Activate 721 with Blue Card

[Stargazer]

If there is a 721 that has a blue card and has not been active for a while with old software, is it possible to get it activated with a yellow card? The reason why I ask this is due to the fact that earlier this year I tried to get Dish Network to activate a diferent card than what came in a receiver and they said they could not change the card unless the receiver has certain software which is only one or two software versions back. Can it be done with the blue card for the software update before putting the yellow card in? I think thats how they done it with the other receivers before. I was going to buy a 721 with the blue card and wanted to make sure it could accept a yellow card. Thanks.

 

[stone phillips420]

im pretty sure you get it setup
call them and they should almost automatically send out a new card for 721 via ups 2 day air
as far as getting software update with blue card, i guess i dont know
hopefully i was some help

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I just re-animated an old 4900 that had a blue card.

It really balked at getting started, probably because I was now using a DishPro Plus Twin and Dual setup that its old software didn't know how to handle.

So I went into its checkswitch and told it that I had 3 satellites. It eventually (on the third try) defined my setup in some wierd way, like a SuperDish, but at that time it was able to perform a software download. It jumped from SW level 2.16 to 3.22. At that time I could then see the channels.

But if I attempted to view any channel other than 100, 101, or the two "What's on Dish 500" and "What's on 61.5", then I got a "Must upgrade your Card" error.

So I called into Dish and they sent me a yellow card via UPS 2-day shipping. Got it, installed it, had to call back into Dish to activate the new card, and I was up and running.

Now it works fine with the new LNBs (I also have a 622 connected) and is working perfectly.

I was surprised that such an old, outdated box was able to come up relatively quickly on new gear.

 

[Pepper]

Tom, did they try to charge you for the card?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

No. It was free.

 

[SatinKzo]

Tom, did they try to charge you for the card?

I was going to activate my old 301 and plugged it in, it said to call dish (had a yellow card already) cause my card needed to be replaced. They told me I was making a mistake the yellow card was good and that I made the message on my screen up, even after I read them everything they wanted to know.

Finally got tech support on the line who said "yep, it's a Rom 101, needs to be swapped, it'll cost $49"
After politely declining, they said, ok, we'll do it for free. Of course that has been 4 days and no card yet. We'll see if it actually comes.

 

[Stargazer]

Wow, trying to charge for a card swap, must be something new they are trying. Never heard of them trying to charge for a card swap before.

 

[AskATech]

There is no charge for the card swap because it was a forced change on the company's end. The agent SatinKzo talked to was probably new and didn't know any better since Dish did away with the Smart Card Replacement department and started routing the calls to Tech Support.

Also, unless your software version is ancient all you need to do is make sure software upgrades are enabled, you're getting satellite signal (Tom Bombadil was right in suggesting a check switch test) and then just power off the receiver. It has to upgrade software with the blue card before it will work with the yellow.