Tech Forum

The modulator in the satellite rack that transmits in-house video and audio on channel 6 does not activate unless there is an actual camera hooked up and powered up. Is there a way that I can run audio-only tests on the device that don't require me to go through the hassle of setting up a camera?

It's most likely looking for a video signal with a valid sync pulse, so a dummy load won't help. There are a couple of ways I can think of to do that, probably the easiest would be to grab a DVD player (or VCR) from the library. Many will output a logo when turned on without a disk being inserted. That's all you would need. Worst case, put a disk (or tape) in.

I doubt if it's the modulator that's looking for video. That stunt is usually done by a TV or VCR with a digital tuner. It doesn't consider the channel "valid" unless it sees sync pulses. The modulators I've seen are simple "dumb" devices much like an amplifier. They simply take a signal and pass it on.

Not that I think it will make much of a difference in your situation. You'll need to find some kind of video source in order for most receivers to "recognize" the channel. A DVD player, VCR, some old Commodore-64 computer, etc. It doesn't have to have "content", a static page is enough.

Something you might try is explore the menu of the receiver and see if there's a way to "unblank" a channel - to show you the contents regardless of if it thinks it's a valid signal.

If your looking for any video signal, there is usually a spare output from the video amplifier in the same rack. You will find the video output of the satellite receiver goes into the video amp and that there are several outputs from the amp. You also may be able to get a video signal from the "monitor" output (not sure that is what it is labeled) on the back of satellite receiver if that is not used. It's an RCA jack that is not the primary output, but has the same signal for a monitor.