721 Guide Question

[tunagimp]

Hello all!

I've spent the last week "enjoying" my brand new 721. I've had each and every one of the many problems described in these pages--Loss of Sat Feed, blank screens, UNK Channel 77 and a Picture Quality Straight 'outta Comcast.

Despite monumental effort on the part of Dish (they came out and rewired my house and replaced my New Quad LNB with a Legacy to see if it made a difference--it didn't) I still have crummy PQ and I have one problem I haven't seen mentioned here.

When the receiver downloaded the initial software, the time displayed was about six hours off. It was corrected by then sending a signal to update, but since then, whenever I use the Guide, the display flickers periodically. It doesn't seem to harm the functionality, it's just annoying. It doesn't happen on the PVR screen or the search screen.

My question is: Is this normal? Or is this just another "Normal" Bug?

They have RMA'd this receiver due to periodic Loss of Signal on Tuner One. could this be what I am seeing?

I've already had three 811's (In four Months). I don't want to repeat this with the 721.

Thanks for the help.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

Either you are very unlucky or you have something else going on. THe fact that you replaced three 811 in four months makes me wonder if you have a power problem or a wiring issue.

What do you mean by crummy PQ? This is a digital signal so unless you have bad cables from your box to your TV or you are using a cable run I am rather confused by the crummy PQ comment. What do you mean by crummy PQ?

The fact that you have had a total of 4 RMAs would make me thing there is something external to the systems that is influencing the system. Can you provide more detail as to what your system is.

As to the flikering.. No that is not common and I have not seen it on my 721.

 

[tunagimp]

I thought about the voltage thing too. So I had my local, friendly Utility Company come out and put a Meter Recorder on my "Drop" and we measured the voltage on a couple of interior outlets with a fancy schmancy gizmo they had. It was Rock Solid 120.

My saga with the 811 actually involved the sound quality, and we (I) determined it's on their end. (I ended up keeping my original, and new 811. One of the "replacement" 811's sent to me had no DVI or Component Output!)

The 721 was a straight up replacement (in the same spot) for a much beloved (and waiting in the wings for a reinstall) 501. The 501 had great PQ, almost never lost signal in two years of use. All that changed was the addition of a Pro Quad LNB--Later replaced with a Legacy) and an extra feed. As I stated, Dish replaced every feed with new stuff. Even used the same S-Video cable. And my 811 works fine for OTA and HD--which is all that it is used for.

Right out of the box the 721, had intermittant feed on Tuner One, so we did the old "Cable swap" and still no feed. After a power off reboot and a "System Defaut" reset, I got Sat One, but I still lose it once or twice a Day.

PQ? On my TV, it was raining the last 10 Days of the Tour de France, even though it wasn't, Lance was this little shadow of Pixels in the distant shots, and he looked like a Leroy Neimann painting in the closeups.

The reason I'm asking about the guide is that the PQ is getting better. (No, I'm not getting used to it, I PVR'd the crummy stuff) Could this thing be "healing" itself? I didn't want to send the thing back if the flickering was considered "Dish Normal."

 

[GaryPen]

It sounds like a bad 721.

 

[tunagimp]

Thanks for the input.

My "new replacement" (That's what the box said, the unit appears new) 721 arrived this afternoon in a heap on my front porch. Dumped there on a bench in full view of the street--No, I did't get to sign for it. The box appears to have been sat on and then used as a Rugby Ball, or vice versa. I hate UPS.

I unpacked and installed the unit. It had the 1.71 software update, so, I just called one of the friendly Deesh CSR's and activated it.

The flickering is much less than before (but still present) and the signal I receive on Sat Input number 1 is higher than with the first unit.

Also gone is the flickering with the on-screen menus. The sound appears good and the Picture Quality is "better," but still not the same as my trusty 501, which I will now keep and add as a third receiver, bringing yet another five bucks a month to Charlie's Billions, which was probably what they had in mind for me anyway.

Can we watch TV now?

 

[WeeJavaDude]

Thanks for the input.

My "new replacement" (That's what the box said, the unit appears new) 721 arrived this afternoon in a heap on my front porch. Dumped there on a bench in full view of the street--No, I did't get to sign for it. The box appears to have been sat on and then used as a Rugby Ball, or vice versa. I hate UPS.

I unpacked and installed the unit. It had the 1.71 software update, so, I just called one of the friendly Deesh CSR's and activated it.

The flickering is much less than before (but still present) and the signal I receive on Sat Input number 1 is higher than with the first unit.

Also gone is the flickering with the on-screen menus. The sound appears good and the Picture Quality is "better," but still not the same as my trusty 501, which I will now keep and add as a third receiver, bringing yet another five bucks a month to Charlie's Billions, which was probably what they had in mind for me anyway.

Can we watch TV now?

This PQ thing has me intrigued. Do you have the 721 hooked up to Svideo on your TV? What is the size of the TV and the distance you watching from? Have you calibrated your TV using AVIA and a DVD player? Are you comparing your 501 hooked up to the same TV and doing an A/B test using the same inputs.

Sounds like you like as much PQ as possible (Same here). I suggest making sure you have gone through all those steps to get the best possible PQ. I have a 508 and a 721. I switched from a 508 on composite to a 721 on svideo and I noticed a step up improvement on PQ. My guess is because of the change in input.

Good luck..