Strange VIP622 OTA Tuner problem

[riffjim4069]

Is it possible for the UHF portion of a 622s OTA tuner to fail and not affect VHF?

I received a call from my mother in-law (aka Millie) stating many of her antenna channels displayed "No Signal." I bought her an HDTV and gave her one of my old 622s gathering dust last year to bring her into the HDTV era when she retired. Other than having to get a new crypto (purple) card, all has been working well...until late last week when her OTA channels crapped-out. Anyway, instead of having her call Dish Network, I worked a half-day and made the 120 mile drives since I have work in the Baltimore area the next couple days. Plus, I plugged into her 30-year old Channel Master UHF/VHF rooftop antenna, which hasn't been used in 20-years, so I really wanted to check if there were any problems with the antenna.

Upon arrival, I noticed only one-quarter of the local OTA channels were working:

Baltimore MD
WMAR, 2.1, ABC, RF38 (UHF), 17-miles, 107 Az, SN:0
WBAL, 11.1, NBC, RF11 (VHF), 17-miles, 107 Az, SN:89
WJZ, 13.1, CBS, RF13 (VHF), 17-miles, 107 Az, SN:82
WMPT, 22.1, PBS, RF42 (UHF), 33-miles, 146 Az, SN:0
WUTB, 24.1, CW, RF41 (UHF), 13-miles, 128 Az, SN:0
WBFF, 45.1, FOX, RF46 (UHF), 17-miles, 107 Az, SN:0
WNUV, 54.1, CW, RF40 (UHF), 17-miles, 107 Az, SN:0
WMPT, 67.1, PBS, RF29 (UHF), 10-miles, 74 Az, SN:0
WGAL, 8.1, NBC, RF8 (VHF), 47-miles, 47 Az, SN:57 (York PA)

Washington DC
WTTG, 5.1, FOX, RF36 (UHF), 32-miles, 192 Az, SN:0
WJLA, 7.1, ABC, RF7 (VHF), 32-miles, 192 Az, SN:75
WUSA, 9.1, CBS, RF9 (VHF), 32-miles, 192 Az, SN:73
WFDC, 14.1, UNI, RF15 (UHF), 33-miles, 192 Az, SN:0
WDCA, 20.1, MNT, RF35 (UHF), 32-miles, 192 Az, SN:0
WDCW, 50.1, CW, RF50 (UHF), 31-miles, 187 Az, SN:0
WETA, 26.1, PBS, RF27 (UHF), 32-miles, 192 Az, SN:0
WRC, 4.1, NBC, RF48 (UHF), 32-miles, 192 Az, SN:0

Hmmm. It appeared to be a problem with the VHF-UHF antenna since all the VHF chanels were working (fewer of them in this area), yet all the UHF channels were not. Regardless, I performaned a hard reset on the 622 and rescanned all OTA channels prior to heading to the roof. The problem continued...

I headed to the roof and everything looked fine...antenna was in good shape (although still a little rusty), and the cabling I ran last year looked just fine. For sheets 'n grins, I plugged the OTA cable into the tuner on her HDTV and ran a scan. Viola! It found all the missings channels. Now I'm stumped! The problem has to be with the 622, but I've never heard of just the UHF portion of the OTA tuner card going bad without it effecting its ability to decode VHF. Anyone else have this problem?

Next up...should I call Dish Network to replace the receiver? Millie doesn't have the protection play so this will cost her some money. And will it lock her into another 24-months of service? Moreover, this is an owned receiver so will she own the replacement receiver? I brought along two more 622s that were sitting in the closer so I'm not looking to spend any of her money. In this case, Dish would need to mail a purple crypto card since they've been setting in the closet since late-2007.

Finally, how difficult is it to swap-out the OTA tuner module on the 622? I'll gladly swap it out...just as long as it's not soldered in place.

Thanks in advance.

P.S., Is there anything else I can do to reset this receiver (some sort of hardware reset) in hope of recovering from the OTA tuner not decoding UHF?

 

[riffjim4069]

Any insight?

Sent from my HTC EVO using SatelliteGuys App

 

[TheKrell]

My wag: UHF portion of the tuner could fail independently of the VHF part, and it's almost certainly soldered into place. I think it's worth taking the lid off to make sure. You should be able to pull off the cover of the tuner shield, but even that might be soldered together.

I've also occasionally seen Dish reassign their smart cards to a different receiver. That would probably be your best option if you don't mind giving her another 622.

 

[boba]

You can still add the protection plan to her account and reap all the benefits. If you don't want to call DISH go to a DIRT member.

I agree the antenna would have been my first guess, but you seem to have ruled it out. Unless there is something like a diplexer connected to the 622 that isn't connected to the TV your tuner is probably bad.

 

[riffjim4069]

Thanks! I popped the cover off and took off the back plane. It appears to be soldered in place because I can't budge it (must be a real neat solder job from the backside of the main-board because I can't see anything)...and I'm in no mood to remove the main-board, and I didn't bring my solder-sucker. Plus, to be honest, it's been a number of years since I have done any soldering or made any cables for that matter. Swapping-out the OTA module ain't an option.

Well, I just happened to have another 622 handy that had been sitting in the closet since Dec 2007. I hooked it up and, obviously, it cannot see the transponders since it doesn't have a purple card. I'm on the phone with Dish (been waiting for a supervisor for 30-minutes) and they wanted to charge me $50 for a purple card...unless I returned the old one. It took me 10-minutes to explain that I cannot return a smartcard that never existed on this receiver...the original is built in to the receiver. He then came back and told me they can send me a purple card free-of-charge...if I sign-up for Dish Protection Plan. Pass!!! I have more receivers and spare parts than I shake a stick at. I just need a purple crypto card. I even asked if I could move it over from the old receiver and he said no. Anyway, I just got off the phone after waiting 40-minutes for a supervisor. He told me that I could contact Executive Resolution Team. Time to contact DIRT. Anyway, I did get a $5 credit for 12-months for being on hold so long.

I just don't understand why they can't send me a purple crypto card for my owned 622 or let me swap-out the crypto card to the other box?

 

[riffjim4069]

One PM to the DIRT and a purple card is on its way.

If only the DIRT could be cloned...there would be world peace, world hunger would be solved, the planets would align themselves, and the most excellent music would play throughout the cosmos. They Rock!