811 HD tier no longer working - maybe p263 problem

[iammike]

I've had my 811 for about 3 weeks now, and subscribed to the HD tier. On Friday, I was trying to watch the Va. Tech bowl game (yes I know they lost) on ESPN-HD and was having terrible pixelation problems. It was essentially unwatchable. Since this was the first time I'd seen the problem, it had worked flawlessly before, I assumed it was something in the satellite that would be corrected by Dish. Yesterday evening, I had the same problem trying to watch the Steelers-Ravens game. I called Dish tech support and they think its a wiring issue and have scheduled a service call for Jan 24th. Almost a month until they can get someone out. I kind of doubt its wiring as my signal strength starts out at around 90 on the transponder for ESPN-HD and slowly bleeds down over the course of a couple minutes until it is around 40 or 50. I've tried doing switch tests, moving cables around, etc. and nothing seems to fix the problem. I got the p263 software release sometime last week, not sure exactly when, and am highly suspicious that it could have caused the problem. Is anybody else seeing this problem or have suggestions on how to fix it?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[DaveO]

I've had my 811 for about 3 weeks now, and subscribed to the HD tier. On Friday, I was trying to watch the Va. Tech bowl game (yes I know they lost) on ESPN-HD and was having terrible pixelation problems. It was essentially unwatchable. Since this was the first time I'd seen the problem, it had worked flawlessly before, I assumed it was something in the satellite that would be corrected by Dish. Yesterday evening, I had the same problem trying to watch the Steelers-Ravens game. I called Dish tech support and they think its a wiring issue and have scheduled a service call for Jan 24th. Almost a month until they can get someone out. I kind of doubt its wiring as my signal strength starts out at around 90 on the transponder for ESPN-HD and slowly bleeds down over the course of a couple minutes until it is around 40 or 50. I've tried doing switch tests, moving cables around, etc. and nothing seems to fix the problem. I got the p263 software release sometime last week, not sure exactly when, and am highly suspicious that it could have caused the problem. Is anybody else seeing this problem or have suggestions on how to fix it?

Thanks,
Mike

Mike, I watched both games and there were no problems with my 811. Are you using DVI? That's what I was using.

I also have had the p263 software since it came out.

Dave

 

[iammike]

Mike, I watched both games and there were no problems with my 811. Are you using DVI? That's what I was using.

I also have had the p263 software since it came out.

Dave

Dave,

I'm using the component output, as I'm going to an X1 projector which doesn't support DVI. I'm glad to hear that your software is working correctly, maybe it is a wiring issue. One thing I've just noticed is that the problem is also on the HBO and I assume Showtime feed on the 110 satellite location, but it works fine from 61.5. I guess it could be a wiring problem between my lnb getting the 110 signal and the SW64 switch although I don't think I've seen the problem on non-HD channels. I'll try some SD channels tonight to see if they have the problem.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Nick]

No such probs on my 3-week new 811 - 'cept for a one-time check-switch anomaly I reported in the 811 thread over at the other place - post #188

 

[Texas Red]

Mike, I'd have to agree with the tech. It sounds like a voltage problem to me, which usually is the coax, but could be the receiver or LNB.

Run a coax jumper and bypass your old coax and see if the system still acts up.

 

[iammike]

Update

I spent a couple hours this afternoon trying to isolate my problem. I swapped out the coax supplying the odd polarity on 110 and it didn't fix anything. Next I tried changing switches and put my twin lnb back in place of the two legacy lnb's. I thought doing this and putting back the sw21 in place of th sw64 might help. No dice, the same slow bleed down until after a minute or so I lose signal on the hd transponders on 110. Interesting thing is that its only the hd transponders, the sd ones seem to be unaffected. On 61.5 I don't see the problem with hd. Guess I'm back to the problem being in the receiver. Its either got to be a hardware failure (let's face it quality control is not exactly Dish's strong suit) or the new software release. Since nobody else appears to be having the problem, I'm guessing my receiver needs to be swapped out. Maybe that's why its taking Dish 4 weeks to get someone out to work on this. It still seems odd that only the transponders with HD channels on 110 would have the problem.

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

My 811 would never work with the DVI out, terrible pixelation problems and dark bars across the picture, more with action shots and camera panning. It would only do this on HD channels and worked fine on SD. It also did this with OTA HD channels. Hooking up componet cable solved this. Dish said it was the TV, I said not. I took the 811 down the street and hooked it up at neighbors house to his Sony HD tv with the DVI and it did the same thing. I called dish back, they are sending a replacement and said it would be here Friday. I will be shocked to see it since they seem to be in non excitant supply.