Is it possible No one can solve this?

[bkushner]

Okay, I am going to lay my problem out here for all to see in hopes someone might shed light. In the past week I've been through a living hell with D* after enjoying great customer service with E* for 10 years.

On the 17th I have installation of a Dish and an HR20-receiver. Right from the get go there was a problem. Here is the problem, and if you were to walk inside my home and do the following you'd get the same exact result, the problem is very stable if such a thing.

When the receiver boots, if you check the signal on the 101 Tuner A will be 98% and Tuner B will be 40-60%.

Move to Sat 110 and I get 98% and 98%, 119 I get 99/100 and 99/100, 103(c) I get about 90% over 85%. Now move back to the 101 and Tuner A will be 98% and Tuner B will now read 98%. Check the 110 and now I have 98% over 0%. Yes all 3 transponders on the 110 are reading 0 on Tuner B.

This happens everytime, when first booted Tuner B on the 101 is bad, once I go through sats the problem moves to the 110 Sat and stays there until reboot and then it will move back to 101 then the 110.

I've had 6 installers, 2 lead techs over 4 days out here. They have done the following:

1. Reinstalled New LNB and Dish
2. Ran New Cable
3. Tried 3 more Brand new Out of the Box HR20's (each one failed the SAME EXACT WAY)
4. I had an electrician friend do extensive tests on my power, all good.
5. They replaced the B-Band Converters about 8 times (funny thing is with no B-Band converter everything works fine)

The installers have no other box other then the HR20-100's. However this past Friday they came with an HR21 that one of them personally owned. It worked. And by work I mean I had an acceptable signal on Tuner 2 on all Sats even so Tuner 2 was lower then Tuner 1 but none more then 15%.

They had me call Direct to try and get an HR21. When doing so I encounter massive problems. Like, they can't guarantee what receiver will be sent, they promised to ship last Friday (didn't), this past Monday (didn't) etc etc.

When I threatened to cancel they told me I'd have to pay the cancellation fee. At one point, retention suggested I go to a BEST BUY, buy and HR21 (none had one) and they would credit me $49 towards the $200. Isn't that nice of em?

Does anyone have a hint as to what the problem is? I have all good equipment Dish, Xbox, etc all working fine. Also any tips for getting D* to send me an HR21 so I can watch the programming I'm 9 days into paying for?

Thanks

Brian

 

[charper1]

1. What end result problem does the low tuner B cause?

2. Are you missing channels?

3. Do you have any external multi-switch?

4. We you say re-ran lines; are all lines direct from dish to receiver; or did they use any runs already in the house?

5. The fact that another user's HR21 worked really points to a guess that the receiver is bad; but that B-band converter comment is odd.

 

[bkushner]

The end result is the SEARCHING FOR TUNER 2 message when I hit channels randomly. This is a bigger problem when recording and Tuner 1 is in use. No external multi, this is a ONE receiver hook up and the two lines are coming down right off the NB. The original install used fresh lines as did the reinstall. In one case they took a second HR20 and hooked it up to a new cable coming in the window and then to TV and it did it as well. I believe it might me something in my place interfering with the unit rather then 4 bad units. And yes, something happens to the signal once the B-Band converter is added.

Brian

 

[Joe Diamond]

Brian,

Looks like defective HR 20s..are they all the same mfg? The hundred (3 digit number) after the HR 20 indicates a manufacturer; the list is available.

The other thing you could try is changing the power source. With an extension cord connect to two different circuits. There could be a house wire thing. Looks like the techs followed the standard path. Maybe too soon on the cable rerun...but ok.

Report what turns up. Interesting!

Joe

 

[downthedoor]

Try switching the wires (from tuner 1 to tuner 2) to see if you get the same problem on the 1st tuner. If you do, then you have a bad line or multi-switch, if you get a bad message on tuner 2 still then it is the box.

 

[bkushner]

All the tests mentioned were done and more. My HR21 arrived this morning and is working fine. Guess it's a bad batch of HR20-100. The tech that brought them said they were all pulled from the same pallet.

BRian

 

[toober]

If I remember right, the HR20 has a 3 pronged plug and the HR21 has a 2 pronged plug. This has caused problems for me in the past. Have you tried a 3x2 adapter on the plug?

 

[iwc5893]

If I remember right, the HR20 has a 3 pronged plug and the HR21 has a 2 pronged plug. This has caused problems for me in the past. Have you tried a 3x2 adapter on the plug?

I've seen that cause issues, also. Another thing I've seen is the coax being run too close to an electrical wire causing interference.

 

[texasbrit]

If I remember right, the HR20 has a 3 pronged plug and the HR21 has a 2 pronged plug. This has caused problems for me in the past. Have you tried a 3x2 adapter on the plug?

That might indicate the OP has a grounding issue....

 

[Van]

Reread what the OP stated, he had his electrical wiring checked out thoroughly by an electrician, its a good idea to read the whole post and not part of it.

If this is an issue with the hr20's power cord then its probably within the chasis of the unit where the ground wire for the third prong is atached and or with other metal to metal to board contact within the unit or a poor ground device not rated for the application within the unit.

 

[dishcomm]

Brian,

Looks like defective HR 20s..are they all the same mfg? The hundred (3 digit number) after the HR 20 indicates a manufacturer; the list is available.

The other thing you could try is changing the power source. With an extension cord connect to two different circuits. There could be a house wire thing. Looks like the techs followed the standard path. Maybe too soon on the cable rerun...but ok.

Report what turns up. Interesting!

Joe

Yep. It is very possible that there is a bad ground in the outlet....One thing i will do is check to see if there's backfeed voltage across the main house ground. If that's ok, check ot see if there is voltage on the third or ground insert on the outlet the receiver is plugged into ..

 

[raoul5788]

That might indicate the OP has a grounding issue....

That's exactly what I was thinking. There are inexpensive plug in testers available at Home Depot or Lowes. They look like 3 to 2 prong adapters.