622 - Any problems if powered off a lot?

[Tom Bombadil]

Got my 622 and the hard drive in it is much noisier than my 942, or my previous 510 and 7100. Typical hard drive high pitched "whine." My ears get irritated by that noise, others might not notice it. I can no longer sit and read or relax in the room when it is powered on.

So I put in a powerstrip between it and my surge protector and I power off the strip when I'm done watching TV.

It looks like my 622 is likely to be powered off every day for about 20 hours, and not even turned on on some days.

Can I expect any hassles from it being off so much? Outside of the hassle that I have to go through 5-7 minutes of power on diagnostics, acquiring the satellite, and downloading the program guide every night.

Will E* possible try to hit me with a disconnected phone charge?

Will I avoid the Dish on Demand movies? (not a problem to me)

 

[navychop]

"... Will E* possible try to hit me with a disconnected phone charge?..."

Yes, I think so.

Are you sure your unit is not defective? I can't hear mine unless I'm right up on it, but then it's in the living room and my hearing's not perfect.

Can you find a friend with a ViP622 and listen to his and see if they sound the same?

 

[bhelms]

Tom - There's an equipment issue to consider: it's not how long it's powered-off, but rather the accumulated on/off cycles that are increasingly more likely than actual extended use to cause HDD or power supply failures. Also - You know that I am a strong proponent for controlling the 622's heat, but at the same time I am concerned just as much with temp. cycling that may be even harder on connections, like that fragile surface-mounted HDMI connector. I also hate running something on "standby" for the wasted power, but others have reported consumptions (I think I remember 90 watts?) far less than the max. spec., so that issue is also diminished somewhat.

"Sounds" like you'd be a good candidate for some Bose noise-cancelling headphones!

Just my 2-cents worth... (I resorted to my old pricing structure for a "good customer"...!)

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I can hear it from 20' away, while standing in the next room but close to the entry way. Although I am very sensitive to this type of noise and others would likely never notice it from anywhere near that distance. In fact just a couple of days ago, I noticed the noise bothering me from about 16' away when I had forgotten about the 622 and was reading the paper ... so I wasn't trying to hear it.

As to powering off, that's really not a big problem with modern electronics. The mean time to failure with power on/off cycles should be several years. I've seen recent studies on computers that indicated powering them off for 16 hours a day actually reduced repairs vs leaving them on all the time.

In the case of a 622, it is a matter of a unit being on for 20-25 hours a week vs on and generating a fair amount of heat for 168 hours a week. Plus the hard drive is always spinning. I would not be surprised at all if the powered-down units lasted longer, despite the increase in on/off cycles.

With my ears and problems (I get a ringing in my ears if exposed to prolonged noise from fans, etc.), I have no recourse but to power it off.

PS But if they try to hit me with a phone fee, when a phone line *IS* always connected, then they will have a fight on their hands.

 

[lakebum431]

But you do realize that it can't record anything while it is off, so it kind of defeats the purpose of a DVR. . .

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Yep, I realize that.

I usually record only 2-3 things a week, and usually they are from evening programs when I have it on anyway. The only regular timer I have set is for SG-1 & Atlantis on Friday nights.

On the occasional instance where I will be recording during my "down" time, I'll have to remember to leave it on.

And I can still pause while watching a show, which is my #1 use of a DVR.

I admit this is a royal pain, and I'd rather not do it. But don't have much of an option.

 

[rcdallas]

Yep, I realize that.

I usually record only 2-3 things a week, and usually they are from evening programs when I have it on anyway. The only regular timer I have set is for SG-1 & Atlantis on Friday nights.

On the occasional instance where I will be recording during my "down" time, I'll have to remember to leave it on.

And I can still pause while watching a show, which is my #1 use of a DVR.

I admit this is a royal pain, and I'd rather not do it. But don't have much of an option.

While leaving it disconnected almost all the time, certainly you will miss the software downloads. Being that this is a 622 IRD it is pretty critical for it to stay on top of the downloads.

One day you'll turn it on, flip through the channels, it'll show the title bar but the screen will remain black.

Have you thought about simply relocating the unit somewhere else around your home such as a basement and thus use the UHF remote capabilities? (I believe on the 622 to enable TV1 via UHF you need something special with it)

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I'd need a pretty long, expensive set of component cables to relocate it. But that is an interesting thought.

