Satellite 129 Issues

[RTCDude]

Plus the way it records into specific folders rather then just putting everything in one menu also makes it much easier to record and file your favorites.

A Hopper3 will do that exact same functionality to record to folders. So that point isn’t a usable comparison.

 

[Radioguy41]

The plot thickens, after doing some digging apparently Dish Network LLC did not renew their lease on their 129 Satellite which expired on Aug 1st.
The end of last month they quickly shifted some content from the 129 to 119 and 110 but as I understand it not everything got moved and if you had a non HD receiver you lost channels plus some of the duplicated SD channels are gone too.

I guess it was a Hail Marry move perhaps a move to save some bucks for them. In hindsight proper planning did not prevail and the customers with older equipment got the shaft. Great job Dish! Your living up to the industry experts prediction about your future.

Technology advances. If you don't advance with it you get left behind. Seems like you've been left behind. Hard to believe in this day and age someone would actually complain about losing duplicated SD channels and then act as if Dish did it just to shaft it's customers. You talk about a lack of proper planning and I agree, you did not properly plan for this eventuality. The 922 is no longer supported and past EOL. Dish offers upgraded hardware to replace it but you don't want to be bothered making the effort yet somehow you're still blaming Dish? Seriously?. Do you still hand crank your car to start it on those cold Winter mornings are did you get one with one of those new fangled electric starters? I'll bet you upgraded that one.

 

[Josh.M]

This has been a highly entertaining thread

 

[H2Guy]

First let me respond about the suggestion to move to a Hopper and Joey's and the reasons why I won't:
1. Take a look at my distribution node: I cringe ever time I have to go in it. Its responsible for all Satellite, Video distribution, Networking, phone, voip, security system and more. Every time anything is touched something else breaks.
2. The security camera system signal is piggybacked into the video distribution allowing all TV's to be able to view the security camera. On the RF output of the 922 into the amplifier the security camera's are available by simply switching to channel 3, the Satellite is channel 60.
3. Bypassing the Amp/Distribution in order to hook the Hopper to the Joey would cause loss of the security system in the other rooms.
4. TV's are flat screen in those rooms and mounted directly to the wall using low profile mounts, there is no space for the Joey and I won't have a Joey dangling below the TV.
5. Why should I pay close to $30. a month more to get nothing more then I already have (minus the added record slots of the Hopper), not only that I no longer own the equipment and are tied into a contract and rental agreement. Again, Why?

Hopefully this explains why I don't wish to re-invent the wheel that was working just fine. As far as Dish supporting equipment forever I understand that they can't however as long as the equipment is in working condition and costs them nothing why not, its in their best interest and better for their bottom line as well as the customer. Sending out a tech to upgrade me to a Hopper and Joey's would cost them at least hundreds of dollars. Again Why?

 

[H2Guy]

I may have the best solution to this problem, I will update the thread shortly...

 

[tjboston5676]

Yea, that's definitely a mess. But someone that knows what they are doing can still get your security system and Joey's working over the same coax. Is it approved, definitely not. But will it work without issues, most likely yes. And Joey3s are maybe 1/4" thick and will fit behind just about any mounted TV.
Technically the Joey's will run off of ethernet too. Again not approved and if you are going to do it should be the only thing on the network switch but I've seen people run it over the same network as their internet without issue.

 

[Bobby]

Yea, that's definitely a mess. But someone that knows what they are doing can still get your security system and Joey's working over the same coax. Is it approved, definitely not. But will it work without issues, most likely yes. And Joey3s are maybe 1/4" thick and will fit behind just about any mounted TV.
Technically the Joey's will run off of ethernet too. Again not approved and if you are going to do it should be the only thing on the network switch but I've seen people run it over the same network as their internet without issue.

Just as a matter of reference, the Joey 3 is 1/2" thick with its little rubber feet. Still not a problem to mount behind a mounted TV.

 

[charlesrshell]

Just as a matter of reference, the Joey 3 is 1/2" thick with its little rubber feet. Still not a problem to mount behind a mounted TV.

And to add, the Joey 4 & Wireless Joey 4 are 1" thick with its little rubber feet. And also still not a problem to mount behind a mounted TV.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

And to add, the Joey 4 & Wireless Joey 4 are 1" thick with its little rubber feet. And also still not a problem to mount behind a mounted TV.

And by hiding it behind the tv also hides that annoying red recording light. (Ducking)

 

[charlesrshell]

And by hiding it behind the tv also hides that annoying red recording light. (Ducking)

Scott Scott!!!

 

[AZ.]

And by hiding it behind the tv also hides that annoying red recording light. (Ducking)

Black electrical tape east fix for that.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Black electrical tape east fix for that.

Shhh don't tell anyone... there is no red record light on the Hopper 3 or Joeys.

 

[charlesrshell]

Shhh don't tell anyone... there is no red record light on the Hopper 3 or Joeys.

Scott Scot, please. navychop & I are still having heavy withdrawals not having the little red recording lite!!

 

[Bruno]

For several days my 612 in shed would not turn on and would have to reset it. I would also get a message that i needed a Dish 500 for that channel in guide. Now that i have done check switch it seems to start up each day but i still get a message i need a Dish 500 for that channel when in Guide. My house has 2-622 and had to replace the LNB and was suprised when the check switch came back with NO 129. I have wondered about going to hopper 3 but dont want to sign any contract.

 

[H2Guy]

How to return to service your older orphaned Dish receiver from the 129 Satellite Decommissioning debacle

While this procedure is specifically for the VIP922 Duo but it could be partially applied to others such as the 722, 222 etc.

