Hopper 3 got hit with lightning.

[Gmaster1989]

Hello there,

My hopper 3 got hit by lightning last night and won't do anything but run the fan on high continuously. I've already spoken to tech support, and they are sending me a replacement hopper but now I have a few questions and I was looking for some opinions. The questions are as follows:

1. Is there a certain type of surge protection I should have to prevent this from happening again? I had a surge protector for the power cord and coax but not the phoneline. Any brands or specific equipment you would recommend?

2. How likely am I going to be able to retrieve my recordings? I read the forum on how to transfer from hopper to hopper, but I am wondering if I will be able to do it from one to the other if the one unit doesn't even turn on?

3. If I can retrieve my recordings can I do it with the new hopper before I activate it? I assume that I can transfer the recordings via the ethernet method if the first hopper still works. But I was curious if they both have to be activated so I can transfer them without some kind of wall or corruption making them unreadable.

4. If I have to activate the new Hopper to have it receive the files properly will DISH allow me to have both units active at the same time? I am concerned because if it's going to be long enough to send the over 1000 hours of recordings I have stored or will they want to shut the old Hopper off immediately?

Thank you to anyone who reads this and/or answers my questions. With the strike I would hate to lose all my banked entertainment so any advice or insights would be appreciated .

 

[tjboston5676]

Hello there,

My hopper 3 got hit by lightning last night and won't do anything but run the fan on high continuously. I've already spoken to tech support, and they are sending me a replacement hopper but now I have a few questions and I was looking for some opinions. The questions are as follows:

1. Is there a certain type of surge protection I should have to prevent this from happening again? I had a surge protector for the power cord and coax but not the phoneline. Any brands or specific equipment you would recommend?

2. How likely am I going to be able to retrieve my recordings? I read the forum on how to transfer from hopper to hopper, but I am wondering if I will be able to do it from one to the other if the one unit doesn't even turn on?

3. If I can retrieve my recordings can I do it with the new hopper before I activate it? I assume that I can transfer the recordings via the ethernet method if the first hopper still works. But I was curious if they both have to be activated so I can transfer them without some kind of wall or corruption making them unreadable.

4. If I have to activate the new Hopper to have it receive the files properly will DISH allow me to have both units active at the same time? I am concerned because if it's going to be long enough to send the over 1000 hours of recordings I have stored or will they want to shut the old Hopper off immediately?

Thank you to anyone who reads this and/or answers my questions. With the strike I would hate to lose all my banked entertainment so any advice or insights would be appreciated .

If it won't boot up then unfortunately there's no way to transfer recordings.

Aa far as surge protectors go there's no guarantee it won't happen again. If it's high enough voltage it's going to destroy everything including the surge protector no matter what. However I do not recommend the coax going through the surge protector as the connections they use are not rated for satellite usage and can cause signal issues.

The best protection is a properly grounded house and properly grounded antenba that's bonded with the house grounds. Then a good surge protector. (The surge protector won't work at all if everything is grounded properly). Unfortunately about 90% of installs go ungrounded lol.

 

[Gmaster1989]

If it won't boot up then unfortunately there's no way to transfer recordings.

Aa far as surge protectors go there's no guarantee it won't happen again. If it's high enough voltage it's going to destroy everything including the surge protector no matter what. However I do not recommend the coax going through the surge protector as the connections they use are not rated for satellite usage and can cause signal issues.

The best protection is a properly grounded house and properly grounded antenba that's bonded with the house grounds. Then a good surge protector. (The surge protector won't work at all if everything is grounded properly). Unfortunately about 90% of installs go ungrounded lol.

Thank you for responding,
I have a couple clarifying questions,
How exactly is the storage effected by the inability to boot up? Wouldn't the new hopper just treat it like an external drive and access the storage as long as thats not fried and transfer the recordings? Or is there some kind of process that isn't available because it won't work properly? I am not doubting your answer I am just genuinely curious.

Also is there a way to ground the dish without tying it into the house ground as it's installed on the other side of the house on a pole? Could I just basically reproduce the house ground from the dish down the pole into the soil? Or is that not recommended for a reason I am unaware of lol.

Thanks again for the response

 

[Radioguy41]

Nothing will provide perfect protection but I run my stuff through one of these since I took a hit a couple of years ago. I always used an APC but when the last one's battery gave up the ghost I didn't replace it. That was a mistake I'm not willing to make again. I run my PC and Internet through one as well.

