[wyy183]

This is my first post - have been reading forums for the past few days, and figure if I'm gonna post, I might as well make it count! It is great to see responses to others!

A. Can't find any posts where Dish has cancelled someone else's account. They are cancelling mine, for reasons that I will get to later. My questions:
1. My account was renewed for 24-months in July. Would I be responsible for ETF's if they are cancelling it?
2. What about return shipping of my 922 receiver?
3. What about EHD events that I have?

B. Reasons they have told me they are cancelling:
1. They cannot meet my expectations. (I expect the receiver to actually work.)
2. They say that I am using my equipment outside of the design specifications:
a. using EHD
b. using OTA
c. recording for more than 2 1/2 - 3 hours per day
d. that the receiver MUST be turned off anytime that I'm not actively using it so that it can "rest." If I don't turn it off each day, that causes my problems.


My issues with 722/722K receivers:
- Had Dish for 3 years with no issues.
- about a year ago, started having an issue with 722. When I would use search function, receiver would, on occassion, lock and reboot. Didn't matter if I had EHD connected, if something was recording, etc.
- 2nd tuner quit functioning. Unit would only record one event at a time. If events overlapped, then it would start recording the next event when the previous one ended. At the first of the month, with new movies, I may record 3-4 movies - only getting the end of each. (This happened with three different receivers, 722 and 722K.)
- "002" message: Partial signal loss. Would get this on a clear day, with no obstructions, and signal levels on sats 110, 119, 129 all greater than 55. Clear message (press DVR button, then live TV) and it would return in a few seconds or minutes.

After numerous receivers and tech visits, they decided that maybe if I went to another receiver, it might be better. Since I do OTA, a 922 was recommended.

Issues with 922 receiver:
- first one I heard a "pop" from it, and it had died. Probably a thermister as I was able to blow a fan in the side of it to get it to stay up long enough to dump DVR events to EHD.
- next one, three days in a row, failed to start recording an event each day. Different events, different channels.
- next one didn't record an event the next day. Plus, an event that it did record had an error message and couldn't be played.
- next one had error message on DVR event and couldn't be played.
- and so did the next one... Four events in one day with errors and couldn't be played.
(I asked if there was possibly a batch with bad hard drives, since they all came from local office?)

- then I got phone call telling me they were cancelling my service.


Every Dish tech who has been here has said that I'm not doing anything wrong, (I usually show them a few shortcuts they weren't aware of - I had one tech call me when he had an issue with another customer!) and there is no way that I should be having any of these issues. We've played with ground wires, LNB's, RG-6, moved receiver to other rooms. They've seen the issues, but cannot explain the problems. What is really weird is that I went over three months with NO issues (but, I quit using the search function and did my searching on Zap-2-it.)


My biggest concern is what I have recorded on EHD's. I've been recording and saving to EHD's for four years...


Thoughts?

 

[gokartergo]

That does not make any sense. I had a 922 with OTA and a EHD. I had it for two years and never had a problem. I recorded a lot with it has well.. I did not use search that much thou.. Have you taken the OTA module out and did you use it in all of them?? Has it been the same OTA module? I would replace that.. Or take it out and try using the DVR and see if it still does it.. Has for the EHD the only thing you can do is record the stuff to DVDS. If Dish is cancelling your account.. They can not hold you to the ETF..

 

[wyy183]

That does not make any sense.

None of this makes much sense to me. All of my local techs, and their manager, have all been here and scratched their heads over this.

I had a 922 with OTA and a EHD. I had it for two years and never had a problem. I recorded a lot with it has well.. I did not use search that much thou.. Have you taken the OTA module out and did you use it in all of them?? Has it been the same OTA module?

When all of this started with the search issue, I had a 722, which had the OTA built-in to the receiver. I had this receiver for several years. At some point, I was swapped to a 722K, which does not come with OTA built-in. Before the module arrived for it, 2nd tuner quit working. It was replaced with a regular 722, which had "002" messages popping up. That was replaced by another 722K, and the module was installed in it. This same module was transferred to the 922s.

I would replace that.. Or take it out and try using the DVR and see if it still does it.. Has for the EHD the only thing you can do is record the stuff to DVDS. If Dish is cancelling your account.. They can not hold you to the ETF..

The errors on the DVR are: "A problem was encountered when opening the files for this DVR event. Please note the Error Code: 04". Another one has an error code of 05. This error is in the description area for the event - where it would normally show the details of the movie, sporting event, or whatever. This error is on event that have been recorded OTA (NFL game,) ch. 132 (TCM,) one of my locals, and on an event that I was moving from one EHD to another EHD. When this happens (I've actually watched part of these, stopped it, gone back to finish watching later - only to have it give this error. When checking the file size (select event, choose edit) and it shows 0.011 GB. That was for a 3 1/2 hour NFL game.

