Official - I have a Hopper 3 Thread!

[Scott Greczkowski]

Ok folks this thread is ONLY for the SatelliteGuys members who have had a Hopper 3 Installed!

We want to hear how about your ordering experience!
We want to hear about your install how did it go?
We want to hear what the Techs did and upgraded at your house!
We want to hear your thoughts on the Hopper 3!
We want to hear what you would change about the Hopper 3?

Consider this thread the SatelliteGuys Hopper 3 Users Club.

If you don't have a Hopper 3 PLEASE do not post in this thread. Please just watch and learn. Posts by folks that do not have a Hopper 3 will be removed. If you have any questions please post them in a different thread. Thanks!

Thanks!

 

[lparsons21]

Ordering was a bit of a chore as the CSR said it wasn't available. Once I convinced he that it was, she did what was necessary to get the order going. Worst part was the waiting to get to the CSR.

Install was easy and quick with no glitches along the way. Tech removed my HWS and SuperJoey and put the H3 into place. After that it was maybe 30 minutes to get it activated, he waited until it finished populated, and for me to restore the backup. He also got a nice tip for a job well done.

Overall I love this newest of the Hopper line though I'm not enamored of the remote. Fortunately for me I use my Harmony One!

Restored a few shows from my EHD to see if that would work well, and it did it with no issues.

The speed and smoothness of this box is just amazing. Much faster than anything I've previously used.


Sent from my iPad Pro using Tapatalk

 

[bobvick]

I got my install finished about 1:30 today. Got all the Joeys hooked up and installed and activated. You should see the mess of switches and cables I took out that I had used with the four HWS setup that I had. It is amazing that a single cable, hub and splitter can do all that that thing does. I am very pleased with the speed of the H3. The Joeys seem (nearly) as fast as the Hopper, especially the 4K Joey.

 

[Madhatter01]

I got my hopper 3 at around 11:30am. So far so good. Couple of little gui bugs. It looks like cut off on the guide screen on the right. I love being able to see what is going on with each tuner.

 

[TechWriter]

First, a shout out to Luis the DISH Tech in Lake Havasu City . . . this was his 1st Hopper 3 install (in fact apparently the 1st install in the area) . . . he started at about 5pm and just finished about 7:30pm -- on a Friday night! Kudos!


We want to hear how about your ordering experience!
Using DISH on-line chat, I checked with two CSRs this morning about getting a Hopper 3 & two Joey 2s to replace my three Hopper with Slings.
1st CSR said it would cost a one-time fee of $150 + a $10 install fee. I passed.
2nd CSR said it would cost $0 if I signed up for DISH's $8/mon protection plan + she said I could get a Hopper 3 installed today. I jumped at it.

We want to hear about your install how did it go?
DISH tech arrived at about 5pm and left at 7:30pm.

We want to hear what the Techs did and upgraded at your house!
Replaced the DPP WA LNBF on my 1000.2 with the DPH WA LNBF.

BTW, during the install, if you see this screen . . .

. . . and nothing changes for several minutes, then make sure that your Solo Hub is connected to the #1 connector (first) on the LNBF. After the tech did this, the Check Switch resumed.

We want to hear your thoughts on the Hopper 3!
Mixed. Great speed, picture quality, and # of tuners, but an un-paired remote is ruining the experience.

A few hours after tech left (of course) the Hopper 3 remote became unpaired and attempts at re-pairing (pun intended) have not worked.


We want to hear what you would change about the Hopper 3?
Too soon to tell.

More details & photos later.

 

[dentke]

I was #6 on the DIRt list. I had a PM from Dirt at 6:20 Mtn time. I gave them the info they asked for ( accr #, etc). About 45 minutes later, l received a response asking if they could add the protection plan so I wouldn't have be charged for a service call. I said that was fine. Then 30 minutes later another responses asking for last four digits of credit card. Then 15 to 20 minutes later I received confirmation of install. Scheduled for arrival today between 8-12:00. When I went to a Dishes web site it showed it was scheduled for Sunday 8-12. I clicked on reschedule and was able to choose today from 8-12. I did that and 30 or so minutes later got the auto call from dish confirming installer would arrive between 10:00 and 11:15. He showed up right at 11:15. Install went smooth. It took about 2 hours. It was his first Hopper 3 install.

He installed the new lnbf, then put in the new hybrid solo hub.
Then swapped in the new H3 in place of the old H2. While it was downloading he swapped out my 2 Joey 1's for the Joey 2's.

It all went really smooth, he only glitch we had was the H3 didn't have any audio. We did dome trouble shooting, swapping hdmi cables and inputs, and determined the cable and tv was fine. We then did a reset on the H3 and the audio started working.

The installer was pretty excited to install something new. He was pretty up to speed on what the H3 offers over the H2. Even though this was the first he had seen the Carbon interface.

He was very familiar with the 52 remote, and spent quite awhile explaining how it worked.

After we got everything going I wanted to add my old 40.0 remote, and he said that they didn't work on the H3. I said I'm certain it will work. So we tried it, and it added the remote with no issue. He was surprised and said he would tell the guys on his team that the old remotes are compatible.

