Upgrade to 2nd Hopper questions

[Joe Satellite Fan]

I think I have this figured out, but wanted to bounce it off the experts here.

Currently have 1 Hopper/3 Joey system. Works great. Want to add a Hopper or just replace one Joey with a Hopper, haven't decided whether or not I need another receiver on the account.

Technically, I have a 2 Hopper/4 Joey system, but one Hopper and one Joey are installed in my 5th wheel, don't want to mess with them.

I know I have to buy the additional Hopper, but that's no problem as Amazon has a really good price on the Hopper and also carry the duo node.

So, here's the question: If I decide I want to keep the extra Joey, I know I need a splitter. Does this require a special splitter or will almost any generic splitter do the job?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Whiteyguy]

generic. splitter

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Another question. I would suppose that after I set up the duo node, that I should treat the install as a new install. Does anyone know if the Hoppers use any different software for the duo node vs the single node? If not, then my original Hopper should pretty much work right from the gitgo?

Anyone else done a two Hopper set up after having a single Hopper installation? If so, what should I look out for?

 

[lucky86]

Yes, I went from 1 Hopper to 2 Hoppers. Just make sure that the duo node has 3 lines from the dish connected and that you have your host and client lines connected correctly. There is no difference in software and nothing should cause a problem if installed correctly.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Ok, the duo node hookup and the sat connections and both Hoppers and both Joeys all went well. Connected first Hopper, turned it on and it was all good, same with the 2nd Hopper. Goes really fast when they're already initialized and working. Both Joeys went the same way. Almost.

When I attempt to link either Joey to the newly installed Hopper, it says the link is good. Looking at that Hopper, it also shows either Joey linked. I can see the recordings on either Hopper with either Joey. But, after linking the new Hopper, all I get is that it's searching for a satellite signal. Everything looks completely normal at the Hopper, good signal on all the satellites, etc, just won't seem to actually hook up with either Joey. Also, if I attempt to watch a recording from the new Hopper on either Joey, selection goes great, but all I get is a blank screen, and it locks up the Joey. Simply turning off the Joey and back on gets it back to "normal" (except for the connection issue).

I rechecked all the connections and everything looks "tight" and good to go. I just don't get that It shows "linked" both at either Joey and also the Hopper but keeps saying it can't find a satellite signal, even though the Hopper itself diagnoses everything as being right.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

It's all good. Don't know what the issue was, but after about 6 hours, they "just started working" with the new Hopper. Thanks for the help.

 

[lucky86]

I would be willing to bet that at the time you had these black screens when connecting to the other hopper, your software versions may have been mismatched. Meaning, one hopper had newer software than the other and the Joey's had software to match the newest sw version on the Hopper it was able to link and view content from. For example, if you had S229 (newest sw on hopper) and S278 on the Joey then those two linked would work fine. But if your other hopper had S222 and you link a Joey with S278 to this hopper, you would experience the black screen issues you saw. S229 and S278 go together. S222 and S271go together. Since it fixed itself a few hours later, that leads me to the conclusion that the second Hopper must have updated sw to match the other Hopper once you put it into standby, therefore eliminating the black screen issues you were seeing. Hope this isn't as confusing to you as it was to me the second time I read it.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Well, this morning it's messed up again. Can't pull up recordings or see TV when connected to "newer" Hopper. Your suggestion about software versions made sense to me, so I checked. Both Hoppers are S222 and both Joeys are S271. So, that wasn't the issue.

BTW, I thought there was no integration between Hoppers. I can pull up the recordings from either Hopper on the Hoppers. For the short while last night that the Joeys were ok linked up to the "newer" Hopper they could also do that. While when linked up with the "newer" Hopper this morning while the Joeys won't work, I can see and play the recording on the "newer" Hopper from the "older" Hopper, so I'm really confused. I'm beginning to think a tech visit is in my future.

 

[lucky86]

Well, this morning it's messed up again. Can't pull up recordings or see TV when connected to "newer" Hopper. Your suggestion about software versions made sense to me, so I checked. Both Hoppers are S222 and both Joeys are S271. So, that wasn't the issue.

