I've been a DISH customer for about 14 years and have been happy with most everything. When they came out a few years ago to set up another room (sent me a 3800), I upgraded to a 510 on the main TV and also have another receiver (2700 on b/r TV). The 2700 has been unplugged for a few years and I just noticed that I still pay for it every month. The signal to the 3800 has failed and from what my untechnical brain can learn is that there is no signal coming from the satellite. I climbed up there and cleaned out all the bugs and made sure all the things were plugged in. I called DISH and the guy told me I needed to upgrade my equipment and said the only charge would be the $99 care package. I certainly understand they cannot make a free service call. I do not use the DVR and don't see much reason to get the dual DVR system. I told the guy I needed to be consider the upgrade possibilities. I still have the old type televisions (no flat screen or HD). I asked the DISH man what good it would do to upgrade my equipment when the problem was not the receivers but something else. He told me no matter what was wrong it would not cost over the $99 care package. He then transferred me to the real technical support department.
I plugged in the 2700 and it apparently has gone kaput. It keeps turning itself on and off. But when it stays on it says "unknown unit". This could be because I plugged it in to another TV. Ran diagnostics per tech department on both units. I don't quite understand the screen results but it looks as if it is a switch box problem. It does say there is a good signal (there is a green line). Of course this is on the 3800. I went outside and looked at the thing I think is the switch box. There is no real "box" as is shown on the DISH illustration page. It is just a regular switcher thing like you would see inside a house for cable TV.
I think my questions are these:
1. I went to the DISH page that defined what are "normal" charges. It says that anything outside of plugging the receiver in and getting the signal would be outside of a normal charge. If new coaxial (and I imagine a new switch thing) is needed there would be an additional charge and it is not within the realm of ordinary service. How can I be sure the technician that comes will not charge me extra for a new switch box and making sure everything works properly?
2. On the TV screen where you run that 38 point test, does it matter what satellite and transponder is punched in? I am not sure what numbers are supposed to be there--I pushed the up/down button so many times and didn't realize I was changing these numbers and now I don't know what to set them to for testing. And I don't really understand the results--this isn't exactly something women are attuned to.
3. As long as I copy what is done on the switch out there, can I just try to replace the switch myself or am I just causing myself a lot of trouble? As I said before, it doesn't look anything like what is on the DISH specs page.
Upgrading might be a good idea since I would get all new equipment and I am going to have to pay to have a service call. I am not sure they will do the free upgrade if I get anything other than the DVR. I really just need a dual receiver don't I?
I plugged in the 2700 and it apparently has gone kaput. It keeps turning itself on and off. But when it stays on it says "unknown unit". This could be because I plugged it in to another TV. Ran diagnostics per tech department on both units. I don't quite understand the screen results but it looks as if it is a switch box problem. It does say there is a good signal (there is a green line). Of course this is on the 3800. I went outside and looked at the thing I think is the switch box. There is no real "box" as is shown on the DISH illustration page. It is just a regular switcher thing like you would see inside a house for cable TV.
I think my questions are these:
1. I went to the DISH page that defined what are "normal" charges. It says that anything outside of plugging the receiver in and getting the signal would be outside of a normal charge. If new coaxial (and I imagine a new switch thing) is needed there would be an additional charge and it is not within the realm of ordinary service. How can I be sure the technician that comes will not charge me extra for a new switch box and making sure everything works properly?
2. On the TV screen where you run that 38 point test, does it matter what satellite and transponder is punched in? I am not sure what numbers are supposed to be there--I pushed the up/down button so many times and didn't realize I was changing these numbers and now I don't know what to set them to for testing. And I don't really understand the results--this isn't exactly something women are attuned to.
3. As long as I copy what is done on the switch out there, can I just try to replace the switch myself or am I just causing myself a lot of trouble? As I said before, it doesn't look anything like what is on the DISH specs page.
Upgrading might be a good idea since I would get all new equipment and I am going to have to pay to have a service call. I am not sure they will do the free upgrade if I get anything other than the DVR. I really just need a dual receiver don't I?
