subscription question about HD

[Dee_Ann]

I don't know. But, i doubt it. I have a UHF remote from an old Dish 811 that doesn't work. Iceberg may know for sure.

Oh man... I almost ordered on of those.. I guess I should chill out a little for now until the experts can clue me in.. I would hate to buy that thing and find that it's only compatible with it's own remote and the ones I have would be useless..


Mega, mega, mega bummer.......

I found the answer and it wasn't the answer I was looking for...

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-te...-remote-upgrade-kit-question.html#post2742165

So no, I can't use my existing UHF remotes with that repeater, it only works with it's own 10.1 remote and no others.

 

[Mr Tony]

Another annoyance I've discovered is that the remote control repeater pyramids won't repeat the remote control for this thing. :cry:

hit system info and see what the remote address is set to. I know when I owned the 211k the remote address was set to 16 if I remember right. Most remotes the default is 1

menu 6-1-3 or the sys info button. It shows what the address is. To set the address on the other remotes
press and hold down the sat button until all 4 lights blink
enter the address that it is (16,14, whatever)
press #
sat list will blink twice

then try

to change the remote address on the receiver. With the system info screen up do the above list, enter the address you want (4,7, whatever) then press #, after the sat light blinks twice press the record button. The address will change on the screen too

This is why I wish when you did a "factory reset" or whatever its called it actually reset the remote too

 

[Corrado]

One thing that comes to mind is that if the OTA signal is low it can affect the reboot sequence when it is acquiring the satellite signal for some reason. The 38 step check switch on my 211K seems like it takes forever to cover the 3 satellites. Then the 9 day EPG loading for the EHD takes another eternity.

 

[Corrado]

I noticed something recently I never saw before and I have had mine since last July. When pressing the info button twice there is a small icon in the box that also displays what satellite the channel is coming from. I learn something new everyday about Dish.

 

[Mr Tony]

One thing that comes to mind is that if the OTA signal is low it can affect the reboot sequence when it is acquiring the satellite signal for some reason.

true. I had issues with any OTA channel with a signal under 70. It would glitch up the receiver which other folks have confirmed

 

[Mr Tony]

Dee
Thought of one other thing in regards to the "signal loss"
Go into the check switch screen but instead of hitting test hit "DETAILS"

Check that it shows
1-119
2-110
3-129

I had the same issues and found out 129 was plugged into sat 1 on the switch. Make sure 129 is on sat 3 and rerun check switch. That should alleviate the issues as low signal should only show up when you have a signal like 20 or so...not 50's

 

[bobvick]

Dee, have you gotten your programming set up yet? I have been reading this thread and the one that you had over in the classified section. I always enjoy reading your posts updating us on your progress. Congratulations on getting your system set up yourself. You will definitely not have any rain fade problems, especially when you get that 1.2M dish on 129w peaked. I wish I could figure out a good way to rig up a DirecTV SL3 LNB on a 1.2m dish, might have to try it some time. As far as your problems with remote an IR extender, I read where some folks have had success in using a Radio Shack remote extender with the 211k, but i don't know what series of remote they were using. You might try seeing if you can find some older series remotes cheap somewhere, and that might work for you.

 

[Dee_Ann]

true. I had issues with any OTA channel with a signal under 70. It would glitch up the receiver which other folks have confirmed

AH HA!!!!!!!!!!!!! My OTA antenna is not really "tweaked".. There are transmitter towers all over the place. What I ended up doing was locating all the towers on the FCC site and google maps then I found an ~average~ direction to point my antenna which was more or less in the middle of the group of towers. Some channels come in 100%, some channels are right at 72% to 70% and are really flaky. I get signal loss on a few of the channels I really like and watch a lot.
So I need to get a second HD antenna put on a ~ Y ~ connector so I can have two antennas aimed at two different directions feeding into the one OTA wire. That way what ever I tune to the signal will be there. I'm sure you guys will tell me "Ya can't do that!" but what the heck, I gotta try anyway. Ms. Hardhead....

