Problems on HR20 and H20

[redtaco]

My two receivers have been acting up lately (a few months) in different ways and I'm wondering if I'm having and issue with my dish/multiswitch. I'll post some details to hopefully help you gurus give me an idea what to check.

HR20-700, software 0x2af (12/23), temp 129 degrees, dish slimline-5

This DVR seems to work fine except when viewing any Law and Order recordings (from local HD channel in Miami). On at least half my recordings there will be a "freeze" in the picture about 5 minutes from the end. This is really annoying because thats the conclusion of the show and I miss the ending. I've had to go to amazon and download the show a couple times because I couldn't tell how it would conclude. The rest of time its frozen I've figured out the ending by then. I do not record much from anything but the local HD networks so I can't say if it happens on other HD channels but it does on all the L&O versions different shows/different nights.

H20-600, software 0x407E (7/17), temp (can't find this?) , dish 5 LNB multi-sat (its the same dish as the HR20 is on of course)

This HD receiver is having problems with freezing also. Mostly it has been freezing on the local HD channels. I have also been experiencing the freezing when watching directly off the air on my antenna (not thru DirecTV). I realize this is most likely a local transmission problem (switching to SDTV eliminates the freezing) but I mention it because its possible it could be related to the other problem(s). When I am watching a non-local HD channel (like HGTV) and I program a local HD channel (like Miami local HD) into my previous channel button, it will often not tune back to my local HD channel. I will get the channel banner but only a dark screen and no audio. I can push my back button and go back to the original (HGTV) channel but if I try again it will not tune the local HD channel. This does not happen every time but probably 40% of the time I try to do it. I can go up or down one channel and it will then tune my local HD channel but of course I've lost my back programming then. It doesn't help to manually put in the numbers and not use the back button either.

Here is some info on the tuner strength if it will help:

99c Transponder 1 Tuner 1 82, Tuner 2 83
99s Transponder 1 Tuner 1 NA, Tuner 2 NA
101 Transponder 1 Tuner 1 96, Tuner 2 96
103c Transponder 1 Tuner 1 94, Tuner 2 95
103s Transponder 1 Tuner 1 NA, Tuner 2 NA
110 Tansponder 8 Tuner 1 97, Tuner 2 96
119 Transponder 22 Tuner 1 98, Tuner 2 98

Satellite Transponders (read from my HR20 but same numbers from H20):

14 total @ 99c
1-8 82 79 87 86 83 80 89 86
9-16 85 80 89 83 90 81 NA NA
17-24 NA-------
25-32 NA-------

16 total @ 99s
1-8 0 0 0 0 0 0 NA NA
9-16 NA----- 96 0
17-24 0 0 0 0 95 91 97 0
25-32 NA-------

32 total @ 101
1-8 96 97 95 0 96 99 96 99
9-16 96 98 96 100 96 99 95 99
17-24 96 0 96 99 95 99 96 99
25-32 96 100 95 100 97 99 96 100

14 total @ 103c
1-8 94 80 91 80 91 77 90 80
9-16 92 78 91 79 92 77 NA NA
17-24 NA------
25-32 NA------

16 total @ 103s
1-8 0 0 31 0 33 0 NA NA
9-16 NA----- 16 36
17-24 0 0 0 40 85 0 25 0
25-32 NA------


3 total @ 110
1-8 NA--------96
9-16 NA 95 Na 96 NA--
17-24 NA--------
25-32 NA--------

11 total @ 119
1-8 NA--------
9-16 NA-------
17-24 NA---98 100 99
25-32 0 100 100 99 0 100 0 100

Thanks for looking at my numbers and any ideas!!

[BattleZone]

H20-600s are known to have faulty, under-powered (and thus, overworked and overheating) power supplies. Thanks, LG.

Receivers send power to the LNB. So... it's very possible that a bad H20-600 could be causing problems for the whole system. I'd unplug it (from the wall and the coax) and see if the problems on the HR20 don't go away. If they do, then you need your H20 replaced. DirecTV is aware of the issue.

[redtaco]

Thanks IIP. So you are saying that the H20 is causing a bad recording on my HR20? Unfortunately the only way to find out if thats the case is to leave it unplugged while the DVR is recording. That'll have to wait til I can get "control" of both units (family is watching at night). I guess if I need to replace the H20 I could try talking Directv into giving me a deal on another DVR. :)

Right now we are watching on the H20 and tried to go from an NBA HD channel (601) directly to local HD channel 7 and it won't go (banner but no picture or audio). We had to go up to channel 8, then back to channel 7 to get it to tune.

Edit: add'l info: I just checked and on my HR20 I'm having the same problem going from 601 (HD) to local channel 7 HD. It works maybe half the time. I also have the same problem going from 601 HD to any of my local HD channels but is going fine to 206 HD, 229 HD etc. I get a quick "Searching for signal on Satellite 2... (771)" error but it goes away quickly whether the channel tunes in or not.

Is there any place in the software to check the temp of the H20? I couldn't find it in the same place as the HR20.