First Problem w/my 721

[SteveinDanville]

Got home last night expecting to see the red light as I was recording something off of TCM Ch. 132. Nothing going on, so I turned on the 721 and pulled up the Guide. Every station said No Information, and the time was 12 hours off. Bad vibe... Rebooted, and the timer fired immediately, although 75 minutes late. Went into the Timer screen and stopped the recording. Since then, or since the reboot, or since it started acting screwy with No Information and the time being off, I now am not locking into Sat. 119W, specifically Transponders 11, 16, and 18. Sat's 110 and 148 are fine. Went through an Advanced Tech guy last night for 35 minutes testing transponder strength on the Point Dish screen, getting very good numbers, and then doing a Check Switch, but I still can't receive about 30 channels off of this sat. and these transponders (a black screen comes up saying that the receiver cannot lock onto Sat. 119 and Transponder ___). A service tech is coming tomorrow a.m., but the Advanced guy didn't have a clue. Still didn't work this morning. Also, my 4900 in another room works just fine. Great weather, no lightning, don't understand.

[TerryC]

I had a similar problem with mine. Lost lock on satellite 119, transponder 6. Advanced tech decided that I needed another receiver and sent me another one... twice. Can you get these channels OK on the other tuner? That's the way it was for me.

[SteveinDanville]

TerryC
No, I do not get a lock on either tuner. Initially I thought it was just transponder 16, but then I checked every station from 101 through 300, and I got a whole bunch of 16's, 11's, and some 18's that did not come through. It's a beautiful sight with P-I-P and both screens showing a black screen saying they cannot lock.

[TerryC]

Wow, that's too bad, Steve. I got it on all channels on tuner one but everything was fine on tuner two. That was on my first receiver. On my replacement receiver I get it on only four channels on tuner one. I'm awaiting UPS delivery to replace that one.

Looks like you too are headed for RMA land. Good luck.

[SteveinDanville]

Last night I got home and transponder 13 is dead now as well. You might be surprised at how many channels there are between 101 and 300 that come down on transponders 11, 13, 16, and 18 (or don't come down, as the case may be!).

[Mike123abc]

You might try to hook the 4900 up to each of the cables and test to see if it works ok.

You might also try a switch test on the 721.

May as well rule out that it is not a switch/cable issue.

[SteveinDanville]

After having done 3 switch checks, all showing very good levels of reception, and knowing that the cabling is brand new RG6, it would appear to me that it's GOT to be the tuners in the 721. I don't see how two RG6 cables could both go bad at the exact same time; and I continue to lose transponders!

[SteveinDanville]

It's fixed! Dish service guys just left, and the problem was a bad LNBF, which they repaired. They put in a ground block that had never been put in before, and everything is back the way it was. Thank God I didn't have to RMA this thing...I have 30 hours of the new TV season recorded!

[TerryC]

Steve, did you hook up your 4900 as suggested by Mike 123abc? I did this with my 501 and everything worked fine on that receiver which suggests to me it's not the lnb but the 721. Or you may have had a different problem than me.

[SteveinDanville]

TerryC, if your situation doesn't get fixed, did you have a tech guy check your LNBF? Mine was screwed up, and in 5 minutes it was fixed. My 721 is fully functional again, and my 4900 remains fully functional.