DirecTV has been providing direct satellite television in the United States and other parts of the Americas (chiefly, Latin America) for decades.
Direct satellite television has proved to be an enduringly popular alternative service to cable television.
Believe it or not, cable television is not available universally, so sometimes the only available choice for people wishing to watch a decent amount of television channels is to get something like DirecTV. Although most of the time the service works perfectly well, errors can (and do) happen occasionally.
One of the most common errors that you can get is the Error Code 775. We know how frustrating getting that error code is mostly because it means that may not have access to your favorite TV channels and other DirecTV services.
If you have gotten that error code, do not worry; in this article, we will explain what it means (i.e., what causes that error) and what you will need to do in order to fix it:
Possible Causes For Error
There could be several different causes for this error so it is important to know what each of them could be before you can go ahead and attempt to fix it. In this section of the article, we will go through all of them, explaining what they are.
If you have gotten error code 775 on your TV screen you may have noticed that there is also a message that indicates that the satellite dish you are using is unable to communicate with your receiver. Although this error message already seems to contain some information it is not all that useful. In fact, the error message points to an error that could have many different causes and does not give you any clues as to how it could be fixed.
Essentially, it is true that that error code means that there is a connection problem between your satellite dish and your satellite receiver. This could be caused by any of the following problems.
One of the most commons reasons for this error message is, believe it or not, lack of power. If you are getting this error message it could simply mean that your power inserted has become unplugged for whatever reason.
Video Tutorial Fix #1
The video creator below offers some troubleshooting for an error code 775 with the DirecTV system.
Video Tutorial Fix #2
An RV owner also posted a fix that worked for a lot of users:
If you are not sure what the power inserter is; it is the black box with a rectangular shape that drives the satellite signal directly from your satellite dish to the primary receiver (the one that claims that cannot get connected to your satellite dish), thus distributing the satellite signal (i.e., all the channels, programming, and playlists to the rest of your house).
Only customers with more than one TV set connected to Direct TV use a power inserter, so if this is not your case then the error must be caused by something else. If, however, you have Direct TV connected to more than one TV set then this may very well be what is causing the problem.
Just to make sure go to the location of the power insertion and check that it has a green light on. If it does not, it would mean that it has become unplugged, in which case you will just need to plug it back in order to restore the connection between your primary receiver and your satellite dish, thus getting rid of the error.
“During the past few decades, modern technology, with radio, TV, air travel, and satellites, has woven a network of communication which puts each part of the world in to almost instant contact with all the other parts”. – David Bohm
Another possible cause of the error 775 could be that there is a problem with your satellite dish. Normally, this would mean that your satellite dish is no longer pointing at the satellite correctly. This is what is technically known as being out of alignment.
This problem can affect both satellite dishes that have recently been installed or those which has been installed for years. Very often, but not always, this problem is caused by a slapdash installation.
A satellite dish is normally mounted on a pole but if the pole has not been pushed deep enough into the ground or rocks or dirt instead of concrete have been used to secure it, the satellite dish may become out of alignment quite easily.
A correctly installed DirecTV satellite dish should be attached to a 6-foot pole, which in turn should be sunk into the ground as deeply as 3 feet into the ground. Needless to say, concrete must always be used, normally up to 150 pounds of it.
Even when the installation has been carried out correctly, the satellite dish may become out of alignment by things like adverse weather conditions such as heavy rain or high winds. This is particularly prevalent when the satellite dish has been mounted on the rooftop or an exposed wall.
So, if you get the error message after a big storm you know what has caused the problem. However, this problem can happen gradually, so after years of being installed the satellite dish may suddenly become unaligned. If the satellite dish is on the ground, it could have become unaligned because something or someone has knocked it off course.
You should watch out when you are mowing the lawn around it, for instance. It is all too easy to move the satellite dish inadvertently.
The last most common cause of the error has to do with your receiver being damaged. There are in fact many reasons why your receiver may become damaged, many of them, unfortunately, are quite inevitable.
Whether caused by a lightning strike, a power surge, or simply somebody dropping or hitting the satellite receiver (whether on purpose or not), if an internal electronic component becomes damaged, you may get error message 775.
As you can see the only cause for the error that does not require technical assistance is the first one we discussed. If the power inserter has become unplugged, the only thing you will need to do is to plug it back in. This should always be your first course of action. Not only because this is really easy to fix without technical assistance but also because it is a hugely likely cause for the error we are discussing in this article.
So, you should only call a DirecTV technician once you have verified whether your power inserter is plugged in. If you have checked and the power inserter has a green light (or if you do not use a power inserter because you only have one TV set connected to the satellite service), then you should call DirectTV as the problem would clearly be of a more technical nature.
Sometimes it is easy to know what has caused the problem. For instance, if you have recently dropped the primary receiver, you can almost be guaranteed that this has caused some form of internal damage that has now disconnected the receiver from the dish.
Or, if you can clearly observe that the satellite dish does not point exactly in the same direction it used to when you used to get a signal, then you should know that the satellite dish is no longer aligned with the right satellite (or satellites) that transmit the channels you normally enjoy.
What is important is that you do not try to fix the problem yourself under any circumstances. You may only end up making it a lot worse. If you have checked the power inserter and it seems okay, just call the DirecTV technical service.
They will have to send someone out to check what the issue is and fix it. If you already have good reason to believe that the problem is down to the receiver or the satellite dish alignment, you should state so clearly when you make the phone call so that you get the best possible service and the problem is fixed sooner.
Tempting as it may be to do it yourself or get someone you know to fix it for you, do not do this. Even if your original installation was carried out by someone else other than a certified technician from DirecTV, do not make the same mistake twice and get one of their technicians to fix whatever problem is causing you to get that error message.
Conclusion
Whatever the cause for error code 775, it is something that will need to be fixed as quickly as possible because you will not be able to access any programming or any playlists until the underlying problem has been fixed.
One of the main problems, when customers get error codes, is that they spend way too much time trying to figure out what caused it and then trying to fix whichever problem themselves.
If you get this error message, it should only take you a couple of minutes (if that) to plug your power inserter back on to fix it. If this does not solve the problem, all you will need to do is get technical assistance from the company and wait for them to send out a technician to fix the problem for you.
If you have any feedback about this error message and would like to share it with our other readers, please leave us a message in the comments section below!
