Poor Signal Quality

[jedi_jackson]

Hey guys I am new to this forum and new to satellite so bare with me and please help me out! Forgive me if his is long, so here it goes.

On Sept. 1 I had Dish Network installed with the Top 120 plan, and my local channels. I also received the 625 Dual DVR Receiver and they installed a Dish 500 satellite dish. At the time I had one 27" SDTV Tube television and one 13" SDTV tube televison. When they installed it, it was raining out and I thought the picture looked "boxy." So I figured when it quit raining that the signal would by good and clear. Well, it never did. Now I have received a 42" Plasma HDTV ready television as a wedding gift and I have it hooked up in place of the 13" television with the S-Video cable output that is on the 625 receiver. Of course I know the quality will not be as good because I do not have the HD Channels, but the quality of the picture from the satellite to both the 27" STDV and the 42" HDTV both look boxy (I don't think thats a word), esp. my local channels. So I called the place that installed it and asked them to come and look at it. They came and said that there was nothing that they could do. They said that the picture quality I had was about normal on the 27" SDTV. But I don't think that the picture is that great. I used to have analog cable and the quality was better on it. So guys, what is my problem? Would I benefit to try and upgrade to a HD receiver? Basically I am upset because my picture quality sucks and I figured satellite would be much better than analog cable! Thank you so much guys!

 

[boba]

Hey guys I am new to this forum and new to satellite so bare with me and please help me out! Forgive me if his is long, so here it goes.

On Sept. 1 I had Dish Network installed with the Top 120 plan, and my local channels. I also received the 625 Dual DVR Receiver and they installed a Dish 500 satellite dish. At the time I had one 27" SDTV Tube television and one 13" SDTV tube televison. When they installed it, it was raining out and I thought the picture looked "boxy." So I figured when it quit raining that the signal would by good and clear. Well, it never did. Now I have received a 42" Plasma HDTV ready television as a wedding gift and I have it hooked up in place of the 13" television with the S-Video cable output that is on the 625 receiver. Of course I know the quality will not be as good because I do not have the HD Channels, but the quality of the picture from the satellite to both the 27" STDV and the 42" HDTV both look boxy (I don't think thats a word), esp. my local channels. So I called the place that installed it and asked them to come and look at it. They came and said that there was nothing that they could do. They said that the picture quality I had was about normal on the 27" SDTV. But I don't think that the picture is that great. I used to have analog cable and the quality was better on it. So guys, what is my problem? Would I benefit to try and upgrade to a HD receiver? Basically I am upset because my picture quality sucks and I figured satellite would be much better than analog cable! Thank you so much guys!

If you signed up under DHA18 you have 30 days to cancel and return the equipment. Good analog can look better than digital, most cable companies don't deliver good analog.

 

[datwell]

If you signed up under DHA18 you have 30 days to cancel and return the equipment. Good analog can look better than digital, most cable companies don't deliver good analog.

YES!!!!!!!!! E* should look lots better than analog cable! I expect you are the victim of some shoddy work! I would call E* and without being rude & ugly, let them fully understand that you are not satisfied with the present situation and if they cannot get the basic SD right, how would you ever be incented to upgrade to their HD service? You don't state your location - but in my area, only Verizon's FIOS has better PQ! D* & the cable company (Cox Cable of Fairfax) don't compare.

Just my two cents.

---Doug

 

[Poke]

Yeah sounds like a install issue and like the other poster said I would look at one of their HD plans like the silver since you have the 120.. That way your for sure on the MPEG4 receiver and also make sure that you cable in your house is in good shape. Also folks make sure that you tell us the model and brand of your HDTV's due to your TV will have some effect on your PQ so forth..

 

[jedi_jackson]

Thanks guys, and the model HDTV I have is a Sanyo 42" Widescreen Plasma HDTV Model # DP42746. All the cables in the home are brand new installed by the people who installed my satellite, which was my local radioshack. I live in Southwest Virgina and the cable we receive where I live is crappy. I think we get 40 channels at best, so that is why I upgraded to satellite. I like the programming offered, I am just unhappy with the quality of the picture. I have e-mailed Dish twice, the first time they said the plasma would degrade the quality of the signal, but they also said that if the tube television looked bad then the installation should be checked by the installer. Well I did that, so I e-mailed them again but no resonse yet. Is there anyway I could just stay with the Top 120 plan I have now and upgrade to the 622 HDTV Dual DVR? Or would that help any? If I did upgrade, would I still be charged for the 625 Dual DVR I have now? I am new to the satellite world. Thanks guys!

 

[Bradtothebone]

Dish SD should look GREAT on your 27" tube, and should really be pretty good even on a 42" plasma through S-Video. If I were you, I would ask them (nicely) to replace your receiver, or even better, tell them that you just received the plasma as a gift and see what you can do about upgrading to a 622 HD DVR. They MIGHT trade even-up if you commit to 12 or 18 months of HD-Silver. It's worth a try.