Dee
Thought of one other thing in regards to the "signal loss"
Go into the check switch screen but instead of hitting test hit "DETAILS"

Check that it shows
1-119
2-110
3-129

I had the same issues and found out 129 was plugged into sat 1 on the switch. Make sure 129 is on sat 3 and rerun check switch. That should alleviate the issues as low signal should only show up when you have a signal like 20 or so...not 50's

Ah.. Ok, I see that;
119 is on port 1
129 is on port 2
110 is on port 3.

It guess it would be pretty hard to mess it up any worse than that eh?
Time to put on the rain boots and go play cable swap out back. Again..

Dee, have you gotten your programming set up yet? I have been reading this thread and the one that you had over in the classified section. I always enjoy reading your posts updating us on your progress. Congratulations on getting your system set up yourself. You will definitely not have any rain fade problems, especially when you get that 1.2M dish on 129w peaked. I wish I could figure out a good way to rig up a DirecTV SL3 LNB on a 1.2m dish, might have to try it some time. As far as your problems with remote an IR extender, I read where some folks have had success in using a Radio Shack remote extender with the 211k, but i don't know what series of remote they were using. You might try seeing if you can find some older series remotes cheap somewhere, and that might work for you.

I went with the AT250 w/HD and BlockBuster channels. I saw there's a retro channel that plays a western (I can't remember the name) that has Clint Walker on it. Yep. Amazing how I've become a westerns fan.
I used to HATE westerns then MeTV got me to watching Marshall Dillon which I actually really began to like a lot until they pulled them..
But Clint Walker, yeah, I'll watch pretty much any show he's on..

So far I've goofed and erased something I wanted, I recorded a clip about Tupperware on the Science Channel last night then today when I was floundering around in the menus I erased it. Darn!
But I found that the same episode repeats again soon so I set to record it tomorrow.

This thing is radically different than the Home Theater I've become very used to so it's pretty tough getting the hang of it. Especially the timers and such. It took me hours to figure out how to set a manual timer.
But I'm digging that you can set timers to simply tune to a channel each day without recording the channel. My Home Theater did that and for me that was an essential feature. So this is very cool to have on my new tuner.
I also like that I can rewind, pause, etc.. That is very essential for me, I've been using that on my Home Theater. I pause TV a lot and I love to skip over commercials. Like go to the kitchen for an hour while it's paused then come back later, unpause it and FF through commercials. The DVR feature is awesomesauce!

As to the IR repeater pyramids, I moved the receiver pyramid several feet and for some reason it's working much better. That makes no sense at all. Where it was, there was nothing at all near it. It has a wire that runs from it with an LED on the end that you put in front of the tuner. I didn't change anything about the LED wire, I only moved the pyramid. The transmitter pyramid that I aim the remote at, I haven't touched it at all. What ever the problem was, it seems to be behaving much, much better now.

Oh, and all the channels. OMG... I haven't had subscription TV in over 20 years so there's a zillion channels I've never heard of before. It's going to take a while to figure out what they all are and learn their shortcut names.
Most channels are listed in the guide with 3 or 4 characters in truncated, cryptic form.

Oh well, it's going to take me some time to adjust to the newness of it all but I'll suffer through it.. :


Thanks so much guys for all your help!

 

[bobvick]

Dee, Marshall Dillon comes on Encore Westerns (Dish Channel 342) every night at 5:00 central. So there is something else for you to like.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Ok, this is making me insane..


The switch is labeled with A B C.

I ~had~ dishes physically connected to the ports as follows,

Port A = 110
Port B = 119
Port C = 129

HOWEVER, The tuner reported to me that I had it connected as follows,

Port 1 = 119
Port 2 = 129
Port 3 = 110

I went outside and changed the wires ONLY on Ports B and C.

