Is Your Satellite Dish Receiver Changing TV Channels All by Its Self? Read Here for the Cure

First the story, then the cure. If you want to skip down to the step by step instructions of how to remedy this irritation, go ahead. You can read the story later, if you prefer, and it won't hurt my feelings a bit. So, here I am, watching American Idol when my son walks in with this announcement: "My TV is possessed!" I say, "What do mean, possessed?" "Well", he goes "the TV changes channels all by itself. When I try and change it back, it changes back to the same channel." Well, that is definitely weird, so I decide to pause live TV, as AI wasn't all that interesting anyway. I like when all the dreck has been filtered out, leaving only the best of the best...usually around the top 12. So anyways, I get a chance to witness a real live ghost manifest in my sons TV. Needless to say, I'm a little freaked out. I told my son to sit tight while I do some 'deep research'.

The Search is on!

I weeded through all the Internet dreck telling me to "Read my manual", because it wasn't in mine. I know, because I checked, twice as a matter of fact, but to no avail. Finally, I happened on the answer and was happy to leave a positive comment for their well-researched answer. It seems, that if a nearby neighbor is channel-surfing on the same frequency-wave that your remote(s) are set to, you will indeed experience some other-worldly phenomena. And now I'll pass on this bit of wisdom to you.

The Cure.

This tutorial assumes that you are using a duel-tuner receiver. If not, it will still work, just disregard the #2 remote references. First, start from the front room satellite receiver--that is, your main receiver. Find the Menu button--top left on your remote. When the pop-up screen comes up, search for System Setup. Find where it says Installation, then click on System Info. The following message will come up if true: "TV 2 is currently in use. This operation will disrupt the use of the other TV. Do you want to continue?" Make sure you're not recording something on TV 2, then select Yes. A System Info screen will pop up, you'll want to look for the Green TV #1 icon near the bottom and beside it the Blue TV #2 icon. Put you hands on the Blue #2 remote, then Press-and-Hold the SAT button for several seconds and watch for the TV, VCR and AUX buttons to turn Red. Release the SAT button once all lights stay Red. It will then flash 3 times. When it finishes flashing, you'll want to pick a number that will represent a brand new frequency that no one else is apt to be using, for example, press 11, then Press-and-Release the # key--located bottom and right on the remote. Once entered, watch the SAT button, because it should flash a couple times. When it stops flashing, Press-and-Release the Red Record button centered below the Pause button. You'll want to count to three-one-thousand, then Press-and-Release Record once more. Here, you'll want to check that the little number for Blue #2 icon on the System Info menu changes to 11, your new frequency. You are now finished with that remote. To program the Green #1 remote, if using a duel-tuner system, back-up and repeat all the steps above. You'll use a different frequency for this remote, like #13, for instance. If you have 2 separate receivers, just follow the steps above for each receiver.

Finis!

That's it! I hope this helps. May the wind always be at your back and the sun on your face as you catch that satellite wave.