What's the latest on 811 fixes?

[WeeJavaDude]

Since you ask...

I went with Dish this time, because I had them before. I was a customer for almost 5 years, before getting married and choosing Cable for our new habitat. (It was easier.) After a year, we got an HDTV, and wanted to enjoy some HD programming. Comcast didn't offer HD in our area, and Dish's carrot of free HD equipment and 3 months free AT120 w/HBO-Max was hard to resist. Unfortunately, I didn't do the research to see how much they changed in the year I was away.

When I first subbed back in 98, they were the little DBS that could. Charlie had a homey, "aw shucks" appeal. His Charlie Chats made me feel like he really cared about his customers, compared to the big, bad, corporate DirecTV. Dish offered more channels, and lower prices for programming and HW, as well. I never had an issue with my Dish HW back then, either, except for a bad switch.

Dish is no longer that company. They have grown too fast. Their HW development and manufacture is a friggin' joke. Charlie talks Bullsh!t, and breaks promise after promise like some two bit politician. Their policies are unfair to consumers. That is, if you can even keep up with what they are, since they change constantly. Their corporate strategy is on par with the government's Iraq strategy.

Despite having Dish Club coupons, I would never recommend Dish to friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. I always recommend DirecTV to those who ask.

I fully intend to bail, probably before my contract is up. However, since we only recently signed on as new subs (new address, phone number, wife's name), we have a while to go. I'll bail when there are only a few months left, dropping to the minimum AT60 at $25/mo. But, I need to wait at least until the end of baseball season, as DirecTV doesn't have supers, and I like my WPIX. I guess I'll have to spring for MLB EI, once I switch.

Interesting and thanks for the candid info.... Back on thread now..

 

[Stalker]

Dark!!

Is the dark issue is with the S-VHS connection why not use DVI?? Its a way better HD PQ anyway.

 

[Pb ft.]

Is the dark issue is with the S-VHS connection why not use DVI?? Its a way better HD PQ anyway.

I have DVI connected for viewing HD but I only watch HD about 10% of the time. About 20% of the time I watch TV from my OTA antenna while the 811 is feeding some other program to my TiVo via the S-Video. So about 70% of the programs I watch are from TiVo.

 

[cbstv]

811=d*

all of my 811 problems are making me think about D*. any input??? how are their receivers (made by numerous companies). How about the triple lnb...are there any 3lnb set-ups that don't have a self-contained multi-switch??? 5 tvs and growing...

 

[alocher]

Is the dark issue is with the S-VHS connection why not use DVI?? Its a way better HD PQ anyway.

My HDTV, a Toshiba rear projection model, has better stretch modes for 4:3 material than the stretch modes built into the 811. So when I am watchin HD material which is in 16:9, I watch it through the component outputs, without a dark video problem. But when I am watching SD material broadcast in 4:3, I prefer to use the S-video connection, because then I can stretch it using the superior stretch modes the my TV has.

 

[MikeF]

My HDTV, a Toshiba rear projection model, has better stretch modes for 4:3 material than the stretch modes built into the 811. So when I am watchin HD material which is in 16:9, I watch it through the component outputs, without a dark video problem. But when I am watching SD material broadcast in 4:3, I prefer to use the S-video connection, because then I can stretch it using the superior stretch modes the my TV has.

My Hitachi is the same way. I much prefer the 4:3 Expanded over any of the stretch modes of the 811. I also have a 510 hooked to the Hitachi so I use it for all SD. The 811 is used only to watch CSI and Judging Amy. The 510 has allowed me to wait on a fix since the Saturday of the first week the 811 was made available to Current Subscribers. I must admit that even so, my patience is starting to wear a little thin.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

all of my 811 problems are making me think about D*. any input??? how are their receivers (made by numerous companies). How about the triple lnb...are there any 3lnb set-ups that don't have a self-contained multi-switch??? 5 tvs and growing...

I would suggest asking this question in the DirecTV area. I am sure they are much more informed than us Dish people feeling the pain of dark video.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I know bugs that have been worked on for months to be fixed. There are also those class of bugs that get fixed and out pops another another. It is like that game where the squrrals pop there heads up. You hit one and another pops up, you hit than one and the orginal one pops up. Software can be funny at times even under the most controlled environment. (Before This starts a flame, I am not saying Dish has a controlled software environment). Based on their originally out of box experience I would say that they don't. Since they controlled the whole data path they should do a better job.

Oh, no doubt about it, they should be doing a much better job than they are. One would think, given the number of years they've been doing this, that their in-house software folks would've had a much better handle on the issue(s) with the 811. Someone is missing something, that much is obvious (painfully so, at times). I've been in that situation and spent weeks doing just what you described: fix one bug, create another, fix that one, create another. It gets frustrating at times, to be sure, but eventually I manage to get the bugs worked out. I'm maintaining my optimism and am thinking that they'll get these problems worked out with P266.

