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DCX3400-M displays "hunt"

DMS100tech
Grasshopper

Hi, about 3 weeks ago all my 3 STB's DCX3400-M started to display  "hunt"  at times on the channel display, also there seems to be some issues with the Guide as some listings show "To be Announced"  Does any one have any ideas as to whats going on?

Thanks

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Finally - a solution - At about 11:00 service tech  arriv...

DMS100tech
Grasshopper

Finally - a solution - At about 11:00 service tech  arrived with bucket truck. He said that the F-connectors at the drop-amp were very corroded, He said that this corrosion was causing problems for the OOB signal that is running at 104.2 Mhz. As we have a FM station broadcasting at 104.1 Mhz the corroded F-connectors pick up this signal , which then  knocks the hell out of the OOB signal. He showed me Spectrum Analyzed signal which showed a  104.1 Mhz spike in my drop. After he replaced the F-connectors this spike was gone. Guess what the DCX3400's are now working. According to the tech they see this issue quite often. As my drop was RG-59 and was really old he replaced it also with RG-6.  Shaw is also working on a damaged RF cable in my area but which is not affecting OOB as previously posted.

Hope this post helps someone who might have a simiiar issue, also thanks to all who chimed in, its been a good learning experience.

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-- Shaw has a web-page listing "legacy" and "retired" STB...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

@DMS100tech -- Shaw has a web-page listing "legacy" and "retired" STBs. Is your device on the list?

If not, then contact Shaw Support (1-888-472-2222 or www.shaw.ca/chat ) for them to trouble-shoot your account & your connection.

 

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This is a signal issue, check your coax connections, rese...

rstra
Grand Master

This is a signal issue, check your coax connections, reseat them and make sure they are not loose. Since it is happening on all three boxes, it could be a problem with the signal coming in to the house, contact Shaw to troubleshoot, but it might require a service call.

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My next door neighbour who also has Shaw cable and 2 DCX3...

DMS100tech
Grasshopper

My next door neighbour who also has Shaw cable and 2 DCX3400-m  boxes is also experiencing the same issue. His and mine drops are fed from the same drop amp on pole, anyway I phoned Shaw support and they told me that the DCX3400 are at end of life and are not being activated any more, also that due to equipment  upgrades the OOB comunication channel seems to have been disabled on these, thats why these are "hunting" and trying to lock onto the OOB signal.  They told me I need to get newer STBs and that nothing can be done for the DCX3400's  They are not listed in the above link as being at their end of life.  My friends DCX3400 located in  west part of Saskatoon  are working just fine.

I own these STBs and I will not pay to buy or rent newer ones. If they don't solve this to my satisfaction I will be looking seriously at Sasktel Max service.  Shaw is sending a service  tech Tues afternoon just the verify if any cabling issues exist.

Thanks to all who replied, 

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There are so many things wrong with what that rep told yo...

rstra
Grand Master

There are so many things wrong with what that rep told you. Let us know how it works out with the service technician. 

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-- My friend's DCX3400 located in west part of Saskatoon...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

@DMS100tech -- My friend's DCX3400 located in west part of Saskatoon  are working just fine

I wonder what an "experiment" will reveal, namely taking one of your STBs to their location, and connecting it, to see if it still "hunts". If it does something other than "hunt", then let's hope that the Shaw Service Technician, tomorrow, can resolve the issue for your neighbour and for you.

> I will not pay to buy or rent newer ones

On my monthly Shaw invoice, there is both a rental charge and an offsetting "credit", reducing the rental-fee to "zero". 🙂

Every customer of "Shaw TV" is entitled to receive a STB, as part of the contract.

 

 

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taking the box over to their friends house would likely p...

rstra
Grand Master

@mdk taking the box over to their friends house would likely put the cable box in a different node and the 3400 wouldn’t come online.

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-- it is also likely that taking the box over to their fr...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

@rstra -- it is also likely that taking the box over to their friend's house would change the display from "hunt" to "auth" -- meaning "not authorized" on this node. If the box still reports "hunt", then I would ordinarily suspect that box, but since all THREE of  @DMS100tech  boxes are showing "hunt", this is not an "ordinary" situation.

 

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Hi,  Yes it is not an ordinary situation.   I had not men...

DMS100tech
Grasshopper

Hi,  Yes it is not an ordinary situation.   I had not mention before that I also have a DCX3510 that was online but sitting out of site and not connected to a TV, I had totally forgoten about as we did not need it. I fired it up and to my surprise it came up with current guide and active PVR service. NO issues what so ever. Hmmm, time to research the difference between the 3400's and 3510's
DCX3400 diagnostic menu has entry 3 which is OOB Status. It shows that there is NO Carrier lock, NO data, there is also no SNR or AGC readings, both are 0 and INVALID, Hunt Mode is Hunting 104.20 Mhz. My westside friends DCX3400 OOB status shown that Carrie lock: YES, Data: YES, SNR: 24.3 db, AGC: 25%, all is working.....for now?
DCX3510 diagnostic menu has entry 3 which is DSG Status It shows that Carrier lock is YES, SNR is 38db, Freq is 489.00 Mhz
After some research I found this link, really explains well the differences between Legacy OOB and newer DSG protocol
https://www.cablefax.com/archives/talking-to-set-tops
I spoke again with Shaw support line in Winnipeg today, the tech seemed to be familiar with the issue and eluded that Shaw has been "monkeying" with OOB setup. The new equipment upgrades in my node or headend apperently doesn't support OOB protocol. He tried to reprovision my DCX3400 but no luck. Also told me that 3510 or XG1-v3 will work and that I should provided with upgrades with no charge to me. Is there anyone here that has inside connection to Shaw and could possibly verify that OOB is being phased out? Thanks

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Shaw would probably phase out OOB someday, but I don’t th...

rstra
Grand Master

@DMS100tech Shaw would probably phase out OOB someday, but I don’t think that it would happen anytime soon. It would require swapping out all cable boxes up to the Gateway. 

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