StLouis local HD problem

[grizbo]

For the past few months we can't get channel 2 or 5 HD but 4 and 30 HD are fine. All four work in SD however. Tech support ran me thru all the usual checks and said I'd need a service call at my own expense. I called the folks that did my install and they said it's not an equipment problem but a feed problem either from the satellite or the stations. Called E* yesterday and they knew nothing about this and they would send somebody out on their nickel. So a guy from a different service came today and knew our problem before we even told him---said they've had many of the same calls and E* doesn't want to admit they know of this otherwise they'd have hundreds of requests for refunds, etc. Another call to E* today, they still know nothing, and they'll pass it on to the supers. Are any of you StL viewers experiencing the same thing? Any ideas on what we can do next to correct this? Not fired up about renewal in Oct if we only get half our HD locals. Sorry for the long post...

[vader22]

I get the channels but have some quality issues. Channel 2 is the one I watch the most. Sometimes the picture is totally messed up but the audio always remains good. I haven't called Dish about it because I was afraid it would result in a tech coming out that I would have to pay for.

[Jim5506]

Email dishquality@echostar.com.

If you sit idly by, while the signal goes bad. You deserve what you get.

[SHADO 1]

I'm not getting any breakups on 2 and 5, but my signal from the 118 sat is only in the 40's. Check your signal...you may need to have your dish re-pointed. You may also want to check on LNB drift.

[placeman]

I, too, will confirm that Fox 2 is horrible. Audio is always fine, bu the picture will get screwed up from time to time. Really miffed my wife when it happened during American Idol.

[mw1597]

My signal strength from the 118 sat (transponder 18) ranges from 58-61 in good weather. I am also having intermittent breakups with Fox 2.

[vader22]

I emailed dishquality@echostar.com and received the following reply:
Thank you for expressing your concerns and interest in DISH Network.
Customer input is an important tool in our efforts to continuously
improve the quality of the DISH Network service.

Indeed we are experiencing signal quality issues with KTVI, St. Louis's
Fox HD channel. Troubleshooting efforts have proven challenging for both
the station and us. However, it appears we are closing in on the root
causes for these issues and everyone is working hard to resolve them
right away, hopefully well before the Fall season premiers.

At DISH Network we appreciate the time customers take to email their
audio/video quality concerns. Thank you for your patience and for being
a valued customer.


Regards,
EchoStar Satellite LLC
Quality Assurance Department
dishquality@echostar.com

[moman19]

I emailed dishquality@echostar.com and received the following reply:
Thank you for expressing your concerns and interest in DISH Network.
Customer input is an important tool in our efforts to continuously
improve the quality of the DISH Network service.

Indeed we are experiencing signal quality issues with KTVI, St. Louis's
Fox HD channel. Troubleshooting efforts have proven challenging for both
the station and us. However, it appears we are closing in on the root
causes for these issues and everyone is working hard to resolve them
right away, hopefully well before the Fall season premiers.

At DISH Network we appreciate the time customers take to email their
audio/video quality concerns. Thank you for your patience and for being
a valued customer.


Regards,
EchoStar Satellite LLC
Quality Assurance Department
dishquality@echostar.com

Perhaps someone at E* needs to take a closer look. Fox2 in St. Louis (KTVI) has experienced sporadic OTA video breakup ever since they turned up the transmitter. This has been voiced in local forums for years but has landed on deaf ears. No one at the station appears willing to acknowledge/fix the issue. This affects HD as well as SD programming on their Digital channel 2-1.

With that said, I'm not sure how E* get their signal, but if it's after the point where the issue is generated, the HD satellite signal can only echo it and possibly accentuate it. On the other hand, I get tremendous breakups on Channel 30-1 via the dish while the OTA signal remains spotless. The breakups are so bad and go on so long that the image will eventually freeze up and turn into a completely unrecognizable mosaic. I call it Video Pizza.

Dish has sent out 2 techs (#3 comes Friday), two LNBs and a new receiver. So far, no improvement. All other programming on the other three birds remain glitch-free. Other local users have reported similar issues with these channels (118 bird) so I'm not sure what any installer can do at my home that might remedy the situation.

Watch this space.

o

[Highdef Jeff]

For the past few months we can't get channel 2 or 5 HD but 4 and 30 HD are fine. All four work in SD however. Tech support ran me thru all the usual checks and said I'd need a service call at my own expense. I called the folks that did my install and they said it's not an equipment problem but a feed problem either from the satellite or the stations. Called E* yesterday and they knew nothing about this and they would send somebody out on their nickel. So a guy from a different service came today and knew our problem before we even told him---said they've had many of the same calls and E* doesn't want to admit they know of this otherwise they'd have hundreds of requests for refunds, etc. Another call to E* today, they still know nothing, and they'll pass it on to the supers. Are any of you StL viewers experiencing the same thing? Any ideas on what we can do next to correct this? Not fired up about renewal in Oct if we only get half our HD locals. Sorry for the long post...

Do you not have an antenna or tuner?
Keep the dish locals for digital access, and add an antenna. You'll get 13 digital feeds with a great channel 9 HD channel! (9-1. and three more nines.)
Antennas are back, and they have a rightful place connected to any digital TV. The most reliable digital TV in your area is OTA.
Unfortunately, no one saw it coming and satellite guys have been "pirate-ing" the antenna wire for a long time.

Here's antenna info!

http://www.wowvision.tv/Antennas.htm

Happy HD hunting!

Get your antenna for locals in STL!

[webguy57]

For the past few months we can't get channel 2 or 5 HD but 4 and 30 HD are fine. All four work in SD however. Tech support ran me thru all the usual checks and said I'd need a service call at my own expense. I called the folks that did my install and they said it's not an equipment problem but a feed problem either from the satellite or the stations. Called E* yesterday and they knew nothing about this and they would send somebody out on their nickel. So a guy from a different service came today and knew our problem before we even told him---said they've had many of the same calls and E* doesn't want to admit they know of this otherwise they'd have hundreds of requests for refunds, etc. Another call to E* today, they still know nothing, and they'll pass it on to the supers. Are any of you StL viewers experiencing the same thing? Any ideas on what we can do next to correct this? Not fired up about renewal in Oct if we only get half our HD locals. Sorry for the long post...


Yes, we are having the same exact issue with channels 2 and 5 only in HD as well. The weird thing is that they both work perfectly in the morning but by the afternoon they don't work. It must have somthing to do with how the sun hits the satellite dish. When I call E* they just keep running me through the same testing run around and then say that we need to pay for a tech to come out and take look at it. I am also at a loss with trying to figure out how to get the problem fixed. Any techs out there know of anything we can do to fix the issue? Would replacing all of the LNB's fix the problem? Thanks.

[M5Guy]

I get the HD St. Louis locals by OTA via 622's & 211's. I have not noticed any problems with KSDK-Digital. I don't watch much on Fox-2, so I can't say on that one. Must be a Dish uplink issue.

[lukin4u]

i am still having major problems with fox
i dont understand why there are some st louis peeps that dont have this problem @ all if it is a sat. issue or a local network problem
you would think everyone would be affected?

[mw1597]

KTVI-2 (Fox) and KSDK-5 are both on transponder-18, KMOV-4 and KDNL-30 are both on transponder-11. The signal strength on TP-18 is weaker than TP-11. I'm getting signal strength of 57 on TP-18, and signal strength of 73 on TP-11. I think this explains why there are frequent issues with channels 2 and 5 but not with channels 4 or 30.