DVR Interfering with my DISH signal?

[Smartkid]

Is it possible that my DVR/receiver could actually be interfering with my DISH signal?

Here's my story:
We have a VIP 722k receiver with the external SlingAdapter. We have two satellites - one for internationals and one for the US channels/locals.

I had a major signal outage in November 2014. The receiver was on the "acquiring signal" for an entire day and then seemed to return back to normal. We even received a voicemail from DISH saying that their systems had indicated that we had signal issues and could call in. Since things seemed to be working fine, I didn't call back. Then I started watching my backlog of recorded TV shows and noticed not a signal one was working. They all had a warning "part of this recording has been lost due to signal issues." My international channels always worked fine but my US channels would occasionally have "complete signal losses."

I finally called DISH in January 2015 (we were away for sometime in December) and told them what was going on and they sent over a technician and agreed to waive the fees. The technician said the satellites were positioned wrong and moved one of them to the front of the house. (The second is still where it was in the back). He said that if this doesn't solve the problem, it might be the receiver that needs to be swapped out.

After the service visit, the reception seemed to have improved but is back where it was again. I cannot view any of my locals and sometimes it spends several hours a day "acquiring signal". I'm in NJ so I thought maybe the snow/wind was a factor but it even occurs on calm days. Another thing that I noticed is that if I am watching a local channel and the DVR kicks in to record something, the reception is lost. If I am DVRing two shows at once, both shows have no reception. If I am DVRing one show, I sometimes get lucky and it works. I have a feeling that there is a problem with the receiver. Is this even possible?

The reason that I am hesitant about changing receivers is because I don't want to lose my recordings. If I transfer them to an external hard drive, will I be able to access them on a new receiver?

Also my receiver has all of a sudden stopped connecting to the internet so I cannot access DishAnywhere. I use HomePlug and the lights are on to indicate that it is working. I've also tried resetting it.

Can I ask DISH to send the same technician to see me again? Since he was here a month ago, he can continue troubleshooting rather than having someone new come over. I'm disgruntled now so I just want everything to go back to normal. I called DISH earlier today to ask and the person I spoke to said that I don't have the protection plan so I will have to pay for the new service visit and potentially for the receiver too if it really is damaged.

To top things off, I also just found out that my monthly bill is going up.. I just want my reception back!

 

[dwarren2]

Do a system info test. You may have an lnb going bad. Box a will give you the results.

 

[lazydogmot]

You will be able to watch programs you have transfred to an EHD on a new 722 (or new Hopper for that matter) as long as it is on the same account.

 

[TheKrell]

I think your 722k has gone bad, possibly in the sat tuner section. And YES if you transfer your programs to an EHD, you will be able to view them again on a new box. I had 2 612's replaced last year (tuner issue) and my trusty 722 (authentication issue) this year, and all still read the EHDs formatted and filled with programs years ago.

 

[ChadT41]

In this case, I'm guessing it is either the receiver, seperator or diplexor, or a combination of all(including if you have a triplexor).

 

[whatchel1]

You shouldn't have to pay anything. As dish new the problem existed when they sent out the tech. He didn't make things any better. You should contact dish thru the people here on sat guys.

 

[KAB]

You shouldn't have to pay anything. As dish new the problem existed when they sent out the tech. He didn't make things any better. You should contact dish thru the people here on sat guys.

Meaning, DIRT.

 

[Smartkid]

Thanks for the responses guys. Good to know that I can salvage my recordings.
It's crazy that the receiver can get faulty just like that.
I considered upgrading to a Hopper but because I only have 1 HDTV and 1 SDTV, I can't justify the increased monthly fees for the Joey ($7) over my current setup. I'll stick with the 722k for now.

I'll reach out to a member of the DIRT team to have this resolved.

 

[Smartkid]

Hi everyone,

I just got my 722k receiver replaced yesterday thanks to the help of Mike H from the DIRT team. The issues that I was experiencing on signal, new DVR recordings, and internet connectivity through my HomePlug are all resolved. I also am able to access all my old recordings on my external hard drive. The technician was awesome.

However, I've noticed the following with my replacement receiver:

1. The replacement has "HDTV" in a bright blue light in the top right corner. My original receiver didn't have this and I find it distracting. Is there a way to turn it off? Otherwise I guess I'll just put some tape over it. I'm assuming this is a just a newer model of the 722k than what I had originally.

2. The HD picture quality on the replacement receiver doesn't look as good as it was on my original receiver. There is some fuzziness to the images and they are not as crisp. There is no noise or pixelation, just some fuzziness. I've tried to convince myself that its just in my head, but I keep noticing it on different channels and even on programs that I had stored on my external hard drive. Is there anything I check on the receiver settings to see if I can improve image quality? It's connected through HDMI and broadcasting 1080i. The set-up seems to be exactly what it was like with the original receiver. I actually noticed this as soon as we were flipping through channels with the technician after installation and he rechecked the wiring both inside and outside the house and said everything is connected correctly. The signal strength on the replacement receiver is around 60 while on the original receiver it was always around 30.

Smartkid

 

[MikeD-C05]

Put black tape over the light if you don't want to see it. For pq issues try to set your receiver to 720p if 1080i doesn't look as good to you. I did that on one of my hd tvs because 1080i never looks good on that tv.

 

[ChadT41]

There is no way to turn off the HDTV light. It is just indicating your receiver is capable.

 

[Smartkid]

Thanks - I put a piece of tape over it. Not an issue. I was just wondering if there was a way to turn it off because my BD receiver has a similar light but it can be turned off.

I tried changing the output to 720p and its no better. The difference is also noticeable on my 2nd TV which is an SDTV.

The image on almost every station is way softer, much less "crisp", and less contrast. I spent some time watching several shows that I watch regularly, and was therefore pretty familiar with how they'd always looked on my old 722k. I don't know how else to describe it technically but its almost like there is more compression on the video feed. I've tried to convince myself that its in my head but I pointed it out to my brother and he sees it too.

What's strange is that my original 722k was several years old and this replacement appears to be a newer model so I would have expected to see an improvement in the picture quality.

I have a Pioneer Elite 60" FD151 connected to the 722k via HDMI if it makes any difference. I also tried changing HDMI cables and using different HDMI inputs on the TV.

 

[david_jr]

Wow sounds like my MIL Uverse receiver that HDTV light was the most annoying thing about that thing. I would heed the tape suggestion that would drive me bonkers!

 

[Smartkid]

Yeah its really distracting. We were watching a movie last night and had the lights off and the light from the 722k was brightening the room - Do all the new DISH receivers have this blue light? When did they roll these out?

 

[osu1991]

I put tape over my 211k's a long time ago, was a dumb decision to put those stupid lighted logo's on the front panels.

 

[navychop]

I think your 722k has gone bad, possibly in the sat tuner section. And YES if you transfer your programs to an EHD, you will be able to view them again on a new box. I had 2 612's replaced last year (tuner issue) and my trusty 722 (authentication issue) this year, .........

<whistling innocently>

 

[osu1991]

<whistling innocently>

Hoppers don't whistle innocently

 

[ChadT41]

Yeah its really distracting. We were watching a movie last night and had the lights off and the light from the 722k was brightening the room - Do all the new DISH receivers have this blue light? When did they roll these out?

All VIP receivers do, IIRC, the Hopper and Joeys do not.