Anyway, after at least 6 phone calls to Dish Network technical support I finally got to the knowledgeable 922 Tech, the only one.
Here's what I was told and the procedure to resolve the receiver hang up.

The Dish 922 receiver was complex and had lots of checks and internal diagnostic built into it. Every day it checks for updates
downloads the guide and verify's that it is receiving signal on all satellies configured into the switch menu. It also emails any
failures noted to Dish over the network if connected via the RJ45 wired network port.

It does this automatically and if something such as a satellite drops out because of a bad LNB, connection issue the unit will
go into a startup mode when the power button on the remote is pressed to bring the unit out of standby.

If the unit does not see 3 properly connected satellites it gets hung and usually requires either the reset button on the front of
the receiver to be pressed or the power to be removed by unplugging. This will cause the unit to re-aquire all configured satellites.

Again in the case for the 129 Satellite its not there anymore so the unit will complain and while it will work with the 110 and 119
it will again get locked up the next day. So how to fix it.

Dish is suppost to release software/firmware updates for all current receivers to automatically prevent 129 from being looked at.
If the patched software/firmware had been released on download this would have been a mute issue and the customer would have never
known or experienced a problem. Unfortunately this didn't happen and in the case of the 922 (in the tech's opinion) never will so how to get around it? The 922 is considered a semi supported obsolete receiver that is still being used by a number of Dish customers.

If you have a 922 that fails Dish will try to get you to go to a Hopper which is a good idea if you are in a position to upgrade. Its probably going to cost you in one way or another. If not they still have replacement 922's you just have to press the issue with them. I do imagine there will come a time where their stockpile is exhausted and you won't have a choice.

With all of that said there may be other or even better ways to complete the following but what I am posting is what was recommended by the Dish expert and I can confirm that it works. Anyway I digress, onto the bandaid fix.

1. Unplug the 922 from the wall for 30 seconds and let the unit come back on line, this will take a little while because during its
initialization its looking for the configured 129 Satellite which it obviously won't find.

2. Access the Main menu, select System Wizard, Backup and peform the function. (important you must do a backup)

3. Back to system, the select and perform a factory, after a period of time the unit will again come back online.

4. Using the remote depress Satellite and then menu, this should re-link the remote to the unit.

5. Next go back to the System Wizard and select restore from remote, this will put back all your favorites list etc.

6. This is the most important step: Now go to the Point disk menu, run a switch test and make sure you save, ignore any error messages you might receive. You will now only have 2 satellites display 110 and 119 and an x under the last 2.

That's it your done, your receiver should now work as it did prior. You may have to go into the channel editor and delete some SD
channels you may have had programmed that are no longer there. One other comment a factory default may not actually be necessary
but it was recommended to clear out any invalid configuration data that is stored in non-volatile memory or on the hard drive.

I performed this late last night on one of my 922's last night and this morning it came right up, no starting up message. I going
to try the procedure on the other unit today without doing the factory reset as I don't have some recorded shows backed up and see
what happens.

Anyway, Though it did take some effort on my at least I got it up and running again. Thank to all who suggested alternatives and so the story ends! Hopefully for the few remaining old technology customers this will help.

 

[charlesrshell]

Black electrical tape east fix for that.

I use a product like this to hang things. It is like a heavy duty Velcro. I even use it to hang outside security cameras.

 

[Bobby]

Scott Scot, please. navychop & I are still having heavy withdrawals not having the little red recording lite!!

You might try these! Guaranteed to stop the shaking....

Amazon product ASIN B0757WG6GX
View: https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Night-Light-Plug-Sensor/dp/B0757WG6GX/ref=sr_1_31?crid=2FGFSCUAU6H1W&keywords=red+light+lamp&qid=1692207998&sprefix=red+light%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-31

 

[Josh.M]

For several days my 612 in shed would not turn on and would have to reset it. I would also get a message that i needed a Dish 500 for that channel in guide. Now that i have done check switch it seems to start up each day but i still get a message i need a Dish 500 for that channel when in Guide. My house has 2-622 and had to replace the LNB and was suprised when the check switch came back with NO 129. I have wondered about going to hopper 3 but dont want to sign any contract.

Is this pop-up appearing when you hit the "home" button your remote? Or does it just appear while watching TV?

 

[HipKat]

If a rx will do a checkswitch and finds sats (110/119), it should be happy to let you lock those in and not demand it find something more (129), right?

I went to do a checkswitch on my 722k just to be sure it was good on the transition, and it indicated being programmed just on 110 and 119. So they must have done some command to simply remove 129 from the saved matrix.

Yeah, that 922- what was the purpose of that again? If I remember, it was like the first HD DVR rx. Didn't like them. Why not get 722s?

It was a hybrid, VIP, dual tuner with some of the earliest hopper menus and remotes and functions. More or less a VIP/hopper hybrid.

 

[HipKat]

The plot thickens, after doing some digging apparently Dish Network LLC did not renew their lease on their 129 Satellite which expired on Aug 1st.
The end of last month they quickly shifted some content from the 129 to 119 and 110 but as I understand it not everything got moved and if you had a non HD receiver you lost channels plus some of the duplicated SD channels are gone too.

I guess it was a Hail Marry move perhaps a move to save some bucks for them. In hindsight proper planning did not prevail and the customers with older equipment got the shaft. Great job Dish! Your living up to the industry experts prediction about your future.

There is a lot in this post, which I assume other people have addressed, that is just not true