Troubles with my new 211

[howie14]

I had originally intended this post to be a summary of my first week with DISH; what I liked and what I didn't like. That was before I decided to scan local channels and set up programming timers for the first time last night.

I receive both DC and Baltimore locals OTA using my HDTV's own tuner. The only reason I decided to scan with the 211 was to be able to send those digitals out to a second TV (and DVD recorder) using the coax output. My mistake.

I scannned the locals several times and on some occasions actually got the receiver to admit their were as many as 20 signals out there. When attempting to view, however, I was able to lock on to 2 or 3 only. I'm guessing that this tuner is a lot more finicky than the one on my Hitachi. The 211 never found WJZ, a station my HDTV tuner locked onto with a 98 signal strength.

After attempting to scan several times, I gave up and tuned to a regular SD service. Now I had no sound on any channel. I unplugged/plugged the receiver and started over.

Next, I tried to set up timers for shows in the early morning. The timer procedure is similar to that of the Expressvu 3100 I used to own and I figured no problem. Wrong again.

The first timer fired at 6AM as it was supposed but when I woke up and decided to monitor it at 6:45AM, I discovered that the screen was black even though the 211 was on and the DVD recorder was recording away. A check of the info screen brought up the name of my program and confirmed that the 211 was on. I channeled down, got picture, and channeled back to the show I intended to record. Picture there as well.

I then turned off the 211 and waited for the second timer I set to go off. Same black screen. After a call to tech support, we when through the unplug again. I tested the timers once more, and they seemed to fire properly-complete with video.

I'm now at work and wondering if any of my recording will actually happen today. I'm also trying to think of ways to make the OTA tuner actually work-do I need to do extensive work on my antenna setup, or is it a bad receiver?

Ugh.

Update: My wife reports that all other timers fired today after the reboot. I guess something about the locals scan last night confused the receiver. When I get home I plan to follow the DISH website suggestion and bypass the amplifier on my antenna to see if any more locals will scan. When that doesn't work, it's another call to DISH. In 9 days, I've already called them more than any other service I've ever had.

 

[howie14]

As I reported, my timer problem resolved itself. I still am having trouble getting OTA locals through the receiver. I don't truly need that feature, but I would like to determine whether the receiver is defective or not.

When I went to the Tech Portal at the DISH website, one of the instructions to diagnose the problem of not being able to receive OTA digitals was:

Press Menu on the remote. Go to System Setup, then Installation, and Point Dish/Signal. Check and note the signal on:

• 119° - T15 & T16
• 110° - T15 & T16
• 61.5° - T29
• 148° - T19
• If SuperDISH 105° - T02 & 23 or 121° - T16 & T21.

It then goes on to tell me that a signal strength of less than 70 on any of those transponders could be the culprit. Why does my satellite signal strength have anything to do with OTA reception?

While checking the signal strength I did discover that 110 t16 is only at 59. That seems unreasonably low and makes me wonder if I'm the victim of a poorly aligned install. Signal strengths on 119 and 61.5 are solid.

 

[bowens]

The ota tuner in the 211 does have problems with PSIP data from some stations. I have one local channel that I get 70% signal on but the 211 won't lock. My tv's tuner locks it fine. The other 6 channels lock fine.

 

[RandallA]

As I reported, my timer problem resolved itself. I still am having trouble getting OTA locals through the receiver. I don't truly need that feature, but I would like to determine whether the receiver is defective or not.

When I went to the Tech Portal at the DISH website, one of the instructions to diagnose the problem of not being able to receive OTA digitals was:

It then goes on to tell me that a signal strength of less than 70 on any of those transponders could be the culprit. Why does my satellite signal strength have anything to do with OTA reception?

While checking the signal strength I did discover that 110 t16 is only at 59. That seems unreasonably low and makes me wonder if I'm the victim of a poorly aligned install. Signal strengths on 119 and 61.5 are solid.

110 has Spotbeams galore, meaning some of the transponders are only beamed to the intended area not your area.

Spotbeams:

My suggestion is to try aiming your antenna again. One thing I found out while dealing with OTA is that there is a different "sweet spot" for a different tuner. Just because the antenna was aimed properly for your previous tuner doesn't mean that it's gonna work with the 211.

 

[thedamaja]

I agree. My 211 was having major problems with our OTA CBS feed while at the same time my 622 and samsung STB could lock it perfect.

To fix it I had to rotate my antenna a couple degrees and also tilt it down a few degrees.

The 211 works perfect now and the other tuners are still working great.

 

[howie14]

Thanks for the replies. I also have tech support looking into it. This 211 seems to have a lot of bugs. The manual says that it should pass antenna capabilities to my DVD recorder through the TV out as long as the 211 is off, but it doesn't. I've been having to use an a/b switch to feed the antenna to the recorder.

As far as the antenna goes, I'm using a Radio Shack antenna and Channel Master mast amp I installed back in 1995. I think the antenna is the VU-190 (or its old equivalent). The thing in on a rotor and with my HDTV tuner I can pull in the Baltimore channels for HD while pointing at DC. I'm twice as close to Baltimore. I lose most of the DC stations when pointing the antenna toward Baltimore's TV Hill.

With the 211, I get most of the DC stations when pointing at DC and can scan in a blocky pic on WBAL-11 (59 digital). I get virtually nothing when the rotor faces Baltimore. Strangely, though, I turned the antenna directly north and picked up 43-1 from York on the 211 the other night. My HDTV has never seen that station which is over 60 miles away.