Question about 129 reception problems since L363/65

[Jeff P]

OK... so I've had the 622 for about six months now with virtually no problems, seemingly until last week, when the L3.63/65 software went out.

First I had "Must Delete All Recorded Programs" popup, which was basically solved by the "unplug" reset.

However, I also began experiencing random signal dropouts on many of the HD channels on the 129 satellite, like ESPN2HD, NGC-HD, HGTV-HD, etc.

I noticed by checking signal strength on the 129, most of the transponder reception is in the 55 range. (After notifying DISH of this, they responded by scheduling a tech visit for this Thursday to re-point my Dish.) I noticed others have had similar problems come up, so I have a few questions:

1. Like I said, I have a tech visit scheduled for Thursday, but I guess my question about the 129 reception problem is this: I've had perfect reception for several months, and then it all of a sudden goes bad the same week that two new software versions go out? I guess it could be a coincidence, but it seems with others having similar problems, I'm thinking there is another fix possible, other than physically re-pointing the dish.

2. To that end, what might that solution be? I've read about others running through a procedure who have the DP44 switch, but I don't believe I have that switch. I've already run the check switch, and it didn't seem to help, but maybe there's something else I need to do (unplug before or after?)

As I said, I have a tech coming on Thursday, but if anyone here has any ideas or thoughts in the meantime, it would be appreciated.

[Mike D-CO5]

Try to unplug your sat cables to your receiver an then run a check switch. This will clear out your matrix on your satellites. Second do a power cord reboot and leave it unplugged for 1 minute and then plug in again. Third do another check switch with the sat cables plugged in . This should reset your matrix and reset your receiver. See if this helps you. If not then the only thing I can think of is your lnb for the 129 sat might need replacing or you might really need a dish repointing due to something coming loose.

[Jeff P]

Thanks Mike -- I'll give that a shot this evening.

I'll report back with results...

[bhodgins]

I have had strange things happen too with releases. When 3.60 came out, I found my remote controls for both "1" and "2" did not work nearly as well. I was having to hit the buttons hard, point the remote toward the receiver, etc. to make the UHF signal even work. Nothing else had changed. The batteries were fine, the UHF antenna was pointing up, etc. Then when 3.63 came out, that problem completely disappeared and the remote control function went back to normal. Strange, huh?

[tommy1956]

I had a new 622 installed on the 09/28 and have never picked up sat 129,,
dish techs have been out three times. I also have a 508 does anyone know
if 129 should show in its switch check screen?

[tommy1956]

When i go to menu 611 sat 129 transponder 5 and a few others show a good signal, but the message at the bottom of the screen says its sat 110.

[psumattDE]

Thanks Mike -- I'll give that a shot this evening.

I'll report back with results...

Jeff P-

This IS an issue for both the 61.5 and 129 satellites since the 3.63 release. I use 61.5 - and for TP 20 and 22 (which FOOD HD, HGTV-HD, ESPN2HD, etc. are on) - my signal levels for these dropped by over 10 points after the 3.63 software.

I emailed DISH about it - and now am actually working with 2 engineers on seeing what's up with it. I've been emailing them signal level data for the past two days.
Stay tuned.

It's definitely not something to have your DISH re-aimed about.

[lujan]

Jeff P-

This IS an issue for both the 61.5 and 129 satellites since the 3.63 release. I use 61.5 - and for TP 20 and 22 (which FOOD HD, HGTV-HD, ESPN2HD, etc. are on) - my signal levels for these dropped by over 10 points after the 3.63 software.

I emailed DISH about it - and now am actually working with 2 engineers on seeing what's up with it. I've been emailing them signal level data for the past two days.
Stay tuned.

It's definitely not something to have your DISH re-aimed about.

psumattDE, can you send me a PM with your engineering contact? I have lost about 15 points on 129, transponder 7 since either 3.63 or 3.65. I called the technical support office and asked for a 622 expert and he said he had not heard about any signal loss as a result of an update. Of courese, he set up an appointment for Friday to re-point the dish. I explained to him that I thought it was a software issue because a lot of people are getting this signal loss now after the latest updates. Of course, the only thing he could do was set up the appointment and he did say he filled out an "uncommon trend report" to engineering as well.

[lujan]

Thanks Mike -- I'll give that a shot this evening.

I'll report back with results...

Jeff P, did you try the re-boot and other suggestions and did it help? If it did, I'll try it myself.

[Jeff P]

Jeff P, did you try the re-boot and other suggestions and did it help? If it did, I'll try it myself.

Yep... here's the scoop.

So before I did anything, I ran through and checked the signal strength on every transponder on the 129. To my surprise, there was a significant increase in signal strength. When I checked on Sunday, there were a handfull of transponders that were in the 50-55 range, but when I checked yesterday evening, the lowest reading was around 60. Most of the transponders were actually in the 75-85 range.

(Of course this is still well below what I'm getting on the 110 and 119, where almost all of the transponders are above 100)

So I went through the procedures and well.... it didn't seem to do anything.

