XtraView Frequency Settings After a DStv Dual View Installation

You've just had a DStv dual view installation, the second TV works, and now someone on a forum says you must change the frequency settings. In most Noordhoek homes you don't. The numbers people talk about only matter on certain shared systems, and a wrong entry is the quickest way to lose both TVs. Here's what the settings really do and when to leave them alone.

What people mean by XtraView frequency settings

XtraView links two or three decoders on one subscription so each TV can watch a different channel. When people search for dstv extraview frequency settings, they usually mean one of three different things.

• Satellite settings on the decoder, which tell it how the dish and LNB are wired.
• User band frequencies on a single-cable system, used in some estates and complexes.
• The link between the decoders, which many people assume is a frequency they must set.

Only the first two are settings you can see on a screen. The third works on its own once the cabling is right. If you're still planning the job, our multi-room DStv setup guide covers the bigger picture.

Do you enter frequencies after a DStv dual view installation?

On a house with its own dish, the answer is no. DStv recommends a Smart LNB on an 80cm dish for most XtraView installations, and with that setup each decoder runs its installation wizard, picks the LNB type and scans. There's no box asking for a number.

It's different in a building with a shared dish. A single-cable system gives each tuner its own user band, and each user band has its own frequency. Whoever installed the system allocates them, so they're not something you guess.

In the first row, the settings are fine if both TVs show steady pictures. Our installation wizard guide covers those first screens in more detail.

Where to find the satellite settings on each decoder

On an Explora, press the DStv button and open Settings. Satellite Settings sits in that menu, next to User Preferences and System Settings. The Help menu holds General Information, which is handy when you're on the phone with a call centre.

Other decoder models word the menus a little differently. If you can't find a screen, stop rather than pressing through options you don't recognise.

The heartbeat: the XtraView link you never type in

In XtraView, one decoder is the primary. DStv explains that the primary sends a "heartbeat" to the secondary decoder, and the secondary stops working if that heartbeat isn't received. It can be affected by interference or cabling errors.

So when the second TV goes dark, it's usually not a frequency problem at all. It's the primary being switched off, a cable pulled out behind a cabinet, or a splitter someone added later. Our guide to DStv cable connections shows each socket.

DStv also lists the XtraView rules for linked decoders. One that catches people out: both decoders carry the same package, so you can't run Premium on one and a cheaper package on the other.

Noordhoek homes and the DStv dual view installation

Noordhoek is a valley of long distances. On a smallholding in Crofters Valley or Sunnydale, the second decoder may sit in a cottage or stable flat 40 metres from the main house. Long cable runs lose signal, and a cheap cable laid across a paddock won't last a wet winter.

Estates are the other half of the story. In Lake Michelle, Noordhaven and Chapman's Bay Estate, some homes run off shared systems with their own settings. That's where frequencies matter, and our communal DStv systems work starts with finding out how the building is wired.

Then there's the sky. Tall gums and pines, plus afternoon shadow off Chapman's Peak, can leave a dish with little margin. Valley mist and winter fronts then push a weak signal over the edge, which looks like a settings fault but isn't.

Safe checks before you change DStv dual view installation settings

If one or both TVs misbehave, work through these steps in order.

1. Make sure the primary decoder is switched on at the wall. The secondary depends on it.
2. Switch both decoders off at the wall, wait a minute, then switch on the primary first.
3. Check every cable is screwed in finger tight at the back of both decoders.
4. Look for a splitter, booster or wall plate added since the install. Tell your technician about it.
5. If it's pouring, wait for the front to pass before you judge the signal.
6. Compare the signal screens on both decoders. If both are poor, the fault is outside, not in the settings.

A poor reading on both boxes usually means the dish needs attention. That's a job for our dish realignment team, who use a proper signal meter.

When settings are worth changing

There are a few honest reasons to open Satellite Settings after an XtraView install:

• You moved into an estate home and the decoder came from a house with its own dish.
• The body corporate changed the shared system and sent new values.
• A decoder was swapped and the new one is set for a different LNB.

If you're swapping a decoder, DStv's Explora guide says to contact MultiChoice first so they break the existing XtraView link, before you disconnect the cable that links the decoders.

Get your XtraView settings checked in Noordhoek

If these checks don't fix it, call a technician. Our accredited team handles DStv installation in Noordhoek, Fish Hoek, Sun Valley and Capri, and we quote first. A full XtraView installation includes a tested link between both decoders before we leave.

You can also add a decoder to a newer box through our Explora installation service. Tell us what you see on screen through our contact page and we'll book a time that suits you.