Now the tuner tells me things are connected as follows,

Port 1 = 129
Port 2 = 119
Port 3 = 110






Are the ports on the switch backwards? The more I look at this the more I spiral deeper down the deep dark confusion well.

Such as C =1, B = 2 and A = 3

I just figured I better stop now and ask because I had to do a check switch and then download a new guide all over again which was really time consuming.
And I'm wanting to watch the evening news for the next hour and a half so I don't want to play that game all over again until I know for a fact how to connect things up.

Thanks..

 

[bobvick]

I can't seem to find a Dish "SW-31", now, I very well could be wrong, and most likely am, but would a DP34 not be a better idea? I have been out of the Dish end of DBS for a while, so I might be wrong. I think she may need a DP34 though, what with combining three antennas (110, 119 and 129). Even though she is just going to one receiver, she could just terminate all of the unused outputs.

 

[steve4810]

Dee_Ann when you are ready just contact Matt or any of the DIRT team and they will get you going.

+1

 

[Mr Tony]

I can't seem to find a Dish "SW-31", now, I very well could be wrong, and most likely am, but would a DP34 not be a better idea? I have been out of the Dish end of DBS for a while, so I might be wrong. I think she may need a DP34 though, what with combining three antennas (110, 119 and 129). Even though she is just going to one receiver, she could just terminate all of the unused outputs.

shes using Legacy LNB"s which require that aftermarket switch

 

[Mr Tony]

Are the ports on the switch backwards? The more I look at this the more I spiral deeper down the deep dark confusion well.

Such as C =1, B = 2 and A = 3

huh never thought of it. It must be. When I originally hooked it up I did 119,110,129 on the ports but 129 & 119 were flipped after the switch. So I just flipped them

 

[osu1991]

I can't seem to find a Dish "SW-31", now, I very well could be wrong, and most likely am, but would a DP34 not be a better idea? I have been out of the Dish end of DBS for a while, so I might be wrong. I think she may need a DP34 though, what with combining three antennas (110, 119 and 129). Even though she is just going to one receiver, she could just terminate all of the unused outputs.

She is using an aftermarket switch, not a Dish branded switch along with legacy lnb's. She would have to get Dish Pro lnb's in order to use a DP switch

 

[Mr Tony]

This thing is radically different than the Home Theater I've become very used to so it's pretty tough getting the hang of it. Especially the timers and such. It took me hours to figure out how to set a manual timer.

can I ask why? The only time I needed a manual timer was when the OTA channel had no guide info. Everything else I set via the guide. Find program, hit record, set for new only

But I'm digging that you can set timers to simply tune to a channel each day without recording the channel. My Home Theater did that and for me that was an essential feature. So this is very cool to have on my new tuner.

yup

I also like that I can rewind, pause, etc.. That is very essential for me, I've been using that on my Home Theater. I pause TV a lot and I love to skip over commercials. Like go to the kitchen for an hour while it's paused then come back later, unpause it and FF through commercials. The DVR feature is awesomesauce!

yep the DVR moves you

 

[Dee_Ann]

can I ask why? The only time I needed a manual timer was when the OTA channel had no guide info. Everything else I set via the guide. Find program, hit record, set for new only

This..

A few channels just say Digital Channel or something like that, I forget exactly what it says. They are sub channels, not main channels.
We had severe winds come through, they actually lifted my roof enough to make the front porch support posts fall out! I woke up and looked out and saw the posts on the ground, I was like "OH S***T! The porch is going to collapse!"
Dad and I are going to try and fix it Saturday. But anyway, it also blew my antenna all catawampus so half the channels aren't coming in at all.

I need to figure out how to get the video from the tuner to my iPhone or my tablet so I can go on the roof and use the tuner's OTA meter to adjust the antenna.
I've got several meters for DVB which are very handy but nothing to help aim ATSC antennas.