All of the signal strengths were about the same. (There may have been a fluctuation of 1 or 2 points, but it was basically the same)

[As a side note, I watched almost all of the Monday Night Football game last night on ESPN-HD with no dropouts. I also had ESPN2-HD on all morning before I left for work, and had no dropouts. Note that ESPN2-HD was one of the most troublesome channels I was having problems with the dropouts on before.]

So I guess my next questions are, is it possible Dish figured this out and is (at least in the beginning stages) of correcting it, given my magical jump in signal strength from Sunday to Monday? (BTW, just in case anyone is wondering, we had clear skies on both Sunday and Monday in Tulsa.)

Also - if this is a known software issue, should I cancel my Dish appointment for Thursday? If there is no need for the guy to monkey around with my Dish, then I would rather them not do it.

[mylopr]

Jeff P-

This IS an issue for both the 61.5 and 129 satellites since the 3.63 release. I use 61.5 - and for TP 20 and 22 (which FOOD HD, HGTV-HD, ESPN2HD, etc. are on) - my signal levels for these dropped by over 10 points after the 3.63 software.

I emailed DISH about it - and now am actually working with 2 engineers on seeing what's up with it. I've been emailing them signal level data for the past two days.
Stay tuned.

It's definitely not something to have your DISH re-aimed about.


I'm also aimed at 61.5 with a 622 and I'm having low signal levels as well. Mine drop 10-12 points after 3.63 upgrade and also with 3.65 I'm having the same problems. My 811 is having good numbers so it's definitely not something with the DISH. Can you update your situation with the dish engineers?

Thanks.

[lujan]

Try to unplug your sat cables to your receiver an then run a check switch. This will clear out your matrix on your satellites. Second do a power cord reboot and leave it unplugged for 1 minute and then plug in again. Third do another check switch with the sat cables plugged in . This should reset your matrix and reset your receiver. See if this helps you. If not then the only thing I can think of is your lnb for the 129 sat might need replacing or you might really need a dish repointing due to something coming loose.

Jeff P, so you did the above suggestion? Just want to make sure before I do anything myself. Did you notice the big increase in signal right after you did this?

[Jeff P]

Jeff P, so you did the above suggestion? Just want to make sure before I do anything myself. Did you notice the big increase in signal right after you did this?

Yes I did the above suggestion and no it didn't seem to increase my signal strength.

Just so you understand the timeline and what I did:

> Last week: noticed several random drop-outs on HD channels after L3.63/65 software spooled.
> Sunday: called Dish, checked 129 signal strength; noticed several transponders on 129 registered 50-55 range; made appointment for Thursday.
> Monday: posted issue on DBSTalk. ;)
> Monday evening: took baseline signal strength reading on 129; no transponders in 50-55 range any more; but several still in 60-70 range and many are in 75-85 range.
> Applied possible fix procedure noted in this thread; didn't see any gains in signal strength other than maybe 1-2 "points" on numerous transponders.

[lujan]

Yes I did the above suggestion and no it didn't seem to increase my signal strength.

Just so you understand the timeline and what I did:

> Last week: noticed several random drop-outs on HD channels after L3.63/65 software spooled.
> Sunday: called Dish, checked 129 signal strength; noticed several transponders on 129 registered 50-55 range; made appointment for Thursday.
> Monday: posted issue on DBSTalk. ;)
> Monday evening: took baseline signal strength reading on 129; no transponders in 50-55 range any more; but several still in 60-70 range and many are in 75-85 range.
> Applied possible fix procedure noted in this thread; didn't see any gains in signal strength other than maybe 1-2 "points" on numerous transponders.

Thanks Jeff P, so I won't go through that exercise if it was basically useless for you. I'll keep my Friday morning appointment.

[psumattDE]

Well,
I must now happily post about my tech visit this morning. Previously, off of 61.5 - I received signal levels in the low 90's for the majority of the TP's, except for TP 20 and 22, where I saw levels of around 70 and 75, respectively.

Not a death wish, but the channels on these two (Food HD, ESPN2-HD, etc.) were the first to go in real heavy rain. Then, once my 622 received the 3.63 software, these two TP's dropped to around 58 and 62. Very odd I thought.

So, I emailed back and forth with DISH engineers over the issue, and before they would point to the software as a problem, they said, "we'll give you a free tech visit - let them check your dish first". I agreed - hey, it was free.

So, the tech came out this morning, told me to go the peaking TP on 61.5 (which apparently is TP12) - and we saw a reading of 92. He was like, "oh, that's very good". That's when I showed him Food HD on TP 20, and the reading was 58. (It's dark and rainy here today). He was like "Oh, that's NOT good".

So, he hopped up on the roof - I saw the connection drop - then, a few minutes later, it re-connected. I now get a 87 reading on TP20, 92 on TP22, and on the "home" TP12, it comes in at 103. I've never seen readings like this before off of 61.5. The tech came in, and said he had to adjust the dish "ever so slightly". So in the end, this "slight adjustment" raised my signal levels 30 points on these two "trouble TP's" and 10+ points on the others. I was amazed.

So, if anyone's seeing these issues on 61.5 or on 129 - have a tech come out. They may just need to adjust the dish a bit. The only thing I can think of in the end is that maybe since these two TP's were not being used when I was first installed, I wasn't ever properly aligned. My thanks go out to DISH for the free service call.