After he left I restored my timers, it took me awhile to figure out how to do that.

The carbon interface looks great and is very fast. Buts it's going to take awhile to get used to.
I think I will like the 52.0 remote, but I think it's going to take awhile.

 

[dentke]

I had a HIC, and the installer was a little nervous weather it was compatible with H3, so want to take it out. I have a network switch in my entertainment center, connected to my home network, so I just hooked the H3 up to that. I may try the HIC again later.

 

[vipul128]

Copying my post from the other thread here with some additional comments:

So I called into Dish to try and setup my Hopper 3 install. To my surprise, I was told that there was an appointment available this afternoon! Of course, I accepted.

Installer called and said he would be able to come early at 11am. I can't say enough good things about this installer as he was great! He said it was his very first Hopper 3 install and I was the only one in the area with it that he knew of. He did a great job putting up a new dish and using the old dish for the 118 satellite for internationals. Pretty quick and painless.

As far as the Hopper 3. It's great! Very fast and responsive compared to our old 722 and 612s. Love the 16 tuners and the ability to organize recordings into folders. I know that may not be new to old hopper users but this is my first experience with one. Will probably take a while for everyone in the house to get used to it but I'm sure they will love it. Didn't get the touchscreen remote but to be honest I think I like the remote with hard buttons better anyway. The installer said he would swap it out for me when they came out if I just called him. He seemed pretty pumped to install the Hopper 3 for the first time.

Anyway, off to learn and enjoy my Hopper 3!

Additional Thoughts: Found out that the On-Screen directions for what button to press to get more options or info changes depending on what remote you use. For example, if I use the included 52.0(? non voice) remote the top right of the screen will say "Press Options for additional options" whereas if I use my Harmony remote which is still programmed as a 722 is connected to it then it will say "Press *Red* for additional options." While this may be an old feature or something silly, I found it to be pretty neat and a great attention to detail item by Dish.

 

[rwalsh]

Experienced one problem after installation. The video signal 4k,1080p,etc was having problems passing thru my Yamaha Receiver to the TV( non-4k) . We had to change to another HDMI port on the Samsung (non-4k) and it started working properly and we got a picture and Dolby Digital sound. I did notice after the Technician left that there setting on the Hopper 3 that allows you to turn Dolby Digital Pass-thru from the Hopper on and off. I turned it on but not sure whether it made a difference or not. The technician never mentioned that option.

 

[TechWriter]

It all went really smooth, he only glitch we had was the H3 didn't have any audio. We did dome trouble shooting, swapping hdmi cables and inputs, and determined the cable and tv was fine. We then did a reset on the H3 and the audio started working.

Same thing happened with me after tech left. I just did a reset.

After we got everything going I wanted to add my old 40.0 remote, and he said that they didn't work on the H3. I said I'm certain it will work. So we tried it, and it added the remote with no issue. He was surprised and said he would tell the guys on his team that the old remotes are compatible.

Great minds think alike. After my new 52 remote become permanently unpaired (after tech left of course), I tried my old 40 remote . . . it's working like a charm.

 

[srheug]

Ordered my Hopper 3 through mydish.com chat. 10 mins. or less. $50.00 for Joey 2 no charge for H3 or install. Installer will be here tomorrow. Rep. was pleasant, helpful and knew his stuff.

 

[dentke]

I got my hopper 3 at around 11:30am. So far so good. Couple of little gui bugs. It looks like cut off on the guide screen on the right. I love being able to see what is going on with each tuner.

You need to adjust the screen. It's under TV settings where you can change the video resolutions and aspect ratio.

Settings
TV
Adjust Screen

 

[netsweeper]

Ordering - This was the most difficult/stressful part of the entire process. I had to call multiple times to the standard line and was given the run around each time. I then called the escalation CSR line and while even they were a bit hesitant to order it due to system upgrades being done, I kind of insisted they try and it worked. I told them how many TV's I had and also mentioned that I wanted to do some of them with wireless Joeys. I was offered the following:

1 x H3
2 x Wireless Joeys
3 x 4k Joeys

I took this and we started scheduling. They had an appointment for the same day in the afternoon and I took it.

Install/Tech(s) – The tech was very cool and nice. I've had people over to swap out/upgrade equipment in the past, but this guy really made me feel like I was getting good service (he reminded me of how I treat my customers). The tech mentioned how this was the very first one being installed in the area and he was pretty excited to do one (he said he had to make sure the order was correct when he saw it).

So he replaced the dish itself with the new LNBF and I told him he could leave the rest inside with me and I would unbox it and put it all where I wanted it while he did that. I got everything in it's place and he replaced the hub to the hybrid solo (it looks so small, almost just like a cable splitter). The tech had another tech come over to help out (really to see the new H3 and how it all worked) and they checked EVERYTHING to make sure it was correct. He found an issue with the cabling inside the house that the old Hoppers were on and he said he was amazed that they worked for years with no issues. He replaced that and we went through the startup wizard together (really liked how smooth the process was). The only little hiccup was that it wouldn't activate on its own using the zip code and account number (it had Internet access). The tech called it in and it all was working. One slight oddness here, not sure if you can link several remotes to previous receivers, but we weren't able to have the old remote and new remote linked to the Hopper 3 at the same time (mainly just needed this to restore the timers). So we just unlinked the new remote, linked the old, restored and then did the same process to get them back to the new remote.