Monday night's tech talk ought to be very interesting.

Joe

 

[stlouisrod]

While we're on the 811 rant, I'd like to add my own gripes :

I just paid an antenna installer $450.00 to place a channel master 4-bay UHF antenna in my attic, run the coax to my living room, run coax to a spare bedroom, and add a double coax plate to one wall. I could finally remove the unsightly Terk wraparound antenna on my dish.

Strangely, while my new 811 (rev. 265) receives relatively strong constant signals (80-87%) in the "Add DTV" sub-menu within the "Local Channels" menu, when I attempt to actually watch Fox or NBC, the box rarely, if ever locks on. The other 5 stations generally come up, though I may have to wait 30-60 seconds for ABC to lock on as well.

Now, before you yell about "multi-path" or obstruction issues, I can hook up my year old Zenith HDV420 STB, and it locks instantly onto all 7 digital stations without a problem. And yes, I tried for an hour, in a 95 degree attic, to raise, lower, and twist the attenna to obtain the best signal across the 7 stations. It made no difference, though I was able to maximize the signal strength across the board a bit.

So the big question is whether or not the 266 software upgrade will bring out lowly 811's into the same realm as a year old Zenith HDV420 ?

 

[bigthrust]

While we're on the 811 rant, I'd like to add my own gripes :

I just paid an antenna installer $450.00 to place a channel master 4-bay UHF antenna in my attic, run the coax to my living room, run coax to a spare bedroom, and add a double coax plate to one wall. I could finally remove the unsightly Terk wraparound antenna on my dish.

Strangely, while my new 811 (rev. 265) receives relatively strong constant signals (80-87%) in the "Add DTV" sub-menu within the "Local Channels" menu, when I attempt to actually watch Fox or NBC, the box rarely, if ever locks on. The other 5 stations generally come up, though I may have to wait 30-60 seconds for ABC to lock on as well.

Now, before you yell about "multi-path" or obstruction issues, I can hook up my year old Zenith HDV420 STB, and it locks instantly onto all 7 digital stations without a problem. And yes, I tried for an hour, in a 95 degree attic, to raise, lower, and twist the attenna to obtain the best signal across the 7 stations. It made no difference, though I was able to maximize the signal strength across the board a bit.

So the big question is whether or not the 266 software upgrade will bring out lowly 811's into the same realm as a year old Zenith HDV420 ?

:yikes You paid someone $450 to install your UHF antenna and cabling? Price was a little high, don't you think?

 

[long_time_DNC]

Someone mentioned this earlier in this thread, but I figured I'd try it. I put my TV on the component input for 1080i (which I use when watching the HD channels) and then used the stretch mode of the 811 to fit the SD to 16x9. What was the first thing I noticed? The darkness problem on the SD channels is diminished to some degree. It's not entirely resolved, but it's better than s-video. The image is a little fuzzy, but it's tolerable until 266 comes along and (hopefully) fixes the darkness issue.

At least dark areas of images have detail now instead of being a bluish-black smudge with no detail at all.

I'd use my DVI input if I had a DVI switchbox. My DVD player is presently using my DVI input. When (if?) 266 fixes the darkness issue, maybe I'll buy that Geffen DVI switchbox and go DVI on the 811 as well.

 

[snathanb]

Someone mentioned this earlier in this thread, but I figured I'd try it. I put my TV on the component input for 1080i (which I use when watching the HD channels) and then used the stretch mode of the 811 to fit the SD to 16x9. What was the first thing I noticed? The darkness problem on the SD channels is diminished to some degree. It's not entirely resolved, but it's better than s-video. The image is a little fuzzy, but it's tolerable until 266 comes along and (hopefully) fixes the darkness issue.

I find on my set SD looks a little better if I switch to 480p on the 811.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I find on my set SD looks a little better if I switch to 480p on the 811.

Is that in s-video or 1080i component on the monitor? I'll tinker with it a bit more. Thanks!

 

[snathanb]

Is that in s-video or 1080i component on the monitor? I'll tinker with it a bit more. Thanks!

I watch SD in 480p, 4:3 mode 2, connected via component
I watch HD in 1080i, 16:9 mode, connected via same component

 

[stlouisrod]

:yikes You paid someone $450 to install your UHF antenna and cabling? Price was a little high, don't you think?

At $60/hr for 4.25 hrs + $60 site visit fee + 50ft cabling + diplexers + wall plates = $450.00. YOU do the math! And he worked the entire time, as I helped him out getting wire through the wall, etc. He also used a meter to report the db values of all 7 stations, and adjusted the antenna for best all around reception. All that in a 95 degree attic. Plus, they may have to come back to try a different attenna (maybe a Yagi) if I complain enough about PBS not coming in strongly enough (62%). That's why I went with them... so I get it right at their expense.

The only thing that erked me is that they charged me $50.00 for the channel master 4221, which retails for $25.00 :shocked .