I also have a show from FOOD network that has almost no file size, and it quits within a second of starting it - it shows EFAM during that short time. There is a show from EFAM which does nothing - like the events are cross-linked.

I have not tried taking the OTA module out.

One interesting fact - the issues that I had with the 722(K)'s are completely different than the issues that I have had with the 922's.

Having 4 years of events recorded to EHD's, there is no way that I could get even a small percentage of these transferred to DVD prior to cancellation. I guess that is my biggest "beef" - local events that I have recorded, things like Olympics, and other one-off things - I will have no way to replay them. I have a 1TB drive with the past two Olympic events on it. Roughly 500 hours of HD. (Have "friends" who competed.)

The reason that I do OTA is that I live between two markets. My locals come from one, and I am "from" the other. I follow sporting events, and performing arts that are broadcast OTA and not in my local channels.

 

[Jhon69]

Have you noticed that you are having to replace light bulbs a little more often?

 

[wyy183]

Have you noticed that you are having to replace light bulbs a little more often?

:lol: light bulbs are working fine!

 

[RasputinAXP]

It's an honest question. This is very, very uncommon behavior.

 

[Jhon69]

:lol: light bulbs are working fine!

There's a reason for my question,if you do your having surge issues inside your home and any replacement receiver will not work for very long,just maybe that's the reason DISH just said"Cancel the account".

I wish you the best in finding out why your receivers(With whatever company) are going bad.Good Luck!

 

[pmjones]

It's an honest question. This is very, very uncommon behavior.

Haunted house?

Sorry ~ that's my best guess . . .

 

[wyy183]

It's an honest question. This is very, very uncommon behavior.

OK - my house was new construction when purchased 4 1/2 years ago. New sub-division. I purchased the first house in this sub-division. Now there are about 40 houses here. At least 8 others in my neighborhood have Dish, including my next-door neighbor.

House has RG-6 installed throughout.

A.C. power has been checked - multiple times. It is normally around 121 volts.

All signals check out fine: power, sat lines, RG-6.

I've had no issues with any other electronics. Computers, TV's, tread mill, light bulbs, etc. With "candle-style" bulbs in ceiling fans, I do replace one bulb every 2-3 months. But, considering that I have six of these four-light fixtures, that isn't out of the ordinary. I've replaced one CFL in the past four years.

Like I stated in the beginning, the first three years - I didn't have any issues.

One other note - have tried connecting directly to wall, connection to a single-outlet surge-protector (receiver only,) and connecting all equipment to a surge protector strip (receiver, TV, EHD power supply, DVD player.) At this moment, I have a 6-outlet surge protector connected to the wall outlet. I have TV, receiver, and EHD power supply connected. Nothing else.

Another note - when I had files that cross-linked, and one with an error, I did not have EHD or EHD power supply connected.

 

[boba]

Time to switch to D* and see if their receivers are more stable in your house.

 

[wyy183]

Haunted house?

Sorry ~ that's my best guess . . .

I do have two cats; however, neither of them are black!

 

[wyy183]

Time to switch to D* and see if their receivers are more stable in your house.

It appears that is about my only choice, as I need to record OTA.

I issue I have with that is that D* doesn't have the same EHD setup:
- uses eSATA connection, and disables internal HD (IHD)
- cannot transfer from IHD to EHD
- all settings (timers, EPG, etc.) are stored on HD - connect a new drive, and you have to start over with EPG download (24-48 hours on D*) and reset all new timers.
- if you swap a receiver for some reason, you lose your EHD recordings as they are tied to the receiver, not the account.

AND I will lose all my current EHD recordings.

 

[Inkosaurus]

OK - my house was new construction when purchased 4 1/2 years ago. New sub-division

You must not be recording very many Holmes on Homes episodes :lol:

 

[boba]

It appears that is about my only choice, as I need to record OTA.

I issue I have with that is that D* doesn't have the same EHD setup:
- uses eSATA connection, and disables internal HD (IHD)
- cannot transfer from IHD to EHD
- all settings (timers, EPG, etc.) are stored on HD - connect a new drive, and you have to start over with EPG download (24-48 hours on D*) and reset all new timers.
- if you swap a receiver for some reason, you lose your EHD recordings as they are tied to the receiver, not the account.

AND I will lose all my current EHD recordings.

You've already lost the EHD RECORDINGS when the account is cancelled they are gone.
The technology differences are what they are but again you don't have much choice.

 

[wyy183]

You've already lost the EHD RECORDINGS when the account is cancelled they are gone.
The technology differences are what they are but again you don't have much choice.

I guess. What bothers me is that I invested (EHD's and time) in the service and I feel like I'm having the rug pulled out from under me because they are having issues with equipment.