I linked all of the 4k Joeys and the tech did the wireless ones. All of them went through a similar startup wizard and it was super easy to do (the older ones were easy, but these seemed to really hold your hand and walk you though the setup process).

Also, I've seen some people say that the techs don't take the equipment away and some say they do. In my case I rounded it all up and they took it. I think they did take one Joey I had paid for, an HIC and an old 44 switch. But I really didn't care since everything changed in how they connect to the Internet and dish.

Hopper 3 Impressions – Only having it for a few hours I haven't found much to not like about the Hopper 3. The new interface is fast, changing channels is fast, pretty much everything is much faster. One thing I did find to be somewhat slow was changing the guide settings. Sometimes I would change a setting and it would say "saving" but it would stick for just a bit. Other times I would change a setting and it would save immediately.

One item I found somewhat odd is the fact that the front USB port is USB 2.0 (that's what the label says anyway). I didn't look at the back. But I just looked at the spec sheet and it says USB 3.0. I know some PC manufactures do something similar making only certain ports 3.0 and leaving others at 2.

I really like the new remote. It's very simplified and not cluttered. I think for average users who don't use a lot of the advance features on the remote, they will really welcome this. I know some people will still like/want the old version, but try the new one for a while before you decide. The one thing I don't know if I like or not yet is having the mode buttons on the left side of the remote.

Overall I think the upgrade for anyone who has a previous generation Hopper is well worth it. Any small bugs or issues you may encounter will be overshadowed by the substantial upgrade that the Hopper 3 provides (especially for those of us coming from H2k systems). Let's just hope that we don't encounter any of them!

 

[DefDude]

Got my H3 and 4K joeys today. It was an easy ordering process thru dish with only having to pay for the joeys 2@ $50. It was the tech's first install of the H3 but all went fine till it had to phone home ..took a few tries but works now. A few issues for now, I don't see an option to get rid of the banner in the guide like before as stated before , the guide is cut off by the current show info..almost a third of the screen, really don't need that.... just want to see the upcoming shows.

As far as the UI, it is a little different when it comes to getting around to customizing, but a lot quicker to make changes.

Haven't been able to find a way to hide duplicate events in the timers. you could show only events that were to be recorded on H2 ..now it shows all.

I never used a Joey before so I like that I can watch the same show on 3 TV's and be able to pause and the play at the same spot on another one..just a little bit of delay if I have the volume up and can hear the others.

I have some high end Sony 4K's and I can see a difference in the picture to the good side, which is really cool.

No problems transferring shows back from EHD's, plus it can see and play from 3 instead of 2 like the H2 , but unlike the H2 I don't see my 4th if I want to add or restore yet.

My old remotes from H2 and older work fine..which is nice since I know and can use them in my sleep , the new one is odd for me and there's only 1..the 4K 's came with the older remotes.

Overall I'm very happy with this upgrade and I'm glad I was able to get it today..the tech said they didn't have enough H3's for the people scheduled for tomorrow in my area...

 

[JSheridan]

... Haven't been able to find a way to hide duplicate events in the timers. you could show only events that were to be recorded on H2 ..now it shows all...

Go to DVR\Schedule\Options (Red Button on a 40.0 remote) where you can turn 'Skipped' on and off.

 

[Madhatter01]

First question is should it be outputting 4K all the time (upscaling) or does it only change the resolutions when you are on 4K? It would be nice to have menus and the guide in 4K. Mine says 1080i.

Second question is I noticed cut off on the right side of the screen. I had to manually adjust the picture which I thought was strange. Did anyone else have to? Try going in to manual and seeing if your default show the blue circles. Thanks.

 

[dentke]

Yes, I had to adjust my H3 screen

 

[MGINCHICO]

DIRT contacted me around 10:30 AM and said I would have to call in request because I do not have a credit card on file (I use automatic withdrawal). Got right through, no wait, phone call took less than 5 minutes and arranged for same day installation of hopper 3 and two Joey 2. It was first install in Chico, CA. There were a few hiccups but is working great now. Remote is going to take some getting used to! No charge for installation or equipment but new contract.

 

[vipul128]

Second question is I noticed cut off on the right side of the screen. I had to manually adjust the picture which I thought was strange. Did anyone else have to? Try going in to manual and seeing if your default show the blue circles. Thanks.

I've noticed that if you go into your TV's Screen Settings or Video settings menu, you should have an option for Full Pixel or 1:1 pixel or something similar (name varies based on TV make). If you set your TV input to that setting then you will not have to make adjustments to the screen through the hopper menu.

 

[DWS44]

First question is should it be outputting 4K all the time (upscaling) or does it only change the resolutions when you are on 4K? It would be nice to have menus and the guide in 4K. Mine says 1080i.

That is normal, I believe. Several posts indicated the H3 was designed to leave the upconversion to your TV for all content other than the true 4K content offered.