Attention People with 721's who aim only at 119

[Scott Greczkowski]

Are you a 721 owner who only points to the 119 satellite? If so this thread is for you.

A number of users have posted that with this type of setup they must reboot their 721 every 48 hours to download the program guide.

Tests by Echostar to try to reproduce the problem have been unsuccessful.

So you can help out big time by answering the following questions

1) What kind of LNB is used on your Dish?

2) What kind of switch do you have?

3) Are you pointed to any other location such as 61.5 or 148?

4) Does the guide display "no information" for many things which is corrected by the reboot?

5) Do you have any programming information before you need to reboot?

Please describe your satellite setup as specific as you can, let us know how many receivers you have hooked up to your Dish etc.

Thanks for your help!

[marshalk]

I have a "Dish 300" with dual LNB. I do not have a switch but go direct from the two LNB outs to the two inputs on the 721. I only point to 119 and no other locations. The guide displays "no information" for everything (except the current time slot of some but not all of the next time slot) once it goes past the 2.5 days worth that is downloaded. The only programming information is for the current time slot and sometimes the next time slot. Mine is a simple setup, just the one receiver. The 721 seems to work fine otherwise, given the other bugs and issues common to the 721 that are noted here on dbstalk. After a reboot (holding the power button down for several seconds) the 721 gets the new guide information (not the EPG, just the 2.5 day guide) which displays correctly.

I am so happy to see some interest in this question. Thanks!!!

[Jerry Abbanat]

When I move my 721 to my RV to use on trips I have the usual RV setup with a DSS Weingard 18" with a single LNB.  I use only one input into the 721.  It works fine except you, of course, cannot record and watch live at the same time.  I also must reboot every couple of days to get the guide

[JimW396]

I have a 6' Channel Master dish with dual lnb. No switch. Both lines go directly to my 721. I am not pointing at any other satellite. Once the guide goes past the 44 hours I receive only the current program info and maybe the next scheduled program. Once I do a reset I get the updated 44 hour guide with all info included.
Since the 1.11 sw upgrade I receive pixelation and sound drop out continuously. I don't call tech support because I don't feel like going through the card pull, reset, unplug, etc. that I have already done. Hopefully when 1.12 comes out it will be fixed.

Jim Wilkinson

[Scott Greczkowski]

Jim are you using a single Dish Network LNB?

Thanks for all your feedback guys I want to make sure this gets fixed for you!

[JimW396]

Yes Scott. Sorry about listing it as a dual. Single lnb with two lines out of it.

Jim

[marshalk]

Just to clearify, my dish has one LNB that has two outputs to attach coax to. I thought this was called a dual LNB but perhaps that is reserved for the two headed LNB that potentially has four places to attach coax.

[scooper]

Marshalk - what you have IS a Dual LNB. JimW396 is confused - his is ALSO a Dual LNB.

2 Dual LNB's on a Dish500 dish is just that - 2 Dual LNB's

A TWIN LNB is about the same assembled width as 2 Dual LNB's, but it has only 2 outputs. A Quad is the same as the TWIN, except it has 4 outputs.

[JimW396]

Scooper, thanks for clearing that up for me. I THOUGHT what I had was called a "dual" lnb but when Scott questioned me I really thought about it and wasn't sure.
Thanks

[Ken Seeber]

I've had a 721 since last September.  It's a Dish 500 Pro system with a quad LNB. Besides the 721, I have two 301s connected to the LNB. This is a single-dish system and I can only hit the 110 satellite when all the leaves are off the tree next door. On the 119 I consistently get a signal strength of 95 or 96, no matter what time of the year it is.

I do have to reboot to get the guide to download. When I do, I get two days worth. I can't scroll past the end, but when the end actually arrives, I get the listing for what's on and what's coming up next on any given channel. everything beyond that is "No Information" across the board. A reboot solves it every time.

This is the second 721 I've had. The hard drive on the first one died about a month ago. This is an RMA. Both receivers had this problem.

There are no switches or splices in the lines and it was a brand-new install with new Belden RG-6 cable. The receiver is not connected to a phone line.

[Jacob S]

Some have gotten dual lnbf's confused with twins, they call the twins dual when the single orbital slot dishes (dish 300's) used to be called dual lnbf's when it was one lnbf with two outputs to go to two receivers. Now it seems that they call duals a twin and describe the number of lnbf's, not the number of outputs.

[greylar]

Hello Scott,
I have the exact same problem as marshal and i have the same set up as him. (dish 300 with dual lnb, no other receivers).  The problems are as he described. The guide downloads only on a reboot. But there is apparently a change since the last update.

Before when you went off the end of the guide you would get the name of the show currently playing on every channel but 'no information available' for everything after that.  But, now when the 2 day guide runs out i don't get any information for the current channels either.


BTW I finally got pissed enough to pony up the $75, (which i can't afford at the the moment) , to have the Dish 500 installed.  Everything seems to work correctly now. If i had the choice I would tell Dish to go #^@* themselves and buy a DTV & Tivo.

Greylar