At their suggestion, I went from 722K to 922. In 34 days, I had 5 different 922's. The last 3 had events on the DVR which had errors. That sounds like an issue with a batch of 922's?

Then there is the thing where ERT reps were going to "check on things and call me back." Four different times I was told that. It never happened. ERT supervisor was going to send new receiver. It never shipped. Another time, I had appointment for tech to come out (tech lives less than 5 minutes from me.) He called to tell me when he would be here. But, before he got here, ERT cancelled appointment.

When they started rattling off things like "if you record more than 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day, you will start seeing errors..." and "if you didn't turn the receiver off last night, you will get errors." It just started sounding like they were trying to place the blame on me for their equipment not working correctly. (not that that would ever happen in our world today!)

I asked to go back to 722K, and was told that could not happen.

*** End of rant ***

 

[sigma1914]

Have you had an electrician check your house? Have you tried better power supplies, like uninterrupted ones?


Edit - never mind, I reread your posts.

 

[sregener]

Have you tried better power supplies, like uninterrupted ones?

This would actually be my best guess, based on the very erratic (and abnormal) behavior. Back in the day, I used to maintain servers that ran OS/2, and it was particularly finicky about power drops. Not the kind of thing you'd see in the lights, and all the PCs stayed up, including the server. But a crew was working on a building nearby, and the power would flicker ever so slightly every day or so as they worked, and that darn server would bring up an error message and require a reboot. When the construction ended, the flickers ended, and so did the errors. All the Windows servers ran just fine through the flickers, on the exact same hardware.

Note that cheap uninterruptible power supplies (APC-branded ones, for instance) are what are known as "standby" devices - they will switch over to battery power when a power failure occurs, but there is that momentary drop in voltage when the swap takes place. You need an "active" power supply, which runs off the battery constantly, recharging it while the power line is active, or at least a line-interactive one.

Maybe you don't want to invest $200+ in a solution that might solve the problem. Maybe you've had it with Dish (as it sounds like they've had it with you.) But the reality is that you have a reproducible problem that is not the norm for others with your hardware setup.

One other possibility that comes to mind: is your antenna grounded to the same ground as the rest of the house? If it isn't, do you have the grounds properly bonded using thick wire?

 

[tsmacro]

Are the receivers in a open well-ventilated area? Not stacked with other electronics on top of them, not in an enclosed cabinet or anything like that? Just taking a shot in the dark here that maybe there's an overheating problem?

 

[wyy183]

This would actually be my best guess, based on the very erratic (and abnormal) behavior. Back in the day, I used to maintain servers that ran OS/2, and it was particularly finicky about power drops. Not the kind of thing you'd see in the lights, and all the PCs stayed up, including the server. But a crew was working on a building nearby, and the power would flicker ever so slightly every day or so as they worked, and that darn server would bring up an error message and require a reboot. When the construction ended, the flickers ended, and so did the errors. All the Windows servers ran just fine through the flickers, on the exact same hardware.

Note that cheap uninterruptible power supplies (APC-branded ones, for instance) are what are known as "standby" devices - they will switch over to battery power when a power failure occurs, but there is that momentary drop in voltage when the swap takes place. You need an "active" power supply, which runs off the battery constantly, recharging it while the power line is active, or at least a line-interactive one.

Maybe you don't want to invest $200+ in a solution that might solve the problem. Maybe you've had it with Dish (as it sounds like they've had it with you.) But the reality is that you have a reproducible problem that is not the norm for others with your hardware setup.

One other possibility that comes to mind: is your antenna grounded to the same ground as the rest of the house? If it isn't, do you have the grounds properly bonded using thick wire?

OS/2 - wow, there's a blast from the past!

I've thought about an active power supply system. It just seems that would be something that more people would be concerned with, as well...

I have two inside, powered antennas in an upstairs "bonus room." One on each end. They each have RG-59 supplied with them (proprietary connector on one of them.) I combine them to a single RG-6, that I feed through my attic and down through a closet next to my receiver. Behind my receiver, I split the signal and run to TV and 922, with RG-6. The splitters are not grounded in any way. Prior to this setup (if you read everything then you know that we've tried multiple rooms - I previously had my receiver in this "bonus room" for three years with no issues.)

 

[wyy183]

Are the receivers in a open well-ventilated area? Not stacked with other electronics on top of them, not in an enclosed cabinet or anything like that? Just taking a shot in the dark here that maybe there's an overheating problem?

I have an "open" TV stand with a 55" Vizio on the top shelf, 922 on middle shelf with DVD player on top of it (it sits over 1/2" above the top of the 922,) I have EHD's on the bottom shelf. There is an A/C vent approximately 4 feet away from the 922, in the current room.

The highest internal HD temp that I have seen is 125. The lowest is 122. This is for all of the 922's.

Field service manager actually came out and took pictures to send to someone to show that there wasn't any issues with ventilation.