 

[Mr Tony]

also to check your OTA options try tvfool
TV Fool

it allows you to plug in your addy or lat/longitude and shows all the stations that you could pick up and where the antenna needs to be pointed. Like as example here is mine.
As you can see pretty much all my stations are in the same area (45 degrees) and how strong the signals are at 40 feet above ground (which is how high the antenna is)

 

[renegade734]

... So I need to get a second HD antenna put on a ~ Y ~ connector so I can have two antennas aimed at two different directions feeding into the one OTA wire. That way what ever I tune to the signal will be there. I'm sure you guys will tell me "Ya can't do that!" but what the heck, I gotta try anyway.

I have OTA antennas pointed in two directions (Detroit and Toledo) connected with a TV antenna coupler, although a simple splitter in reverse will also work. Make sure the leads from the two antennas to the coupler are the SAME length. Depending on distance from transmitters, a preamp may be required.

 

[Dee_Ann]

also to check your OTA options try tvfool
TV Fool

it allows you to plug in your addy or lat/longitude and shows all the stations that you could pick up and where the antenna needs to be pointed. Like as example here is mine.
As you can see pretty much all my stations are in the same area (45 degrees) and how strong the signals are at 40 feet above ground (which is how high the antenna is)

Well, after HOURS of floundering around, I found a solution to part of my problems. Most OTA channels were showing up fine but a few would instantly go to a yellow warning box saying 739 Signal Lost.
I scanned and rescanned a bunch. I KNOW those are strong channels. Something was goofy.
So I got to playing with stuff I had no clue about. I got into the HDTV setup screen and it had options that said Offair, HRC, IRC and Cable. I have no idea what HRC or IRC is or what the difference is between those and Offair.
BUT, I changed it to IRC and rescanned and BOOM!, a few channels popped in that wouldn't work before. Hmmmm...
So I tried to to make it scan in combo mode but that got me no where. Finally I erased all the channels for the 30th time and scanned.
They all came in but the two trouble makers still weren't right, I could tell because even though the showed on the scan, it showed their signal level to be 72% when it was supposed to be 100%.
I highlighted the two trouble makers and deleted them. Then I went to the option that said Add Locals. I pressed the up button until I hit their primary number and it found them. It showed their signal to be 100%.
I quit that screen back to the main OTA scan screen and quit that screen. It told me it was saving the channels to memory. I went to the guide and FINALLY! Now it tunes in ALL my locals as it should.
Several channels (local sub-channels) won't show listings in the guide, it just says "Digital Channel" or something. Meh..... No biggie. I can find what I want on Titan and program the auto-tune for the evening news or whatever.
THAT was frustrating! But I got it!

Now the next thing is I need to acquire another ATSC HD antenna and a coupler as mentioned below. Then I can aim at multiple towers and I'll be 100% good with everything!
I can mostly retire the FTA unit except for ThisTV which I can't get otherwise via the DN tuner. If I could get ThisTV on dish I could probably do 99% of my TV watching on Dish.

I gotta say, dish is nice.. American Pickers in HD, oh baby! I flipped to the SD channel for a minute and promptly puked and changed back to the HD channel so fast your head would spin.
Yep. HD is the good stuff.. And on my new 24" LED-LCD screen, it looks really, really nice..

It's worth it. I still have some tweaks to make here and there but I'm getting there. And I'm liking it a lot..

Thanks!

... So I need to get a second HD antenna put on a ~ Y ~ connector so I can have two antennas aimed at two different directions feeding into the one OTA wire. That way what ever I tune to the signal will be there. I'm sure you guys will tell me "Ya can't do that!" but what the heck, I gotta try anyway.

I have OTA antennas pointed in two directions (Detroit and Toledo) connected with a TV antenna coupler, although a simple splitter in reverse will also work. Make sure the leads from the two antennas to the coupler are the SAME length. Depending on distance from transmitters, a preamp may be required.

Woo hoo!! I will try to find a coupler. Thank you!