BTW, I thought there was no integration between Hoppers. I can pull up the recordings from either Hopper on the Hoppers. For the short while last night that the Joeys were ok linked up to the "newer" Hopper they could also do that. While when linked up with the "newer" Hopper this morning while the Joeys won't work, I can see and play the recording on the "newer" Hopper from the "older" Hopper, so I'm really confused. I'm beginning to think a tech visit is in my future.

The hopper sharing has been there a while now. I would try resetting the hopper that is giving issues with the joeys. Also,on system info on the hopper,what is the available Joey Sw? Third line from the bottom,menu twice for sys info.actually,what's the available Joey sw on both hoppers?

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Ok, once again, I think I have this figured out. Since both Hoppers have been working with a Solo Node as well as the Joeys, I decided to trouble shoot at what's new. Hmmm, that would be the Duo Node. So, I went out to the Duo Node and switched the two Hopper cables. Now the problem has switched. So, that indicates to me that the Duo Node is the issue. Or at least that makes sense to me.

I did check what you suggested again, and both Joeys show available S271.

Guess a call to Dish is in order.

 

[lucky86]

Ok, once again, I think I have this figured out. Since both Hoppers have been working with a Solo Node as well as the Joeys, I decided to trouble shoot at what's new. Hmmm, that would be the Duo Node. So, I went out to the Duo Node and switched the two Hopper cables. Now the problem has switched. So, that indicates to me that the Duo Node is the issue. Or at least that makes sense to me.

I did check what you suggested again, and both Joeys show available S271.

Guess a call to Dish is in order.

Is everything is working now? I'm assuming you are on s222 and s271?

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Nope they're still messed up, the earliest I can get a tech visit is the week after Thanksgiving, so I guess I'll just keep the Joeys linked to the one that works. I will say that I had the best CR rep ever to talk to about this issue. I quickly told him what I had done and what I figured out was the problem and he quickly agreed and set up the tech visit.

As for software code, I got updated overnight, Hoppers on S230, Joeys on S278. As I stated above, the issue still persists.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Just thought I'd update this thread, as anyone going from one Hopper to a two Hopper system "may" run into what was actually wrong. The tech that showed up to fix my problem was the same one that did the initial Hopper/Joey install in the house. Really sharp guy. He also thought the duo node was the problem and switched it our for another. Well, the problem still existed. After checking everything over and over, his "light" went off and the problem was solved. So, I put the solution up for anyone that runs into this issue when they upgrade.

Both Hoppers had been hooked up to solo nodes before. They both "thought" that they were still hooked up to a solo node, even though they were connected to the duo node. The tech caught that on the satellite "aim" menu. He did a "check switch" on both Hoppers and now they are like they should be (shows that they are on the duo node). I apologized profusely for my booboo, but he was actually glad because "stuff like this happens all the time", and it gives him more info to use the next time something similar happens. So, that's the scoop.

 

[Bobby]

That's a good piece of information. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Aidan8et]

I had a customer with a similar issue yesterday (upgraded from 1/3 to 2/2). Changed node to duo, ran CS to update 1 hopper went fine, unpacked & installed 2nd hopper, CS comes up No Node & DP switch with 110 on tuner 1, empty tuner 2, 129 on tuner 3. Went back to hopper 1 and after another CS I got 119 on 1, 110 on 2, and 129 on 3. After going round & round, replaced node, LNB, all hopper wiring, etc, I pulled out my outlet tester & multimeter thinking there was a power reversal somewhere. Sure enough there was 38v going over the OUTSIDE of the wiring whenever both hoppers were plugged in. Seeing that I went to remove the ground thinking a backfeed from it to the node. As it turns out, the ground source was actually a 2' steel rod the customer installed on their own while building a new deck (know length because I pulled it out of the ground with 1 hand). 100% reinstall to move to new ground source & the system works fine with no excess voltage.