Seriously, though, I think you've got a bad receiver.

Brad

 

[rcdallas]

Hey guys I am new to this forum and new to satellite so bare with me and please help me out! Forgive me if his is long, so here it goes.

On Sept. 1 I had Dish Network installed with the Top 120 plan, and my local channels. I also received the 625 Dual DVR Receiver and they installed a Dish 500 satellite dish. At the time I had one 27" SDTV Tube television and one 13" SDTV tube televison. When they installed it, it was raining out and I thought the picture looked "boxy." So I figured when it quit raining that the signal would by good and clear. Well, it never did. Now I have received a 42" Plasma HDTV ready television as a wedding gift and I have it hooked up in place of the 13" television with the S-Video cable output that is on the 625 receiver. Of course I know the quality will not be as good because I do not have the HD Channels, but the quality of the picture from the satellite to both the 27" STDV and the 42" HDTV both look boxy (I don't think thats a word), esp. my local channels. So I called the place that installed it and asked them to come and look at it. They came and said that there was nothing that they could do. They said that the picture quality I had was about normal on the 27" SDTV. But I don't think that the picture is that great. I used to have analog cable and the quality was better on it. So guys, what is my problem? Would I benefit to try and upgrade to a HD receiver? Basically I am upset because my picture quality sucks and I figured satellite would be much better than analog cable! Thank you so much guys!

Have you tried playing with the settings on the television set itself?(brightness/sharpness/contrast, etc)

You can also try utilizing the RCA cables that came with your 625 if your not using them now.

 

[Jordan420]

What is your signal strength?
menu->6->1->1
Give us the strength on transponder 21 for sat 110 & TP 12 for 119

Someone please correct me if I have the transponder #'s wrong

 

[jedi_jackson]

What is your signal strength?
menu->6->1->1
Give us the strength on transponder 21 for sat 110 & TP 12 for 119

Someone please correct me if I have the transponder #'s wrong

Okay on Transponder 21 for sat 110 signal strength is 89.
For Transponder 12 for sat 119 signal strength is 109.

I also have tried to adjust the settings on both of my television sets and not had much luck. It seems today that the picture quality has seemed a little bit better, but the cable around here still looks better. I am stumped. The guys that came to check it came at 8:30 PM to check it and they played around with a few cables and played with the remote a few times and they recommended that I take back my Plasma television and trade it in for something else like a LCD! They also told me that they could not adjust the angle of the antenna (dish, whatever it is called) they said that it would not help to pick up the channels any better. Thank you guys for continuing to help me. I would like to get this resolved and stick with Dish but if things continue like this I may have to switch to DirectTV or even worse, cable! Thanks again guys!

 

[boba]

Okay on Transponder 21 for sat 110 signal strength is 89.
For Transponder 12 for sat 119 signal strength is 109.

I also have tried to adjust the settings on both of my television sets and not had much luck. It seems today that the picture quality has seemed a little bit better, but the cable around here still looks better. I am stumped. The guys that came to check it came at 8:30 PM to check it and they played around with a few cables and played with the remote a few times and they recommended that I take back my Plasma television and trade it in for something else like a LCD! They also told me that they could not adjust the angle of the antenna (dish, whatever it is called) they said that it would not help to pick up the channels any better. Thank you guys for continuing to help me. I would like to get this resolved and stick with Dish but if things continue like this I may have to switch to DirectTV or even worse, cable! Thanks again guys!

Your signal strengths are high enough to eliminate poor aiming so the digital signal is available for the receiver to process. Bad picture quality can be blamed on the cables, the receiver or the TV, seeing it is bad on 2 TVs which means 2 sets of cables also the receiver would be the suspect. Seeing you can cancel within 30 days use it as a threat with DISH to replace the receiver. A 622 has a cost to lease of $199 so you should be able to upgrade if you are willing to pay that fee and upgrade to a metal programming package.

 

[retexan599]

Do you have a DVD player hooked to any of your TV's? -- how does a DVD movie look on your sets? Perhaps that might give clues about the quality of the TV itself and/or the connecting cables. Just a thought....

 

[jedi_jackson]

A DVD looks great on both television sets. I e-mailed Dish well over 48 hours ago and no reply so it looks like I will end up having to call them. I do have a question about the leasing of the 622 DVR unit. Once I pay the $199 then I get the HDTV DVR to use, but I will never own it correct?

 

[jedi_jackson]

Well guys. I chated with an associate for Dish Network and I did all of their tests and none of them helped. So they are sending me a new receiver to try at no charge. They did say that if they found that I had messed up the receiver there would be charges, but I know that I didn't do anything to it so I'm not worried about that. They are also sending a box with postage paid to send back the old reciever. I sure hope this fixes my picture quality. I will keep you posted. Thanks guys!