Amazon product ASIN B06WP9Q8ZN
View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WP9Q8ZN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[navychop]

Internal and external HDDs are coded differently. Can't remove and read an internal as an external. You could try to reformat. Don't see it as worth it.

 

[tjboston5676]

Technically of you removed the drive from old hopper and put it in new hopper you could see your recording. However I'm not sure if the receiver and smartcard numbers are stored into the hard drive. So it may say you aren't active. But from there I guess you could transfer to external hard drive then swsp the internal back to the one that came with it.

Although most dishes aren't grounded it's actually the law that they should be. And by NEC rules it must be tied into house ground. The whole point is to get rid of any voltage potential between the dish system and the house. You can actually do more harm if you use unapproved grounding methods and aren't bonded to house electrical ground. At that point it's better to just leave it ungrounded.

 

[Gmaster1989]

Technically of you removed the drive from old hopper and put it in new hopper you could see your recording. However I'm not sure if the receiver and smartcard numbers are stored into the hard drive. So it may say you aren't active. But from there I guess you could transfer to external hard drive then swsp the internal back to the one that came with it.

Although most dishes aren't grounded it's actually the law that they should be. And by NEC rules it must be tied into house ground. The whole point is to get rid of any voltage potential between the dish system and the house. You can actually do more harm if you use unapproved grounding methods and aren't bonded to house electrical ground. At that point it's better to just leave it ungrounded.

I appreciate you entertaining my queries lol but I am going to ask how hard is it to do the whole hard drive switch? Now I'll admit I am a neophyte and if its more than unscrewing screws and unplugging it and plugging it into the other it might be outside my realm of ability. Also, if dish sees that it was opened are they going to be upset and charge me for the hopper replacement? Don't I also have to pay to use an external hard drive too?

 

[Gmaster1989]

Nothing will provide perfect protection but I run my stuff through one of these since I took a hit a couple of years ago. I always used an APC but when the last one's battery gave up the ghost I didn't replace it. That was a mistake I'm not willing to make again. I run my PC and Internet through one as well.

Amazon product ASIN B06WP9Q8ZN
View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WP9Q8ZN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thank you for responding,

I assume the difference in VA is the amount of battery power? Also do you run the coax through this and have you had any signal issues?

 

[tjboston5676]

I appreciate you entertaining my queries lol but I am going to ask how hard is it to do the whole hard drive switch? Now I'll admit I am a neophyte and if its more than unscrewing screws and unplugging it and plugging it into the other it might be outside my realm of ability. Also, if dish sees that it was opened are they going to be upset and charge me for the hopper replacement? Don't I also have to pay to use an external hard drive too?

Yea, it's just a few screws and some cables. And tea would have to pay for an external hard drive. I've never tried anything like that with a hopper but I've messed around with some 722s in the past lol. And no they probably wouldn't ever know you opened it as long as you put it back right lol.

 

[Nebugeater]

Nothing will provide perfect protection but I run my stuff through one of these since I took a hit a couple of years ago. I always used an APC but when the last one's battery gave up the ghost I didn't replace it. That was a mistake I'm not willing to make again. I run my PC and Internet through one as well.

Amazon product ASIN B06WP9Q8ZN
View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WP9Q8ZN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I assume you know that you can replace the battery(s) in these APC units and do not need to replace the complete unit. I have one of the few that I have protecting things that is on it's third pair of batteries. I put the date of a new battery install on the inside of the battery cover with a white colored Sharpie

 

[cpdretired]

Dish wants the Hopper plugged directly into the wall outlet. Would a APC power supply cause erattic behavior of the Hopper?

 

[Nebugeater]

Dish wants the Hopper plugged directly into the wall outlet. Would a APC power supply cause erattic behavior of the Hopper?

I would not have a receiver powered in any other way than through a "quality" UPS. By directly into the wall, I am "guessing" they do not want someone running a 20 Ft extension cord, for example.

 

[HipKat]

I would not have a receiver powered in any other way than through a "quality" UPS. By directly into the wall, I am "guessing" they do not want someone running a 20 Ft extension cord, for example.

That or a power strip

 

[tjboston5676]

Dish wants the Hopper plugged directly into the wall outlet. Would a APC power supply cause erattic behavior of the Hopper?

That's actually wrong. Customer support uses it as a troubleshooting step. But go read the red tag on the end of the power cord. It says it's recommended to use a surge protector