As to software downloads, those will happen upon power-on after a few days. Dish forces them down to you. I'd have to wait extra long while it performed both the EPG update and the software download. I've had this happen before with other receivers.

 

[StevenD]

I'd need a pretty long, expensive set of component cables to relocate it. But that is an interesting thought.

You can make your own component cables using RG6 for very little $$$

 

[maximum]

Are you sure it's not the cooling fan you're hearing? If the fan is running all the time it might be why you can hear it 20' away.

 

[bhelms]

Probably not the fan. Mine never comes on at all except briefly following a reboot. If anything Tom would hear it varying in speed. I can also hear the HDD whine, but it's not really noticeable unless I'm really close to the unit. And I have been running with the cover off all summer...

 

[Tom Bombadil]

It doesn't seem to be the fan because the noise is constant all the time. And it sounds much more like the noise a hard disc makes than a fan.

I'm looking at relocation options now. It would have to go down into my basement and I'd have to put in a high shelf but that might bring it to within 15' of where it is now, as the cable flies.

 

[mike123abc]

Yes you will get hit by the phone charge. One of my 622s had the UPS fail on it and it was out for a week or so and I got the $5 charge. You can manually force it to call, but you have to remember to do it once a month.

My 622 disk is pretty quite. Perhaps you have a defective unit, or perhaps they have drives from different manufacturers.

I pulled 5 RG6 cables to have a remote TV (about 75 feet of cable). Works like a charm (3 video, 2 audio).

 

[JohnL]

While leaving it disconnected almost all the time, certainly you will miss the software downloads. Being that this is a 622 IRD it is pretty critical for it to stay on top of the downloads.

One day you'll turn it on, flip through the channels, it'll show the title bar but the screen will remain black.

Have you thought about simply relocating the unit somewhere else around your home such as a basement and thus use the UHF remote capabilities? (I believe on the 622 to enable TV1 via UHF you need something special with it)

Actually I just got a VIP622 and you CAN use two UHF remotes. One Remote has to be set using the Black Key, and the other with the #2 Blue Key. The Black Key will be the TV2 remote and the Blue Key remote will be for the TV1 output.

John

 

[rcdallas]

Actually I just got a VIP622 and you CAN use two UHF remotes. One Remote has to be set using the Black Key, and the other with the #2 Blue Key. The Black Key will be the TV2 remote and the Blue Key remote will be for the TV1 output.

John

Ahh... I know exactly what you are talking about. My questions is though where do you get the black key? I don't recall ever seeing one that comes in the box with the 622.

 

[lakebum431]

The black key is the bottom side of the #2 remote.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I found that monoprice.com offers a 25' component cable using RG-6 and having good heavy-duty connectors on it for $22.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...cs_id=1023502&p_id=2771&seq=1&format=2&style=

75' of RG-6, 6 heavy duty gold plated connectors, all assembled for $22. Not bad!

 

[AskATech]

The receiver dials in order to waive the phone line fee when the receiver is in standby but receiving power. If there's no power going to it for over a month, then you'd probably have to worry about the fee. Beyond that, it also has to be in standby on both tuners to receive software downloads, so it won't necessarily get those one day when you randomly power it down. Finally, the receiver, essentially because of the hard drive, is a little bit succeptible to power source/hard drive failure as the result of power cycling, as are the events stored on the hard drive. (Frequent power cycling can cause them to "disappear" without any indicator of when/why they were deleted.) Probably the relocation thing is going to be your best option, unfortunately. Beware of video quality loss from extended cable runs though, although with just 25' you probably won't encounter an issue.

 

[splat10]

I just built a little shelf hanging from the rafters in the basement right under the TV so it wasn't more than 3 ft away from the tv. Shelf was just for 1ft 2x4s with a piece of 1/2 ply screwed to the ends. Ran a std component cable through the floor (which required a hole in my baseboard at an angle so i can replace the baseboard if i move the tv) and use the RF to IR extender on my HTM mx-850 remote. Noise gone and in a much cooler enviroment than a closet or cabinet.

 

[hobojoe]

if you can hear it 20ft away somethings wrong! get it exchanged!