Well, my 501 is getting replaced under warranty.
I've had it for just over 2 years and it became flaky over the last few weeks. It started with me watching recordings that showed a message that part of the recording was missing due to a signal loss.
I checked my dish to make sure it was clear of snow, asked my family if they noticed anything on any other receivers, and decided it was intermittant. Since that time I had many times where I was watching it live and saw it go to the aquiring signal screen. Or heavy pixilation occuring. Screen freezes. I would reset it and sometimes it would behave. I'd power cycle it and sometimes it would behave.
I finally exchanged it's location with a 4900 and it's problem persisted in a different spot. So it wasn't the wiring.
I hesitated to call Dish because I figured I'd be on the phone for a half hour trying this, and that, and running check switches, and all sorts of stuff. But when I finally called, I explained what I had experienced, what I had done, and all of a sudden I was getting a RA number and a replacement was being shipped.
Easier than I expected. I hope the replacement works at least as long as the first one. At least the $1.99 warranty I signed up for last October is taking care of it.
I've had it for just over 2 years and it became flaky over the last few weeks. It started with me watching recordings that showed a message that part of the recording was missing due to a signal loss.
I checked my dish to make sure it was clear of snow, asked my family if they noticed anything on any other receivers, and decided it was intermittant. Since that time I had many times where I was watching it live and saw it go to the aquiring signal screen. Or heavy pixilation occuring. Screen freezes. I would reset it and sometimes it would behave. I'd power cycle it and sometimes it would behave.
I finally exchanged it's location with a 4900 and it's problem persisted in a different spot. So it wasn't the wiring.
I hesitated to call Dish because I figured I'd be on the phone for a half hour trying this, and that, and running check switches, and all sorts of stuff. But when I finally called, I explained what I had experienced, what I had done, and all of a sudden I was getting a RA number and a replacement was being shipped.
Easier than I expected. I hope the replacement works at least as long as the first one. At least the $1.99 warranty I signed up for last October is taking care of it.