would still give some signal strength? thanks

edit: is it possible to test the cable at the LNB end with a multimeter?
 
Pride Of Cucamonga said:
1. Am i right in thinking that a connected lnb pointing at the floor would still give some signal strength?

2. is it possible to test the cable at the LNB end with a multimeter?
Click to expand...

1. Most receivers do that, yes. (But I've had one receiver/firmware, that indicated signal strength zero as long as signal quality was still zero....)

2. Yes. Do the continuity check for the (disconnected!) cable: Measure resistance at one end of the cable with the other cable end open: resistance should be infinite.
Then short-circuit the other cable end, and the resistance at the one end should be near zero.
(You could also check, with receiver connected and switched on, if the 13 or 18 volt of the receiver reaches the LNB end of the cable. But be carefull: risk of causing a shortcircuit between core and 'earth' of the cable!)

Greetz,
A33
 
Also if the LNB is very old it could be dead, just plugging a new one in (after you check the coax first) should give you some sort signal indication.

All this assuming that the receiver is working, if it's very old and has been sitting for a long time, then it's possible that the power supply to the LNB may have problems, does it light up and give you some sort of a display on the TV?
 
Thanks both.

a33 said:
But I've had one receiver/firmware, that indicated signal strength zero as long as signal quality was still zero....)
Click to expand...
this turns out to be the case for my device, and it's definitely not the cable as testing with the multimeter at the LNB end showed13 volts. Think the LNB is knackered, it must be 20+ years old
 
Pride Of Cucamonga said:
... it's definitely not the cable as testing with the multimeter at the LNB end showed13 volts. Think the LNB is knackered, it must be 20+ years old
Click to expand...

If indeed the LNB is "not working¨, despite voltage arriving from the receiver, signal strength will evidently also be non-existent.

Good testing!

Greetz,
A33
 
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