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Shaw High Definition


Floradude

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Shaw. Everyone has, 3 channels exactly. No one even knows what they were, or if we even really had them. The fact that those channels TELL YOU you need to upgrade woulda been the first clue. And we cannot fix it by upgrading.

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I upgraded up north and today many of the standard definition channels and the audio or music channels are gone. I am guessing that just like Shaw said they are transferring all of their signals from the two older satellites, Anik F1r and Anik F2 which were launched around 2004-5 to the newer satellite Anik G1 which was launched in 2013. And of course sadly the signals from that satellite are better focused on Canada and only reach as far south as maybe San Francisco CA. but certainly not to Mexico. '

They say the average life of a satellite these days is 15 years and sadly it would make sense for Shaw to upgrade to MPEG-4 which uses less bandwidth and stop using satellite bandwidth for both SD & HD feeds on only  transmit HD signals therefore decreasing the number of channels needed.  That way they and with higher compression, they can move all of their signals from the two older satellite to the new one that doesn't reach Mexico.

I sure hope this is not what has happened. But if you are all only getting 3 channels on Shaw, all saying upgrade, it would appear that we shall no longer have Shaw in Mexico.

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The receiver must be upgraded.  All the older receivers below the 600 & 800 series can't receive the MPEG 4 compression as Pete explained.  Some of the 600 series may require an on line upgrade. 

The short way to check this is to turn on your TV, then switch to channel 988.  It will say No Action Required; need to call Shaw; or that you need a new receiver.  Obviously don't call from a Mexican phone number but when back in Canada or from a Canadian phone number contact them with your receiver Model # and serial #.  If it's what they've done in the past Shaw will give you a great upgrade price on new equipment.  In most cases it isn't necessary to even return the old receiver.

You can get all the details at the following link.
https://www.shawdirect.ca/english/support/article/8433/

 

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I am not in Mexico. I am visiting up North where Shaw channels are changing but most are working.  Am I hearing that even with the newer 600 and 800 series receivers that there are no channels available lakeside?  Is no one getting Shaw Direct down there?

I sure hope I do not have to give up Shaw when in Mexico.  But when Shaw moves all of it's channels to Anik-G1, we wont be able to get Shaw anymore down south.

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I'm west of all of you - I'm in San Jose del Cabo.  Longtime Shaw/Star Choice customer.  I took the the "warnings" about the February 21st change seriously.  On eBay I bought a new compatible LNB, and it arrived yesterday.  I just put it on the dish today, February 20. I did a refresh, and unplugged the receiver for a minute.  Result is loss of many many channels.  The lower number (old system) HD channels, say 60 and such, are still there.  But 501, or 601 there is no signal..... What I do not quite get is why the new LNB changed what I receive, prior to the announced switch to MPEG-4 tomorrow.... The above chat does not make me think the future is bright for Shaw in Mexico.  In phone support over the LNB, they know I'm here as I had the old "Home Away from Home" registration.  But they just said they could not talk to me about anything but my Montreal dish and receiver. 

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There is always Dish US. I have the 2.4m large dish pointing at 119 and a small dish pointing at 77. If rain or other issues make reception on 119 difficult, it switches to 77. Very handy in the rain.

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Update on Shaw channels.  I reinstalled my old Dual Quad and I now have all the channels that reach Los Cabos.  I think if Shaw had given more technical information, or if I had looked harder, I would not have bought the new LNB Triple Quad.  I suppose the alert about LNB really applies to those who will use Anik G1, which does not include anyone in Mexico. 

My one remaining question is why I lost channels from the Anik F1 and/or F2 with the new Triple Quad.  I am sure there is an easy technical explanation, but it escapes me.

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guillermobill - you ask an excellent question - one which I have wondered for some time and have never been able to get a definitive answer to.  This is what I "suspect" is going on from a technical perspective.  The older dual frequency LNB's use specific DC voltages controlled by the receiver to select channels.  There are 4 specific voltages used to select which of the two satellites and the polarization (vertical and horizontal) used to "tune" in the channel you want.  The newer xKu LNB's use a different tuning scheme to select which satellite and polarization to tune in the channels across the 3 satellites.  The receiver's software controls this magic and must be set up by Shaw to the type of LNB you have.  I "suspect" this is a parameter called the "Map Status" table identified in the receiver's configuration menu (Menu, Settings, Status, System Status, Parameter F).  I use aftermarket dual LNB's on two separate dishes with a 4x4 multi-switch (mux) and am configured with Map Status: 586-4322. 

Once when I was back at my home system in Ontario I looked at the installation there.  I had the standard 65E with the newer triple LNB and also experienced the same thing you mention - missing channels.  So the moral of my story is be careful - the new LNB's from Shaw don't seem to be a direct swap out without some involvement of Shaw to reconfigure your receiver(s).  I can see no reason for us here in the south to do the dish upgrade.  Receivers yes, dish/LNB no.

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There is no need or point in getting the new LNB, because we can't get that satellite, period. However, I had one person say they got the three missing channels back after they did so. I can't see it, but the whys and wherefores of these receivers and how they "select"... while I understand the mapping and so on... is beyond me and I don't care to learn, since I don't see how that knowledge will help.

But that would be a good question to ask on the Shaw forum at DigitalHome: https://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/11-shaw-direct-satellite/

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Just a bit more info on this for the "techies" out there.  The numbers in the F: Map Status parameter indicate what LNB and channel lineup your receiver is set to for your configuration.  In my example above (586-4322), the second 4 digit number is referred to as the "V-code".  In this example, 4322 indicates a dual quad LNB and the eastern advance channel lineup.  If you switch to the new xKu quad LNB, you will need to get Shaw to change your V-code before you can get all the channels you used to.  Really no benefit to doing this though because you still won't be able to get any signals off the Anik G1 (the third satellite) this far south.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/14/2019 at 5:50 PM, Floradude said:

I have lost the signal to many of my High Definition channels.  NBC (558), ABC (559), CBS (560) and many more.

Anyone else experiencing this problem.

I so not get those channels but I get ABC 059,  CBS on 60 & 65,  FOX on 061, NBC on 058 & 063. All are high def

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On 2/22/2019 at 9:12 AM, Ezzie said:

guillermobill - you ask an excellent question - one which I have wondered for some time and have never been able to get a definitive answer to.  This is what I "suspect" is going on from a technical perspective.  The older dual frequency LNB's use specific DC voltages controlled by the receiver to select channels.  There are 4 specific voltages used to select which of the two satellites and the polarization (vertical and horizontal) used to "tune" in the channel you want.  The newer xKu LNB's use a different tuning scheme to select which satellite and polarization to tune in the channels across the 3 satellites.  The receiver's software controls this magic and must be set up by Shaw to the type of LNB you have.  I "suspect" this is a parameter called the "Map Status" table identified in the receiver's configuration menu (Menu, Settings, Status, System Status, Parameter F).  I use aftermarket dual LNB's on two separate dishes with a 4x4 multi-switch (mux) and am configured with Map Status: 586-4322. 

Once when I was back at my home system in Ontario I looked at the installation there.  I had the standard 65E with the newer triple LNB and also experienced the same thing you mention - missing channels.  So the moral of my story is be careful - the new LNB's from Shaw don't seem to be a direct swap out without some involvement of Shaw to reconfigure your receiver(s).  I can see no reason for us here in the south to do the dish upgrade.  Receivers yes, dish/LNB no.

I wonder if anyone at Lakeside uses the powered splitter? Will it make any difference

 

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