Really.
Seriously.
A refurb DirecTV Slimline receiver we had in service a while just up and died with no warning. It was opened up and showed no signs of trauma but I saw something everyone else missed….
Hmm. Let’s flip it and see what that is at the edge. It’s probably nothing at aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
What.
A while back I found these units tended to burn the access card. This appears to be the fix – first, note how far heat would have to travel down those fingers to toast the card. Second, the card is actually heatsinked by a plate above the socket.
Front panel with mystery antenna. Also note the dual die IR LED next to the black lens IR receiver. This is probably used for the unit’s very user – friendly universal remote system.
The rectangles are touch button sensors.
RF filter and very big silkscreen note on where to find power.
The external converter.
Excuse me, I’m going to go wash my hands.